Monthly Archives: March 2012

So I was told this by a friend last night and I couldn’t believe it, so he forwarded me the email.

Prof. Schneider has been nominated for the CEA Reid Miller Teaching Excellence
Award, and we want EECS to win.  If you want to help, please send an email to
Cindy Zimmerman at [email protected] by next Monday with a few comments on what
you liked about Prof. Schneider’s teaching (if you liked something).

The same Schneider who students avoided like the plague.  The same Schneider who had students fleeing his classes left and right.  The same Schneider who often doesn’t teach the same class twice because too many students dropped or complained.  The same Schneider who has never worked a day in actual industry and has been teaching his entire career.  The same Schneider who belittled me when I went to his office hours.  Lastly this is the same Schneider who told me I shouldn’t become an engineer.

I don’t think so.  This bugs me so much I’m actually bothering to do a blog post about it.  Think about how badly he must have left a taste if I’m still remembering his attitude from the one class I had from him 7&1/2 years ago.  Many of my friends had other classes from him more recently than that and many had similar experiences.

Know who should be up for that award?  Tim Hanshaw by far he was one of the best instructors I had.  I would work my schedule and course order specifically to get him as an instructor.  His ability to explain the how and why and make the solution to complex problems obvious and simple was fantastic.  He never made his students feel dumb or that they made a poor choice in going into engineering.  Then, to top all of that off, during lectures he would emphasize why something is important by tying it back to real world experience.

Hanshaw is teacher and he does a fantastic job at teaching his students.  Whereas I, along with many other students, look at Schneider as the devil incarnate.  When did I end up in the Twilight Zone?  I suppose it could be worse, they could be putting Alex Dimitrovski up for the award. [Russian Accent]Oh, it’s easy, it’s easy. Popt Quiz![/Russian Accent]

It isn’t Santa.  This guy makes Santa look like weak sauce.  Probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.

He’s coming for Boomershoot and to visit with some friends in the area.  Crazily that is the only pic I took of him the last time he was here.

There’s been a bunch of stuff I’ve put off, guess I need to get stuff done now don’t I?

*Hopefully I didn’t jinx it with what happened last year.

A Girl and Her Gun stumbled across a post that is designed to provoke thought about your tripwire.  I hopped over to her linked post and read through the comments.  Between A Girl and Her Gun and the comments there it’s it’s obviously about that time again.

Starting off I have previously talked about tripwires here.  More specifically the ignored lessons of the 20^th century.

First up, if you’re caching weapons, the time to use them is now.  You’re assuming that you will still be able to freely travel back to your cache as well as assemble with your friends for an armed resistance.  You have no such guarantee and anyone who is attempting to disarm you is trying to pacify you.  Any claims of good intentions are false and here’s why.

1. In the words of John Ross, “The time to fight is before you’re handcuffed in the back of the van.”  Having us volunteer our arms is like asking us to climb in the back of a van while hitch hiking and handcuff our self to the floor.  At that point, what can the driver do to you?  Anything that he wants.
2. Any politician wanting your arms doesn’t want them for “the public good” he wants them so you have not way to fight back.  We have seen time and again the falsehood that is gun control.  So knowing that their claims are lies, why would you surrender your arms?
3. Everyone has the right to self defense as well as the right to the best tools to do so and it is a divine right and thus not within the bounds of mankind to remove that right.
4. As a law abiding citizen, what does your disarmament do for the government?  It serves to ensure that you have no means to fight back if you decide you disagree with a law.  It stacks the deck entirely in their favor.

So with that out of the way, lets get to the core of A Girl and Her Gun’s post:

How many stories have we read about activists that save the world while their own kids suffer.  Is the greater good more important than the individual?  Absolutely not and yes, of course it is. There has to be people who are willing to sacrifice it all for what they believe in, if not, where would this country be, where would I be?

Yes, kids will suffer two fold because of this assault on our rights.  They will suffer the first because there will be those of us who will kiss them on the forehead and never see them again.  There will be others who will have them stripped away by the government because they dare to speak out against the state.  The state is a terrorist by all definitions.  These terrorists understand the leverage provided by using someone’s family against them.  This fact is an inevitability of the situation.  We do not wish for it, but it is the beast coming to our door and he can not be ignored. Forgot to post the second: The kids rights are in jeopardy just the same as your own.  Their choices are being made for them and the worst part is they will never be aware of that fact.

There is nothing more important than my children and each of them deserve to grow up knowing they are loved and valued and they need a mommy for that, at least partially, but then again, if they are growing up in a North Korea kind of country, who the hell cares or maybe it matters even more.

There is no question in that.  See this post which ended in a letter to my future kids.  Growing up though I learned that love has many forms.  My dad never expressed it in the ways most people would expect.  He just couldn’t, it wasn’t in his nature.  In fact there were only two times he ever actually said it, one of which was just before he passed away.

My dad would have left home without thinking twice to ensure the safety of my mother, my sister, and myself.  If it was necessary to guarantee my future beyond his horizon he would fight.  He would fight not just because it was the right thing, but because he loved us and wanted the best for us. 

There is no question my dad would act against any threat against his family, he proved it.  I know not everyone who reads this blog looks upon religion the same.  I also avoid it because I don’t like forcing my beliefs on others.  However this line has a significant weight despite the religion.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
–John 15:13

While at the time children may not understand and this applies to sacrificing time with those you love as well.  With age comes wisdom.  They will understand that the choices were the opposite of selfishness.  You fought not just for your right to have a choice, but for their own as well.  It is not only your children who will understand the sacrifices.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing – Edmund Burke

While one would want to just be with your kids to physically protect them, it provides the excuse for good men to do nothing.  There are many reasons not to fight when you consider your children.  However I can think of nothing that would put a bigger fire in my belly than the fear of evil men making decisions for myself and my children without a way to say, “NO!”

*I pulled those lessons from Joe, his post can be found here.

For all the talk of “Zombie Apocalypse,” or more serious concerns about economic collapse, your region’s version of extreme weather is the most likely civil emergency you will face. Have you made preparations? Do you have a plan? Do you realize it’s unlikely to survive contact with reality intact? (You need that plan nevertheless: gotta start somewhere.) Being ready is more than what you have stocked up and thought through; it’s an attitude.

Roberta X – “…Where The House Used To Be…”

March 5th, 2012

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[There is something that is referred to as the 7 P’s of planning.  Piss Poor Planning Promotes Piss Poor Performance.  This is combined with another favorite saying of mine, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

The thing is you need the plan, you need something to start off from.  You can try and plan for every contingency but I can tell you there will be one you missed.  That said, all that planning will pay off in making you much more prepared for said situation.  It will help turn that unplanned contingency into nothing more than a minor hiccup instead of a show stopping catastrophe.

My biggest concern is the effect of a major earthquake, volcano, or a possible freak tornado.  Those first two are actually serious concerns given the Cascadia fault as well as the history of Mount St. Helens.  I have plans in place.  I have supplies currently though not near what I would like on hand, and I’m working on gathering more equipment.  My eventual goal is to be prepared enough that when the SHTF while everyone is panicking I will be working with the community to keep things calm.  It’s much easier to do your job and provide emergency assistance to your community and neighbors if you have your shit squared away.  The job is almost completely unnecessary if everyone has done the same.  Then those able to render aid can focus on those who truly need it.  Those who were unlucky enough to be in the path of destruction and are in truly need of help.

See, this is me just being my crazy mean prepper self.  I’m such an asshole that I should do the world a favor and go kill myself right?  Heaven forbid I educate others and provide assistance.  I’m such a horrible person for telling people to at least think about and plan out what you’re going to do if something bad happens.  Because it’s such a horrible thing to “Be Prepared.”  -B ]