rrrrrr! Save my fields!

I just spent 7 precious minutes updating my profile on 'orkut' which is google's social networking site. I navigate to a different tab and then save and poof! all my fields go blank with nothing updated. Well that's just frustrating :-( the most frustrating thing ever! I'm taking my social networking elsewhere. Who is on orkut anyway?

Doing vs. Teaching

I found out a couple weeks ago that my dream of teaching science to kids is virtually unattainable for four years. I took it in stride, but I realized I would need to do something in the meantime. I am taking computer classes (Linux, Perl, anything that's offered at Cabrillo), hoping I could do something with that. Whatever I do, I don't want to be underemployed...
So I got a job yesterday [yay!] and my only goal in doing so was to gain financial independence. Maybe I have issues, but it hurts to always have to ask for every little scrap of anything.
My job, however, is more than this. I have a chance to work for a small engineering firm (I am the only employee) and work as much as I want as an Engineer. I can just weld and assemble parts for $12 per hour or I can engineer systems for electric cars and be more than a minion.
This kind of open-ended potential is daunting. I [re]discovered while digging through the dirt that I am more comfortable with not giving my full effort and being satisfied with mediocrity. I resolved to not be satisfied with this. When I was younger I thought of Life as something that happened in the future, and Now was just preparation for that. Some 15 years later I am still having to make decisions. I can be trapped in elementary physics for the rest of my life, or I can go further and solve bigger problems...
When I put it like that it seems obvious. But teaching our children well is very important... I will be the best Engineer I can be and in a few years I will re-evaluate my life and see where humanity needs me.

Korg Part 2

I now have a fully functioning Korg Delta!!
I got it about a month ago and I was very dismayed to find it only partially functioning. Four of the five function generators were shot and the octave balance in the strings section was scratchy. Well, I downloaded the service manual, disassembled the keyboard, desoldered the malfunctioning components, contacted Mouser Electronics and found replacements, waited...

... Soldered the replacement parts in, put it back together and fired it up.

I'll post pictures below, and detailed notes to anyone of you with questions.

Oh, and thanks to the good people at sci.electronics.basic for all their helpful advice.

http://www.archive.org/download/KorgPentatonic/KorgPent.wma

http://www.archive.org/download/KorgBminor/Korg5.wma

Korg Delta

Okay, here it is. You can see four dashed-line boxes around four resistors with the little arrows through them. These controls comprise the envelope generator:

A = Attack
D = Delay
S = Sustain
R = Release

Like I said, the 2MA attack pot is flaky and I would like to replace it. But I've searched high and low and can find, at most, a 1MA slider. Will this work?

rK

grind

I think that if I write often enough maybe pearls will spill out...

I can no longer write in my paper journal.

I cannot post on BigThink because they don't accept 3GP and won't for another 6 months. I was, however, able to get in early enough to secure the name, Rabbit, which is almost always taken by someone who is probably not named Rabbit.

Rabbit is my nome-de-guerre, and believe me, this is war!

I'm waiting for a miracle - and amusing myself in the meantime by building a foundation...

I keep putting 'gather answers' on my to-do list, but I'm afraid no one would believe me.

Spring Break Ramble

It's Spring Break and my head is empty. It is 11:02 in the morning and I'm still in my pajamas while my girlfriend is hard at work, working to pay the mortgage, etc...

I would love to be working, but I'm not allowed, by law, to work in my chosen profession until 2o12. Will the singularity be here by then? I don't know - I don't think so, which vaguely reminds me of a dream: swallowing the genetic improvements or something...

Anyway, I'm all for progress as long as I can revert back to the old way when I want. When I got a new cell phone I was very resistant, and very indignant when the pimply faced boy told me they no longer carried my phone (Nokia 3012). In the end I upgraded to a Sony Ericsson, which I now love, and put my Nokia lovingly in the box thinking I would take it out and use it in the future for 'something'. Well, I have taken it out exactly 3 times to turn it on and play my favorite ring tone, the chicken dance, then put it back. The only thing I miss is the chicken dance and the fact that I could lay the phone on its edge and spin it around.

Anyway, I'd better get dressed and do something. I can't tell if anyone at all reads this blog, so if by some chance you do, please comment so I know...


rambling to the void
rK

Cruise to Cabo part 1

I took the Carnival Elation to Cabo San Lucas last week. I was expecting to like Mexico more than the Cruise Ship, but I found the opposite. I really enjoyed the cruise ship and Cabo was kinda like some parts of many California towns. The most remarkable thing is how hard they hustled for the American dollar. If you made eye contact they would surround you asking if you wanted a water taxi, or whatever. I must look like a drug addict because I was constantly offered weed and coke. I ended up getting an ostrich skin wallet and a pair of silver cufflinks for a fairly good price. I was typically able to talk them down 10-15% off the asking price. We ate lunch at a taqueria which is much like any taqueria you can find in California. I had to ask them to turn off the 80's rock because I didn't come all the way from America to listen to Bon Jovi.

Something to know about the cruise ship:
$6 ATM fee, so make sure you have all the cash you need
$2.39 Cokes, but the apple juice is free
$8 drinks, for you lushes
Some friends took Cabo by Land and Sea and said it sucked.

I will publish photos in my next post, but I gotta go do homework now...

rK