tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-340602702012-01-25T06:27:32.969-07:00Agent Minivann's thoughts on all of his tricky operations.Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-26967994478395868532011-11-28T01:16:00.001-07:002011-11-28T01:18:20.683-07:00

I've had a few experiences in the past few weeks that have prompted me to do a little house cleaning. This will happen in the form of reviewing my friends lists on facebook and other social networking sites, and I will very likely end up removing some of those friends. To explain I think I need to go over some of these experiences.The first experience I will describe is a book I discovered on

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-71448513725800142752011-04-14T00:07:00.003-06:002011-04-14T01:08:51.658-06:00

A topic tends to come up from time to time that really gets under my skin. The reason it gets under my skin is that it is based on a complete misunderstanding and ignorance (not to mention an unwillingness to learn) of the way science arrives at an understanding of how things work. It also happens to be a subject that is very personal to me and my family. That topic is the alleged link between

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-64973810942228685942011-04-01T01:25:00.003-06:002011-04-01T22:46:27.414-06:00

Once again, April 1st is upon us. Maybe it is my inner Ebenezer Scrooge, maybe it is the curmudgeon in me, but I can't stand overt stupidity masquerading as humor. I'm used to the practice of not taking people, and especially websites, too seriously on this most wonderful day. Some of the pranking is actually amusing (this one comes to mind). A whole lot of it isn't.One site I have a love/

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-42895873802177744282011-03-28T00:28:00.003-06:002011-03-28T01:00:51.784-06:00

The last few years have been quite the roller coaster. Some of it was touched on in my last post, but I will probably rehash it from a bit of another perspective. Since losing a job and never making much more than half what it payed since, I've had a number of "what do I want to be when I grow up" moments. Initially the overwhelming answer was volleyball coach. Now with 5 college seasons of

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-32061939603344736722010-11-05T02:23:00.001-06:002010-11-05T02:24:57.757-06:00

This is a post I made on my heroscapers.com blog.-----------------------------------------------------------With the recent news that the *cough* esteemed management of Wizards of the Coast has pulled the plug on Heroscape, I have spent a little time reflecting on the last five years.At about this time five years ago, I was employed by a company that was just pulling itself out of bankruptcy and

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-37776450438973484962010-09-08T01:18:00.002-06:002010-09-08T01:55:32.887-06:00

In a move that can only be described as a Here's Your Sign moment, Dove World Outreach Center has decided to have a "Burn a Quran Day" on September 11, 2010. I'm not sure how this could be characterized as outreach in any way. I'm also not sure how this characterizes Christian principles like this bit in Matthew chapter 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour,

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-46308803636583865202010-08-14T00:15:00.002-06:002010-08-14T01:35:30.910-06:00

I just saw a news headline about Obama weighing in in support of the mosque near Ground Zero. I think this is an interesting event, the project, not the president opining. I have seen a whole lot of discussion all over the place about this. I haven't seen the reaction, if there is any thus far, from the President's usual cadre of critics on the right. Based on the stuff I have seen there will

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-50954233552363597862010-08-03T00:43:00.002-06:002010-08-03T01:05:43.327-06:00

I am continually amazed at time saving that is accomplished through computers and the internet. When I first started looking for a job it involved want ads in the newspaper and pounding the pavement. Taking that same approach now is largely a waste of time. Rarely are Help Wanted signs posted at businesses, and by the time the classified space is sold and printed a company could have dozens

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-49819217245734837642010-08-02T17:12:00.002-06:002010-08-02T17:22:43.105-06:00

That is how I would describe trying to find a job in this economy. Soul crushing. I have been out of work since the beginning of the year and there isn't really anything out there that I can find. The stuff I can do requires a certification (minimum of about $300 to aqcuire with no guarantee of a job if I do it), or that I have tools (probably $300 is a low estimate, again with no guarantee of

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-60694527700574466172010-05-24T00:25:00.002-06:002010-05-24T00:54:25.377-06:00

I know I'm not the most savvy science guy, and my interests and"expertise" is very limited, but this new one really made me say, "wait a minute". I stumbled upon this story about a kid coming up with a nice solution to the problem of discarded plastic shopping bags. It's a little old (May of 2008), and I hadn't heard of this. It's a pretty cool idea for a science fair to identify strains of

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-28970089673931021432010-05-17T23:30:00.004-06:002010-05-18T00:27:15.037-06:00

Something that really bugs me is when someone tries to tackle science and fail. Inject that into the internet as a self-styled authority, and it really causes problems. I stumbled across this article, well, through stumbleupon. http://martialmedia.ca/how-to-master-any-skill-by-working-less/The article makes recommendations on martial arts training based on amateur science. There are some

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-27085960734346649482010-04-17T00:05:00.002-06:002010-04-17T00:18:38.144-06:00

I recently came across a reference to a phenomenon that got my interest. It is termed the Nocebo Effect. The reference was in a story of a patient who was erroneously informed that he had terminal liver cancer. The patient died, and the subsequent autopsy revealed that there was no cancer. (link to the story omitted due to a "subscribe to read the whole story")I think that a big reason for my

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-31504518663267753492010-04-05T04:10:00.002-06:002010-04-05T04:39:30.516-06:00

Statistics are a favorite of mine. I like looking at sports statistics. I like delving into the meaning behind the numbers and what they mean. I like to look at if the stats are relevant. There are plenty of irrelevant statistics in sports, but they can still be fun. Some of them are just too absurd to really pay attention to, like wins in January, or points scored on Tuesdays.I really like

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-87033454938260468772010-02-15T22:39:00.002-07:002010-02-15T23:37:19.705-07:00

Floyd Landis won the 2006 Tour de France, only to have the accomplishment stripped for a failed drug test following one of the stage victories. The thing that I found odd at the time is that he failed the test due to synthetic testosterone. Anabolic steroids aren't going to help much, if at all, in an endurance event like the Tour de France. It may even make competing in that kind of event

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-13732568862219666662010-02-14T23:38:00.002-07:002010-02-15T00:27:30.344-07:00

I'm a basketball nut. I never see enough basketball for my liking. I'm also not one of those college only basketball fans. I love watching the NBA. After games I like to look at the box scores to see what kind of picture the game stats paint. With that in mind, I have to say that I absolutely hate the way the MVP is determined in the NBA All Star Game.I know the All Star Game is completely

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-33000140447280598892010-02-13T01:29:00.002-07:002010-02-13T02:01:10.200-07:00

It has been an interesting few weeks here at the Minivann HQ. I've been in the process of applying for coaching jobs since the start of the year, but have not yet received any responses. The problem is that the college athletic websites update very infrequently during the off-season, so positions could be filled without my knowing. It is an odd feeling of hopefulness and hopelessness at the

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-3795542708164836572010-02-05T23:09:00.002-07:002010-02-06T00:13:03.998-07:00

The last volleyball season provided me with a real life example of a principle of learning. It is interesting that the example is one of subtlety. There is a principle that can be expressed to this effect, "You get results based on what you reward." I know there is a better way to phrase it, but I just can't think of it right now. The example is this:The varsity squad has been operating under

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-25531656845060929512010-01-05T01:32:00.002-07:002010-01-05T01:36:48.783-07:00

I decided to actually make some resolutions this year. For one I want to get a volleyball job. A second (and third) goal has to do with exercise. And my last one is to write three times a week. As a result I am starting a new blog, The Skraelingar Saga. We'll see how that goes.

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-22807916109510125342010-01-02T13:32:00.000-07:002010-01-02T13:33:13.533-07:00

I had a recent experience reading a blog post by what I would term a "Mormon Intellectual" (or MI). I have a general dislike for intellectuals in general, but I really dislike the whole MI phenomenon. While I could agree with much of what was said by this MI, I could not escape the thought that the whole point of the blog post was to justify some erroneous behavior. The MI was asked his

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-7599502514828260502009-11-30T03:50:00.002-07:002009-11-30T03:58:56.793-07:00

In my previous post about transparency I had done a copy and paste of a table from recovery.gov. Out of curiosity I went back to the site and the offending material had been sanitized to only have the real districts and the rest of the money was listed as "Unassigned Congressional District". The totals all add up to the same amounts, but the figures look a whole lot less suspect. I figured that

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-74392213924899103622009-11-18T23:10:00.001-07:002009-11-18T23:10:03.427-07:00

Yet another example of journalism that misses the point, a recent headline makes a big deal out of the number of pages in the health care bill. http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1109/Senate_bill_weighs_in_at_2074_pages.html?showall Sure, any bill that weighs in around the 2000 page mark is really long, but focusing only on page count doesn't really tell me anything.  The Senate version is longer

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-60276115969716947452009-11-18T14:51:00.002-07:002009-11-18T14:52:37.821-07:00

Wait a minute. Too much spending is bad for the economy? After tacking on who knows how much spending in stimulus money and what health care might cost, we get this amazing foresight? http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN188108620091118I just don't know what to say. I just wish I could go back in time and get him to realize this in January.

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-49742478977044229702009-11-17T12:56:00.003-07:002009-11-17T19:19:20.975-07:00

I just started seeing the story on a friend's Facebook status about 30 jobs being created in Arizona's 15th Congressional District. The jobs only cost $25,380.67 each. The story then goes to say that there is no15th Congressional District in Arizona. There are only 8. I then decided to go look for the source of the story to see if I could see any obvious bias. Since there was no link on

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-4035774244657978342009-10-01T23:48:00.001-06:002009-10-01T23:48:24.569-06:00

I saw a headline recently about Michael Moore promoting his new documentary about capitalism.  He was quoted as saying, "Capitalism did nothing for me."  After looking at other stories online, I came across another of his gems when he talked about how capitalism goes against pretty much all the major religions because in all of them you are judged based on how you treat the poor. I just don't

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-22111701301456792052009-09-14T12:41:00.001-06:002009-09-14T12:41:16.165-06:00

I started seeing people mention Kanye West in their facebook status today.  Not knowing what happened, I tracked down the "story".  First of all, I really can't stand celebrity gossip, so I'm already half tuned out.  Second, I can't stand awards shows.  I'm almost completely apathetic at this point.  Third, I've never bought into the hip-hop angst.  Anyone making that much money, and is still

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-31026626839892012522009-09-10T10:37:00.002-06:002009-09-10T12:34:14.090-06:00

In my last blog post I made reference to this famous quote from Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address:"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."I think it is almost a perfect quote. It captures the spirit of America really well. It is Americans that make America great. After finding the speech online to make sure I didn't get the

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-16721171060540952672009-09-07T20:57:00.001-06:002009-09-07T20:57:29.278-06:00

Sometime tomorrow, there will be a broadcast in schools of a speech by President Obama.  There has been a bit of an uproar about this speech by conservatives around the country.  Meanwhile others are wondering what's the big deal.  It isn't like this hasn't happened before, the speech or the uproar.  While I would describe myself as a conservative, I don't have these problems with the speech.  It

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-45277601030039166312009-08-13T21:35:00.005-06:002009-08-13T21:51:12.396-06:00

I just learned of the passing of Les Paul today. It's hard to really describe the contribution he has made to the music we all hear and enjoy. The articles that are coming out make mention of the solid body electric guitar. That covers a whole lot of modern music. There's also mention of reverb. It might not be the most used guitar effect used today, but it had its heyday. I'm not sure, but

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-76724429522567742402009-08-12T23:20:00.001-06:002009-08-12T23:20:28.759-06:00

The other day there was a news story I came across about Kurt Rambis being named head coach of the Timberwolves.  The first story I saw mentioned that this is his first stint as a head coach.  I couldn't remember the exact details, but I knew that was wrong.  He is central to one of my favorite Dennis Rodman stories. If you want to get technical, the story was correct.  He has never been a head

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-22741559598794835822009-08-10T21:44:00.001-06:002009-08-10T21:44:14.249-06:00

We went to get team pictures taken today.  I don't go into photography studios very often, but looking at some of the sample pictures hanging on the wall made me think of senior yearbook pictures.  One of the pictures on the wall was a picture of a young man with his guitar.  There were always the pictures in the yearbook of the guy with his musical instrument.  I think the guitar pictures were

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-41045045427062867392009-08-08T12:07:00.001-06:002009-08-08T12:07:15.054-06:00

For some time now I have observed that there seems to be this common idea that being articulate equates to being intelligent.  The ability to speak well, not surprisingly, seems to indicate intelligence.  Likewise those who speak poorly are often thought of as unintelligent.  There is a video that has made its way around the interwebs of a beauty pageant contestant answering a question that is an

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-52816860468776300582009-06-07T16:05:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:49:46.753-06:00

Godwin's Law is a fairly well known internet term for something that happens on forums. Namely the longer a forum thread goes the probability of someone making a comparison to Nazis or Hitler approaches 1. Eventually someone will invoke Godwin's Law and make the comparison.Enter: Sigurd's Law.I'm not the one who came up with Sigurd's Law (there isn't really a Sigurd), so don't give me any

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-13213523000258589612008-08-17T23:45:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:56:22.789-06:00

It looks like the bicycling project is coming to an early end at week ten. I've now traveled approximately 880 miles, saved just a few pennies shy of $175, and recouped about 25% of the purchase price of the bike.It is coming to the end because I got a volleyball job after three years of actively searching. I'll be moving this coming week. I'm flying out, and the family will follow when our

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-33425353335547320572008-08-02T23:28:00.004-06:002009-08-13T21:57:32.758-06:00

Some months ago I read a story on Slashdot about a NASA study that would be conducted. Test subjects would be confined to bed for a period of three months to simulate prolonged space flight. I thought about signing up for the study, but decided not to for a bunch of reasons. I'd be away from family for a long time first and foremost, I enjoy being physically active and refer to my weekly

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-75234766854817422902008-08-02T22:58:00.005-06:002009-08-13T21:55:29.054-06:00

Two more weeks down. Gas was up to $4.109 per gallon for the last two weeks' commute. I've now saved $142.20. I've broke the 20% mark. One fifth of the bike is "paid for". Another 136 trips at this price will do it. Gas dipped down to $4.059 per gallon on Friday, so the next two weeks won't be as profitable. That will make it take another 138 trips to pay off the bike.Last Friday I had my

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-64546170122510319672008-07-14T20:58:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:54:25.378-06:00

After 5 weeks of cycling the total amount of money saved is $93.33. That amounts to 13.33% of the cost of the bike, and 11.67% of the cost of bike plus accessories. It will take about 154 more trips at the price of gas last week. On Saturday we filled up in between our normal day and gas was up from $3.929 to $3.999. With today's trip that brings it down to about 150 more trips to pay off

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-10730796252499485572008-07-02T20:19:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:57:02.114-06:00

Observations from today's rideThis morning as I was riding to work I started to gain on another rider following the same route. I was taking it easy because my weekly basketball game is tonight. My rest pace was faster than the rider I was approaching, so I knew I would be passing him if he followed the same route for long. As I got to where I would have passed the road started to make a whole

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-20544321964652127772008-06-28T15:08:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:53:58.048-06:00

The third full week cycling to work is done. I only cycled 4 days this week. So far I've traveled about 300 miles and saved $57.88 on gas. Gas was $3.91 last weekend when I would have filled the tank. If fuel prices stay the same it will take me about 164 more trips for the bike to pay for itself. I've recouped 8.27% of the purchase price, and 7.24% of everything I've spent related to the

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-78068991651239833582008-06-23T20:50:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:53:37.434-06:00

I now have two weeks of cycling to work under my belt. We usually fill up on my pay day every other Friday. Gas price at the station we use was $3.84. The total saved is $42.24. That amounts to 6.03% of the purchase price of the bike, and 5.28% of the purchase price of the bike and other accessories that have been purchased thus far. Last Friday when we filled the tank gas was at $3.91. I

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-85431526276114018312008-06-03T17:17:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:59:12.146-06:00

Not long after yesterday's post I came across the blog, stuff white people like, with a post abouthow white people like bicycles. There is also a post about liking New Balance shoes ( I have a worn out pair, and I'm ready to get a new pair to replace them) and playing children's games (I play Heroscape and spend a lot of time on the fan site). I got some good laughs out of reading them.

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-74615432833863501672008-06-02T22:29:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:52:59.560-06:00

I'm about to embark on an experiment of sorts. Tomorrow I will pick up one of these and start commuting by bicycle. At 10 miles from home to work, and a car that gets 20 miles per gallon, I will be saving a gallon of gas a day. I will be keeping a running tally of how much gas I have saved (and what percentage of the purchase price I have recouped). At today's prices I'll need to ride 5 days

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-81014111365037818312008-05-22T00:47:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:58:48.492-06:00

I guess it is about time I actually shake the dust off this thing after almost a two year break (did I really get started to begin with?). The last time I posted anything I had quit my job without anything to roll into. I got a job shortly after, and have been employed there ever since. I've always had this little piece of the internet on my mind, but I never managed to motivate myself to do

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-1161936892727502582006-10-27T01:38:00.001-06:002009-08-13T21:50:17.598-06:00

On October 6th there was a volleyball match between BYU and TCU. It went to a fifth game where TCU was up 9-4. The coach called a timeout and said, "Just believe." The team came out of the timeout and scored 11 of the next 12 points to win the final game 15-10.I've thought about that game quite a bit during the last 3 weeks. It was quite the profound experience to me. This was no small feat

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-1159870348778889322006-10-03T03:35:00.001-06:002009-08-13T22:00:30.257-06:00

First I need to rewind and give some background details. I've been working at a printing press for close to a year now. I started there right after losing my old job. I took the opportunity of losing my old job to reevaluate where I was and where I want to be. I've had the goal of coaching volleyball at the collegiate level for some time now. I decided to put my energy into getting a college

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-1158753974341429812006-09-20T05:32:00.001-06:002009-08-13T22:01:30.399-06:00

Sporting events can be some of the best metaphors in life. At the last volleyball match, BYU should have won in 3 games, but it went 5 games. BYU dropped the first game after leading due to errors. BYU won games 2 and 3, but gave CSU a lot of points on errors. CSU won game 4, again errors. Game 5 was the best played game of the match for BYU. CSU actually had to earn all 11 points they scored,

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34060270.post-1157713149135151882006-09-08T04:46:00.001-06:002009-08-13T22:01:58.071-06:00

Welcome to Agent Minivann's blog, Minivann's Debriefing. It's a place I can let my mind wander on all kinds of things.For those out there who know me in real life, the name Agent Minivann is based on a character from the game Heroscape. Agent Minivann is the username I use on www.heroscapers.com. There is a character in the game called Agent Carr. I figured since I drive a minivan, I'd follow

Clay Halesnoreply@blogger.com0