Tyler's Blog

NEW Uncensored E*TRADE Baby

2011-02-03T16:14:00.000-05:00

I love these commercials.

Austrian - KäseKnöpfle

2010-11-09T17:57:00.001-05:00

KäseKnöpfle Recipe as requested by Ms. Sadie Fox

KäseKnöpfle - One of my favorite dishes in Austria

First and foremost I would like to thank my amazing friends in Austria. Clemens for showing me this dish while in Dornbirn and Lisa for providing me with the recipe !

Ingredients: (you'll need to do the conversions) - and also note that they use a special type of flour to cook theirs in. But the word is regular flour will also do the trick.,

300 g + 2 tablespoons flour
4 eggs (size M)
Salt
Grated nutmeg (a little)
3-4 tablespoons of mineral water
3 onions
20 g butter
100 g cheese mountain
1 tablespoon oil

Directions - straight from a very good and gracious friend of mine in Austria who took the time to track this down. Thank you Lisa!

300 g flour, eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, nutmeg and mineral water to a smooth, thick dough. Dough to rest for 1-2 hours. Meanwhile, peel onions, cut into thin rings and turn them in 2 tablespoons of flour. Heat pan and add butter and onions fry until golden brown. Finely grate cheese. Boil plenty of salted water and oil. From Spätzle gradually a part of the moistened "Spätzle board" type with a long knife and scrape thin strips into the boiling salted water. Bring to a boil, climb up the noodles. Remove noodles with a slotted spoon and rinse briefly in a colander under cold water. Drain and keep warm.The rest of the dough as well. Spätzle with cheese and pour the onions over it.

I do hope it's good Sadie and let me know if this proved helpful, as I hope it did. Best of luck!

~Tyler C.

Live Laugh Love & Liz: Sorry it's been a while...

2010-10-19T22:20:00.001-04:00

This is a great post from a friend of mine Liz. The message is simple yet very powerful. Live the life you want has stuck with me.

Read it here:
Live Laugh Love & Liz: Sorry it's been a while...: "Sorry it's been a while since I have blogged! I have been entirely too busy, but I am enjoying it! Last week was Fall Break, so I had a cha..."

To tie this up there is another quote that my new roommate Zack has on his wall that has really struck me. The way you do anything is the way you do everything. Take a moment to think about that. Depending on how introspective you are, you just might find a great deal of truth in that statement.

Shooting Range

2010-08-19T00:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my good friend Ryan Blair I’ve been to the shooting range twice within the last 2 weeks or so. Today we took my sister and her boyfriend Fernando. Ryan just finished his service in the Marines and while in the Marines was on their competition shooting team. Ryan is always quick to pick up on things and excel at them. This goes for shooting and not only that but training as well. I know what it’s like to be able to share something with your friends and really have them take a liking to it (as some of my friends would say). Here are some photos from today. There’s nothing like it.

The image below is of my sister Larissa being trained on the .22 caliber pistol. Ryan was definitely spoiled while being on the competition squad for the Marines with pistols with custom grips, sights, triggers, trigger pull lengths, barrels, and just about anything you can imagine needed to compete at a competition level. Not to mention your own personal armorers to clean, condition, and make any and all necessary adjustments. The Marines definitely take care of their marksmen as you’ve got to be selected to be on this team. I’ll have to get more details from him, but the target you see here might be 7 yards away lol.

We shot .22 cal, 9mm, and .45 ACP rounds today while at the range. It gave Riss and Fern (and myself) a good feel for the difference between all the types. I’ve shot .22 back when I was a lot younger out on the farm with my father, but it’s been YEARS since. I had never shot .9mm until today and just last week hadn’t shot .45 until I went with Ryan.

Thanks again Rio.

Click on the picture below to go to the album.

Random Update

2010-08-16T14:58:00.001-04:00

So talking with my friend from Spain today (Inigo) got me thinking about updating some of the blog. I haven’t written here in a while because honestly I don’t think that what I do here in the States is nearly as excited lol as that in Austria. But, I’m sure there are some in Austria that are going to want to read about some of the stuff that goes on here and what I’m up to. There’s been a lot since I’ve gotten back to the states. I’ve lived in D.C. for a while but then moved back to Springfield. I’ve been working with my Aunt on finances so that I’m prepared for the real world and helping out around the house.

The latest adventures have been copying old family VHS tapes over to DVD. It’s something my mother has wanted to do for some time now but wasn’t sure how to go about. So she went out and got a VHS to DVD recorder and it’s been fun memories since then. We can’t help but sit and laugh and reminisce about old memories. It’s been so long since I’ve heard my fathers voice that it’s a nice reminder of what he was like. My father used to love recording us as kids, as I’m sure many parents do. And all parents have their own quirks. My father lol has a recorded movie of my sister trying to roll over and make a sound for at least 2 hours. Not once did he get bored! We definitely were after watching some of it and just let the recording finish haha. We’ve got tapes of my 3rd grade Wizard of Oz performance as the Scarecrow. Yes I had to memorize all the lines from the entire movie plus my mother made a complete outfit that was actually pretty damn good! There are so many memories in those tapes that I’m glad we’re converting them. Things we’ve forgotten and are now reminded of.

On a sadder note my grandmother Beulah Cookson of 98 years just passed away. We went out to Missouri for the funeral and for the viewing about 2 weeks ago. I believe we had been back since my father past away about 10 years ago but I can’t quite remember. 10 years….wow..it just hit me how long that is. People were excited to see us and we were excited to see them for the most part. I say for the most part because so many of the relatives down there remember us when we were too little to remember them. So we’d get a lot of the, “Oh do you remember us?? You probably don’t be we are such and such and remember when you were yay high.” Lol. I have memories of my grandmother but they were from when I was so young I don’t have much to recount on. But what I can say that it was very nice to see everyone again and visit with family in general. Especially since we got to stay with Aunt Linda and Larry along with Scott Anthony and his family down in Advance. We stayed with Scott while we were down near Puxico, MO. Then we headed back up to St. Louis on Wednesday and spent the night at my Aunt and Uncle's house right outside of St. Louis. It was a great time seeing everyone especially Mandy and Todd and their little one Skylar. She’s absolutely adorable!

Browse through the album below.

View Full Album

Rick Ross – Teflon Don

2010-07-27T14:44:00.001-04:00

Rick Ross’s Album is definitely a must buy. Here are two of my favorites

wallpaper from AMS

2010-07-19T18:30:00.001-04:00

An amazing vehicle built by AMS. Called the Blue Demon and appropriately so. This vehicle inside and out is just ridiculous not to mention the craftsmanahip I see in the cars AMS builds and tunes. I liked this car so much that I wanted a high res image of it on my flat screen downstairs. Ryan at AMS, thank you !!

Zebastian Visits!

2010-06-24T16:29:00.001-04:00

There’s really so much to write about. It gets overwhelming honestly, sometimes I don’t even know where to start. But special events definitely dictate a blog entry. Hanging out with Zebastian and his girlfriend yesterday was a blast. Unfortunately it was a Sunday so The Saloon on U St. was closed, so we just headed across to The Utah Bistro. I requested a table so we could actually sit and see each other while talking vs.. sitting at a bar where you can only hear half the conversation and have to awkwardly lean forward to be included in the conversation (not that I mind the bar). But when trying to catch up with people ...a table just works better.

SO anyways, our waiter directs us upstairs where there is an upstairs bar and seating..great! Well we definitely felt weird when the bar tenders were kinda looking at us like hmm what are they doing up here lol. After sitting down, our waiter came back up to let us know that the section was actually closed and he didn’t know…oops. We relocated downstairs at a table and it really wasn’t a problem. We just got drinks (Zebastian ordered a PBR which was a classic move lol) and just caught up. Him and his girlfriend have been studying abroad here in the US in San Diego and are making their way back across the country before heading back to Sweden. It was great to see him and his girlfriend that he talked so highly of when we were in Austria. I’ll definitely be visiting them in Sweden when I’m over that way next year.

Love you guys!

Pc - Tyler

2010-06-17T10:42:00.001-04:00

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Got a call from AMS Performance today - Thanks Rich...looking forward to adding some High-Res Blue Demon pictures to my collection.

Purchased Dezod's exhaust for the car this past weekend. Install night tonight!

Dinner with Zebastian and his lovely girlfriend this past weekend. More to come.

Since moving back I've slowly started to get things set up around the house. (TV / Eletronics and my room are the big ones)

Holy Ish

2010-05-25T00:00:00.001-04:00

Sooo much to write about.

The subaru build is back in action. The car finally arrived at Erics house this past weekend and we were there to greet it with open arms. The garage has undergone a COMPLETE (…yes in all caps, it was definitely that much work and more…) transformation! Many will be jealous, that is alright.

Detailing potential is looking pretty good. My friend Ryan and I really have the potential to make a great team. Learning from one another while also providing support and motivation. I’m excited to see how this summer goes.

Applying for jobs…yay!…right?

Cooked an amazing dinner for my mother this past Saturday…why …because I love her. She loves Salmon and I love to grill. Picked up and excellent cut of Salmon (for what was locally available at Giant) and grilled it to perfection. Ryan was on hand to aid with the process. I called my mom and just told her I had a surprise waiting for her at home. Every mother deserves to be surprised with a complete meal after work every now and then. Knowing Salmon is by far her favorite dish, so much so that I’ve …well…had enough for the rest of my life.

Pictures are on their way! I would also really like to thank God for the energy I’ve had these past couple of days. I’m excited to have a partner in detailing, exciting but stressful decisions are on my best friends plate, and I’m applying for / getting help with resumes. All things considered (working for 13hrs Sunday on the garage and then on the car once eric got home. Not getting home /in bed till 2:30 and then getting up at 6:45 the next day. To work 8hrs and then have enough energy to detail a customers car). Now it’s 12am…and I’m off to NG tomorrow. Goodnight!

It's been way to long

2010-04-14T23:30:00.002-04:00

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Returned (sadly) from an amazing adventure in Austria. Full of stories and amazing new friends. (too much to tell...so much learned through embracing other cultures and observation that the entries would go on and on and on...)
Moved to D.C - (to be covered)
Signed up for and playing Kickball!!!! - Kick off party is this Saturday.
Knocked off things on my to -do / wanted to accomplish list (will be covered in a separate entry)
Working and looking to get my resume and the word out there that I am available !
Exercising
Exciting new work at the FCPS job and how it keeps me going.

Remind me to post about the great lecture I attended today on Executive Function as it relates to ADHD and Neurological / Cognitive thought processes. - exciting stuff...seriously. I'm not even a Psychologist and I was taking notes, several pages in fact. Great presenter and speaker.

Xbox 360
Visiting Lynchburg and great times catching up with friends / faculty / mentors
Daily life in the city / explorations / goals
Goals that I've outlined for myself and thinking about how I want to go about achieving them - a lot of this has to do with the In-Service or "Conference" you could call it, that I attended today.

There's so much to write about that has happened it can easily be overwhelming.

I want to write on how I went about acquiring where I live now and the process my Aunt, my Mother, and myself took to make it ready.

The massive 46" TV that I bought for myself and the endless hours of shopping conducted on behalf of the move.

The list goes on and I'll start somewhere as soon as I make some time to get it done. It's in the plans.

Attic – My toys are done

2010-02-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

A few hours later:

To sell / can sell:

Goodwill:

Trash / Recycle:

Attic

2010-02-04T22:02:00.000-05:00

I really need to take a before picture ….which I am going to do right now actually, so just give me a second.

Here:

View Full Album

Now, I’ve decided that on my cleaning spree that I need to go through my toys of old.

It does feel good to go through this stuff.

I should mention that what spurred all of this is my Aunt / Uncle / and my mother with their energy in cleaning out the basement / organizing. I’ve also decided to get rid of (sell) a lot of my fathers tools. It’s a pretty big step but a much needed one. There are people out there that could put these, sometimes very expensive, tools to use better than I. My father worked with wood when he was alive. I work with metal and cars. So a lot of these tools do my no real good. I was too young to really get a chance to master or learn how to use a lot of them correctly (the hand planners / specialty tools). Like I mentioned in a previous article (see it here) sawdust collection was the biggest thing I got to do since I was fairly young (13) when he passed away. But it’s time to kind of make it my own and better utilize the space. It feels good. I’ll write about some of the tools and what’s up for sale a little later. I’ve taken time to do these few blog posts and need to get back to sorting the toys lol…well…need to start is more like it. PEACE.

As of right now…

2010-02-04T21:48:00.001-05:00

There is so much stuff on my mind:

1. I’m on a cleaning spree / fixing things up kick. I have so much stuff…literally stuff…in the attic that needs to be donated/sold/thrown away. I decided to pull some stuff down today.

2. Sell my AutoMeter boost gauge and OBX shift knob

3. Go through all my old toys…what can be donated, what can be sold, and what just needs to be thrown away. I don’t really like being wasteful. But I am definitely not the one that is going to donate a train set when I have only the train and not the tracks that go with it.

4. Clothes shopping – Going through all my clothes left me with 3 button down dress shirts. One white, blue, and black shirt as well as 3 pair of dress pants (not including my suit pants). Shoes / t-shirts I’m fine with for the time being. The last pair of tennis shoes I bought were before I went to Austria and those got some VERY good use. But they’ll do for the time being like I said.

5. My wish/dream list

GPS (Garmin)	$300.00
TV	???
Upgrade my computer
Tv Tuner card	$90.00
2 X 1TB HD's	$189.98
Remote Control	$42.00
New processor	$260.00
New motherboard	$300.00
New RAM	$150.00
New Optical Drive	$40.00
XBOX 360 Elite	$300.00
PS3 Slim 250GB + remote	$374.00
iPhone + contract	$300.00

6. The beginning stages of thinking of an apartment and moving out now that I’m back for good. I love my mom…don’t get me wrong. But yea…

7. I’ve wanted an STi for the longest time. I’m just trying to think that it’s probably not the smartest investment right now seeing as I’m going to want to move out relatively soon (6mo-1yr) depending on job circumstances. The most I can do now is simply make a plan. When you write stuff down on paper it tends to happen. I remember having lists in the past, then coming back to them a month later to see that I had achieved everything I wanted to on my list. Granted you can’t have it all now. But it teaches one to prioritize, that you can definitely live without this stuff, and to budget so you can do / get the things you wanted to. There’s nothing like the feeling of saving up for something and finally being able to purchase it. It’s very rewarding. What a consumer culture we are lol.

I needed tires for the car…so that had to get done first. I always order from Discount Tire Direct. Brand new tires but just sold online. Yes they are legit, and their shipping is amazing. I have always gotten my tires the same week (when ordered within a reasonable amount of time). This time I placed my order on a Tuesday and the tires were here by Friday. Good prices and I’ve never ever had a problem with them.

But if I had to prioritize:

Clothes
Computer upgrades (at least proc / mobo)
xbox
ps3
TV
GPS – already taken care of…my grandparents are so nice :)

Organize My Room – Pictures…

2010-02-04T21:29:00.001-05:00

I went through and tried on all my dress shirts / pants / coats etc. Some I’ve had for way to long and just need to go and or don’t fit anymore. T-shirts that I didn’t wear or that mom can make into a T-Shirt quilt were given to here and goodwill. And the biggest pain of all was the socks. Who likes going through socks to make sure they all match and that you actually wear them?

Anyways, as promised:

Organize – My Room

2010-01-28T23:47:00.001-05:00

It’s not completely done, but I’ve gone through my entire dresser and closet and sorted the clothes (goodwill / keep). This was something that has been on my list since I got home. With the cleaning / organizing spirit I’ve found myself in this week things are getting done faster than I expected.

All clothes have been sorted (goodwill, keep, T-shirt quilt)

Shoes gone through – which ones do I wear / don’t

Dress shirts – some where old and didn’t fit…time to go

It’s nice being able to see what I have now. I can tell what I have too much of and not enough of. Most of my work, most recently, has been business casual so I’ve got plenty of polo’s. However, some are several years old and both out of fashion and size. So I slimed down on those as well. Pictures to come…

Organize

2010-01-26T02:01:00.000-05:00

I spent about 8 hours today organizing. I’ve been on an organizing and cleaning house spree since I got home. There’s just so much stuff that I DON’T NEED / definitely don’t use…

** Side Note: The design for the exhaust fan on my laptop is really getting on my nerves. I think a lot of people enjoy lounging in their beds while being on their laptops. Most laptops have the exhaust fan situated so that the intake is sucking from the bottom. Well that’s a little problem if you’re on the bed all the time. Heat is one of the biggest enemies for electronic devices and can definitely shorten the life span of any device. What’s really annoying is always having to tilt my laptop so that it doesn’t get too hot. **

…continuing –> So a few days ago I went through one of my bigger filing drawers along with re-organizing and sorting through all my computer cables, discs, and hardware. While doing this I also downsized my set up. I still have my 24” Samsung monitor but decided that I didn’t use the 17” Sony (the original monitor) enough to warrant the space it took up on my desk. Less clutter just makes you feel better, it’s true.

So today, Jim (my uncle) called up to me for a little help this afternoon and well…I spent all day downstairs helping and sorting through my stuff. They had positioned all my detailing stuff in a section that is now mine. As you can see below:

Before:

These bins were stored away out of sight but I pulled them out to go through and sort through all the sprays / cleaners / and waxes I’ve got.

Below is a mixture of some automotive stuff. It had been sorted already but needed a place to go. So within my place I use that stuff almost never so it went way out of sight. It actually fit perfectly on the bottom shelf all the way to the left. With the car battery fitting in between the wall and the shelving unit.

Finally!

After: - And even a shelf to spare!

My mother, aunt, and uncle have been hard at work re-organizing and re-doing the entire basement. Some of the fruits of their labor are a completely new downstairs basically and a workshop that is actually functional with space to work and walk!

My Aunt and Uncle are headed out this weekend but they have been here for some time and during that time the house has basically been completely re-done from head to toe. It’s absolutely amazing to see!

None of this shelving was here…none of this organization was here..it was a culmination of years upon years of stuff.

Stuff is now sorted according to category and then how often is it used. It makes no sense to be going under the stairs or to the back of the workshop for stuff you’re going to be using often. There’s plenty more on how to organize and create a flow for a workspace, especially one that has to occupy and serve so many different functions.

Other stuff I got done today:

Cleaned the drill: Although I didn’t have time to take the actual motor apart to clean the brushes I was able to get some of the general dust / debris that has collected over the years. The drill is definitely able to breath better as the dust towards the end is blocking the path for airflow.

Got the chainsaw working:

Just some old gas that had been in it and needed to be worked out of the system.

Quick look at my hot water extractor. Note that this is not a professional one but one from Bissell. The professional ones that detailers need / use range anywhere from $600 – $2000. Well, when starting my company I really wanted to keep costs down, gain experience, and gain enough customers / or the type of work that would warrant the purchase of the professional units. As for right now if I can get the hose attachment to work it does what I need it to do. Although last summer I definitely had enough jobs (9/10) that required steam cleaning / deep cleaning of carpets. Let me tell you it’s a pain in the ass with this thing now. So, I’ve definitely reached the point at where I can / should invest in a more professional and heavy duty unit. It’s just a matter of making the money first this coming summer to support the upgrade.

The pictures you’re looking at here are of the tubing for the different tanks. Pretty tight spaces are crimping the lines. This could be one reason the hose attachment stops working after a minute or so. But I believe the crimps would pose a steady problem. My problem now is that with hot water the hose attachment will only squirt water for maybe a minute at the most. Then it simply stops and the stream of water becomes more of a dribble, rendering it completely useless for what I need it to do. I’ll figure it out. Maybe a pump replacement? I only took about 15 minutes or so to take a overall look at it today and decide what I wanted to do with it. After deciding the problem might be pretty simple, such as a pump, that I will just keep it and attempt to fix it.

Quick Updates

2010-01-25T02:05:00.023-05:00

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It's been great to catch up with friends since I've been back, although I must say I honestly miss those that I really got to know in Austria. I will be back to visit, it is something I really want to do. Not something I'm just saying.

As of now:

1. New Oakley glasses..

The first pair I had fit so nice that I decided to stick with the same type just an updated frame. This is of course after loosing my pair in Austria and then losing a generic pair as well which is a first...I don't usually loose things like this. Here's a picture of the new ones:

Subtle differences. I'm not really a bling type person ...nor do I need to let everyone know what brand I'm wearing.

2. Continue to catch up with friends
3. Doing adult stuff
4. More doing adult stuff
5. Cleaning -

There was so much stuff in my room that I just don't need. I'm used to living in Austria with very little...way less than you normally have in your typical dorm room. Remember all you can take with you has to fit in 2 suitcases weighing less than 50 pounds. I don't have cars, trucks, trailers, etc to help. Not only that but the culture there was what I would call minimal (to an extent). What I mean by this is that things have their purpose. Certainly people enjoy their electronics, gadgets, and what have you. But over all everything that I saw had a purpose. No one really had stuff to excess. So when I got back to my room one of the culture shocks I had was just how much crap I had in my room. I mean I can show you pictures from before my room was very neat etc. But when I went to open the drawers to put my clothes away they were already full. I looked at some of the clothes and said to myself, "When the heck do I wear this?" Granted I keep a good stock of old t-shirts for lounging around and or for working out / working on cars in. But I don't need nearly as many as I have. So a Goodwill pile will be started (my family makes constant donations) and I plan to go through my clothes (always set a deadline for yourself...trust me it helps) by the middle of February.

I have already gone through my filing cabinet and sorted out documents that I no longer needed and just consolidated stuff which was much needed. I still had my certificate from high school that said I completed the drivers ed course lol, wow. So that has been dealt with and the rest of the drawers will be, one drawer at a time.

This coming week:

1. Figure out my work schedule
2. Meeting / interview for work
3. Finances (I'm still using the little steno pad to keep track of expenses...very handy. Although I guess I could be cool and use Excel on my phone...I just dislike the HTC Touch Diamond ...so I don't.)
4. And then some more adult type boring stuff

Now that I’m home

2010-01-22T09:40:00.001-05:00

It’s weird but good to be home. The first few days I was home it really did feel unreal…like I was visiting someplace. Since I’ve been home I’ve pretty much been running errands and just getting things together / planning. I’ve decided to keep updating the blog even though I’m home.

Saturday was a great chance to catch up with family and friends while enjoying great food. It’s nice to be home, but it’s time to do the whole adult thing which is not so cool lol. But it’ll work.

Headed Home

2010-01-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Right now I’m sitting in the main train station in Feldkirch listening to Deadmau5 – Faxing Berlin. Just purchased my ticket for Zurich. It’s about 7:00am, woke up at 4:50am…not cool, and should arrive at the airport by 9:38pm. My flight is at 11:55am and should get me to Dulles by about 3:35pm (the flight looks like it’s only a few hours because of the time change).

What a great couple of last days in Dornbirn. So many people to say bye to which is not easy. Everyone here is a friend…there were no really easy good byes. Yesterday (Wednesday) was especially busy but really good. I was on a mission to ski the alps and I did. My friend Tom (who’s probably getting up now to go again) and I went to Montafone. It consists of about 4 or 5 mountains and is massive. I mean the ski resorts that I have been to on the east coast pale in comparison. For the times I’ve skied there were about 4 different levels of difficulty. Green being the easiest, Blue for intermediate, Black for advanced, and double black (moguls and very advanced skiing). Well the slopes here start at blue…lol there is no green…you do not pass go nor do you collect 200 dollars. But you can catch your breath when you get to the bottom of the slope (or Piste). We hit a blue right off the bat and my body was like holy shit, this is the easiest!? I can’t remember the last time I’ve been skiing. I used to go with my sister and her Girl Scout troop since my mom was the Troop Leader. That had to be at least 6-8 years ago. But I conquered the slopes here …no worries. By the end of the day I had my act together and hit one black slope just for the hell of it. I’m not going to be back for sometime…so go big or go home. I didn’t want to go too big though and wind up in the hospital which would not be cool. So I took it easy and all was good.

The ski rentals here are also on a whole different level than when I’ve gone in the states. The boots were extremely nice, the place was very clean, and there were 4 different level / types of ski’s you could choose from. If my memory serves me right it was just one type of ski and it only differed by size in the states. The local owner of Kraftstoff pulled through for me and let me borrow a pair of his ski’s and poles. But the ski’s were a bit small for me and the boot fitting couldn’t be adjusted to my size (45 in Europe…or about 10 – 10.5). So no worries, just rented ski’s and boots and I was on my way. I knew I was at a whole different level of skiing just by the initial 10 minute gondola ride straight up the mountain. The most I’d been on were chair lifts lol.

But all in all it was a good day to ski…but my day didn’t end there. The family that owns the sawmill had asked me to dinner that night. So, I had to make sure I was home in time to get over to their house. I DIDN’T HAVE MY CAMERA!!!! But if you’ve read any of the other posts (God bless you for doing so) then you might have some photos for reference. Everything was freshly made and baked…it was unreal, really. I asked Mattias how it was that he’s not like 300 lbs with the way she cooks. I will really miss this family. They have invited me into their home and their lives with open arms. Those are the types of people you return to visit. Not only this but they had a pair of work pants that I had wanted for some time, as a present for me. I was like a kid in a candy store. They were perfect. After an amazing dinner and a freshly baked dessert Mattias drove me home. He told me he needed to stop by the office to give me something. He came out with a 100 Euro bill. I was like !! As he gave it too me he told me why. He told me that the guys really enjoyed it when I was around, I made some changes to the place and that was needed and definitely appreciated, and for sweeping all the time. This is coming from a guy that doesn’t just hand out nice comments on a whim. I really had no idea that the work and stuff I did was that appreciated and that my simply being there and joking around and having fun was a thing that he really appreciated. It meant a lot to me to hear this. Thanks Mattias!

I also go a shirt from Pavi….now I’m official. What an honor. I had to work hard for that shirt but I am really and truly a part of the family. All the guys in Pavi / girlfriends were there for my final night. I spread my goodbyes over two days because some of them had work etc. But by the end I had seen everyone and everyone had come out to have a beer and say more kind things to me than I really can recount. It was unreal to see Pavi for the last time. Chris (the big chief) told me that I have 2 weeks for holidays, ha-ha. To say hi to mom and the family…but that he expects me back here. So cool. Benni and all the guys at Pavi have taught and helped me learn a lot. Mostly through observation. When you’re not able to talk the language and all things sound foreign you start to really become in tune with body language and actions. You really can judge by actions and attitudes. I’ve always had a very good sense of other peoples body language but this took it to another level. You learn quickly to think like that person, to watch what they do and the order that they do it in.

Random Stuff # 2 – Snow throwers, Chippers, Grinders, and Chainsaws

2010-01-07T03:12:00.001-05:00

This might seem weird to some (as in just how random it is). But I’ve been in love with industrial equipment and all things that are on a large scale. I remember going on week long truck hauls with my cousin Scott back in Missouri (I need a picture of his rig…the thing is so nice!) He’s had the truck custom painted, stretched, chromed etc. It’s really a gorgeous truck. Just the sound and shake of starting a big rig up makes me smile, not to mention the turbo spool and crawler gears. I’ve always loved stuff like this ever since I was little. And from below you can tell it’s still there. I remember always riding the tractor with my father and my cousin Dulles who used to farm back in Missouri. He had some of the coolest equipment…it was like a dream land. I would go out and harvest corn, oats, wheat, etc in the combine.

This picture’s almost exactly what it was like.

Then we’d load that into a large tractor trailer truck and then drop the grain off at either one of his silos or at a grain elevator (you dump the grain into a pit and an elevator takes it to different silos). Ahh fun times, I really do miss those times. Farming became way to uncertain for Dulles back in the day therefore he had to make a switch to a job with more steady income and benefits. At the time I didn’t understand but now that I’m older I do.

I’ve always thought of finding a company like this and selling their equipment. I think it would be a pretty cool job to do, to be head of a marketing department for some of the best brands out there such as Caterpillar, Vermeer, Komatsu, etc. The stuff that is so fascinating to me is just how everything comes together and the shear size and power of it all. Someone (most likely a team) designed this. Someone sat down and thought about how fast the drums need to rotate for the crusher below, what types of metals are suitable and what aren’t. What types of hydraulic motors to use and the gearing necessary to get the required PSI so that the operation is smooth and powerful enough. All the thought and time that goes into producing some of these things on the scale they exist on is truly mind blowing.

I was sitting here watching Tropic Thunder (never go full retard) and a random thought hit me - “what’s the largest snow thrower out there?” Not completely random since it happened to be snowing outside…but still.

How about a full tree chipper? They come anywhere from 700-1000 horsepower. I remember always going outside to watch these guys when they came to chip trees that had fallen or neighbors wanted taken down. Nothing on this scale though:

Then that lead to this site and company called SSI. They built this: Skip to 58 seconds if you want to see it “eat.”

What I thought was cool about this company (if you watch some of their other videos) is they are pretty funny about stuff. They will crush/shred/compact anything you want them to, just simply send in your request. The power the hydraulic motors have on these things is absolutely amazing.

How about a hemi powered chain saw? I’ve seen V8 chain saws in years past but they are always a fun thing to behold.

Random Stuff – Computer upgrades / wish lists

2010-01-05T01:15:00.000-05:00

If you haven’t heard of the browser Chrome yet, you should definitely check it out. It’s been my default now for some time now. I love it because it’s smooth, it works, and its damn fast. I can load two browser windows of Chrome before I can load one of Firefox (with out add-on’s).

So much stuff on my “Must be a consumer” list. I was talking with my friend just this morning and making a list of the things I want. First and foremost on that list when I get home is to have some home made food, naturally. Second is to drop some money on new tires for the car. Third …well, update the PC at home. It works right now but it is way slow for my needs / and the way I use things. My mind is usually going a mile a minute and the computer travels at about a few feet a minute…on a good day. The processor, ram, and mobo are about 4.5 years old. The case I’ll keep but the hard drives, processor (proc for short), and motherboard (mobo) are on my list to replace. Even the most basic of processors at the moment will be faster than mine and will allow me to multitask and be random to a greater extent.

Other additions to the computer: Multitasking / Gaming is my goal

New Processor / RAM / Motherboard (necessary to support the new Processor) – about $300
2 x 1TB (Terabyte) Hard drives - $94.99 each
1 TV tuner card - $90
Install Windows 7 (so much better than Vista) - FREE
New optical drive – anywhere from $30-$150

Clothes – like 2 or 3 pair of jeans

Other things on my list of eventualities / dreams:

A Tv (32”)
Xbox 360 (Forza and some other titles)
PS3 (Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken, and more)

Christmas In Dornbirn

2010-01-04T01:27:00.000-05:00

First of all Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December as opposed to the 25th. I was invited by Sebastian and Clemens to come to their house and have Christmas dinner there. I had no idea what the norm was for a typical Austrian Christmas…but this was probably (minus no presents..the dinner and invite was a perfectly fine present as far as I was concerned) one of the most fun Christmas’s I’ve had. I did a little research and found out that the mom likes Dry Sec and the father really enjoys cigars, perfect! I stopped by the local store and picked up some Sec (Rose and White) and then headed off to a tobacco shop. Sebastian told me the tobacco shop by the main train station had a good selection of cigars. My friends and I used to smoke cigars back in the day and I knew that a Swisher Sweet or Black & Mild was not going to cut it by any stretch of the imagination.

Luckily the tobacco shop had a good selection of some very nice cigars. The first cigar package the guy pulled out for me was 91 Euros, that’s well over 100 dollars worth of cigars….umm next. I love the Hammerle family lol butttt okay moving on. He also had “Romeo & Julieta’s” and another favorite of mine “La Gloria Cubana” which I and my friend Dan always enjoyed in the past and are generally good solid cigars. I then saw a package by Zino by Davidoff that was just about perfect. It included 4 cigars in a wrapping that was perfect for gift giving and was in my budget. The case slides out and the 4 cigars are in hard plastic cases. For the amount I spent (around 26 Euros) it looked far more expensive and we could enjoy a cigar together.

With the Christmas shopping complete I headed to Skribo (found from my earlier attempt to get green cellophane lol). I purchased two bags for the bottles and wrapping for the cigar package. Perfect, well almost. I was expecting them to include or at least hint at putting tissue paper in with the bottles. This was learned at my mom’s craft shop (our entire house) when I was little. Whenever giving something in it’s true form tissue paper in the bag around it helps. As my Aunt says, “It’s all about presentation.”

Speaking of presentation just check out the dinner. It pretty much speaks for itself. The traditional Christmas meal here in Austria is fondue. On the table we had two different pots, one with oil and one with flavored oil …more like a soup. What you do is, well the same as you would with cheese fondue. We picked out the meats we wanted, put them on the skewer and then waited a few minutes until the meat was cooked to our liking. We had so many different meats it was hard to not find something to my liking. Then combine the cooked meat with some cooked or seasoned mushrooms and the various sauces and you’re golden. Top that off with some bread and you’re stuffed. What an amazing dinner. The family has told me that they want to have me over again for a typical Austrian dinner. I leave in about 10 days though (wow already…) but will be sure to update if that does happen.

You can check out some more pictures here!

*I still have to get the photos that Clemens took, but once I do I will update*

Surprise Attack

2009-12-31T01:29:00.000-05:00

I’m at my friend Sandra and Jennie’s place hanging out having a beer, when I get a phone call. My friend Hannes asks me what I have planned for new years and I reply, “No plans yet, why what’s up?” He’s like, “Alright, get your bags…pack…and meet me at the train station at 23:53hr…we’re going to Vienna for New Years.

Jennie had invited me to go with her and her cute friends (especially one of them who happened to be single) to a pretty big party at Steinbach. I had been hanging out with them for a about 2hrs when I got the call so I didn’t feel to bad, and they definitely didn’t mind after I told them the story (haven’t been to Vienna…wanted to go to Vienna…no plans for New Years etc). They were actually pretty excited for me and weren't really sure if they were going to the club anyways. There was definitely someone I was looking forward to seeing but we’re going bowling on Monday so hopefully then.

So as I type this I am on the train with Hannes to party for New Years in Vienna. New Years has always been something of a let down for numerous reasons that I do not really want to go into…but anyways. This time I am seriously looking forward to seeing Vienna and enjoying New Years!

End of the year dinner w/ “The Crew”

2009-12-16T10:39:00.000-05:00

I was invited to the employee end of the year party/dinner. Christian the boss boss told me that all the guys at Gruener were saying "Tyler has to be there" which I mean really I can't even express in words what that means to me. These guys have allowed me to really have the semester I wanted while I was here in Austria. They have quickly become family to me and I have learned more than they know from them.

Check out pictures here

I have learned from all and especially Benni (we called each other Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice)

1. If you are having fun, even behind the bar, the people will have fun.

2. Relax but make sure you’re keeping your eye on things. For me this was collecting glasses periodically, making sure bar surfaces were clean, running the dish washer, refilling straws, and serving drinks.

3. I learned most of the typical drinks ordered at Pavi and the hand signals that go with it.

4. Benni: Taught me that even when being the boss you can still have fun and be friends with your staff.

5. Benni: The importance of paying those even if they don’t ask for money. “You work for me, you get paid” that is the way it works no questions. Always pay people for their time and their work. And in turn people are more motivated to work for you. Especially when you are allowing them to have the time of their lives when otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford it.

6. When you’re family your family. There are moments when Hugo, Sebe, Philip, Benni all advised me as if I was their brother. When Brandon Moseley came to visit they took him and showed him the greatest night we had while in Austria. I told them I really wanted to show my friend a good time and they took the invitation with open arms. Those moments I will never forget and those are the reasons I will return to Austria even if solely to visit these guys. These guys really helped me make this semester what I dreamed it would be.

These are just a few pictures…the pictures can not even begin to express how much I appreciate everything they have done for me and the times we’ve had together so far.

My favorite jams while here in Austria

2009-12-16T10:20:00.001-05:00

As of right now these are two of my favorite tunes. I’ve got more on my YouTube profile.

This song is by Dj Krafty Kuts. He won “Best DJ” three years in a row which is no small achievement. It was awesome getting to see him perform live. The guy had 6 turn tables on the stage at once. He specializes in all forms of break beats which is what makes him so unique. He appeals to pretty much everyone and the song below is one of my favorites.

I first heard this song when Clemens was Dj’ing at Pavi…I wish the song was longer.

Blog topics from Christian and Amanda

2009-12-16T10:15:00.000-05:00

1) What did you do for Thanksgiving? Anything interesting? I know it’s past, but it’s good for people here to see what students do celebrate while abroad.

What did I do? I slept and it was glorious. About 35 of the international students got together in the dormitory that is nearest to the school and had a big dinner there. The American students that cooked tried the best they could to recreate a typical thanksgiving dinner. From the pictures it looks pretty damn good.

2) I saw in your blog a post about the Swedish magazine. Could you elaborate on that, please?

Definitely. My good friend Zebastian Nylund wrote an article explaining and commenting on his semester abroad here in Austria. The article was for a magazine published (I believe) for his school. I got credit because the pictures that you see are ones that I took. I thought it was pretty awesome that my pictures were worthy of any magazine period! Thanks Zebastian!

3) How do you think you’ve changed during your time abroad? How do you see world now? How do you see American culture?

What a loaded question. The answer is definitely yes. For me there were no mind blowing revelations that I have experienced so far. But then again I am still in the Austrian culture and something really might hit home when I get back to the states. I must say that before coming to Austria I really wasn’t that patriotic. But being here as definitely made me appreciate the States and the live I have there. I see the world as much more complex. For one Europe is not just “Europe.” Each country and even in Austria, each town, is different. Yes your still in Austria but every town has a different dialect for the most part. You can tell who is from Vienna versus those from Vorarlberg. The dialect here is so different that people from Germany have an extremely tough time making out words and understanding. I never knew that 30 min away you could have a completely different dialect. And so different that those traveling there might not know what you’re saying. That’s wild.

I can comment on how I see American culture but I would rather do so when I return to the states. That is, I believe, when I will notice the greatest differences.

4) In your first installment, you addressed the topic of race

Studying abroad will be challenging. I'll be facing all the unknowns. I guess honestly one of my biggest fears is being the "black" guy, to be honest with you. However, I know that Europe tends to not see race as much, but rather where you are from. So I think it will be very interesting to be seen as an "American" and not so much as "African-American."

Would you say the above was true of your experience? If so, could you elaborate a little bit on it? I understand if you don’t want to address this topic. It’s your call.

I thought I was going to stick out like a sore thumb. In the first few days when walking to and from school just about everyone that drove by was staring at me. Even in the cafeteria at school. I quickly got over this but it was uncomfortable at the time. I remember thinking to myself, “Is it because I’m black? Is it because of the way I dress? Or is it as simple as they haven’t seen me before?” The most uncomfortable experience was probably in the cafeteria.

I mean we stare at everyone no matter what they are. So, it took me a minute but I realized that it is because no one here knows me. People are trying to place you, where are you from, why are you here, etc etc. But after a little while and once people got to know me it wasn’t a problem at all. I would say (and some local Austrian students would say) that I have gotten to know a great deal of people here and now have no problem walking around. Now that people know who I am it’s no problem. It just takes a while for people to get used to you and I realized I stare anytime someone is new as well. So often times, we have to remind ourselves that what is on your mind (for why you’re being stared at) might not necessarily be on the other persons mind.

In the News (Vol.at)

2009-12-12T08:50:00.000-05:00

A little earlier this month I received an e-mail from Sabine asking if I wanted to take part in an interview. The interview was being done on international students studying here in Vorarlberg. I just happen to check my FHV e-mail account and saw the e-mail. So, I replied saying sure I wouldn’t mind helping (what I thought to be) a fellow student out. The next day (12.2.09) they came to the classroom and video taped us in class to see what the learning environment and class setting was like. Then at noon I was interviewed. I had NO CLUE that this was the news channel for all of Vorarlberg. But it turns out that it was. My friend Phillip posted up the link he found on the Vol.at website. I was like, “Say what!” It was on the front page of the website for a while to my surprise lol. But none the less here is the link.

Click the picture to go to the page. The video is near the bottom with the story above it.

The basic questions were:

The basics, what’s my name, where am I from, how long have I been here in Vorarlberg, what brought me here and how did I chose this particular place and school to study, what is one big difference that I’ve noticed? Those are the main questions that I remember! But, yea it is wild to see myself on the news. Apparently, many of the students here and people.

Below is a rough translation provided by Google Translator:

Tyler Cookson comes from the USA and at the University of Applied Sciences in Dornbirn spends a semester abroad. He already knows the cart, which he pronounces Carrrrren "and would like to go) (still in Moorrrrenbraumusem Mohrenbräumuseum before having to leave again.

Laura Kirjonen loves the "mountain" in Vorarlberg. Tyler and Laura are among the 58 visiting students who currently attend the University of Applied Sciences Dornbirn a semester abroad.Most visiting students - a total of 13 - to come this semester from the U.S. as Tyler. Finland is close behind with eleven students. From Sweden, Germany and Turkey are each five students.Three students are from Spain and from Mexico. The remaining countries of origin are Austria, Belgium, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Australia and Korea.

When asked whether he might Vorarlberg, Tyler replied fervently, "I love Vorarlberg" Here he has now met several families who regularly invite him to dinner.
Laura likes it so well in Vorarlberg, because the people here can speak High German, when asked why: "The Vorarlberg dialect is difficult for me unfortunately. But people also speak High German, and this is perfect! "

Greatest Christmas Decoration Ever

2009-12-07T07:17:00.001-05:00

I got this in an e-mail from my mom!

Greatest Christmas Decoration Ever
Scroll to the bottom to read the text

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories.

But two things made me take it down:'

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.
Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

Sunrise Avenue @ Conrad Sohm

2009-12-02T05:30:00.001-05:00

Thanks to my good friend Benni (the boss at Pavi) I got to see a pretty cool concert last night. The tickets were not sold normally, rather people could only win tickets. I was talking with the boss at Conrad Sohm and he was telling me that they just finished playing to an audience of over 60,000 people. The music was definitely good and I think I’ll actually get some of their music. Hanging out with Benni behind the bar was a blast. Stupidly I did not bring my camera!

The band is currently touring Austria, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe. Their first able sold over 400,000 copies and 800,000 singles.The band is from Finland and the link will take you to their official website (www.sunriseave.com).

Published in Sweden

2009-12-01T01:10:00.001-05:00

So my good friend here Zebastian Nylund wrote a pretty extensive article for a magazine (I believe school) back in Sweden. Here students that are traveling abroad reflect and write about some of their experiences here in Austria.

So, he knocks on my door with the article and then shows me my name on it. lol. I’m like what! Where and then I noticed that the pictures are mine! Who knew I was a professional photographer lol.

Check out some of the pictures below:

Yup that’s my name…kinda tight.

Upgrades @ Pavi – In search of the Green Cellophane

2009-12-01T00:58:00.001-05:00

Alright, so I was looking around the other day at Pavi and noticed something. First off, the place is called Gruener (or Green) Pavilion. But how many green lights are down stairs? The answer to that question is 2…which for me definitely wasn’t enough. I mean green is a cool color and some places were in need of love.

Anyways, the epic adventure started one night while I was bored (before the people arrived…around 11:30 or 12am is when it gets going) and decided to try and find some cellophane. Well, they did have cellophane there but it was red. Now, the lights in Conrad Sohm (the club that just about everyone goes to after this club) are red for the bar. And after retro-fitting the lights…while it was cool for the night…I just wasn’t feeling it. The red cellophane was too dark, especially for the lights behind the bar where it’s definitely important to be able to see what you’re doing.

So, I said to myself…okay, how hard can green cellophane be to find? I mean really? Well just about impossible is the answer. I spent over well over 3 hours searching all (literally) of Dornbirn for green cellophane with no luck. Places had clear cellophane and that’s about it. I checked the post office where they usually have gift wrapping supplies, especially around this time of year…but to no avail. Okay, so anyone in the post office know where I might be able to find some green cellophane - “Hey, you might want to try the Sütterluty.” Okay cool, it’s like 10 meters from the post office…oh but wait…no luck. Okay, so where else near the center of Dornbirn can I check. Again I asked around and found that there is an art supply store and a Skribo up the street.

The art supply store, I believe, is pretty self explanatory..but if you are still finding yourself in need of clarification feel free to post a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible. The Skribo on the other hand is a legit question. Skribo is basically one big craft store and was maybe 200m from the train station (where the post office and Sütterluty were). So, okay…no worries I’ll just hop over there and they HAVE to have some right? No, wrong again. Okay, maybe the art store? Nope.

My father always enjoyed challenges like this and when I was young would always tell me that whatever “it” was..usually an inanimate object…just hadn’t learned to not mess with a Cookson yet. I too enjoy challenges and problem solving and this was definitely turning into one of my fathers famous journeys. Okay so far we’ve eliminated:

The post office
The Sütterluty
Skribo – the craft store
An art place (technical term)

The next suggestion I got was to try a huge store almost like Home Depot or Lowes…but I think bigger (two floors) called Mega bauMax. But in order to get there I needed to catch a bus to the Messepark. Have I been there before..no. Do I know how the bus system works here…no. So, alright let’s do it. Fifteen minutes later I’m in the Messepark and see my beacon, the Mega bauMax. As I get closer, I’m feeling pretty good about the store. I can see just about everything you could possibly want. Industrial saws, concrete mix (just what you wanted right?), lumber, crafts (yes crafts), Christmas decorations, lighting, tile, kitchen appliances…the list goes on.

So I drop my backpack off to the cute girl at the information desk. I really don’t feel like lugging my backpack with my laptop and what not all around the store. I ask her where I might find green cellophane and she points me towards the Christmas decorations. I’m thinking, “Okay, cool …this place looks like it’s got variety and I feel like I’m shopping with my mom and my Aunt for art / craft supplies or decorating “things” in general.” Anyways, I’m in my comfort zone and stroll over and find …yea…clear cellophane. Great. Alright so problem solving mode kicks in…look for items that are packaged in green transparent plastic.

I searched the entire store top to bottom with no luck. I make my way back down to the cute girl at the information desk and ask where else in the Messepark I might find green cellophane. She points me to the International Eurospar located a few hundred meters away. So I traverse traffic and make it alive only to find…clear cellophane…my arch enemy.

Think Tyler…think, is what I’m telling myself. “Oh! Flower shops sometimes have different cellophane that they wrap flowers in, alright let’s try there.” Nope. And that was a nope for all the other potential art / craft / decorating stores within the mall there in the Messepark. Feeling a little defeated I head back home to recoup and try again tomorrow.

I visit Pavi and tell of my search and near defeat. They name stores and I’m checking them all off..yup been there…been there…been there.

My business plan development group had a presentation on (you guessed it…our business plan) on Thursday this past week. After this as a little celebration the girls wanted to grab a glass of wine and head to a new market place opening in the Marktplatz. We’re wondering around looking for various things. My friend Alina is looking for Pokémon while Bianca, Claire, and myself are just browsing. The new market place is like a mini mall…it has clothing stores and more. The girls wanted to help me find the cellophane as I had told them of my journey’s, so they said lets check the Libro. And we finally…finally found green cellophane!!!!

I left some lights clear for light and also made sure that the lights don’t get so hot that they melt the cellophane. So far so good! I also wrapped lights that you see as soon as you come down the stairs. So the first thing you see when you enter and turn is the green glow that casts down on the floor as you make your way towards the bar. I’ll have to get some pictures of this.

Casino in Bregenz

2009-12-01T00:24:00.001-05:00

My first time in a Casino! Now, I must say that Casino’s and gambling (for real money) are not really my scene. I’m all for a game of poker with amateurs and small (like pennies) amounts of money lol. It’s just more fun that way for me. But none the less, I was invited by one of my good friends at Gruener Pavilion (Pavi for short) to come with him to the Casino in Bregenz. My friend Sebastian, his girlfriend Tabia, and Thomas were meeting old friends of theirs that they used to work with a the Bregenz Festival. Sebastian asked me one evening at Pavi if I:

A: Had a suit

B: Would like to come with him to the Casino

Yes and Yes were my answers. I knew bringing my suit would come in handy. This was the first casino (as I mentioned) that I had ever been too and it was a pretty neat experience.The casino is located in Bregenz and is close to lake Konstanz. It’s about a 30 minute drive…and tack on an extra 10 minutes because when we got to Sebastian's house…he asked if I had my passport…and of course I didn’t. So back to Moosmahdstrasse, but it was no problem. My friends got to catch up with their friends and although they mostly spoke German they were really a fun bunch of people. It cost about 30 euro’s to get in and I ended up winning 50 euro’s and called it quits right there. Lol I can’t afford to loose and the casino sure as hell isn’t making that much money off of me. I’m one of those people they hate lol. But it really was fun, I was a bit tired but other than that, fun.

Here we are in front of the casino:

Wanna see what the place looks like!? Take a virtual tour here.

If that does work just click here and you’ll see the words Virtuelle Tour starten underlined. Just click that and the tour should start.

Pictures:

Windows 7

2009-11-30T23:56:00.001-05:00

Just installed Windows latest operating system, Windows 7, earlier today. I already like it more than Vista..with out a doubt. I’ll be messing around with it more this week.

THREE things I already love.

1. The new taskbar

2. The shake feature

3. The half screen feature

Handynummer

2009-11-20T15:27:00.001-05:00

Thank you to the guys at Gruener Pavi for the new cell phone (well, new to me)! It’s perfect for what I need here and they helped me set everything up on it …add money…and the in’s and out’s. Sebastian asked me one night if I had a cell phone yet.

T - “No, but it is on my list to get.”

S- “Okay, well I have one for you! Come by Gruener on Tuesday and it will be there for you.”

So, Tuesday rolls around and I headed to Gruener to grab a beer. For days other than Thurs/Fri/Sat it is only the upstairs that is really open. The upstairs is more of a bar / lounge area. Sebastian and Philipp had sourced one of their old phones for me and had it charged and ready to go. I mean how awesome is this.

And they didn’t just hand it to me. Philipp helped me add money via the ATM and how to use the pin / SIM card since I don’t really have experience with this. My phone in the states is locked and the SIM card is not removable (not with out a lot of effort). So, 20 Euro’s later I’ve got my own Austrian number…that’s what’s up.

Here it is…pimpin in action:

Dinner with Clemens

2009-11-20T15:19:00.001-05:00

My friend Clemens (the second guy from the right), who I’ve gotten to know by working at Gruener Pavilion, showed me a special Vorarlberg dish. It was a extremely heavy meal …but soooooo good. Here’s what we had:

1. Käse Knöpfle “Großmuttersart” – Großmuttersart means grandmothers art (as in a home made dish made by grandma herself).

2. Salat mit Kartoffeln (salad with potatoes) – no picture …sorry :(
3. To wash it all down…a shot of Williams Bierne (Williams Pear Brandy). The pear is actually grown in the glass! Extremely good brandy.

Moseley Visits, Mercedes Museum, and Porsche one more time!

2009-11-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

To Stuttgart one more time. My good friend from the States, Brandon Moseley, headed over to Austria this past week. We headed out to Stuttgart the night he arrived (11.3.09). The agenda for the next two days was – cars. We checked out the Mercedes Museum the very next day and then the Porsche Museum. Mose got to sit in his dream car the C300 from Mercedes and I got to see some of my dream cars (911 GT2, 911 GT3 / GT3 RS, and more).

The Mercedes Museum is definitely an impressive building.

The way it was designed is to take you through the history of the company as you descend from the top of the building. The elevator takes you to the top of the building while simultaneously giving you an introduction to the very beginning of Mercedes.

As soon as you exit the elevator this is what you see:

There really is to much to write about this. So I will let some of the pictures do the talking.

View Full Album

Questions from Christian W.

2009-11-11T09:27:00.000-05:00

These questions are really short. I could write an endless essay on the differences and similarities between Austria and the States. But I was asked to keep answers short because these are going to be used for a newsletter.

What’s been the best aspect of your experience thus far?

By far it has been speaking with and getting to know the locals of Dornbirn. They are usually more than happy to share what they know and talk about differences.

How is life in Austria any different from here? How are classes, the other students, and faculty similar or different?

Life in Austria is significantly different for me. I do recycle in the states but not to the extent that they have recycling here. Working with other students from different cultures is challenging, sometimes frustrating, but extremely rewarding. These experiences provide a look (if you choose) inside yourself and allow you to understand and grow as a person. The faculty and staff have been a pleasure to work with here at Dornbirn. The school size is nice, not to big, not to small. I feel the same here as I do in Lynchburg as far as comfort.
People bike everywhere. I’ve seen 80 year old women biking to and from work or the store. Even the post is delivered to houses via bikes.
Things are much closer
People don’t shop for weeks at a time when it comes to food
You can buy beer in vending machines and at school lol
I’ve talked with locals about driving and the driving tests in Europe are much harder and cost a ridiculous amount of money. Some have told me a minimum of 1200 Euros.
People dress up everywhere they go. There is no sweat pants or people wearing pajamas to school.

How helpful have the International Office staff been?

They are there for you, there is no doubt about it. People here work just like people all over the world. While things might be a bit more direct here (simply due to culture) they follow the same principals. Treat one with respect and you shall receive respect. Also, just like anywhere else…pay attention to their instructions.

In addition to Austrian students, from what other countries are the students on your program? Is having a good international mix good for the program and intercultural exchange? What have you learned about Austria or other countries that’s different from the US?

Having a mix of students has been awesome. We have students from; Turkey, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Slovakia, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Poland, Australia, and more.
I should note that a key factor to engaging yourself in the local community is to not hang around American’s all the time. Look you traveled to a foreign country to immerse yourself in their culture (hopefully). No matter how shallow or deep you decide to go, remember you can hang out with Americans…in America! Although, I must say it is nice meeting other American’s while traveling, it’s pretty cool because now you’re the outsider that doesn’t speak the language. The role reversal is both very unique and awesome.
I’ve learned far more than I can fit in a single blog entry or posting. But things that stick out to me:
1. The dialect here is VERY different from that spoken or learned in school (High Deutsch)
2. Overall people are very friendly and often interested in where you come from and why you’ve picked Austria (more curious than questioning).
3. Very little small talk. People are direct with what they say and are literal with what they mean. You start to see just how much small talk us Americans have.
4. Promptness is important and is highly valued.
5. People in Austria are much more likely to say hello to you on the streets than most in Germany (I have visited Germany 3 times thus far)

Would you recommend the FHV exchange program to students back at LC? What advice would you give them?

There is no doubt in my mind; I would absolutely recommend this program to students at LC. It has, bar-none, been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have learned more about others, myself, and culture that you can not derive from reading. Traveling like this is something that really should be experienced, it’s absolutely phenomenal.
Use me as a resource (there’s too much advice to fit really).
1. Learn German – how to say hello, ask how much something costs, what is someone’s name, etc.
2. Learn military time
3. Anything that has an AC converter on it only needs a plug adapter
4. Prepare for a more fast paced learning environment (it is not ridiculous but it is a challenge)
5. Speak with others and don’t base everything on what others say. Remember that your experience WILL be different from others, there is no doubt about it. It’s okay to take what others say about traveling abroad (their experiences etc), but remember to keep an open mind and decide for yourself. Save money, you’re going to want to spend a lot when you’re here.

Questions – From Amanda D’Arcy

2009-11-11T09:23:00.000-05:00

Halloween- Is it celebrated in Austria? How is it the same or different? Any plans?

FHV is actually holding a pre-Halloween party. I’m very interested to see what this is like!

Update* – I didn’t attend the Halloween party but did talk to a few locals about Halloween celebrations here in Austria and they told me that it’s celebrated but not nearly as much as in the US. I was talking to a friend of mine, Jennifer, in my business plan development class the other day. She mentioned to me that she has heard about the college parties in the states and that to experience one would be really cool. I believe that’s really because it’s just not as big a deal here. I saw a few people dressed up at the club but it wasn’t overwhelming. There was a really good concert / dj that night in Conrad Sohm. So after hanging out / working at the Green Pavilion I went there with the staff. That was a lot of fun!

What's the Swine Flu paranoia like there, if any?

None really…it’s not a paranoia over here. People know of it but no one that I’ve met is freaking out about it. You can really tell when something is on people’s minds when you hear jokes about it. It may be in passing or the joke may center completely on the subject itself. But I’ve only heard one joke about Swine flu or its effects while I’ve been here. In the states even before I left for Austria I was hearing murmurs, comments, and passing jokes about it far more than I have here.

Health care debate?

Nadda really. People are aware, more or less, about what is going on in the United states. I’ve had a few people jokingly say to me (at the bar) “Yes We Can.” Lol so the recognition that America has a black president and that I’m black

Have you found some favorite spots in the city- restaurants, parks, neighborhoods?

Party:
- Grüner Pavilion - is my favorite spot. (More to come on this
- Conrad Sohm
- Mr. Johns.
Eat:
- Oricks Happy Kebap (I will be writing about this) – this is the place to go
- Innauer – upscale but very nice!
- I’ve honestly gone out to eat a lot but usually…to keep costs down I eat Kebab or cook at home. But there are plenty of nice places around here. Not to mention the dozens of bakeries that fill the air with one of the greatest smells each and every morning. Fresh breads, meats, a farmers market, cheeses from surrounding regions. It’s a smorgasbord of really great food, especially to cook with.

What have been some of your favorite past times?

Getting to know the locals, seriously. My favorite past time by far would have to be working at the Sawmill with Mattias, his father Jakob, and Norbert. For me that place is a life saver. My brain is usually so filled from information in class and pressure from assignments etc, that it’s really nice to have a place to go and do something I enjoy and help people out. The physical labor aspect is a much needed change from the theoretical learning and exercises done in class.

Beyond this, it is meeting and hanging out with locals!

Did you encounter any opinions about President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize? What seems to be the general opinion regarding the new administration?

I haven’t encountered any opinions or talk on President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I honestly think people here are just glad there is someone new in office. People are a little hesitant to talk with me about President Obama. The automatic assumption is that I did support him, because it’s like, “Oh, well he’s black so naturally he would support him, etc.” I can see the assumption in peoples eyes. But I don’t take offense at all. I can see people tread lightly when I’m around and politics or Obama comes up. “Oh, I don’t want it to look like I don’t approve of a black guy being the president etc etc. I mean I don’t really care. It has occurred to me that, “Hey, you just might no like the guy, his policies etc". I think people were less concerned about race but more about policies and the persons ultimate goals. But it’s really funny I’ve had people say to me “Yes We Can” in passing and in a nice manner…not meant to be offensive. Mostly just showing that they know of the change (literally, from one president to the next) happening in the U.S.

Dinner at Boss’s House – Round 2

2009-11-01T06:27:00.000-05:00

This is from a while back but I forgot to post it. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Simply amazing food and amazing people. Thank you!

This is a present and gift card I got/made for Jakob and his wife while I was at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. Obviously wrapped by a man (note the printing paper used as wrapping paper), but I must admit it is all I had at the time and well…it was the thought more than the presentation. Although my Aunt, who is right, always says presentation is everything. You can give the tiniest or biggest gift but the way you present it makes it.

Dinner @ Innauer = Amazing

2009-10-31T17:01:00.001-04:00

You never know who you're going to run into. I met the head chef of this restaurant one night while at Grüner Pavilion. Both Tom and I have gotten to know Jodok and have been wanting to try his food. He is the head chef at a fine restaurant right in the Marktplatz (maybe a 10min walk from where I live). So, this past Monday (10.26.09) Tom and I decided to head out there for dinner and take Jodok up on his offer. That night I really didn’t feel like doing homework and this sounded much cooler.
Location: Marktstraße 33, 6850 Dornbirn

Website: www.innauer.com

The man:

^ Jodok Dietrich, Küchenchef

The place:

What we ate:

1. Wild Austrian mountain fried goat cheese on top of goats cheese with passion fruit, in a bowl of smoke (they fill the bowl with smoke before it’s served…smelled so good) – specially prepared for Tom and Myself as “special” guests.

2. Raw mushrooms on raw deer meat (left hand side) & liver of duck on the right hand side. Absolutely amazing.
3. Salmon on goats cheese (I believe) with spinach leaves in layers. With a foundation of spinach puree.

4. Argentine beef w/ potatoes and onions. My descriptions do not do the food any justice. It was great!

5. Topfen w/ pineapple, ice cream and chocolate crumbles.

An absolutely amazing meal prepared and served my Jodok and his crew.

Below is a photo after work.

(Left to Right: Bobbi, Jodok (head chef), Tom Rocks, Myself, and the Jay)

I would like to personally thank Jodok and the Innauer crew for a truly wonderful meal and experience. I will be back! – Tyler C.

Frankfurt Trip [Part 1] – Travelling and arriving in Frankfurt

2009-10-31T16:26:00.000-04:00

Don’t go party the night before you have to travel…my head was killing me the ENTIRE journey. I felt like someone had hit me with a wrecking ball. Yea we’re going to skip the hammer and sledge hammer and go straight for the wrecking ball analogy. Okay, now for 6 hours of running and traveling. Let’s do it baby!

9am – Comes way to early and Ryan and Eric are knocking at my door

9:30am – I’ve been hit with a colorful assortment of wrecking balls and am now running to the train station to catch the train…we are off to a good start but I have faith in Ryan…he’s a traveling expert. Just pissed that I’m running already…and my ankle, lack of water / sleep is not helping my situation. This will be the last time I go out before a big trip. So after several hours of travel we arrive at Heidelberg!

Heidelberg

So my friend Ryan Saunders (while we were at the train stop in Heidelberg) decided to take a look outside the train station just to see what things were like. I think we had a few minutes (few being relative since we’ve been running for trains the entire day trying to make the 6hr journey a little less). He comes back to us with a little smirk on his face, “Hey guys I just took a look outside and I got a good feeling about this place….let’s hang out here for a little while, see what there is, and catch a later train.” For one my ankle, since I sprained it playing soccer, has been killing me the entire time. I still need to get it looked at to make sure everything is okay but for this trip I definitely wasn’t at 100%…making me the frustrating “slow” person. So, I was more than up for hanging out and just chillin somewhere for a little bit. And that’s exactly what we did. We found out that there’s a pretty cool castle with an even cooler view in Heidelberg. Perfect weather, gorgeous view, I was happy.

<—picture album just click

Frankfurt – Red Light District

…that’s right baby

So our hostel, the 5 Elements Hostel, was conveniently located right in the middle of the Red Light district in Frankfurt. It’s actually an extremely nice hostel.

Disclaimer from the 5 Elements Hostel:

! IMPORTANT NOTE !
YES WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REDLIGHT DISTRICT.
And we can assure you that it is not dangerous, in fact most of our guests think it's rather funny, check the ratings.

Ryan and Eric who went with me on this trip and have traveled far more than I have said this is by far the nicest hostel they’ve stayed in. The fact that it is in the red light district is just fun. At no point did we have the “I don’t feel safe here” feeling. It was more comical than anything else. As you walk down the streets the guys try to get you in…everyone’s name was conveniently Jimmy lol or some variation there of. They were quick to want to be your best friends and offered a free beer, yeaaa but we know better. It didn’t stop it from being funny though lol. The staff, service, and sleeping

(This is just one of the rooms you can get…not ours, we stayed in an 8 person room…but linens and everything else were great)

quarters were very nice! I would definitely stay there again without hesitation. We even got free breakfast (fresh sandwich meats, breads, cereals, drinks, etc for the two days we were there because the elevator was out. There was free W-LAN, nice showers and restrooms (which can be important when you’re traveling) and more.

Frankfurt Trip [Part 2] – THE Car show

2009-10-31T16:24:00.000-04:00

Over 7 hours and 600 pictures is what I spent / took at the 2009 IAA Frankfurt Auto show.

Sensory overload is really the only thing I can say. It was massive in size and just endless. I mean if you really wanted to do everything it would probably take 2 days.

Some of my favorites and pictures can be seen HERE

Classmates and International Dormitory

2009-10-18T20:20:00.001-04:00

Questions

Also, how are your classmates and other students you’ve met?
How are things working out in the dorm?
What’s it like to meet people from so many different places?

I am going to split the 3rd question up and give it it’s own post because I want to incorporate what it’s like working with students from so many different places.

Funny that I’m listening to Daft Punk – Around the World at the moment but anyways on to more formal things. Like I said earlier in my blog I really wanted to make posts that would be a help to future students looking to study abroad in Austria specifically. However, a lot of what I say goes for anywhere you go. There will be specific’s for wherever it is you may find yourself, but in general, if you can extrapolate the fundamentals found in some of these posts then you’re all that more prepared. The best thing about studying abroad is that no matter how much advice someone may give or throw your way, your experience will definitely be unique to you.

But to answer the questions:

How are my classmates and other students I’ve met?

I’ve met students from all over the world. The vast majority are very open. I would say attending a class here in Austria would be like attending your first class at your local school. You know no one but gradually you all get to know each other. Because of the way classes work here we spend a good amount of time working together in groups and in class. The Austrian culture as a whole is more conservative and what I mean by this is you’re not going to get the, “WHAT UP!!!!” when you walk into class lol. But that’s alright! Everyone I’ve met so far has been cool. Of course you’re not going to like everyone. People are going to get on your nerves just like anywhere else but so far I love the other students that I’ve met. It’s been nothing but a positive learning experience.

How are things in the Dorm?

People

I’m staying in the International Dormitory and so far things have been good actually. I mean sometimes the internet is way slow which can be real annoying, especially for someone that multitasks on the computer. But it’s not something that is ruining my day nor is it like that all the time. The international dorm is actually really new. I’ve got pictures of my room here that you can check out to see what it looks like. Nothing is cheap here, construction wise. My bed is comfortable, everything is concrete so noise etc at night is not a problem. As a lot of us started to arrive in August we all began to hang out with each other. It was a real bonding experience and it was a great way to meet everyone and get to know people. This was a mandatory “you all should chill with one another” but voluntary. So, by the time school started we were all pretty tight. People had figured out their groups and who they liked and could stand lol for more than 5 minutes and those they couldn’t .

Community

We really became a mini community. People posted up their contact information down stairs on the main bored and set up a facebook group. Basically from there, people would just get together and post up trips they either had planned or wanted to go on to see if others wanted to as well. So, if you were looking to travel everything was open. People were often checking with me to see if I wanted to go on something with them so I could book with them etc. Traveling and or finding someone to travel with really hasn’t been a problem. Some people are gone all the time. Lol, my neighbor Ryan has just about been all over Europe by now …and is actually in Slovakia as I type this. Others like myself haven’t traveled as much but have really gotten engrained into the local culture, getting to know locals etc. Everyone has a different experience which is cool! Also worth noting is you’re no longer on a college campus where everyone is staying up till 4am and bumpin’ music. Be mindful of the neighbors, we’ve already had several complaints and the police over to remind us to be quiet. Simple things like shutting your windows will definitely help alleviate the whole police visit extravaganza.

Fire Alarms

Not cool. At the very beginning people were setting off fire alarms left and right. Now, what really sucks about this is there is a 150 Euro charge (about $212 US dollar) every time one goes off. Not everyone get’s charged, just the person that set it off. Apparently it’s something like $50 to push the button to turn the alarm off and some other pricey charges. But it was getting a little out of hand and people weren’t doing anything that should be setting off the alarms. Just normal cooking. So those that did get charged along with the rest of us e-mailed our landlord (that’s a whole other story) asking to have the alarms checked. At this point people were even afraid to regular cooking in fear of setting off the alarm, which was true. So, the came out and checked it and realized the fire alarms (which obviously were working) were set too sensitive and that was the reason they were going off so much. They adjusted them and there hasn’t been a problem yet.

Recycle

Austria takes recycling to the extreme. Europe in general recycles more than the states in general. But in Austria we separate: paper & cardboard, plastic, metal, organic (left over food), and regular garbage. The dorm does provide containers and separation for all. They are serious about separation so it’s not something that you just say “Ehh oh well” about. My family has always recycled in the states. But the US does not recycle to the extent they do here. So, that was a bit of a learning curve and adjustment at the beginning. As of now it’s really not that bad.

Visiting Riss in Salzburg!!

2009-10-16T13:59:00.001-04:00

Riss and I have been trying to find a way to get together here in Europe. I mean how hard can it be right? Well all the plane tickets from either here to Belgium or from Antwerp, Belgium to Austria are in the 300 Euro range which is a bit much especially since it’d be for a day or two at most due to our schedules. Buttt we found a way! She was in Salzburg for a few days this week and actually today just left for Munich. So, after class on Thursday I packed up and headed to Salzburg. It turned out to be about 4.5hrs or so to get into Salzburg, and the trip was gorgeous. I mean the mountains…I couldn’t even take pictures because they don’t do it justice. It’s just one of those things you have to see. Got a little sleep on the train because I didn’t have to make many transfers etc.

FINALLY got my “VORTEILScard” which is a must have if you’re studying in Austria.

It’s just one of those things you get. It gives some serious discounts. So my trip that was going to cost me 100 Euro ended up costing me…well…about half that. It ended up being more than half this time because I paid for the actual Volteils Card (20 Euro). But it would have been a little more than 100 euro and with the VORTEILS card it cost around 54 round trip. So on we go!

Arriving!

4hrs a nice, brisk…but very cold walk later!

We meet at the Burger King right outside the Salzburg Hbf station. Fast food restaurants are definitely different over here. I saw a number of business people grabbing a bite to eat. So, I waited for a few minutes as she and her friend were on their way back from visiting the Ice Caves. And there she is!!!! So we meet up and chat for a minute and then start walking back to the hotel. That was a VERY cold walk. I wasn’t feeling it too bad but Riss and her friend (I remember your name…just don’t want mess up the spelling lol) were freezing.

So we get to the hotel and I’m introduced to friends etc and then shortly there after the stories start coming. Chris, had started this story about some figment named “Brett.” And everyone was chiming in. We were headed out to the beerhouse but Brett ended up getting separated from the group. Lol and by the sounds of the story this wasn’t the first time. So, everyone’s like, “I don’t know where the hell he is, etc.” Not worried that some things happened…he always comes back in one piece but it’s just like okay…again…really lol. But they got love for the guy so it was cool. So, we’re all laughing, Brett doesn’t have any minutes left on the phone so he can’t call and we definitely know he’s lost. So we send him a text and get one back that he’s finally here at the hotel. We go down stairs and we just have to hear the story of what happened from the man himself.

THE STORY

I felt like I was meeting an epic character or something out of a novel lol…like “this” guy. He really is a cool dude. But anyways, I can’t tell if he was on a bike or not at this point but a woman came riding up behind him and didn’t ring her “bell thingy” – to quote Brett. It’s at this time that he’s scared out of his mind, doesn’t know what’s going on behind him. (okay I remember now he is riding his bike) she puts her tire right into the back side of his causing him to loose balance. He throws his arm out, out of instinct, just trying to regain control but it’s no use. The woman eats it and goes straight into a store front window! I don’t know why this is funny but it is. He ends up falling as well …almost into the street but luckily was able to not have this epic adventure end up with a hospital type ending.

It’s just him, Brett, that makes the story funny. He’s one of those guys that you know stuff happens to, he takes it well, it’s funny to others, and no one gets hurt. He apologizes to the lady…even though it was her fault (she basically took his back tire out without warning) but she didn’t really speak German. So I think there was a mutual understanding here and they went on about their way. Well, she did, he eventually had to figure out where the hell he was and how to get back.

Bierhaus – With Riss and 30 some odd other JMU students (at one pt)

All in all I had a great time and the trip was well worth it! Gorgeous scenery, getting to see my sister, and some good laughs and good times had by all. Thanks JMU.

You can view the album and rest of the pictures here.

Things I’ve learned about giving presentations

2009-10-15T14:12:00.001-04:00

Tips I’ve learned over the years for presentations:

3 Things! (Matt Brandon) People remember and are probably going to (at the most) take away three things from your presentation. If you’ve got to have more than 3 solid points, then think about your PowerPoint and your audience. Having more than 3 points could be necessary for some, especially if it’s a more in depth analysis. But in general 3 points is just about perfect.

Don’t write so much on a slide, people can read. And beyond peoples ability to read (Garry Briese). IF you were to see this much text on a slide, you’re mind immediately shuts off…you’re no longer interested and often it’s way to much information to digest. I try to think about my PowerPoint's from the audiences perspective. Would I be able to understand my point at the end of the presentation? Is the logic I use (or examples) to get to my point clear and as concise as I can make them?

Print out a copy for yourself (Garry Briese). Some people use the Notes view where it prints out the slide and the notes you’ve typed that go with that slide. My only problem here is that the editing abilities within notes (if you have the slide above the notes section) is it’s a bit difficult to use effectively. I find it easier to type my notes, what I want to say, in a separate word document and then print this out for the presentation.

Double space and increase font size for your notes you will read from (Garry Briese & Chandra Cookson). Man, I tell you what, it’s amazing how small 12pt font gets when you’re in front of an audience. I feel like it shrinks to 8pt and then of course you’ll loose your place.

Don’t carry over on your word document. It’s often much better to be able to complete your point or thought (when referencing your notes) before having to flip a page. If I can fit two complete slides worth of information on my notes then cool. But if the point for the second slide carries over to another page then I move it so that it’s all on one page. It makes it much easier to reference and helps keep you on track as well. Flipping between pages is a distraction and can really add to frustration if someone were to ask you a question and you need to reference a point but can’t find where it is.

Colors and fonts (Experience). Make sure the colors and fonts you use are easily readable and that when you put them up on the slide you can still read them. Grey’s and blacks can be tricky especially when viewed through the projector and when light is coming in the room and washing the screen out.

If you’re really ambitious (Experience), source a projector (don’t steal one) and look to see how your presentation looks when viewed through the projector. If you can go to the exact classroom where you will be presenting. This can help you ensure that the computer can handle the format of the presentation you’re giving, and you’ll be able to see exactly how your presentation is going to look when presenting.

Northrop Grumman Presentation – School Stuff

2009-10-15T04:31:00.001-04:00

So occasionally there is this thing called school that crops up in my day to day activities lol. Here’s a little about one of my most recent presentations. I’ve put my slides in along with the story, this is the second slide of the presentation and I haven’t included all slides, but most are here.

Alright so I’ve got a lot of posts and blogs about other stuff…pretty much everything else besides school and school work. HOWEVER, I definitely have learned a lot

After showing up this past Tuesday with a complete and “ballin’presentation…okay maybe not ballin…but better than anything I’ve done thus far this semester. So I arrive to class at 11:30 on Tuesday and I am ready and pretty excited to present to be honest. But what happened instead was, “ohhh…I’m sorry you’re suppose to present on Thursday at 8:10am.” I was loving the clear schedule (really not so clear), I was just glad that more than one student had trouble understanding the schedule and was confused. I had spent a good amount of time on this thing to be ready for Tuesday…probably the most time I’ve spent on a presentation thus far. That’s for two reasons:

1. All my other presentations have been group presentations

2. This is my first presentation that is on my own (between 8-10min) and had fun doing some extra stuff (design etc..although still simple).

Alright, so now I’ve got it clear that my presentation is on Thursday. I think my biggest frustration was that the first section (that I thought I had to do) I understood clearly and could really present on this subject and it made sense. Not so much with the second one. My second presentation topic dealt with the Human Resources strategy of a company of my choosing. This was pretty difficult because very few companies, beyond hotel’s where their human resources / relations are the firs thing customers see and interact with, post how they go about hiring, what they look for, etc. But I tried my best to use my experience from working at the Northrop Grumman IT headquarters in Northern, Virginia.

So, I spent a lot of time simply trying to understand and make the question make sense to me so that I could really answer the question and not just pull stuff from thin air. Finally, after speaking with another student doing the same subject, it began to make sense. I needed to incorporate the three different pieces of HR and how they relate / support / enable the strategy of the company. I was unsure, until this point, what exactly I was suppose to do. The instructions for the assignment were pretty vague and the students I’ve spoken to had some difficulties understanding exactly what the professor was looking for. In the end we each decided to do it the best we knew how and that has seemed to work out well.

After a late night last night, Wednesday night…(I was here when the cleaning staff arrived at 5am…let’s just put it that way). I finished and was pretty happy with my presentation. I finally got to present today and I think it went well. It was really cool because after my presentation we had a break and a lot of the other students were telling me, “You sounded so much like a teacher, we really liked the presentation!” I immediately thought of one of my mentors who’s been putting the teaching bug in my ear, Ms. Karen Hatter, and I just smiled while thinking of her. I definitely believe I have a knack for teaching and being able to make sometimes un-relatable material relatable. And I have begun to think more and more of not necessarily becoming a teacher but having that be a key role or function in my job. For me it’s fun. I mean for this presentation I took the approach, “So what!?”

I find that, often with presentations, I’m sitting there at the end thinking okay…how does this relate to the reading and alright were they able to make this relatable to a company or organization outside of the book. I think it’s really helpful to step away from the book, although important to reference it, to better exemplify what you mean and make material make sense to those you’re talking to. I always try to simplify unnecessary and bloated vocabulary in books that are often literally very accurate but become confusing when spoken. This also depends on your audience. A lot of the students here are non-native English speaking students. I gotta say I really admire this. I mean it would be like okay, go give a presentation in Spanish for me. I know I’d be nervous as hell and that if someone were giving a presentation I would really value them simplifying and making real examples.

Weather in Austria

2009-10-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

Alright so I swear last week it was about 23C (or ~73 F a high of 81F on Wednesday). Ah, man it was nice. It felt like the days we used to go swimming in the Dornbirn Ache. Butttt… um that ended real short. I think the weather around here decided to say welcome to Austria all you foreign exchange students. Some of the mountains at 11+ centimeters (or about 4+ inches of snow). We got a nice mixture between hail and rain which was fun to walk back in. Really not that bad to be honest. But, I mean you’re body is sitting here going …wait alright yesterday it was shorts and t-shirts…and today wth (what the hell) happened. I spoke with some of the locals and this was definitely not normal. “Usually there’s a bit more of a gradual step down to the cooler weather,” said Sabine Stickle of FHV. But, lol, we went from the low 70’s to about 30 degrees in a matter of days. The mountains have definitely let us know who runs this place.

LC Magazine

2009-10-14T11:43:00.000-04:00

Made it onto the cover of the LC Magazine, I had no clue but Moseley clued me in, thanks man…you know how Mom’s love this stuff!

Look for the 2 fresh brotha’s at the bottom of the page (center)

Kraftstoff – Custom Bikes / It’s a small world (9.24.09)

2009-10-10T14:07:00.000-04:00

“Comments are welcome! To leave comments click the title (above). Here you will be able to leave comments at the bottom. You do not have to have an account to leave comments.” – Tyler

I got the hook up. Andrea delivered with the shirt the next day after I met her at dinner! Click here to read the post where this whole t-shirt thing got started.

Now, I thought she just worked for Kraftstoff, but no…she’s married to the owner of Kraftstoff, Oliver. I should note that the bike shop is literally right next to the sawmill. That Andrea is a top female motocross rider in her class and that the two kids Jakob and Elisa are also riding Kraftstoff bikes…naturally.

I had stopped in the shop a week or so before just to browse around. I pass by the shop everyday to school like I had mentioned…and anything custom or unique tends to catch my eye. Especially when it’s something like bikes, cars, etc. I just chatted with with JÜRGEN I believe it was and he showed me some of the bikes as well as gave me one of their hardback catalogues. The bikes in this shop range anywhere from 350 Euro – about 6,000 Euro. Remember the 1 Euro is about $1.42 US Dollars. So, yea these bikes are nice to say the least. Some have all carbon fiber frames. They do road race bikes, downhill mountain bikes, hard and soft tail bikes, and bikes with full suspensions. Among these there are all sorts of variations that covers the entire line of what someone might be looking for in a bike. They also do BMX bikes. Check out some pictures below.

Click here to view hi-res pictures on their site. But just to give you an idea of the caliber of bikes they produce, click the image for full size.

D1 Evo

F1 Light

R1 Evo

X1 Evo

What I didn’t know was that Oliver the owner of the company actually designs these bikes himself. I mean if you look at the construction, fabrication, and thoughtfulness that goes into these bikes you can definitely tell there is some serious thought and expertise that goes into building these bikes. All of the CAD, design, and building is done in house at Kraftstoff, very very cool stuff.

Here are some pictures of the Kraftstoff Crew and myself hanging out. This is an annual event for them where all customers are invited for free beer, food, and a chance to socialize and just hang out. I was there on Thursday I think…and very early at that hence why there was not that many people there. When I walked in with Mattias (Mattias, Andrea, and Bernt are all siblings) Oliver threw me another shirt! I told him I already got one from Andrea the previous day (or earlier that day…I can’t remember the timeline exactly. But he insisted that I keep it anyways. So, I will give one to Mose when he comes to visit.

Sawmill – Dinner at the Boss’s House (9.23.09)

2009-10-09T18:45:00.000-04:00

Alright so I’ve been slacking on blog posts…but here we go. Jakob and his wife invited me to dinner at their house! Fresh bread, fresh strawberries, beer, got picked up in a Porsche, fresh potatoes…I mean the list just goes on. I got there around 6:30pm I wanna say (9.23.09) and didn’t leave until about 8:30pm / 9pm. While they don’t speak a whole lot of English they do speak enough that we are able to communicate and have a conversation! It’s fun sometimes to try and figure out what each other is saying. They are some of the nicest people I’ve ever meet! I also got to meet their daughter Andrea which was very nice! These stories all seem to tie into one another in some way shape or form. When Andrea came in I noticed she was wearing a Kraftstoff shirt. Kraftstoff is a custom mountain and race bike shop that I pass everyday on my way to school. I just mentioned to her in passing that I really liked the bike shop and that I also liked the shirt lol. It was a very nice polo! Next thing I know, she asked me what my size was and that she’d leave me one to pick up next time I was at the sawmill! You don’t find people like this everywhere, you really don’t. Alright, the tie into Kraftstoff will come later. In the meantime, take a look at the pictures below.

Let’s just take the Porsche…why not.

First was some appetizers with strawberries and bread and a beer. Then came some eggs and potatoes

The food didn’t stop coming. I think it ending up being a 3 or 4 course meal! To the right of the potatoes (the foremost dish in the picture) are the eggs. You can see the soup is next (sitting just beyond the strawberries). It’s been a while since this dinner but I believe next was a nice home made cappuccino and mineral water next to that.

Alright so by this time I’ve finished the eggs and some of the potatoes (ABSOLUTLEY DELICIOUS)

And then what does his wife pull out…oh fresh cold cuts, more strawberries and to put things over the top home made applestruddle. That’s right, with fresh apples, fresh pastry mix, and confectioners sugar..I was in heaven.

I was sure to thank them and we had a great conversation and just over all a lot of fun really. I enjoy speaking and learning from them. You’ll see my thank you gifts later (that’s another post coming up).

Sawmill – No More Pile – Planer and Ripsaw

2009-09-29T15:43:00.001-04:00

Worked for several hours today at the saw mill. Helped to relieve the stress from the 10 page pre-assignment paper I handed in earlier that morning. Otherwise I would have just gone back to my room and slept.

Today I stepped my game up. Mathias allowed me to use the massive planer they have there and after watching I hopped right in and started to help so he could go and size up more stuff to be cut.

Jacob’s wife brought us fresh bread and meats and insisted on me trying a sandwich. Great bread and meat …good lord!!

I arrived at the sawmill today at around 1:30pm and stayed till 7pm. I’ve got projects around the shop that I want completed. One was to cut a pile the sawdust and scrap wood pile that comes off the ripsaw down to size. As of then it was pretty inefficient. Larger pieces prevented the saw dust from going down the auger and being collected. Additionally, the larger pieces were not being collected so that they could be placed in bundles to sell. I saw this as money sitting around, however little or big the amount might be. Lastly, it is just nicer to have a cleaner and more organized working environment. It helps your brain and helps you concentrate on tasks, especially knowing that someone else will be there to help you clean up.

The pile of wood and sawdust used to go up to the top of the metal bin. So about 6ft and the pile just spread out from there. I didn’t even know there was a box under the pile, let’s just say that. I wish I had taken a before picture…I’ve really gotta get better that this lol. I always think, oh I have a picture of it, but the picture is just in my head and or I forget and move on to the next project.

It took me about 2 days to do but it’s now much better. The sawdust will build up again but we are able to recycle the bigger pieces of wood much easier now. Since the picture was taken those wood chips have been sorted and the box cleaned again. I then put one of the wicker baskets beneath the shaker/sorter to collect the larger pieces. Then I can just throw them in with the scrap wood that gets bundled up and sold to a woodchip manufacturer who then makes…well…woodchips out of the scrap wood.

Now to most this would seem like a fairly arbitrary task but I swear I learn something new everyday. I often want to go about things the most efficient way the very first time. But that often results in getting a whole lot of nothing done. Now, I can see some saying, “Well planning routes or the way you will complete the process can definitely help.” And I would not disagree one bit. But, sometimes for me this is the trap I get myself into. I try to be the most efficient with everything. Especially when trying not to make things harder or more work for myself which I often do. But as I sat (or rather, stood) I noticed myself just going in circles. Because by trying to do things perfectly the first time around…well we know it’s impossible. There are constant changes, improvements, and new discoveries that you find along the way. And, yes you can derive all of this from shoveling sawdust, if you so choose. Or at least it is the type of thing I tend to think about and get out of work like cleaning.

So, what I had to do was just start. I just had to jump in and do, literally. I had to stop myself from thinking about doing it perfectly the first time around. Being a perfectionist is one of my biggest inhibitors by far. So, I jumped in and well, I wasn’t able to do it in 1 day (that falls under listening to yourself and knowing when you’re too tired to keep going…oh and the whole school work thing :). I realized that it was definitely going to take me more than a day..this pile was probably over 6ft tall and stretched the width of the machine. But here’s what I ended up doing:

What I did to sort the dust / scrap wood

Moved the entire pile out from underneath the sifter
Resourced a pitch fork
Lifted the mounds of sawdust / scrap wood on to the sifter above (kind of hard to see but it’s right above the sheet metal collector)
Re-sifted remaining pile
Gathered all scrap wood from under the bundle station, rip saw (above) and added to the scrap wood that is produced from the rip saw machine (the machine you’re looking at in the picture above)
Finished after 2 days

How this helped me / what it taught me:

One day at a time (break tasks up)
It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time around (it won’t be I guarantee it)
Do things that will help the others that you’re working with…not just something you want to do. It’s fine if you’re doing something that you just want to do, but especially if you’ve offered to help another person…find out what it is that would be most helpful to them
Think of and make a process for doing the work. It does help to think a little bit about what you will need to get the job done (in this case, pitch-fork, large shovel, small shovel, broom, wicker basket, place to pile excess large wood chips)
Clean from the top down (you learn this when detailing cars as well)
Clean up when you are done for the day – there are certain times when cleaning immediately after you’ve finished makes sense. For instance if someone is going to use the area or whatever it might be right after you. But other times you’re just creating more work for yourself.
By doing something over and over again you will eventually find more and more efficient or smarter ways of doing something. Always looking for a easier, faster way is what I do and that’s what gets me stuck the first time around because that’s extremely difficult to do, your first time.
Make mistakes – lol but around some of this machinery…that statement might not work out to well. So make smart mistakes is what we’ll say for this time around.

Lastly:

The conveyer belt seen above collects dust from 3 machines. From the rip saw it travels by auger down to the main cutting machine. Here it’s dropped in to a conveyer belt and begins the travel. Also the bandsaw feeds into this conveyer belt as well via auger. It then travels up and out to a holding room seen below. Here the sawdust is collected weekly and sold to farmers who use the sawdust as bedding and some in the concrete industry.

Well all this sawdust has to go somewhere right? (crack heaven)

Sawmill Downstairs Motor Room Project (9.23.09)

2009-09-22T18:51:00.000-04:00

To leave a comment: Click on the title of the post. This will take you to the page post and you will be able to leave comments there.

I was able to get some good work on another one of the projects I’ve listed for myself since the saw was off for a little today. That is the motor room where the motor for the main saw is housed. The saw dust pile you see below was just in the entrance and under the two wheels you see in the pictures! There’s ~5ft on the left hand side of the left wheel. And small mountains (as a measurement lol) on the right hand side of the right most wheel.
All of this:

Came from here:

And that’s not even the start of it:
As you walk through the door here is the right hand side

Saw Mill 9.23.09 & More

2009-09-22T18:47:00.000-04:00

Spent some more time at the saw mill today. I’ve got projects that I’m working on (my own) that I want to see completed. Some are coming along well though. The downstairs portion of the sawmill is looking much better.

All the built up sawdust on the sides really can make it difficult to get a good footing on your way down. So this was a nice fairly quick project that has been completed. Although dust continues to build daily it’s not has bad anymore.

This has all pretty much been cleaned in and around the machine.

Just a little sawdust (seriously)

It is looking better though:

Even the floor supporting beams and floor are getting cleaned slowly but surely.

More pictures to come…somehow I always remember to take before pictures but never after…gotta work on that.

Oh! And came outside today and here was this a de-barking machine. What it does it takes the raw timber as it has arrived from the forest and basically puts it through a drum that has rotating teeth that scrapes the bark right off.

Here is a close up of what one looks like. The one I saw was portable.

This is the one that was outside! I wish I could have seen it at work!

Business Plan Development – EasyStartUp!

2009-09-22T18:43:00.000-04:00

Our mini project focused on constructing surfboards. Information was set up online so that collecting the necessary data was easier but not too easy. Things were spread out amongst a dozen or so “mock” sites. Everything from financing, to how much a production line costs to make a surfboard could be found.

Today was a long day, I’m tired as hell but we had our Business Plan Development (BPD) course today in which we had to present our business plans (practice model) to the professor, who just happens to be head of the Business / Economics school…Prof. Kremser. Very very nice professor who stresses punctuality which is custom in Austria along with Germany and Switzerland. Although we had several mistakes on our business plan he was more than generous since it was only two of us working on the project and not the usual 3 or 4. This is only the second BPD course I’ve add all year. The real course load and work starts October 27th. Course’s and course load is very different over here. I think I’ve done more presentations in the past month that I’ve been here than my entire college career at LC combined.

But I must say I am ever grateful to some of my greatest mentors such as Garry Briese who taught me the “ins” and “outs” of PowerPoint presentations and giving presentations in general. Garry always had very clear thoughts and ideas about how he wanted a presentation to look and go while also being open to suggestions and change! These things (corrections, editing, and learning to be concise) sometimes can only be learned through experience (as he was my editor for my Eagle Scout project..but this is a whole other story lol). He allowed me to assist him on several big presentations both to large and small crowds. I feel that this has definitely paid off as I tend to be very comfortable when presenting.

Since most of us have no idea, or very little at best, of what it takes to really create a business plan having several classes before the real class makes sense. This mock business plan development was actually kind of fun and several other students here told me the same which was a surprise. I was so tired today that I wasn’t able to enjoy it much but that’s because my brain wasn’t really working well. 8:10am does not play nice with college students no matter where you are.

Frankfurt Autoshow 2009

2009-09-18T04:00:00.000-04:00

Just purchased tickets for next weekend!! This is one of the largest car shows. All the manufactures are there and will be unveiling new concepts etc. Just check out some of the vendors.

I know taking the train is simple, I will figure out prices for the train tickets later (next week). Frankfurt is about 4hrs by car but I’m guessing a bit longer by train. Worth every minute.

Definitely more to come!

Auto Tuning Center (ATC) Car Show – Röthis

2009-09-12T12:22:00.001-04:00

When: Saturday 9/12/2009

Where: ÖAMTC Fahrsicherheitszentrum, Röthis

What: Car Show

^ I’ve gotta figure out why it’s doing spacing like that…it’s getting annoying and taking up room, but anyways! On to the car show!

Click the picture and it will take you to the album

Just got back from the car show, it really wasn’t that bad. I think we left here around 1:30 or so. It is only a 20min train ride and a brief walk to get to the place.

I’m going to try and start including maps with my posts so people can see where stuff is!

They had a small track and had cars lined up doing the 100yard dash. It wasn’t a massive event, I would say there was probably 40-50 cars or so. But it was cool to see some of the European tuning scene. I grew up reading EuroTuner and the sorts. My friends and I used to be big into the VW/BMW/Euro tuning scene. But anyways, they had some cool go carts spiced up with motorcycle engines. A skyline showed up (the new GTR) towards when we were leaving along with a decent showing of Subaru’s.

I’ve seen bigger, the VA Drag meets in Northern Virginia hold about 500+ cars…and that’s just a forum that has hosted the event…not heavily publicized or anything. None the less, they did have live chip tuning and dyno. They didn’t have many hardcore cars which are the type I like. A lot of show and no go but an Evo 8 there did have a full cage, HKS front mount intercooler, GT3076 upgrade, nice seats, harnesses etc. I talked with him briefly and he told me he’d just finished tuning and was just out to have some fun and see how things went. He pulled off the fastest time of about 4seconds for 100 yards.

Two of the more hardcore tuned cars there:

EVO 8

Twin Turbo rear wheel drive Gti (See more here)

The Sawmill (A Kermit Moment)

2009-09-11T15:34:00.004-04:00

MORE PICTURES AT THE BOTTOM JUST CLICK THE PICTURE
So, everyday on my way to school I pass a sawmill with huge logs laying about out front along with stacks and stacks of cut wood.
I love the smell of the wood for some reason as it’s freshly cut. It has a sweet smell to it as you pass by. I can hear the machinery cutting away in the background, and one day it got the best of me. I wondered up near the entrance of the mill and had to check it out.
I could see in at the 3 guys working and kept my distance just admiring the machinery. I was completely happy here and definitely didn’t want to overstep my bounds. As you can see in the picture above there’s a group of logs sitting close to the entrance of the shop. I was about there when the owner and I made eye contact. I just waved politely to let him know I was just admiring the work. I lost track of time. It was so cool to just watch the process and all the heavy machinery used to get the timber to the saw. I just started to learn the process and it took a while to do it. I would say after about 30 min or so the owner just smiled at me and motioned for me to come closer.

I definitely wasn’t expecting it, like I said I was happy to just be there. But in my head I knew I wanted a closer look and by respecting and appreciating things that people do, while also being legitimately interested in it shows. People can see this in a person and are usually more than willing to share what it is they do with you. I wanted to keep my distance because I wasn’t sure how the owner might have reacted. But he brought me into his shop and things just took off from there. I got to stand closer to the machinery after I asked if it was okay if I just watched. Making sure to stay out of their way and he was more than happy to let me do so.

I got to the mill at around 1pm and didn’t leave until they closed at 5pm. I talked with owner and his son (who speaks English). The owner speaks very little English but with hand gestures and body language we were able to understand. I could tell that he was more than happy to show his trade. I got to see the saw up close as well as the behind the scenes. There is a trap door that opens up and allows you to go downstairs. I would say more than half of the machine that cuts the wood into slabs is down stairs. I didn’t have my camera out at the time but I’ll get pictures. Beyond a grand tour I had been offered 20 Euro, a drink, and an open invitation to always come back.

Here’s how the offer for payment came about. Naturally, in a sawmill there is going to be plenty of sawdust. Sawdust is my expertise lol. Alright so how are you an expert on sawdust…like really…what is that? It all came about when I was younger. My father worked with wood a great deal. This was his biggest hobby by far. While I was too young to really operate any of the machinery I could help make the workplace better. This is something that I started doing on my own, I’m just like my mom and she and I are problem solvers.

Alright you've made it this far...breathe and you can do the rest, I promise.

My father was all about creating sawdust…cleaning it up was an after thought. But this is something that I could do! A vacuum is not inherently dangerous and is easy to operate. So I set about collecting sawdust. I got the right connectors and fittings so we could connect our Shop-Vac up to the various pieces of equipment. Whether it be the bandsaw, lathe, radial arm saw, drill press, planer, or regular circular saw. I was there lol armed and ready to help keep the sawdust out of the air and help my dad out. It was a father son thing really, a way to play with the big boys, a part to play and stuff to play with (machines etc). And I loved it! Dad even made me a sign using one of the plunge routers that says “Tyler Boy the Sawdust Man”

Here’s some Before I swept / made myself useful:
Notice the sawdust where they’re working

Below is sawdust that’s accumulated over time. Down at the pedals (blue) in the first picture. And around the roller (yellow) in the second picture.

After a bit of sweeping:

So maybe, you can see where I’m going with this. If our workshop in our townhouse was something I loved…then a sawmill is like that but on crack. There is sawdust and stuff to clean all over the place! Huge central vacuuming systems and conveyer belts beneath machines to transport massive amounts of sawdust…again I’m heaven.

So, after a while of getting a feel for the shop and process I realized I could be of use here. I found one of the brooms lying around as the machines were turned off at the end of the day, I just started sweeping. I could tell the other guys had plenty of tasks to complete so the next day of operating could get underway. It just felt good to be accepted and allowed to be there again. It was just like being with my father to a certain extent. I can’t quite explain it but I think you might be able to make the connection.

The only problem was I couldn’t really express my appreciation to the owner. So the next day I decided to have one of my friends at school help me translate a message that I was going to print out and give to Jacob (the owner).
Here it is:

My father used to work with wood. When I was young I help him collect all the sawdust because it was bad for his lungs. He died when I was 13 and before I really got to learn more of the trade. So for me, being here is a real pleasure. I have always loved machinery ever since I was young. So for me this is really cool. I appreciate you allowing me to hang out here. Thank you!

Mein Vater hat früher mit Holz gearbeitet. Als ich klein war half ich ihm immer das Sägemehl zu sammeln, weil es schlecht für seine Lungen war. Er starb als ich dreizehn war, bevor ich die Möglichkeit hatte mehr über das Handwerk zu lernen. Also für mich ist es eine schöne Möglichkeit hier zu sein. Ich habe mich schon immer für Maschinen interessiert. Also es bereitet mir wirklich viel spass, dass sie erlauben etwas Zeit hier zu verbringen. Ich weiss es zu schätzen. Vielen Dank.
Eine Freundin hat dies für mich übersetzt, weil ich Ihnen danke sagen will.
English lesson for the day:
Englisschstunde für heute:
Sägemehl = Sawdust
Schleifmaschine = Planer
Bandsäge = bandsaw

[The English lesson is there because Jacob told me that he wanted to learn more English]
I really wanted to (and did) give this to Jacob. I mean I could see how weird it might have seemed although I knew he could see in me that love for machines and what they do. But a guy just hanging out at the shop, not saying much (because I don’t speak German yet), sweeping the entire shop and thanking the owner to do it, and then not accepting any payment. In my mind I might be thinking okay cool..but what is this kid on lol. He really appreciated the letter and his son did as well. From then on I’ve stopped by several times (even early in the morning because then I got to see the bandsaw in action). I just met these guys on Monday I believe.
[Side note: It’s a family run sawmill; father (Jacob), son (Mattis), and a third guy. I also met Mattis’s brother Bernie)
JUST CLICK

Sawmill in Dornbirn

A Kermit Moment

2009-09-11T14:06:00.001-04:00

My father was renowned for his personal skills and his uncanny ability to talk and strike up a meaningful conversation with just about anyone. I remember getting to take a tour of the Parthenon in Nashville, TN. We arrived late (also a Cookson tradition), although I must say the visit to the Parthenon was not on the schedule lol…and just saying schedule and my father in the same sentence is pretty comical haha. But anyways. We were passing by and decided to stop. Only thing was the entire building was under construction. So all tours had been cancelled. Well my dad (Kermit Cookson) strikes up a conversation with the janitor there at the Parthenon, right at the entrance to the building. They start talking for a little and then, I believe, my father came and got me. We went up talk to the man again, black guy, and just like that he let us in. He told us if anyone asks we are his cousins and he could definitely be fired for this. Makes sense, since the place was being renovated. If either one of us were to get hurt he would be out of a job in a heart beat. But he enjoyed talking with my dad, so we got in. Now with a white dude and a half white/half black son I don’t know how well that would have gone over but it was our story and we were sticking to it. And thus begun our personal tour of the Parthenon. I don’t remember much of the tour but I do remember how we got the tour. There are numerous stories like this with my father.

I remember on one of our long trips to Missouri to visit his family we got to ride in a 18 wheeler. Mom and Riss were doing something…I can’t remember (I think I was like 5…and yes Riss if you read this I do actually remember). Dad and I went to check out the trucks and low and behold my father strikes up a conversation with one of the truck drivers as he’s checking out his rig. Now, I should note that my father did not pester, beg, or do anything of the sort. He was always legitimately interested, and had no intention of manipulation. These things just sort of happened. Anyone that knew him could attest to it.

But anyways, we’re talking to this truck driver and I’m in heaven. I’ve loved machinery (how things work), anything big, powerful, industrial, etc since I can remember. And at this point it was really the beginning of my love for 18 wheelers, tractor trailers, whatever you might call them. I became so good at recognizing them that I could tell you the model from about a mile or more away and from every angle. Anyways, one thing leads to another and the truck driver tells us he’s heading out but could swing us by our car. HOW cool is this! So dad and I climb in and the big ol’ struck starts off, switchin’ gears, making noise…I’m in heaven. It was an cab over engine or COE truck with trailer (I didn’t know brands then…I’m like 5 for goodness sake lol). We roll up a few hundred yards away and were the cars are all parked. We circle around and come down the main drag where are the cars are. Now my mom, she’s such a cutie, is walking out of the main building and heading back towards the car…paying no attention to this big rig coming. He gives the truck horns a pull and my mom and sister are looking around like what the hell is going on , as the truck comes to a stop. The door opens up and we hop out and mom doesn’t even know what to say. We turn around the the truck driver give him our thanks, as he was more than happy to help a father make his sons day, and he rolls on his way.

We got to do something similar to this while at a truck stop.We were over admiring the different trucks and the one we were looking at was a 100ton coal truck. One thing turns to another and we hitch a ride with him to dump the coal and pick up another load. About 15 minutes total because his route was so close, but it was so cool to see how it all worked. How the truck rocks when your pulling up, all the noises, the 13 different gears, and just the entrance a big rig makes as it pulls up. These were the cool little things (and some not so little lol) that my dad made happen.

We could never go anywhere and still be on time. There would always be someone he knew or would know. He was the guy everyone adored talking to. He was a great story teller, down to earth, and had a serious ability to connect with others.

Pre-Assignments

2009-09-11T13:34:00.001-04:00

Good lord! So, my pre-assignment for next week (due Tuesday) is a 10 page paper…right off the bat. On top of this I need to read article 6 which is apparently in an e-mail that I haven’t been able to find. Read it and write on it. Complete a personality test, e-mail the results, and bring the results and a brief summary. I’ve already done this part!

Things I’m looking forward to:

Car show this weekend (about 30min from Dornbirn) – this should be pretty cool. I’ll definitely have pictures to post.
Autumn Festival (over 600 vendors from 9 different nations)
And last but definitely not least! My best friend back in the states (Mose as I call him) is coming to visit sometime in the future…going to BMW, Mercedes, and PORSCHE HQ as well as their museums.

Birthday (I know it’s a little late)

2009-09-09T16:46:00.001-04:00

My birthday here in Austria was by far one of the best birthdays I’ve had in my life. The school sponsored party at the Campus Cafe was on the same day. Each student got 2 stubs that were worth a beer each. After that it was on you. But the bar tender gave me a free drink along with Bryan (The (as in the man) IT guy here at FHV).

You can find the link by just click on the picture. The album is posted on Facebook.

FHV – My school!

2009-09-09T16:37:00.001-04:00

VERY nice school to say the least. Especially with the new building for the business and engineering students.

Outside of the school. Looking directly at the new building.

Glass enclosed elevator

3rd floor. They count floors from 0. So the basement is –1 etc. Most of my classes are on the floor just below this one. But the hallway shot, I thought, was pretty cool.

Even the urinals are cool

Mech lab

And it’s going to be a little hard to concentrate in class because of the view.

The blinds are automatic to keep the rooms cooler during the day. They operate based on the amount of sunlight. The can go up/down and rotate the blinds to allow more or less light. You can also operate these manually. The windows are really cool too. The two sides slide back to allow lots of air and not to mention a gorgeous view. The photo’s don’t do it justice. I’ll have to get some pictures of the school up close with the entrances (very cool) and the windows.

Oh and here is one of the computer labs :) Everything is so neat and organized… I love it.

Opening a bank account in Austria

2009-09-09T16:22:00.001-04:00

= Very easy

I know have an Austrian bank account with:

I bank with Bank of America in the states. They do have an alliance with the Deutsche Bank in Germany. However, I’m not in Germany…I’m in Austria. So every time I use my card here at an ATM or “Bankomat” I am charged $5 plus a 1% conversion fee.

A lot of the students here at FHV get a Sparkasse account. The student account I have was/is free, so no problems there. The only problem is getting the money transferred from the States to my bank account here in Austria. Since I have never done international transfers it will be a new experience. But I will be sure to comment on how it goes. My plan is to go to my contact at the Sparkasse bank, very nice man, and ask him to help me through the process. I know I will need my international IBAN number…but I’m not sure what else. Hopefully he’ll be able to help.

Note: That the bank here is able to convert your American dollars to Euro for practically no charge. So avoid the one’s in the airport. I believe I mentioned it before…but twice never hurts.

My Walk to School

2009-09-09T16:12:00.001-04:00

What a walk! There’s two ways I usually go to school. There’s this route that takes you along the Dornbirner Ache. It’s deep enough for really refreshing dips…especially when it’s hot (which it was).

Then there is the street route which follows the road Schmelzhütterstraβe (still about 10min).

The first thing you come upon is this really cool building with the exterior made of glass

At the other end of this building :

A little further … a giant shoe

Water wheel

And a Saw mill

More to come on the saw dust mill…

Architecture & Construction in Austria

2009-09-09T15:57:00.001-04:00

Talk about the windows …all are double paned for insulation

how they open two ways and then you can open the adjoining window as well…maybe make a video to help explain easier

The shower and design = pretty cool

they have heated floors and passive heating/cooling here in Austria.

Austria is actually one of the foremost countries when it comes to passive / heating and cooling.

Industrial design…a lot of stuff is built out of concrete. Very industrial and minimalist in design.The blinds on the windows …sturdy construction and just cool in the way they work.The door and the three baffles it has to seal in air and retain heat.

More to come…

- School pictures and my walk to school

Keep the dream alive

2009-09-09T15:31:00.001-04:00

My dream car (affordable)

Here’s a picture of a stock (original) STi

Subaru STi (2005-2007) – will be modified

^ This particular Sti (Lances …from NASIOC) is probably by far one of my favorite. It maintains the clean yet bold and aggressive lines of the car. The style and stance is low but not slammed. This keeps the geometry of the suspension correct while also giving the car an almost pitbull like stance, ready to go hard anytime anyplace. All the right mod’s in the right places and the camber / offset of the wheels are perfect. The car is extremely clean meaning there is not a lot of excess stuff that doesn’t need to be there. Just a great looking car.

Here’s some more because I love the car so much: Low, Mean, Aggressive, and Fast:

Some others that stand out for me:

Below: This a picture of the Subaru WRC (World Rally Championship) Prototype car for the 2006 season. The wing alone on this car costs ~$14,000 US dollars.

Below: This Amber Logston’s Sti – Find the link here. I’d drive this car in a heart beat…and yes even with the pink wheels. Again you can see what I’m talking about with regards to stance and appearance. Very well done!

And of course Ken Block’s Gymkhana Sti…seen below. IF you haven’t already seen his videos…they are definitely must see’s. You can find them on youtube. His first video had over 20,000,000 views!

1st one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs-jAImScms

2nd one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ7R_buZPSo

Car updates

2009-09-02T19:32:00.001-04:00

Before I head to bed I decided to check my Google reader (find: http://www.google.com/reader). It’s my way of consolidating all the RSS feeds and blogs that I occasionally check up on. The biggest one I check on is AutoBlog.com. Great news and up to date information. The coolest thing I found today was this. A fully working V-8 made out of Lego’s. The most complicated thing I have ever made out of Lego’s was a Chinook style helicopter (the one’s with the two sets blades). Absolutely phenominal. I’ve always loved Lego’s ever since I was a little kid, this was like a nice throw back (to the old days..am I allowed to say that yet?).

Other cool updates:

The Audio R8 now has a v10!

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/31/first-drive-2010-audi-r8-v10-answers-our-power-prayers/

Thoughts 09.01.2009 (They do dates differently here)

2009-09-01T15:12:00.001-04:00

It’s much easier to open a bank account here in Austria. The student checking account is free. I then will use this to transfer money to the landlord.

I took money from the ATM and had the people at the bank deposit it to my account and then make the transfer…much easier and ensured that everything was correct!

DO NOT: Use the money exchanges you see in the airports, unless you really have to. Reason being:

I was able to pay for my train ticket in Switzerland (Francs) using my credit card.
That the Sparkasse here in Dornbirn will exchange your US dollars for Euro’s for free.

What “Next Stop” is in German…comes in handy when you’re on the train. --> nächstehalt
To bring another pair of sheets and towel. There is a river really close to the International Dorm and the school for that matter that is PERFECT for cooling off in.

I’m sure there are more! I will be sure to update more as they come. I really do plan to consolidate all of what I learned into some easier to read posts. I just wanted to get these out there while I was thinking about it…and publish it to make me feel like I’ve accomplished something other than class today lol.

First day of classes and random tangents

2009-08-31T17:22:00.001-04:00

Wow, class from 9:00am - 4:25 am was great today...no seriously. I really enjoyed the topic as we discussed cultural differences in a unique way. During my courses in business here we have guest lecturer's from all over the world come and present on a relevant business topic. Alright, hold on let me get some of my notes.

The teacher for today's lesson was from a prestigious institute in Finland...

Where is Finland?

(tangent)..before I even finished explaining the basics…sorry!

...and because I've got no AC in my room I am sweating as I type this. Anyways, well get to the design and ways of life over here later. Very cool stuff though. Everything is based on passive heating or cooling. And since it's only hot here for a month or two out of the year ...and really not that hot...it's not so bad. The floors here are heated in all of the rooms. The floors then serve as the heating element for the rest of the room! Genius stuff here really. My favorite thing would have to be the light switch by the bed. How many times have you gotten into bed, those that have clap-on / clap-off lights don't count, and said "damn it, I forgot to turn the light out." I know I have plenty of times. I've spent many a moment laying in bed wishing I had magical powers or could summon something to switch the light off. Here, I don't have that problem. SO COOL!

I love the overall design and the fact that, as with most European...especially Germanic or Baltic based cultures, everything has a purpose. There is really nothing to excess. Not only that but everyone...and I mean everyone bikes over here. Just the other day I saw a 85 year old lady (guessing) biking. I thought to myself, how cool is that! You won't see that in the States for sure. It's completely normal here.

(end tangent)

Some of his main points to us that really stuck with me:

Culture controls the way we express our feelings, the way we behave, and what we observe
Education ...most simply and beautifully but is: "Exercising of the mind."
Small Talk amongst cultures
The Finn's do have small talk but it is very formal small talk
The Americans have a very strong sense and presence of small talk.
1. Prime example: I am very used to asking people how they are doing...or more informally saying, "What's up?" in the states. But here in Austria, along with other Germanic cultures, they take this very seriously. As if you are really asking them how they are doing and what they are up to. Several times I've gotten longer answers than I cared to have lol. But it was fantastic! This really is all a part of studying abroad. These real life interactions are what make it great. Both the good, the embarrassing and the bad interactions. We are so used too just saying hey or what's up to one another without much thought of the answer. The answer we give back is not a literal statement but more a formality. I don't really care about how your day is going when I say, "How you doing?" or "what's up?" We expect, as Americans, to get an answer of, "Good, and you" or maybe "fine" etc. But here it's very different. I've caught myself after the words have escaped my mind and they (those that I've asked how they were doing) stop to think..."Okay ...well how am I doing?" And then they answer accordingly and then in turn ask me...usually in a concerned tone or one of sincere interest, "How are you doing today?" I laugh a little on the inside and answer them as they have answered me. But it's these things we so take for granted as the norm...but differ among cultures. This example I gave was just from today.
What you share with a group is what keeps you together.
1. feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc
He, the teacher, put a piece in his office that is common among his business partners. This gives them a common thing to talk about and connect on, this is really the important stuff. As it establishes a common ground and a feeling of acceptance and understanding among those you’re meeting with. It helps to ease tension, spark conversation, and make business much less rigid. Great idea…just be careful with what you choose. His choice fit perfectly with the type of people that he interacts with on a daily basis.

Almost 10 days sense an update!

2009-08-28T07:10:00.002-04:00

I've been busy to say the least. Just getting settled in and doing Orientation week has left me tired (in a good way) and also busy. But I have updated pictures on facebook ! You can check out the images even if you don't have a facebook by going to these links.

Corona Night

Dinner at San Marco

Bregenz

I've got more pictures to post and lots of good times to talk about. But you truely do have to come and study abroad regardless of where you go. We went for a hike the other day and I'll post those pictures when I get around to it. Right now I'm trying to work and get stuff straight for school, bank account etc.

Stuff to write about:

Arriving in Austria

Stuff I should have brought but didn't

My room – after unpacking

2009-08-19T12:36:00.001-04:00

I love how simple stuff is. Alright I’m off to grab some dinner.

My room! – Before

2009-08-19T12:28:00.001-04:00

My room as I first saw it.

The Trip to Dornbirn

2009-08-19T12:24:00.001-04:00

I really couldn’t have asked for more. Here’s an excerpt from an e-mail (as requested by Mom) that I was to send when I got the chance.

“Hi all...here is an excerpt from the required e-mail to mom

I've had the tour of the place and gotten things all squared away. I actually just met up with one of the other students from Lynchburg (Nick Como) and we went out and got a bite to eat and had a beer. GORGEOUS weather here mom. I couldn't have asked for more help once I landed in Zurich. The guy (my age) that I was sitting next to on the plan was more than happy to show me where to catch the train downstairs. That all went off without a hitch. The lady there was able to get me on the train that was basically leaving as soon as I was finished paying for the ticket. I caught it and once on it and figuring out a stop or two I met a couple (young) that were also traveling to Dornbirn. They helped me make sure that my transitions were the right ones. I then met an opera singer (black guy from NYC) who was also going to Dornbirn. We struck up a conversation and things were great. Mom, he stayed with me as I told him it was my first time traveling in Europe. I did not get the creepy sense from him at all. He just wanted to make sure that I connected with the people I was suppose to. Once we arrived in Europe he gave me money to make a call to Sabine to arrange my pickup. I'm maybe 10min from the train station but none the less he stayed with me until Sabine came to pick me up. He wanted nothing in return but for me to continue my education and do my best in school while I am here in Austria. I mean it doesn't get much better than that!”

Here are pictures!

^Momma bear

^ My favorite Aunt (Aunt Linda if you’re reading this you’re definitely on the list as Favorite Aunt…this is a position that can be shared.)

It starts!

St. Gallen train station

Packing for Austria or any trip really…

2009-08-19T12:13:00.001-04:00

Beyond the fact that both my Aunt and my Mother qualify as packing experts here are some tips and tricks that I have for those that plan on traveling.

Space is valuable…use it. You can see below that I’ve put socks in my shoes and or anything else that can fit inside your shoe.

Here is one of my body washes wrapped in a plastic newspaper bag and put inside my shoe. Note the space saver bags in the background. Those definitely came in useful. The one’s I have shown here are the ones you can roll up and squeeze the air out of. I prefer the vacuum ones but they aren’t as durable.

Also, the tops to most shampoo’s/conditioners and body washes will twist off with a little force. I put saran wrap between the cap the and the body to make sure spilling wasn’t a problem.

I would then tie the newspaper bag around the container to make sure spilling isn’t a problem.

Other tips and tricks:

1. Weigh your bags before you get to the airport. United Airlines said no more than 50lbs per checked bag. But that varies by airline so double check.

2. Double check on the carry on size as well. For some airlines if it doesn’t fit in their little box this you are S.O.L.

More packing pictures for fun:

Entrepreneurship Articles

2009-08-17T01:15:00.001-04:00

I found these articles back in June actually. But just got around to posting them…oh well.

Entrepreneurship
"Why Business Plans Don't Deliver"
By John W. Mullins, R3
Link

Planning
"Fever Chills And Losses
By Amin Mawani, R3
Link

Innovation
"In Search Of Innovation"
By John Bessant, Kathrin Moslein and Bettina von Stamm, R4
Link

Marketing
"Why a Loyal Customer Isn't Always A Profitable One"
By Tim Keiningham, Lerzan Aksoy, Alexander Buoye and Luke William, R4
Link

Product Developement
"Playing Well With Others"
By Philip Kotler, Robert C. Wolcott and Suj Chandrasekhar, R5
Link

Global Business
"Sustainable Success"
By Lutz Kaufmann, Felix Reimann, Matthias Ehrgott and Johan Rauer, R6
Link

Strategy
"Beyond Products"
By Stephen W. Brown, Anders Gustafsson and Lars Witell, R7
Link

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneurship

Luggage for Austria – exciting I know

2009-08-12T21:00:00.002-04:00

Found these at Ross as well, gotta love it.

This is thrilling stuff I know, so just hang tight alright! I hope that other students traveling abroad at LC will be able to reference these pictures in the future to get an idea of what close to 62 linear inches looks like in addition to ways to save.

As I said earlier the airlines now dictate a maximum of 62 linear inches (height x width x length). These came out to 57 linear inches…so not bad!

Retail price: $105ea

Purchase price: $49.99ea (Let’s just say $50)

Savings of: $ 110

North Face X-Shot arrived today

2009-08-12T20:37:00.002-04:00

Like I said in my previous post (link here) I plan on using this for both school and maybe in combination with a small duffle bag, for weekend trips / traveling.

good looking if I say so myself

expandable …nice nice

Overall I’m very happy so far. The retail tag that came with it said $95 dollars. But since I got it off of www.backcountry.com I got it for $69 and some change. It would have been free shipping (on all orders over $60) but I needed it sooner rather than later.

Retail: $95

Actual price: $70 (est)

Savings = $25

New shoes

2009-08-12T20:29:00.001-04:00

Stepping my game up. I needed (seriously needed) new shoes for work. Sadly, I’ve had the same pair (that treated me well) since high school along with one other pair. DSW was were I found all of these except the Asics. I got those at Ross, gotta love Ross. I would like to extend my thanks to Mr. Gilbert for imparting tips and tricks on how to take care of dress shoes and helping me outline future purchases. This was a man I meet in DSW. We stuck up a conversation and I was asking, beyond my original question, what other tips and tricks he might have. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Area’s of Concentration:
1. While starting out in the business world, concentrate on shoes and accessories. Mainly your shoes and tie. These are the two things that both women and others notice the most.
$300 - $500 Suits Are Just Fine:
1. What’s the different between a $1000 suit versus a $300 suit. Well to be quite frank …not much to those other than the person wearing the suit. Stick within the 300-450 range and you will be just fine.
$1000 suit dry cleaning:
1. When you take that $1000 suit to the dry cleaners they don’t treat it any differently than the $300 suit next to it.
Laces or No Laces:
1. For formal business attire when you’re in a full suit, a good pair of black or brown lace up shoes are the ticket. Why? Well the laces are more formal than loafers and help to keep the consistency of “formal” from head to toe.
Beginning With Shoes:
1. Don’t worry about getting $300+ shoes for your first pairs. Setting a budget and sticking with it is more important.
2. DSW and places like it offer good names and quality products for less. BUT IF you are going to spend money on any area of the outfit shoes and ties would be the place to spend it because:
  1. Because you’re on your feet. He noted you can definitely tell the difference in quality in shoes especially if you are spending a significant amount of time on your feet
  2. The shoes and ties really help set you apart
Shoe Trees:
1. Plastic or cedar shoe trees are great for your first pairs of shoes. They will help the show from bowing he told me. He also said not to worry to much about getting the ultra expensive trees when you’re starting out. I took his advice and got 2 pairs of plastic shoe trees from CVS and they have definitely made a difference

I’m not sure if he really realized how much I valued that conversation but I certain did and am very thankful for it! Thank you!

Pictures are always good:

Left to right: Brassboot (dress), Mercanti Fiorentini’s (dress), Sketchers (casual), Asics (running)

More pictures:

Days left are counting down - Austria

2009-08-12T20:16:00.001-04:00

So today has felt long to start. But things are starting to come together for the trip to Austria. It just hit me today that my last day is the 14th and then I’m out of here on the 18th.

My plan:

Start/finish laundry (this week)
Pull together clothes that are going (by this Friday)
Purchase car cover (not sure when this is happening…but soon)
Purchase luggage (Sat)
Deposit money / checks (sometime this week)
set up budget and financial meeting with my Aunt (Sat or Sun)

Things that need to be taken care of (in addition to packing):

Does my phone work abroad …if not what do most people do when they do go abroad. I don’t need my whole phone book or anything. But I imagine it would be nice to have a simple phone to make calls to friends I make in Austria while I’m there
Verify / fax form to graduate out-of-residence to LC
Figure out how banking with Bank Of America works over there. ( I did check out their website but …i guess it might be easier to just open an account there and transfer money)
The train ticket from Zurich to Dornbirn is cheap…only 42,00 Swiss Francs or about $38.00 US dollars. But how to pay for that? I can withdraw money and travel over there with Swiss Francs, pay at the window when I arrive, or order online. I’ve got to make a decision about this and I ‘m not sure what it is yet.

I will do a full write-up for future students that and how to prepare thus far for studying abroad at FHV in Austria. I will talk about the questions that I had, things I’ve had to do that were like… “Oh I didn’t know I had to do that..shit get it done,” and so on. But all is well thus far and these things are certainly expected when it’s your first time traveling outside of the states.

PACKING TIP: ready and staged. I like to stage and put everything that is going with me in a separate place. Too many times have I forgotten something because I thought I had packed it only to realize I hadn’t.

Window’s Live Writer

2009-08-11T00:49:00.001-04:00

Just installed this on to my computer. If this actually works I’ll be very impressed. I must say the preview function works great! It’s got the ability to handle multiple types of blogs while retaining the look and feel that you have for each. It is free and after installing it prompted me to enter in my information for Blogger. Easy enough. It then downloads all the necessary source code so that when you write to the specified blog, it appears just as if you were to do it from the actual website itself!

1. It’s free - http://download.live.com/writer

2. It’s from Microsoft…and lo’ and behold it works and is simple to use (so far). Unlike previous times when simple meant the exact opposite as far as Microsoft was concerned…or at least it felt that way...no, wait…it was that way…but anyways.

3.It still has the distinctive MS feel to it but it’s cleaner and things are where you would think they should be. Inserting Hyperlinks, pictures, etc is easy and readily available on the right hand side for quick reference.

4. It’s starting to give Microsoft a little edge and competitive free software that others have been offering for a while (as far as blogging goes) but we’re getting into cloud computing here and that is kind of exciting. I can explain more later on my thoughts and theories.

My mom has a facebook!

2009-08-09T15:59:00.001-04:00

The funny thing is she asked if I would be her friend if she created a facebook. What kind of question is that! Of course mom! Gotta love mom.

Top Gear

2009-08-09T14:33:00.010-04:00

My Favorite car show bar none. Hilarious, witty, and even people that aren't that into cars can enjoy it. Even my mom likes the show! It comes on BBC America.

Top Gear's Website

My camera is here!

2009-08-09T12:25:00.003-04:00

Let's see I ordered this thing Wednesday night (Aug 5th) and it was sitting on my doorstep by Saturday (Aug 8th)! The thing is tiny...about the size of a cell phone which is perfect. Thank you to Amazon and UPS / USPS for extremely fast shipping.

Option / Best Motoring International

2009-08-08T19:07:00.002-04:00

Thank's to a friend of mine who I call Peter-san I've gotten hooked on these DVD's. They aren't my priority as far as things to buy but later in life I plan to start a little collection. Peter's collection is about as tall as he is and he's over 6ft tall. Needless to say the man has been collecting for quite some time. Just recently he gave me the Best Motoring International (BMI for short) dvd on the Skyline GT-R Prodigy. Thank you!

Link to Wikipedia to find out more

Daypack for Austria

2009-08-06T23:34:00.006-04:00

I've also purchased a daypack. This has a place for my laptop and school books. But also has plenty of room for weekend traveling when I need clothes etc.

I found the best deal off a site called:

www.backcountry.com

If you click the backpack (or link) it will take you to their website. I was able to get this backpack for 30% off!

Usual was $98 I paid ~$69. Not including shipping. They have free shipping on all orders over $50 I believe. But I would have had to run the chance of it not getting here before I leave.

I've Decided - Cannon PowerShot SD1200 IS Elph

2009-08-06T23:13:00.010-04:00

Aright so I sourced my camera and decided on the Cannon PowerShot SD1200 IS Elph

I also purchased a SDHC class 6 memory card. Hopefully arriving in 3-5 business days.

Still more to do before Austria

2009-08-04T23:15:00.002-04:00

Luggage

Camera

Out of Residency graduation permission

USAA Power of Attorney - Notarized and sent

Searching for a Camera

2009-08-04T23:14:00.007-04:00

Alright so I've got to get a camera before I head to Austria!

It's between:

Cannon Powershot SD1200 IS Elph:

Really good reviews by just about all. I'm just afraid I'll break the

thing! But there is a serious price difference between the too.

I'll let you konw what I decide.

Olympus Stylus Tough 8000.

It got good reviews in Consumer Reports for being able to take a lot of abuse which is definitely something I need. I tend to be a bit hard on things sometimes but not intentionally. Just with the things I do etc.

Paintballing @ Pev's

2009-07-25T11:45:00.005-04:00

Headed out to do some paintballing today. Had to fix the gun last night. One of the macro lines after wear was leaking.

// Rant 2: Windows Live Documents

2009-07-20T15:57:00.007-04:00

//Begin Rant

So, I've had a gripe with windows for ...well pretty much ever. They've dominated and managed to suck in some very crucial ways for a very long time. Others have known this and tried to make fixes and offer alternatives. However, none with any significant damage to Microsofts market share for either the Microsoft Office Suite (OpenOffice.org is an alternative and free suite that does all the same stuff) and or the Microsoft operating system.

But for this rant that's neither here nor there. I've been using Google Documents for quite some time but naturally there is no way to upload the new .x files. As of the new 2007 Microsoft Office Suite all file extensions have a .x tagged on at the end. Examples being for Microsoft Excel...instead of .xls (the old) it's now .xlsx (the new). Anyways, since I have the new suite it would be nice to upload straight to my Google Documents instead of having to down convert to the older versions (.doc , .xls, etc). A nice thing about the newer version of the Microsoft Suite is that in general the files (when you save them...and save them often I say) are a good deal smaller than than if you were to save it to the previous version.

Okay, so Microsft Office 2003 has been around for a while. Long enough for Google and others to know the coding and architecture. However, MS Office 2007 hasn't been. So naturally Google and others have not been either granted access or had enough time to provide support for the new formats. Not to mention Microsoft and Google are huge competitors especially with Google's open oriented style and potential operating system in the works.

What I want to be able to do: upload the most current files online and edit them / save them online. I have a laptop and a desktop and sometimes it can get a bit confusing as to which file I have on where. Often times I'll think I have a picture / document on my desktop only to remember that, "Ah! I have it on my laptop" and then have to tell that person to hold on so I can retrieve it to send it , or go get the file so I can edit it.

So when I found out about Windows offering a similar service I was all over it. They've got plenty of space and a way ( a bit cumbersome ) to organize your files as you upload them and a way for viewing them. Now, being Microsoft and having the software, rights, ownership etc, I would have figured there would be a way to uplaod and work on the files I upload. However, there is not! What's the deal with this? If anyone ...out of the 5 people that probably read this post can answer that ...it would be awesome. Just a bit frustrating that they wouldn't be able to solve this.

I have thought about and tried sharing files between my computers via my network. But that doesn't do exactly what I want. I've tried many various configurations to try and get things the way I want...but with no real luck. It can be done though with Vista Ultimate. The Ultimate veriosn, as I found in my quest a while back, has a sync feature that allows you to do so across folders and computers. But the Business and Home version do not come with this feature activiated. You can't really use a briefcase - it's way to slow.

I was working on this for a while when I was in school. Haven't spent much time on the idea since then. Right now I mostly stick to using one computer or the other..but it was a serious pain in the ass while in school and working on multiple documents etc. There's a lot more options and what not that I've tried that I haven't talked about ..but suggestions always welcome.

// Rant 1: Just Bing it...? wth

2009-07-20T15:49:00.013-04:00

//Begin Rant

Okay Microsoft...what is the deal. You guys have made a huge upgrade in your windows live search engine and the search actually returned results I was looking for! Which is definitely a first. I don't know of anyone that really does or has used Windows Live Search. Except maybe those that didn't change the default search engine that comes with Internet Explorer 8. If you haven't don't worry... I believe they've done it for you now that Microsoft has revamped their search engine.

The front page is very cool and much cooler to look at than the minimalist yet very fond Google home page.-- By the way if you have a Google account you can change the appearance of the homepage and add all sorts of cool gadgets to help you with pretty much anything you could think of. -- Anyways, when you load the home page for Bing you're presented with an image. If you scroll over different areas of the image you're presented with various facts and further information about that image. Pretty cool stuff.

www.bing.com - check it out...pretty cool stuff and the User Interface (UI) is a huge upgrade from their old search engine.

COME ON WITH A DIFFERENT NAME FOR GODS SAKE.

//end rant

Where does Twitter fit in?

2009-07-20T15:35:00.002-04:00

So, I've been checking out and reading about twitter in the WSJ for a bit. I know the guys who've started it (one of which came from Google) are having a bit of trouble generating a revenue stream for the buisness. Beyond that I've been trying to decide what it is about Twitter, or what area it fills that FaceBook doesn't. First off let me state that I understand the fundametal differences that have attracted people to twitter. The chance to follow different groups, organziations, celebrities, friends, family, and companies on their latest happenings. To me Twitter does do an excellent job of rounding up all the information with the help of some add-on's that I will mention in a second.

I really just wanted to see what all the hype was about, but I can't find a use for the service as of yet. Twitter has had some serious problems with ensuring those that make the account are really who they say they are. I read about an incident where an Exxon account was making posts about it's business but the posts were not authorized..and nor was the user a legit Exxon employee or spokeswoman/man. So the ability to make sure the people we are reading updates on (especially celebs etc) are who they say they are is a problem. If and when Twitter can figure out a good way to ensure that these people are really the one's they claim they are I'll remain a bit skeptical about the service...to an extent. I also realize and highly doubt that a lot of the celebrities are really using the service. I am much more inclined to believe they might on occasion, but more likely than not it is their persons for Public Relations. The idea is still very cool though.

Beyond the problems of generating a solid revenue stream so the company can grow, the need for better identification, the only thing I would enchance is the user interface. Luckily, there is a fix for this called TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com...or just google it - I would say bing it..but I jsut can't get myself to say "bing"...come on microsoft be cool..just once and come up with a better term than BING). TweetDeck allows you to see all mentions, direct messages, and tweets in one easy to use interface that runs on your computer. You don't have to have the web page up! If you're a big Twitter user TweetDeck is a must I would say.

I still don't have a need for Twitter or to read meaningless updates from people "drying my hair" etc. But the 130 word limit does make it a little hard to share much more. I wanted to share some information I had found in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) the other day, but I was siginificantly over the limit, and would have had to make several different entries. Maybe I'm triyng to use Twitter for something other than it's intended purpose...but the info I was trying to share was what was on my mind at the moment and something I felt like sharing.

A Visit to the Austrian Embassy

2009-07-20T15:16:00.004-04:00

Took a trip down to the Austrian Embassy today to get my visa all squared away. I know I drove my mom nuts this morning (I'm sorry Mom and I really appreciate your patience!) with getting everything in order. This whole extravaganza of getting ready for Austria has been a bit more running around than my sister's JMU program hasn't had her doing. But to LC's defense each and every one of our programs are a bit more custom and I am really doing a semester abroad, so there's always going to be some running around. While my sister has an iternary for while she is there for her semester she's only staying 3 months while I'm staying 5 months. Anyways, I was looking and getting everything together last night (way later than I should have been getting stuff together) and realized that I needed a bank statement and a notarized financial statement from my mother saying that she is financially responsible for me. So, I caught Mom before she left for work this morning, she was outside packing her stuff in the van. I ran out to tell her what I had discovered. My mother is a planner...and while we are extremely similar I haven't gotten there yet. Because she's always planning I've not done so much as I've grown up. It's always that way when you go on trips with the family it seems like. Someone is the planner and the other is like, "Oh honey relax we'll make it ..it's okay." So, Mom stayed calm and sat with me, signed the papers, went with me to get it notarized (luckily right up the street) and then left for work. I feel bad for making her a bit late to work today and I know that these type of last minute things remind her exactly of Kermit (deceased husband and father to myself and my sister Larissa). But she did amazingly well today...and I'm still living so that's always a plus.

I was planning on taking the metro down but when I called the Consulate they told me they actually close at 1pm. For some reason I had 1:30pm in my head or thought I had read that on their site. So the Metro was going to get me there at 1:05 by the time I left. No dice. So I decided to take the car since GPS has always been a life saver and feeling confident that I could conquer the roads and DC this is the option I chose. Gorgeous drive down! 395N wasn't a problem since I was leaving my house right at Noon. The ETA for the trip had me arriving at the Consulate at 12:30pm exactly and this GPS has never been wrong. Northwest Washington is where the Embassy is located and that part of DC I can do! If I had the time ....or a digital camera...then I would have taken pictures down there. Very cool looking buildings and embassy's!

I was able to drop the forms and paperwork off to a gorgeous girl who answered the bell. I thought about commenting on her outfit...she was definitely on point! But didn't want to be a creeper. So, I'll be looking for a call in about a week. They say (on the website) that the average turn around time for Visa's there at the Embassy is 2 weeks.

All forms needed for a Visa to Austria:

Required Documents For a Stay Up To Six Months

Completed and signed application form Schengen Visa Application
Two passport size photographs (not a snapshot)
Passport - must be valid at least three months beyond date of travel
Letter of admission to Austrian School/University or from U.S. University if it is an exchange program, or from the organization under whose auspices you intend to study in Austria or Fulbright Grant (original)
Proof of lodging
Proof of medical insurance - letter from insurance company confirming complete coverage during your stay in Austria (copy of your insurance I.D. is not sufficient). Emergency coverage only is also not sufficient
Proof of sufficient funds (bank statement)
If you are a student - Letter of financial responsibility - unless you are self supporting - which must be signed by parents and notarized. Most recent bank -and/or income statement must be attached.
Copy of your itinerary or round trip ticket

If you wish to have your passport returned by mail, a self-addressed, prepaid return envelope should be included with your application.

Dan's Wedding

2009-07-20T15:10:00.000-04:00

Well a friend of mine for many years now just got married this past weekend. Definitely congrats to him and a lot of fun had by those that were brought together for the occasion!

Recent Happenings

2009-07-15T21:29:00.003-04:00

Went to Jersey this past weekend. It was my good friend Jennie's graduation party. I had a blast and kinda wanna be back there. It was nice to meet the fam and all, they were so cool. Moseley and I went up on Friday and of course had fun in traffic.

Helped my sister's bf (I approve of this one) install a head unit, amplifier, capacitor and subs in his car on Wed / Thurs before I left for Jersey. The sub is an open enclosure in a closed trunk, it's not quite hitting right. So imma take a look at it this week. The amp doesn't have very many options on it for turning up the amount of power or "bass" it sends to the sub, beyond bass boost. Usually I like to stay away from bass boost becuase it's like just slapping a whole lot of power at the sub and can distort the clarity. If I can, like on my Audiobahn amp, I can tune it in incriments without using the bass boost function.

I just installed whatever it was that he brought me. I'll have to post up some pics of everything that we did and installed. The install is definitely clean ...lol if I must say so myself.

Cleaning The Grill

2009-06-14T21:16:00.010-04:00

Did a little work on the grill after I got it. It definitely needed a good cleaning on the inside, although I don't have any before pictures. I do have some progress pictures.

Mom and I moved the grill down to the lower deck (still in disbelief that I've gotten this $400 grill for free). I scrubbed down the propane tank and gave that a little power washing. Next I took the grilling plates out and scrubbed those down with degreaser / soap water. Then power washed them and set those to the side. I should have taken pictures ..but I got carried away with cleaning.

Next were heat shield deflectors that help dissipate the heat from the three different burners. I did the same as with the grill plates. Then came the fun part, the heating elements. These carry the gas the length of the grill etc are bolted in. I needed to remove these to be able to clean the bottom of the grill. The first one came off fine. The middle one...not so much. The bolt had been stripped probably when he either put the grill together or when trying to clean it. So, I skipped this one and went to the third one and that one came out just fine. Using a 10mm socket and ratchet on the back side of the bolt and a Philips head screw driver for the top.

I definitely spent more time on the middle on than I should have. Finally, I just got my metal drill bits out and drilled right through it. Which worked just fine. After dealing with this I decided to make a few mods. First and foremost would be new bolts that have a deeper slot for the screw driver, preventing stripping (hopefully). See below:

I also made sure that the bolts I put on the back were 10mm as well. This way I wouldn't have to switch sockets and what not if I needed to take things apart again.

Below you can see the new set up.

Here's the inside of the grill all cleaned.

All clean....

Right Place Right Time

2009-06-14T15:00:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a good day in my book. My sisters boyfriend has recently gotten into cars and was looking to me on tips and tricks to taking care of his new and very clean 1997 Prelude. So I told him (because I approve of him as my sisters bf) that he should come over and we'll detail the "whips" as we say. While we were out and about detailing the cars my neighbor from about two houses down approaches me. So I stop what I'm doing and he asks me if I want a grill. I'm like...well, sure! I remember seeing the nice grill that he had bought maybe a year ago and was thinking, that couldn't be it. But it was!

He let me know that he had just gotten new carpets in the house and taking it through the house wasn't an option. I surely wasn't going to offer him options to take it away either lol. So we were able to get it over my neighbors deck and onto mine. I found 15 cents on the grill before we lifted it over and offered him the 15 cents as payment and that was the deal. So 15 cents for a $400 grill. The 15 cents wasn't even mine but he was just wanting to get rid of it! So I've got a new grill and I love grilling by the way.

Take a look !