Asa Jay's weblog

Two and a half years of school has left me a little out of the loop. I knew the BBC was producing a new Doctor Who series but two things prevented me from getting involved. The first was the fact it makes it to the United States late, and the second was that I was I still in school. Be that as it may, a friend at work has allowed me to watch a copy, starting from the beginning. Tonight, I just finished the first two episodes and I am suitably impressed.

It’s been some 20 plus years since I was first introduced to The Doctor. My first experience was in tech school with the Air Force, while stationed at Keesler AFB in Mississippi. One late night surfing through the channels on the television in the day room, I stumbled across this odd English program with a frightened young girl and a curly haired tall man in a long coat and even longer scarf. It looked sci-fi so it intrigued me. The episode was “The Brain of Mobius” or something like that (I don’t really follow these that close), and it ran uninterrupted. Even at the end of the show, I didn’t really understand what I had seen.

The acting was alright, the sets seemed a bit cheesy but the back story was intriguing. Who was this doctor person, and what was the relationship to this Sara Jane Smith person? Well, I didn’t manage to catch any more episodes there but once I got back home, I found this show called Doctor Who on the local PBS station, and it all became clear. I then followed it through the next two Doctors and it faded away. For almost any sci-fi fan, the resurrection of Doctor Who is almost a watershed event.

Tonight as I watched, I found myself engrossed in the same old, but familiar theme. Having only watched the first two episodes I can at least say it was certainly made for old fans. We get a passing quip from the new Doctor as he passes a mirror and comments on his new appearance. We don’t really know what his very last appearance was but he seems to be okay with his new look. This of course plays on the fans knowledge that The Doctor regenerates. Something else the fans knew about, was the TARDIS. Read the rest of this entry »

Two and a half years ago I started down a path to a new degree. I had reached a kind of glass ceiling that didn’t allow me to move up in the working world and experience new challenges. I tried changing jobs to take a promotion but that didn’t work out so well, and that in itself is another long story. But one of the things that hit me hard was an experienced division manager looking me square in the face and asking me point blank why I didn’t have a four year degree. That was embarrassing. But what followed hurt me more, he asked if I thought I could run the local office. He was from another division and was most likely going to fire the manager who had hired me, and this was a way of telling me I might have had the chance at being the office manager if had a four year degree.

I told him I’d like to think I could do a good job, but was realistic enough and perhaps a bit humble enough to also tell him I wasn’t ready and didn’t have quite enough experience. He thought that was a good answer and we got along very well. He had me work with one other person in the office and between the two of us we managed the end of the critical project we were working on. All this after our direct manager resigned, probably seeing the writing on the wall. But it all got me to thinking… maybe I need that four year degree.

At the time, I recently had a friend who graduated the accelerated continuing studies program at Whitworth College, obtaining a degree in Organizational Management. Since that was the direction I felt my strengths were in, I contacted him, got the details and then contacted an advisor at the college. The rest is now history.

Twenty classes, two and a half years, a name change from Whitworth College to Whitworth University, and I’m done. Read the rest of this entry »

I currently receive an email newsletter called WinXP news, which is also available on their web site. Vol. 7, #16 – Apr 17, 2007 – Issue #273 talks about Open Source and asks the question if one is really better than the other. I just had to respond to this in several ways, here are some of my thoughts.
When talking about Open Source, the author states:
“If I find myself stuck with a hunk of junk that some stranger gave away or my free
download hoses my system, what am I going to do? Ask for my money back?”

. . . and I say. . .

Try doing that with Windows, or any other proprietary Windows Software product. You’ll get the same answer, “sorry.” When was the last time you read (really took the couple hours it takes) to read a EULA? There are no warranties that protect you or your data. At best, you might get an acknowledgment from the proprietary vendor that they know of the bug, and might fix it, or might not. With Open Source, chances are less than five minutes with Google, and 10 minutes on some forums and you’ll find others who has suffered the same fate and have already fixed it. In each case there is no way to get your money back. So what was the author’s point?

Later, the author asks the question:
“Do you buy the idea that being “open” makes software more secure, or automatically makes it “better” or somehow morally superior to closed source software?”

. . . and I say. . .

In the author’s own editorial, they never even approached real answers of security. The only thing they got into was how a proprietary kernel (MS) is closed source so no one can figure it out, while an open source kernel is open so everyone can peek, poke and monkey with it. Nobody can draw conclusions of security with such generalities. As for the MS kernel being more secure, BAH! When programs like most of Symantec’s products actually MODIFY the kernel, what kind of security is that? I’m in week number two of a WinXP rebuild because a Norton product failed it’s install in the middle of modifying the kernel. Talk about being screwed and having no warranties!

Next the author asks:
“Have you tried open source operating systems? Did you come back to Windows or do you still use Windows for some of your computers?”
Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, while going to work one day, I noticed a local hotel was hosting a Studebaker convention, of sorts.  I don’t know the details, I just know the parking lot was full of cars and trucks from almost all years of Studebakers.  While I spent some time walking through the parking lot, I found a few models and years that piqued my interest.  Later, I did some web searching and found the following years and models that I’d be interesting in owning:

• 1962 GT Hawk
• 1956 Sky Hawk
• 1953 Commander Starliner
• 1955 Speedster

Amazing enough, some of the early 50’s design, comes through in the later early 60’s design.  I can’t say for sure which model I really like best.  Of the four above, I could only pick a favorite if they were all parked next to each other.  I think the ’62 GT Hawk would probably be my first choice and then it would go down from there.

I’d want to of course drop a modern fuel-efficient, high horsepower V8 into it .  Maybe some interior upgrades for instrumentation, and a good coat of paint.  The thing that really turns me on about these, is that the bodylines and styling bring back memories of the early spy days, the James Bond, The Saint, and even Get Smart days.  And even most recently, in Pixar’s film The Incredibles, it harkens to the early car Mr. Incredible drives at the beginning of the movie.

I really think this could be a head turner, if I could only find one.

Asa Jay

Yesterday I heard from Chad Carper regarding the space next to Dominos Pizza in Airway Heights.  After several attempts to contact the representatives at Tomlinson Black Commercial, I found that Chad’s name, with Kiemle & Hagood, was recently posted on the property.  I called Chad and left a message last week, and he promptly called me back once he was back in town on Monday.   Chad’s number is 755-7572.
Chad is actually the person who found the land and helped a developer build the location.  The developer then sold it to another owner, and that owner is now trying to sell the property as well.  The current price is set at $1.3M.  That’s a bit more than I want to spend, I’m more interested in leasing a the moment which is what we talked about first.
The current space available is 3000 sq. ft. which can be divided into two spaces.  Chad told me there were no specific plans, so the space could be used as one large area, or could be leased anywhere between 1200 and 1800 sq. ft.  This location out of all the others so far, gives me the most options.  The old Premier Video was 3700 sq. ft. but there was no option to divide it. The spaces at Hayford Rd. were all pre-set, but had a varying degree of sizes.  This spot allows me the flexibility to choose something within the area my floor planning is coming up with.

The space is approximately 70 feet deep, so if I’m interested in this space I can massage my floor plans appropriately.  There are two restrooms currently installed, one for each of two space the 3000 sq. ft. can be divided into.  The lease price is $15.75 per sq. ft. per year, with $2.50 per sq. ft. triple net (taxes, insurance and common area maintenance).
There are no remodelling restrictions as long as they are approved by the building owner.  I was told I could put in a deli and a coffee bar if I wanted.  Chad mentioned I might not want to put in a grill since it would be very costly to install an overhead hood vent system.  I’ll have to keep that in mind.

As for the term, Chad said they ae negotiable, right up front.  There was no talk about a five year lease being mandatory or even preferred.  In fact, Chad told me the owners were open to providing the first three or four months FREE with the signing of a three or five year lease.   This was by far the most flexible a plan I have been approached with yet and Chad seemed very calm and open about what we could do to get my business into the building.

I must say I had the best conversation with Chad out of any of the other people I’ve talked to regarding space.  He also complimented me on my forethought of questions to ask, at one point believing I already owned or was leasing other properties.  That tells me I’ve begun to understand many of the things I need to know when it come to leasing a place.

Well, in the end, this spot falls in the mid-range of leasing cost per square foot.  However, it also has the most flexible arrangement of features so far, between space and leasing terms.  The only drawback right now is the parking available.  There are only two non-handicap spots out front, along with two handicap spots.  There is however a 17 space lot out back that was put in as part of the construction.  That just means I might need to use the back door as a valid customer entrance.  Overall, I’m really liking this spot more than any other right now.

Another thing to think about is that this space would be a good “starter” space and location.  If the business was successful and needed to grow, I could possibly expand it into the remaining space (if not leased at the time), or even move into something larger in a different location.

I was on the phone with Chad for a little over 20 minutes.  Today I need to study for a mid-term I’m taking tonight so I won’t get to the spreadsheet today, but I have enough info on leasing and locations that I can build something now.  I’ll have to work on that tomorrow.

The last option I wanted to get information on, was the idea of buying land and building.  I know that would be the greater expense so it’s probably not the best idea, but one I think I should get information on anyway.

That’s all for now.

Asa Jay