There should be an X prize offered for moving--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_prize
why is it that the human species has not applied science to the subject of the household move? There has been no advancement in human moving since, well since people loaded their stuff onto a travois, harnessed up the dog, and moved that bigger, better cave down the road. I am surrounded by unboxed,partially boxed and boxed confusion...we are at that state where it feels as if we are camping out in someone Else's home, but this perception is reducing over time. I have never felt as if i own something until i am completely set up in it...the rain man element within...which does not infer being unhappy--- So far there have been advantages and disadvantages to the recent moving process--on the plus side getting out of the motorhome is major!! we now have heat and a flush toilet, as well as room to stand up and stretch---something the average human does not miss until one attempts motorhome living for an extended period of time. The new mexico winter is simply too rough for living in a 3" thick metal can with zero insulation--it was really, really, really cold in the MH....which makes me so thankful right now for our small, toasty warm, but currently disorganized California bungalow...additional good things are a reduction in the number of cigarettes I've been consuming...I'd been smokin'like a fiend lately and since we've moved into the little house---I've been smoking allot less----on the bad end of things is the "you are truly an old guy now" bummer of a--backache---caused by the initial move in process. The not being able to move or sleep for two days, back being out type of thing...this is one of those times when i am extremely glad not to be a member of a hunter-gathering tribe--cause my fellow tribe members would view me right now as a worthless-toothless old thing--suitable only as staked out "bait" in a communal hunt.
We now have one of those two thousand channel cable tv systems installed. We needed the complete cable package for wireless internet from the offering company...this will be the first time in years that we have had on demand commerical television. It's amazing to observe the combination of crap and cool stuff available. cool= Pulp Fiction and conspiracy theory programs available. Uncool=political commentary and advertvision...ah well! We also did the big monitor and a new dvd player present to ourselves. Now watching the matrix i can see up Neo's nose--amazing.

I've pretty much made the decision to do away with my desktop computing system..and switch to laptop only computing. The age of my desktop and with the reduction in size of living space--doing all my work on a laptop system simply makes sense. So far my XPS dell 13" has been doing everything i have needed and i believe i'll stick with this system. I have been looking at an Asus Eee 4G-Galaxy 7" PC Mobile Internet Device to carry around in my backpack, allowing me to leave the XPS at home. The Asus Eee is a umpc, or ultra mobile portable computer. The Asus works off of linux and is reasonably priced at $399.00.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YEMKGY/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I6Z2F3QC4SXFY&colid=1DRH6GFA2D2YJ

I'm figuring that for what i need on the move--access & construction of email--and net browsing for information and reference this Asus should do fine.....according to the documentation this little thing is ready to fire up out of the box, all software is pre-loaded....the major downside is that the Asus has no disc drive. Memory is based on the digital card system such as those used in digital cameras. However for the two purposes i have described this system may work perfectly. My prius totality 'concept' has been delayed by the move as has my record keeping of cash spent on gasoline. The world just got too complex during the MH stay and the move....right now my prius is incredibly dirty both inside and out...and it needs it's standard maintenance i just have not been able to keep it to my usual standards of care. i have been running about 45 mpg over this cold time period...which is not as good as the summer months but overall not too bad...all reports that i have read are projecting a price of around $3.75 per gallon at the pump this spring.Once gasoline hits that price the hybrid concept comes into it's own. I have increased my commute mileage by 4 miles due to this move---to 38 miles one way. The new 74 mile round trip commute should run me about one and a half gallons per day, less in the summer months.

I have a lot to be grateful for---an excellent little house, a great life, many,many interests in the world around me, and most of all a wife i love with all my heart. I'm really lucky and I'm not confused at all about that......

Moving again ---- (into our new small house on a little planet) there will be a hopefully small gap in my blog postings--required by the transfer process and re-establishing connectivity to the Internet. We found a 1200 sq.ft. house built in 1904 that perfectly fits our parameters of how we wish to live within a smaller footprint with a higher quality of life around us.This has been a unique experience (insert cold), living in the motor home for several months during the new mexico winter---we learned quite a bit about multiple issues--living small--the yes/no option on motor home living in retirement (without actually committing to it)--decided what we really wanted in a home during the search---yes, a number of items were studied during this experiment, and we managed to live through it. We discovered that we needed alittle over one thousand sq.ft. for our interests, art and lifestyle. We wanted a small yard to grow plants and putter in...(this was kinda up in the air)..that a townhouse wasn't just in the cards so to say. So we've found our smallness--and creative capability and are going to spend acouple of weeks setting up.

Meanwhile--I've been reading and computing and in the final days prior to moving I'm going to start working my simulation sim-societies....I'll update you as i get a chance....

more later...

there has been quite abit happening--we are buying a wonderful small house in the historic district of Roswell..which will allow for much art--science and hanging out..i have not posted for alittle while but i have been writing so listed below are a few of the things which have been on my mind over the past two weeks:

here's a conspiracy theory I've just read about:Aliens destroyed the space shuttle Columbia via death-power ray??. This one really requires no explanation ...my first thought on this theory was ........why would an advanced alien civilization use a death ray on a vehicle that resembles a tropical fish in that literally anything can kill it?? I hate incompetent advanced aliens...

http://www.keralaonline.com/news/news.php?id=1704

but...i do enjoy collecting these types of theories. I keep them locked away in the back of my mind to help define the pure variety of the human thought process... collecting these wide ranging conspiracy theories was something one could not really do until the onset of the web..these folks are probably residing next to me at the RV park with lots and lots of cats and several antenna's super-glued onto the roof of their airstream! After all who am i to speak badly of this theory when we are now purchasing a house only a few miles from the infamous Roswell UFO crash site....i am already building my personal tin foil cap to wear around outside in case "they" wish to make contact.

I am working my way through the book "Japanese cybercultures" and although the collection of papers/articles is somewhat hit and miss on the interesting meter, i am very happy to record in my notebooks new words and phrases for future usage both english and Japanese such as--electronic individualism--meru-tomo= email friend in Japanese---atomized individualism---individualized interiority---i occasionally write words that interest me such as these down in my notebooks--just to keep, to think about, to roll around on my tongue and to throw out into conversations to obtain a blank look from the other party--so although the book may not be a stunner, it definitely has value to me. But then again only to me...can't recommend it at all to normal humans................................................ I am taking advantage of our recent retreat to self-evaluate.To examine parts of my internal make up i do not elaborate on here..our current living conditions, this venue, this remote, self contained, smallness we are living in at the moment assists in this process. My goal is to think about issues in my existence for later action. To plot a new ten year personal plan. A new element in my personnel planning is that this may be the 'last' viable ten year plan. The one last redefinition of myself in this universe that i may have the energy/health to accomplish. I've already decided this personality rebuild will be selfish. It will be just for and about me. I have previously rebuilt myself many times over this life--those rebuilds/reconstructions, were however, based upon the critiques, input, desires & demands, of those surrounding me, living off me, existing through me, or supported by me. This time, the last time, is for none but me.

A book which i am enjoying that i can easily recommend beyond the confines of my personal reading bizarre world--a book i picked-up used at one of the local bookstores entitled "Too far from home" it is the story of the MIR, SKYLAB & International Space Stations. It is written extremely well written in the style of one of those informative/investigative rolling stone articles by Chris Jones...it not only explains the history of the space station concept but the down and dirty as to what astronauts refused to speak to ground control after long periods of isolation--how the Russians are different from us in space...where the bodies of the columbia astronauts where found..especially appealing is the how these people lived within the small spaces they did for incredibly long periods of time. This information was actually why i took a leap of faith buying the book--i thought the information might help with my rv living at the moment---strange eh? But give that thought a minute to sink in and overall it makes sense. At any rate the book is excellent, well written and an easy read...I recommend.

OK-OK--i've found a completely new watch to fixate over--i've never seen one in the flesh but at this point who cares? It is reasonably priced,at $345.00--just take a look at this..there is a multi-dial movement in watch design going on but to this point the ones i have read about or viewed on the net have been to this point incredibly expensive--this model from timberland is the least expensive multi-faced watch i have seen. I especially like the silicone banded one with the flat black mechanical section--very well done.

http://www.timberland.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=1770339&cp=1779791.1761084&source=GGL_KW:timberland%20watches:TXT:N:N:107:TBL The drawback with this type of "one off" watch, so to say, is that the watch may suddenly disappear off the market when supplies are exhausted...often the mechanicals are off the shelf components but being primarily interested in the design of the timepiece is my focal point. I'm going to decide over the weekend if i should push the buy it now button or not?

Ok--looks like i may have covered all the bases for right now--let's see alien plots against the space program--check---bizarre book reviews of interest to only me----check---hard to follow rap about interior personality/mental rebuild---check---Otaku watch rap---check--yup that about does it...

A day for doing odd small jobs around the motorhome. It's the first really cold day since we've adapted this lifestyle and it's very, very different living in a motorhome than a house in the winter..it's cold inside today--can't lie about that at all. The motorhome furnace is running all the time and it's snowing out there---feet are cold and i've got alot of clothing on...the hot exhaust from the laptop feels good therefore i want to be long winded on this entry and catch up on 'the usual suspect' categories i have a tendency to expound on here but have been lazy about covering lately...

Movie wise it has been an uninteresting chronograph period. Various movies and shows I've been watching all of the main characters show absolutely no style in their watches. Nothing cool to report on that front but... On the personal front however I've had some luck. In a previous posting I'd mentioned that timex had suddenly developed a new line of watches that were actually, well, interesting---especially an all black chronograph that caught my eye. Titled somewhat grandiose--"men's adventure chrono". Now baring the watch name--in reading about this watch i decided i needed one.....of course none of my regular web haunts carry this model... i purchased one at walmart,believe it or not, well below the retail price mentioned on the web (90.00) and the watch is excellent! To me this is astounding since for the most part timex specializes in watches for those people who could care less about watches--this watch is well made, heavy duty and actually pretty styling for what it cost! It's not the Omega speedmaster with black face and black leather band i covet but coolio none the less..

Mileage in the Prius since the move has stayed relatively stable at 47.6 MPG per week.Even with the recent temperature change over to winter which i was sure would affect my mileage. In my area this mpg has resulted in a cost of $13.00 a week in commuting costs for a daily 45 mile round trip. Oil recently came really close to breaking the $100.00 per bbl. mark this week and like everyone else I expect gasoline prices to climb astronomically in the very near future. My workplace is an incredibly conservative social structure--the sort of place where huge pick-up trucks are admired and coveted and covered with support our troops bumperstickers. I realize that i had been "fondly" identified by my loving co-workers as the "Al Gore--left wing Geek with the electric car" surely this is a sign of affection--- ya think?...now however the panic has begun amongst the masses. everyone i speak with at work is scrambling to reduce their gasoline expenditures and increase their mpg. The most interesting, less effective solution i've seen is old dudes commuting in the cold and rain, on their harleys, getting less miles per gallon on their "hog" than i am getting in my hybrid--very strange belief structure in play there. I am incredibly relieved that i made the switch to a hybrid vehicle prior to the upcoming rush on the toyota dealers. I think prices and demand for these vehicles is gonna get ugly soon. Since I've done everything personally possible with available hybrid vehicle technology right now i am going to purchase a segway human transporter for small short trips. Completely electrically powered i can if necessary recharge the segway off of solar cells..and be free from gasoline dependency for short trips at any rate. I'm pricing and researching right now and have settled on the X2 on/off road model and found a dealer in new mexico who offers a cargo trailer option which will allow for trips to the grocery store, shopping or utility usage. The range is supposedly 25 miles on a full charge which could conceivably cover my 22 mile work commute, on the state highway shoulder, if necessary. I am actually considering this in good weather if necessary---...as long as i recharge it at work. I can only imagine the hassle i'll get over this rascal--right up until--well you know..my goal is to have this item in hand by the first of the year.

I have had an unsatisfactory run of book purchases recently. There is no fault involved in this neither for the author nor yours truly the reader..two recent books i received rewired and radio freefall have not inspired me whatsoever....i have resorted to rereading through my william gibson collection pending the arrival of the books discussed below-----my brain may have switched over from fiction to non fiction without advising me...therefore i ordered two non-fiction books which i have held on my wish list for quite a period of time...the first is titled THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE X-FILES--although at first a seemingly worthless topic for the display and explanation of philosophical theory books such as this may actually be the most worthwhile---- I have read several books on the philosophy of the matrix movies and enjoyed them. This category of book using visual representations from movies and television series has reportedly had an tremendous success ratio in college philosophy classes. The visuals from these subject's formats, the examples of present day paradoxes assists greatly in understanding varying philosophies.I enjoyed the x-files and i am very interested to read how the authors relate x file episodes to the world of classical and modern philosophical movements. My second non fiction selection is JAPANESE CYBERCULTURES (i bet that's high on every ones reading list eh?) i know, i know ---a very specific, isolated book in my singular interest category--can't help myself eh? My ongoing deep and abiding interest in Japan-pop and their cyber-techno-future present knows no bounds--i am probably one of three people in the United States interested in this book---with no apologies---bought this completely blind, no reviews, critical or otherwise---it simply cried out to me! From the land of gold plated cell phones and talking toilets i expect amazement!

What exactly will we be seeking in a house this time around? i've been preparing a listing in my head of the necessary elements for our structure at this stage in our ongoing evolvement as humans....#1- small, 1200 square feet..#2-close to services,shopping, and those good 3rd places like bookstores and coffee shops...#3- a small lot, with more private area than public area--#4- purchased outright...no mortage--#5- having that undescribable feature of being able to conduct our lives and art within it's walls---(how's that for a zen like statement?)this will be a difficult process--which we are prepared for--that was the intent behind moving into the motorhome so that we could search unimpeded by time and the constraints of "having to" find a place to live....we are planning the start of the search after the holidays---

this about wraps up where i am right at the moment--preparing for a segway purchase--researching japanese cyberculture--adapting to the motorhome life--writing--gaming--and actually enjoying myself greatly...i hope you are as well---when you stop studying--evolving--enjoying you self terminate

A week of trials and tribulations, minor but stunning in some ways---it was brought home to me that when you reside in either a spacesuit or an RV how your personal sewage goes away is of utmost importance. We suffered the supposed curse of motorhomers the blocked black waste tank! Of course this blockage occurred as i was attempting to get ready for work..and yes mine does smell! After purchasing a wide array of RV anti-poop tools and chemicals we are somewhat back in the game of sh** rolling downhill...Couple this with attempting to learn how to actually get dressed in the mornings for a work environment, without the ability to stretch your arms out--amazing....try this to observe what i am dealing with. Step into the smallest closet you possibly have---shower, shave, change clothes,have your significant other need to walk from one end of the closet to the other on a random basis above all, do not forget to bring two dogs into the closet with you during the entire operation and come out dressed like a power player---eh--difficult to say the least. The owners of the KOA campground has a Segway Human transporter--- they are considering buying several and renting them to the guests! I am beside myself over this--I have been intrigued by Segways since i first read of them....I've seen them in operation only twice.Once operated by the Dallas airport Police --and here now in the RV park. The owner at the KOA facility here has been riding the sample around the park testing it...My wife and i have decided to actually break down and purchase a Segway---the research begins as to which model, where to purchase, blah,blah--but a true break through for us! An additional plus of having a segway on hand here would be the ability to zoom to the central restrooms should we suffer an attack of inoperable pooper again. I sort of pooper transit lifeboat......i hear you laughing way out here--go ahead---

I'm making a listing of things I want but do not have the elbow room for right now--a personal play on the amazon wish list thing--One item i have to get down the road is this rube goldberg marble contraption available from think geek. Marbles in motion everywhere with no real purpose other than to eventually raise a small flag. I really enjoy these types of devices but unless i stop using the sink there's currently no where for this item to go--so to the wish list for later.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/

It's been only 10 days encapsuled in this lifestyle but i have not been able to read as much as i have planned simply due to the fact that i have been sleeping like a rock and going to bed much earlier than in my previous life. I am currently reading "Rewired" a postcyberpunk anthology of various cyberpunk like short stories. With the demise of cyberpunk as a genre i am desolate and try anything that approaches my favorite sci-fi reading. So far there is nothing particularly exciting about this groupage of stories. William Gibson supplied an excellent short piece on japanese subway cardboard hootches for the homeless ( a particular interest of mine if you follow this blog at all, so of course i liked it ).... short stories are probably the best material for me at the present anyway... I recently received my amazon backup book order and am pretty well set for the next few weeks at the rate i am currently reading. One of the books I ordered is a novel called Radio Freefall with a somewhat interesting premise on music rights & downloading. Both of these books are available from amazon.com if you are interested

There both advantages and disadvantages to this life at the moment---it's quiet and peaceful here even more so at night...tons of stars visible..--the neighbors change with some frequency so one does not have to worry about being smothered for life with people you do not enjoy cause they come and go with great frequency--and you get to watch for the latest in new motorhome equipment all the time...the dress code is relaxed to say the least--one does feel alittle insecure since it's not really a structure--the weather plays a much more important part in your life and definately affects what,when, and how you do things--and the temperature changes in the desert strike at random--mostly one is too hot or too cold---one or two plants make up your garden and one takes better care of them treating them more like a pet--(like Leon treated his plant in the movie the Professional..) The times of greatest enjoyment are snugged up in bed at night in the desert with a book---

well more later on the Human transporter search and purchase

Warren