Dvorak update, no time to write
I’ve been meaning to write about a couple of my recent activities and adventures lately, but just haven’t had the time to sit down and write it all up (even though I’ve gotten pretty good at using the Dvorak keyboard layout now)! Unfortunately, I’m not any faster than I was at using the Qwerty yet - but it has only been about a month, and I’ve gotten quite proficient (need to run a speed test sometime) but have not been practicing any more than my regular necessary typing.
I’ll admit, it is very difficult going back to the Qwerty layout now - I have to look for every key I type! For the first 2 weeks, I could “switch on/switch off” between Dvorak and Qwerty, because I was still thinking for a split second “where” the key is located on Dvorak. Now it is all intuitive - a natural response - but every so often a nerve will still think Qwerty on me and go astray!
So, a quick summary of latest activities that I haven’t had time to write about, but could add a full page or blog post about each:
In the middle of November, I bought a motorcycle. =) An all-black 1991 Suzuki Katana 600 with 19k miles on it. I took the basic rider safety class and finally got all of the paperwork done, so I can legally ride it anywhere and anytime. It will need some major servicing since it idles quite low with all the miles on it, but I am looking forward to eventually riding it out here for the year-round riding season in California!
For Thanksgiving, I headed out to Lake Tahoe on an organized trip with my friends Buddy and Alex. We planned for this a month or so in advanced and were looking forward to some awesome snowboarding but unfortunately, there was no snow. The only resort open was Boreal (coincidentially the furthest awaf from us at 1.5 hours) with their homemade snow though I did not go out in the rain (took a trip to Reno instead), we did finally get a dusting on Friday night and I went out a bit on Saturday. Still the one run open with the one lift servicing it was a drag, and there was also a lot of rocks and dirt sticking up in places. To summarize; we stayed in a nice apartment (Buddy, Dutch + Caroline, myself and Steve (tour guide)) in S. Lake Tahoe, got to try some Tahoe Brew, checked out Emerald Bay and did some hiking around but didn’t get to see Vikingsholm, Buddy and I came home a little injured from attempting to ride the tables (just flesh wounds, I avoided the medic), and overall we had a good time.
Just lately, I got to check out a speech by Whistleblower Joseph Wilson, a past U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and had a 23 year record of service to the Department of State, for a significant time in African countries. After he dubunked the Presidents State of the Union address claim that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa, he was the subject of a character assassination attempt in the media with the revelation that his wife was a CIA agent. He spoke about many great experiences which I’d like to share, but concluded with the main point that all citizens in our democracy need to hold our government accountable and petition it for changes if we ever expect this “great experiment” to be a success.
Now it is currently finals week, and I need to get back to working on my take home finals. I head out in 4 days to return home to Omaha for Christmas! Looking forward to seeing family, friends, and my dog Roscoe. =)