philipstraatsma.com – Low-Fi

Maria and I had been a one-car-family for over a year now, but that all changed this past weekend. Late 2007 my former whip, a 1992 Acura Intergra became increasingly unstable and eventually died.  Having stuggled with only one car to make it to work, conflicting appointments and events we decided it was time to upgrade the Straatsma family line of cars. Before we began the long search we sat down and made a list of requirements and a secondary wish list of ‘dream features’. Here is the final list:

Requirements:

• Some form of traction control for winter driving
• Significantly More storage space than the Camry
• Medium to Large size with a high safety rating
• Comfortable seating for at least 5
• General Hotness

Wish List:

• All-Wheel or 4-Wheel Drive
• Crossover or SUV
• Decent Fuel Efficiency (20+ City and 24+ highway MPG )

We initially started looking at the Buick Rendezvous but decided that they were a little overpriced and the selection was not that good. That’s when we stumbled across the Ford Explorer at a local dealer. We initially looked at a black 2002 and Silver Birch 2005. Amazingly the 2002 had less millage than that 2005. However, not only was the 2005 Explorer in better shape it also had AdvanceTrac traction control and a better gas millage all while costing less than the 2002.

I have this crazy desire to know at least the basics about everything tech related and tonight was time to tackle game development. Having read up a little bit about the Source SDK (software developers kit) I figured it would be something I could jump into fairly quickly. The interface reminds me of and odd mix between 3ds Max (formerly 3D Studio Max) and Adobe Photoshop. Using the excellent Valve Developer Community Wiki I came up with a simple alleyway map featured below:

A new leaf is about to turn. Life has taken a step forward for myself and my wife. This next week heralds many changes in our life, good changes. For starters Maria and I both officially start at the Van Andel Research Institute on Monday. Her as a full-time Administrative Assistant/Receptionist and myself as an Information Technology intern. Monday also brings the close date for the condo, which will make Maria and I first time home owners, woot!
Who said Mondays were a bad day?

However as you might have noticed by the pictures in my flickr feed the condo needs some serious updating. First thing will be to paint it head to toe with some nice pastel colors, replace the light switches and go from there. So don’t expect any work on this site for a while. Though you can expect some nice pictures now and then and a short update from time to time.

Big changes ahead for the Straatsma Clan! Back in April Maria and I started looking for a place to call home. While the apartment was cozy and all we felt it was time to stop giving money to the evil apartment management and give it to the neutral mortgage company. Very early into our search we found the perfect place, which coincidentally is currently featured in my flickr feed in the upper right-hand corner. We have plans to close on the 5th of June and take control of the condo. If you noticed in the pictures that the place looks a bit dated that’s because it is. The place is in great shape but needs some serious love. Before we move in we plan on painting the whole place from head to toe in multiple beautiful pastel colors.

Today also brought the 5/3 river bank run. Maria and I had been training for 5 weeks or so to get back into shape and make a decent time. This time around things were a bit rough but we beat the time we wanted to complete it in by 5 minutes. Now we move on to the next race and attempt to drop some more pounds and time.

Finally, the site is still being worked on but has been upgraded to ‘beta version’, everything works it’s just missing content. If you noticed the footer on this page contains some images and links to various things. These are actually links to current things I am reading/listening to/or projects. I am still missing the description graphics, expect those in the next week or so when I have a chance to sit down and work with photoshop.

Note: The footer is down temporarily as I correct some display issues with the graphics.

Today I turn 25 years of age. I reached the age where I have begun to feel old. Before you laugh, Let me explain. As a child you are constantly punished for being just that, a child. Your parents are always telling you “I’ll tell you when you are older” or “You arn’t old enough for that”. Then you reach your teens and your parents begin to treat you like an adult. However, the state says that you are not old enough to drive a car, to get a job, to see an “R” movie, to smoke, to drink, to vote, to own property, I think you get the picture. As a result you are in this constant state of wishing to be older, dreaming of what it would be like to be a “real person” with all of your rights fully realized.

Finally you reach the age when people start giving you things for being a responsible adult. At 25 your car insurance goes down. In your 30s people stop calling you “kid” at work and it is socially acceptable to hold office. When you hit 40 people start to seek you out for your “ancient wisdom” and God gives you a head of gray hair. Before you know it they’re handing you your AARP card and discounts on coffee and movie tickets. Then you begin to wonder why you rushed your youth and desire to be young again.

Perhaps I am really not feeling that old, maybe it’s more of an in-between feeling. Not quiet old, but not really young anymore. Either way it is a strange and somewhat uncomfortable feeling. But like most things in my life, I will ride this out and see where it takes me because, like many people know, we are truly not in control of our future.