Alexander

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  • It’s the end of July ’19…I’m back in Utah…and…

    It’s the end of July ’19…I’m back in Utah…and…

    For my family…

    Man life can change soo quickly.

    I can’t even imagine what will change by the next time I decide to go and update my little blog again. All I can say is, it’s been a wild ride. I decided to move our little family back from California to Utah. We just didn’t have the support we needed to raise Theodore out in Long Beach, CA alone. My in-laws have been the biggest help. Honestly.

    I took a job back with a well-known company here at the point of the mountain (due to some lurkers I’ll abstain from listing the company). It’s contracting, but it pays really, really well. I’ll have all of our debt paid off within two months and soon our vehicles. Then we will have zero debt minus my school loans (which are in federal forbearance bearing investigation for predatory lending practices by ITT Technical Institute, which is now defunct).

    We’re going to buy our first home soon. Our very own home. I am thinking for the new year, 2020. Soon as these last bills are paid and cars are paid off, we will have zero bills and it all goes to saving for a home.

    We’re traveling to India soon to see our friends Abhishek and Kiki married in November. That will be very, very exciting. 🙂 Super, duper excited for that. Theo will need to stay behind, I don’t want to chance him getting sick taking him with us.

    Now for Theo. Man, our kid is developing soo, soo quick! He started to fully crawl at 6 1/2 months. He was scooting backward at about 5 1/2-6 months. Just 1-2 days after learning to crawl, he literally stood up in his crib on his own and we took video (plural, stop trying to auto-correct the grammar Google) of it. Like whoa. I’ll post some of my fav pics. 🙂

    Stroller ride. 🙂
    Daddy & Theo matching hats (they’re Dodger hats, but his face is too adorable to focus on the hats).
    Matching shades & hats.
    5 months!
    Easter pic. 🙂
    Theo’s first daddy shoulder ride. Yayyy!
    I don’t think he was enjoying his first life jacket experience. But it was still fun overall. He did have fun once he got to jump on my chest (not shown here). 🙂

  • My son, Theodore, January 6th, 2019.

    My son, Theodore, January 6th, 2019.

    Teddy Bear

    Honestly, I couldn’t really think of a title more befitting to give this post other than his birth date. This day, it belongs to him and what it means to my wife and I. He was the last question I had left on this earth. “What is it like to be a dad”? I mean, that’s not a question that is answered over night, but it is one that he and I will be answering together for the rest of my life, and he has helped me begin the journey on answering.

    His name, Theodore (Theo for short) was inspired by Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore was a good man and also belonged to the Freemason’s (for those of you that know, I too was raised to the sublime degree of M.M.) and had a good many qualities that I admired. The name really isn’t very common either and when my wife and I (Carisa) both heard it/seen it when we came across it, we both knew “that” was the one.

    Theo and Daddy cuddling

    Theo’s middle name is after his Uncle that is no longer with us, Peter Lee Willison. Peter was a great guy and an inspiration to all those around him and loved by all. I am glad I was able to get to know him. Both Theo and his cousin (born 2 days before him) both will carry Peter’s middle name on in remembrance.

    Theo after his first bath

    Carisa was a champ. We were initially due on January 9th. What happened is we went in for a “check up” into our specialist for some “light bleeding” on January 4th. They sent us to the hospital to get it “checked out” and told us “to not worry”. We didn’t even have our hospital bags packed at the time. Little did we know, we would not leave the hospital until Theo would be born a few days later.

    Carisa before the big contractions…just getting “checked out”…hahaha, little did she know…

    Boy has he grown on us in such a short time…

    Bright eyed and bushy tailed little Theo 🙂
  • I’m going to be a dad….and I’m now a manager and…

    I’m going to be a dad….and I’m now a manager and…

    Wow…I don’t know what to say. Life can change soo very quickly, for the better and for the worst. Right? Could I have told you I was going to be a dad just 6 months ago? Nope. A year ago when I was leaving one of the worst jobs of my life, could I have told you in a year from now I’d have one of best jobs of my life, a raise and a promotion? Nope. I mean working at BCI (Beyondsoft was awesome), but I got an even BETTER offer. Like I didn’t think it was possible. RPA is AMAZING. Let’s put it this way. They have conference rooms named after one of my favorite scientist (Stephen Hawking), my favorite Artist (Banksy) and other awesome rooms, lol, like Rupaul and Morrison. Being at a progressive, non-backwards thinking company is not something I wanted, it was something I needed. Either way, onto more IMPORTANT things! 😉

    Little Theo (Theodore) Lee Halstead is expected to be born January 10th, 2019. I am both overly prepared and excited.

    Being a father is one of the very few questions I had left in this world. What is it like to be a dad? Carisa has gone ape shit in buying stuff. She calls it “nesting” lmfao.  I mean I counted the other night and we have almost up to a 100 articles of clothing for the little guy, I mean sure, I may have bought a couple that were adorable that I HAD to see him in…

    but…she’s got like a new Amazon package arriving like every other day.

    David Tran, my good friend, you may never read this, but I am indebted to you. The more I learn about this man, the more I learn that he is not only a friend, but a brother. We share a bond that is known at a much deeper level. I understand levels of pain he’s experienced and some of the adversities he’s undertaken to get where he is at now. I do not take people for granted that have helped me get to where I am today and shared with me their learnings (people such as TJ F., Jesse B, Mike C.) I never forget those that have helped me get to where I am today.

    Dave we’ve got a lot more in store for us.

  • How do I view “life”?

    How do I view “life”?

    It’s the notion that you’re infinite that enthralls me. No, not the religious infinite explanation of a heaven and “happily ever after”. The non-cognizant explanation.

    Although you will die, your ego and physical body will decompose, all the energy of you will live on in a different form. Different religions have varying spins on this concept, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.

    We will all die, but we are all part of the universe and that universe will live on. We, in a sense, will live on just in a different form.

    The fact is that energy doesn’t disappear, it just changes form. We are energy and our life is merely a phase of that energy. We, our conscious beings that represent that energy, will die and live on again in a different form.

    The hardships of life and death are the challenge and management of an ego.

    It’s temporary, it’s as meaningful or meaningless as we make it out be, but in the bigger picture, we are all as meaningless or meaningful as we perceive. We are both parts of a universe and are the universe.

    So that leaves one to ask, what is the goal of life?

    Living in accordance with nature accompanied by virtue, or more specifically the four cardinal virtues as introduced to us by Plato. Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance.

  • 2017 Recapped, 2018 & Memento Mori

    2017 Recapped, 2018 & Memento Mori

     

    Sweden 7

    Ice Hotel in Northern Sweden in the Artic Circle! Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, to be exact.

    Sweden 8
    Sweden 9

     

    Previous
    Next

    The beginnings of a new year have begun. Last year I wrapped up 2017 with a pretty lackluster ending. The first time in my life I was laid off at the end of September 2017. Kelley Blue Book was a very, very stressful place to work and I believe I aged 5-10 years in the > 2 years I was there.

    I use to be insecure about sharing my livelihood with others, for fear the world would use it against me. But I’ve changed. I stopped caring what others would think. Those that were very negative in my life I’ve removed. I’ve found eliminating all forms of toxicity has made me a happier person overall. There were individuals I tolerated because I’d known them for years and years, but it was a form of tolerance that a school teacher extends to an unruly child.

    I’ve grown. Memento Mori. Remember death. Often we forget that this life truly is soo short and that we waste the precious time we do have to worry about things we cannot change. Stoicism has been my guiding light in dark times. I’ve used the ideologies time and time again to get me by. I look to authors and writers such as Marcus Aurelius, as a son would seek guidance from a father.

    Back to the layoff. It was a learning experience for me. My severance package, however, made the sting a lot less. I ended up better because of it. I have more in my savings now and I now earn more with my current company, Beyondsoft.

    I took a lot of PTSD with me being laid off. Working for a boss that does not value you as an employee is not fun and is not worth the stress or heartache that follows it. I was depressed my last year at KBB. I was constantly worried, wondering when I was next. When the day finally came, there was a sense of relief. Knowing finally that it was my turn gave me a sense of finality in an ongoing situation.

    It’s amazing, strange and an odd thing how people can do a 180 on you once you’ve “served” your purpose. I got my previous boss out of a lot of heat when I first came on board. I was his “star” employee. My second month I earned the PAI (Product Analytics Insights) award for employee of the month. I assisted in interviews, onboarding, tackling new and upcoming projects and challenges and the list goes on and on. Then things changed…

    I honestly, wholeheartedly believe that the role I was hired for evolved outside of my skill set, which I humbly believe is why I was laid off. I eventually helped in hiring the individuals and developers that would replace me. Nothing against them at all. In fact, one of them became a mentor, tutor and good friend of mine. I’d still go out of my way and bend over backward for him if he but ask.

    As a Tagging Specialist, I was a jack of all trades. The role itself drifted much more to a developer role, involved in a lot more coding, which I am still in my infantile state (I will be gaining additional skill/schooling in the next 6 months, but I am not quite there yet).

    Now, I am a Sr. Implementation Analyst. My day to day consists of troubleshooting tags on Toyota.com and dismantling/deciphering what goes into the data layer being ingested into Ensighten (tag manager comparable to Adobe’s DTM and Google’s GTM) and then kicked out into reports.

    I love this job. I love the people I work with. I feel this is where I was supposed to be. I know, I know, honeymoon phase…but I already get a long with everyone I work with and have hung outside of work with the group too.

    I’ve been taking a break on my topscitech.com. The site needs some major upgrades. It still is a hobby of mine, I’ve just been slacking. I will pick it back up, mark my word.

    Oh and I went to SWEDEN! Let me find a way to link some of my Instragram photos.

    Thanks for reading!

    -Alex

  • Ta eph’ hêmin & WordPress Migration

    Ta eph’ hêmin & WordPress Migration

    After the incessant price gouging that website builders like Wix, Weebly, etc use, I decided to finally move my blog over to WordPress. Besides, WordPress is just awesome. Soo much more configuration and I don’t have to worry about B.S. “sorry, you need to pay extra for that”. Silly stuff like adding videos to my site.

    Getting Google Tag Manager running again. Re-working my contact form as well. I’ve got a lot of Events/Variables/Triggers to set up.

    Ta eph’ hêmin – what is it? Epictetus Stoicism. With recent life changes, this particular phrase touched base with me at a very personal level. It means “Is it up to me?” 

    In other news. I am going to try again to apply to my favorite company. I’m not going to give up.

  • 2017

    The new year is among us. 
    ​
    I launched my site, www.topscitech.com. 
    P.s. View source. 🙂

    This site for me has several different meanings. First, I launched it because I am absolutely fascinated and love all things Technology and Science related. I already found myself posting on Facebook all the time anyways, linking articles from places like IFLScience, Science Alert, Nasa, etc. So what the hell, why not eh? My goal is to have my co-authors I’ve hand picked and myself eventually create video’s and speak to what it is we’re posting. Creating a community of inclusion and understanding. In the process, becoming progressive in nature and people on the front lines of these technological advancements.

    Another reason I launched the site was simply to learn. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with WordPress and the community behind it. It’s everything that I’ve needed. Up to this point in life, I’ve taught myself much of the Front End Developer information that I currently know, Javascript, HTML, CSS, Ajax, etc. With a combination of WYSIWYG’s and sites like Weebly that automate much of the actual configuration, I am getting to a point where I NEED to be much more of an online mechanic and crank into the CSS, iframes to manipulate them and get them to do what I need to do.

    Lastly, if do ever turn this site profitable, one of my first goals is to help my mother whom is currently homeless and living in Key West, Florida. I would love to give her some peace of mind and bring her back so she can finish her remaining years amongst people that both love and miss her. If I can help her in any way with her dementia, I will.

    What’s coming up:
    1. Youtube Videos speaking to the new science/technology and our thoughts.
    2. Intro videos about the authors.
    3. Page dedicated to Extraterrestrial theorems. 

    Give my Facebook page a like, I’d appreciate it (who knows, you might see something that makes you go “wow, cool”).

    https://www.facebook.com/topscitech/

    In other news:
    I’ve decided that I will be taking the Front End Developer Nanodegree from Udacity (they’ve partnered with Google to create a pretty solid course that helps people like myself build a portfolio and gethub repository). I can’t begin to tell you how excited this gets me.

    ​I am also going to start softball again. Both co-ed and a mens team with people at work.


    ​Author

    Me: Absolutely awkward, proudest of nerd & geek. Decreaser of world sucking. I will go into survival mode if tickled. In search of sleep, sanity, & The Shire. My hobbies are breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  • UEFI, Dual Booting a Linux Distro, Windows 10 & you

    What is it?
     It stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. It has replaced many new age windows “Bios” booting (Basic Input-Output Systems).

    Why this post?
    Dual booting Windows/Linux distros can be a pain in the ass. Trying to spam Delete, Esc, F2 and other various stuff most likely won’t work – because your computer is too fast. Good problems? Well if you’re trying to boot from that Flash drive/USB, yea.

    Here’s what you do (Windows 10):

    1. Boot into Windows normally. 
    2. Go to Start
    ​3. Click Settings
    4.  Select “Update & Security”
    5.  Select “Recovery”
    6.  Select “Restart Now” under Advanced startup
    7. Upon booting, you’ll receive a  “Choose an Option” screen, select “Troubleshoot”
    ​8. From the Advanced Options screen, select “UEFI Firmware Settings”
    9. Select “Restart”. On reboot you may/may not be prompted for a password. Enter it in. 
    10. Yay! You made it into  UEFI/Bios. Whew. Arrow over to “Boot”
    11. Arrow down once to “Boot Mode”, press F6 (fn & F6 if on a laptop), select “Legacy”
    12. Hit F10, save and exit. Now you can at least reference get back into bios on restart and now change the Boot priority to Flash drive.

    What a pain in the ass, right?

  • New Sites

    I have a couple sites in development. Writing up a business plan. Starting a new business out here in CA. I’ll be setting some goals soon as well.

    Also, I am getting to work with big data FINALLY at work! Woo hoo. Super stoked by it. Now I just need to get the actual time to spend in delving into it. Also, SQL training is coming along well.

    ​I’ll be adding my up and coming sites soon.

  • Opiate song meaning by Tool.

    This song touches home with me in soo many ways how how I feel about religion, which is why I’ve given it, its own blog post. Maynard speaks for many and uses his best known medium to do it. Thank you James.

    Source, Wikipedia:
    “Opiate” is a song by Tool and the title track from their debut EP.

    The song’s title and lyrics apparently elaborate on the Marxist concept that “religion is the opium of the masses”. Keenan’s lyrics liken religion to rape and abuse by a person or group of people to another person or group of people. The lyric “deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow, what you need is someone strong to guide you” supports this notion. Sometimes when played live, Keenan sings “…what you need is someone strong to use you”. The song’s chorus of “Jesus Christ why don’t you come save my life, open my eyes and blind me with your lies” may refer to the antagonist, or his victim, either seeking forgiveness or salvation

    Tool, Opiate:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt0Zqo-vOFM