Journalhttp://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/en-US2008-10-07T11:23:13ZSquarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/)I told you so.http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/9/4/i-told-you-so.htmlMicah Rousey2008-09-04T17:10:36ZLifeAll humbleness aside... I love being right.  I wrote this when oil futures closed at about $138 a barrel.  It peaked a few weeks later at just under $150.

Right now it's currently well under $110, and still think the slip isn't over.

]]>Date Moviehttp://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/8/13/date-movie.htmlMicah Rousey2008-08-13T17:48:37ZFunnies

A few years back, I was dating a girl who is rather well known (even more these days) for her incredible beauty. She was a lot of fun to hang out with, and I got a great feeling of being ‘da-man’ whenever I showed up somewhere with her on my arm. One evening in particular, when we had just started seeing each other, was of particular embarrassment for yours truly.

She and I had gone out to dinner, and decided to rent a movie to take back to my place to watch so the rest of the evening could be enjoyed relaxing in each other’s company. I have a TV and DVD player in both the living room, and the bedroom, and asked my date if she wanted to watch the movie on the couch, or on the bed. She chose the bed.

I put the movie in the DVD side of the DVD/VCR combo, changed the channel on the TV to read the video player, and got the magic blue screen, waiting for the movie to start playing. I decided to use the restroom, and told my date to press play when she was ready to start the movie, and I’d be back in a minute.

When I came back into the bedroom, I heard the unmistakable sound of moaning and cheap instrumental dance music, and saw a very confused look on my dates face, and porn playing on the TV.

“I just hit play. I don’t know what happened”, she said.

I did. The DVD/VCR combo was still set to VCR, even though I had just put a DVD in. When she hit play, the player started playing the porno tape I had left in the VCR part, rather than the DVD.

I quickly hit Stop, pressed DVD, and then play. “Whoops” was all I could say, and then couldn’t help but start laughing hysterically.

She was cool about it. I think she held back some laughter for fear of embarrassing me.

]]>Man in the arena.http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/8/12/man-in-the-arena.htmlMicah Rousey2008-08-12T14:55:33ZIt is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.                           -    Theodore Roosevelt


Awhile back, I had posted my previously written response to the question:  ‘Looking back on your life, of what are you most proud?’ (Read it here.)

After reading the above quote from Theodore Roosevelt, I guess I can sum it all by saying:  

“I am the man in the arena.”


So, when I say I am intimately acquainted with failure, don’t think I’m looking for pity, nor should you feel any for me.  Those who feel sorry for me when they hear of my defeats in the past can be grouped with those who, when told of my various successes, call me ‘lucky’.

It isn’t circumstance that determines the number of times you succeed, or the number of times you fail.  It’s the number of times you try.
                               -Micah A. Rousey  (Yep, that one is mine.)

Roosevelt’s entire speech (although long) is really worth the read.

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html


]]>I am loved.http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/7/21/i-am-loved.htmlMicah Rousey2008-07-21T11:33:14ZFunniesBecause I like to manage my online presence, I often perform a Google Search on my name to make sure I'm doing a good job of it.  I'm the only Micah Rousey in the world, so if someone Googles my name, I'd rather my blog and software expert sites come up first, rather than all the poker stuff.  Cash in a few major poker tournaments, and your name is plastered all over the internet as a poker player.  It made it look like that was all I did.

Anyway, what I found on my last search was entertaining, and filled my mind with questions:

 

One for everyone:

I Love Micah Rousey T-Shirt

http://www.stylefeeder.com/i/299m242m/I-Love-Micah-Rousey-T-Shirt

 

And of course, for all you special people:

Micah Rousey Loves me T-Shirt

http://www.stylefeeder.com/i/g4lcry2t/Micah-Rousey-Loves-Me-T-Shirt

 

I know you're all dissapointed these are no longer available, but really, someone did design this to try to sell... and it wasn't me.

(I did figure out why these exist, but I'm not sharing.)

 

]]>New business.http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/6/27/new-business.htmlMicah Rousey2008-06-27T03:14:20ZMany of you know already, but I'm in a new venture lately.

Krähe Tourbillon Watches 

Click the above link to check out my site, which is still in development. 

]]>Stop Worryinghttp://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/6/11/stop-worrying.htmlMicah Rousey2008-06-11T23:02:44ZLifeGas prices will come down.  That’s my prediction.  Will it happen immediately?  No.  Anytime soon?  Not sure.  But you know what?  We've hit a pretty big bubble here, and there is too much money to be made with gas that new ways to get it will come out.  (Actually, that has already started.  Remember the 70’s?)
This time next year, I'm sure we'll see gas at LESS than $4.50 a gallon.  Not the $5.00 or $6.00 a gallon all the harbingers are yelling.  Stop worrying so much.  I’ll still be driving my Lincoln Town Car.  And for those of you shaking your finger at me for contributing to Global Warming – You’ll thank me later when the start of this Ice Age becomes more apparent.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/738381/the_next_ice_age.html?cat=9
You know what I’ve learned?  Most people who worry about stuff really haven’t learned enough to worry about it with just cause.

Stop worrying; start learning.  You’ll quickly realize there is little you really know, and that worrying has little effect.

]]>'Discount for cash'http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/6/10/discount-for-cash.htmlMicah Rousey2008-06-10T14:31:34ZLifeWe are all feeling the pinch with gas prices, but an old practice that seemed to go by the wayside has reared it's ugly head again.  The "Discount for Cash".

You roll into a gas station, see an advertised price of $4.35 on the marquee, and decide it's a fair price.  You slide your Credit Card in the pump, and quick as a blink, the price changes to $4.48.  Then you notice somewhere, either on the pump or on the marquee that the advertised price is for cash purchases only.

Exactly that happened to me on my way back from Vegas at the Mobil Station in Buttonwillow.  Luckily I saw it (I'm sure most people don't.  As I was talking about it to the guy next to me, I think he fell for it, but didn't want to admit it.)  I hit cancel, and walked in and paid cash.  Had I been in my hometown and not in a hurry to get home, I would have pulled into a different gas station.

The reason I was on the lookout for it is because I fell for it about a month ago at the Shell station at March and I-5 in Stockton.  I walked in with my reciept, wondering if I had accidentally bought Premium gas.  The lady behind the bullet proof glass said with a smug look and attitude:  'Those prices are for cash purchases only.'  Yeah, the attitude didn't help.

I feel like that practice is dirty, underhanded, and misleading.  Gas stations that do that should be boycotted.  Don't fall for this, don't pay the extra money, and never go to that gas station again.  (At $0.13 per gallon extra, I would have saved money by going into the station and using my ATM to get cash out, then paying for the gas with that cash.)

I should see if my State Senator or Assemblywoman will sponsor a bill to make this practice illegal.

]]>My dearest stalkers....http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/6/4/my-dearest-stalkers.htmlMicah Rousey2008-06-04T20:55:41ZLifeIn an effort to make it easier for YOU to answer that burning question:  "I wonder what Micah is doing RIGHT NOW!?!", I have created a twitter account.

https://twitter.com/herrhepcat

Let me know if you have one, and I can stalk you back.... but you probably want to remain in the shadows.  I understand.  Stalking is much better that way... for everyone involved.

]]>Where we lost reason.http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/6/4/where-we-lost-reason.htmlMicah Rousey2008-06-04T15:34:13ZPoliticalIn the US, a suspected criminal is deemed innocent until proven Guilty beyond a REASONABLE doubt.

We have a REASONABLE person standard developed under common law of judging how one might, or should act.

There is another REASONABLE degree of certainty standard for how a person acts given a likely future outcome.

We give our police officers rights to act on their REASONABLE suspicion.

Business owners have to provide REASONABLE accommodations to persons with disabilities.

We live in a society that bases itself on reason. It is the little catchall that makes sure our laws are vague enough to be interpreted for any given situation. We know that as soon as a law is written without some wiggle room to be applied in certain circumstances, we will find ourselves tied to force UNREASONABLE pressures on the public.

Which brings me to the TSA.

The 2 inch molded plastic gun that a GI Joe doll was holding was found to be a ‘replica’, and therefore confiscated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2173150.stm

A 5-year-old boy was mistaken for a terrorist, because his name was similar. He was then treated like the terrorist.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/09/tsa-searches-detains.html

An MIT Student was “lucky she wasn’t shot” because her shirt had blinking lights on it.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3635225&page=1

Is everyone in the TSA poorly trained? Stupid? Trained to be stupid?

Where has reason gone? Would a 2 inch molded plastic gun held by a doll reasonably be mistaken for a weapon? Would a reasonable person read: “38 year-old Muslim”, and figure they better take a closer look at the 5-year-old? Can we give people some training on what a bomb looks like? Lord knows people in Boston needed it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare

And how about just completely losing our freedom of speech:

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/28/0355208&from=rss

Something really needs to be done about all this. People are choosing not to fly because of all the hassles.

I'm not saying we need less security, we just need REASONABLE security.  I'm all for being proactive, but I say we should wait until someone successfully hijacks a plane with a GI Joe doll before we start banning it from flights.

 

Tomorrow, Sean and I are leaving for Vegas. Are we taking a 1.5-hour flight, or 7.5-hour drive?

Lincoln Town Car baby!!!

]]>I shouldn’t be offended...http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2008/5/27/i-shouldnt-be-offended.htmlMicah Rousey2008-05-27T23:42:54ZWork...but I am. It happens about two or three times a year.

This was in an email this morning:

...This time frame will allow you to {task specifics deleted} in your spare time. Please note we don't have any budget for this effort - I wish we did.

Someone asks me to work for free.

Sorry.

Wait... no I’m not. I don’t work for free, shame on you for asking that of me.

The reason I’m offended by it is because of the only reasons I can think someone would ask me to:

My time isn’t worth what I’m getting paid; so they think I owe them something.

What I do in my time away from work isn’t as important as pleasing them.

I should be trying to impress them.

I owe it to my employer. (Because I have a job?)

Well here’s the scoop from my perspective:

As far as my employer is concerned, I have no ‘spare time’. I have a great ability to do exactly what I want when I’m away from work. Sometimes working more is what I want to do, but only if I’m getting paid for it, or I’m working on a personal project. My work is in high demand, and people gladly pay me a fairly steep price for it. I have a great option of working pretty much as often as I’d like, depending on how much of my time I want to sell. Most often I figure I sell enough of it.

When I was 22 or 23, I would take work home and do extra stuff so I could impress my employer. By doing that, I could negotiate a promotion, or a better raise, or both. It worked. Now, I don’t want a promotion. My job rocks. Standard 5% raises are a fair amount of money, and I still have the ability to negotiate for bigger ones. More importantly, I’m not 22. I’ve been doing this for more than 10 years. I don’t need to *&@%^$% impress you.

I don’t owe my employer anything, just as they don’t owe me anything. We have an acceptable give and take relationship. They take the time I give; I take the money they give me. Trust me, if either party is sufficiently unhappy with the relationship, it will end.

So my response:

As for spare time... I have none, so I'm afraid I'll have to pass on this.

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