digitalBush

Unless you've been under a rock, you should know that Massachusetts elected a Republican senator to replace the late Ted Kennedy. Hopefully you also realize that the state has been democratic since the 80's. This election has disrupted the democratic majority in the senate and has essentially killed the healthcare reform bill in it's current state. The people have spoken; very few people in this country are comfortable with the current healthcare reform bill. The bill is huge; it's doubtful that any of the people voting on the bill have actually read it; and no one is sure if the country can even afford it.

courtesy of brykmantra

So, now what?
I'm personally not a fan of universal healthcare. With that said, I still feel like the healthcare system needs some reform. Actually, given that I work in the healthcare industry, I KNOW how messed up our healthcare system is. Now it's back to the drawing board.  It's definitely not time to give up on fixing healthcare.

Quit Whining!
Lawmakers, you should be thankful that this out-of-band election took place.  Now you can see just how far you've strayed from the path of real America.  We elected you to represent us, so now you had better start.  The Massachusetts election is your warning: Stop working for the special interest groups and start working for us or we'll find someone else who will.

Let's Start Small
In order to regain support for healthcare reform, the country as a whole needs to understand what's actually being done. My challenge to you is to go back and not try to reform healthcare in one failed swoop.  Write smaller bills which focus on a particular area.  Keep it small and simple so that those of us who want to know what the bill represents can actually sit down and read it in an hour or two.  My water cooler conversations should be able to talk about the "Healthcare Tort Reform" or the "Children's Healthcare Coverage" bills.  You see the difference there?  I can talk about the bill in a simple statement and know the general idea of what we're trying to do.  "Healthcare Reform" is such a broad term that you could be doing anything in that bill; it's just too hard to understand what you're doing.

What are you waiting for?  Go back to the beginning and figure out what needs fixing and fix it already.  Lawmakers, this is your job.  To everyone else, please make sure that you vote for people who you think will make a difference and will more closely represent your values.  It's time to stop voting based on party lines and start looking at the people and what they stand for.

I had the most awkward conversation the other day and it was so awesome that I just had to share. I wish I could give you some kind of funny back-story which ultimately leads to this conversation, but there isn't one. Ladies and gentlemen, this conversation just happened randomly and without warning. I can't make this stuff up.

Person - So, did you go to school to learn about computers?
Me - Actually I went to school for Computer Science.
Person - So you learned how to, like build computers and stuff?
Me - No, I learned how to write software. This whole building computers thing is just kind of a bonus my employer gets from me. I kind of just picked it up along the way.
Person - (Light bulb dimly lights up over her head) Oh! So you could work for Microsoft!
Me - Yeah, I guess I could.
Person - So, I bet that Bill Gates is your hero, isn't he?!
Me - No, not really.
Person - So, then you must be a Mac guy then, right?
Me - No, I kind of use both. I'm not particularly tied to Macs or PCs.
Person - oh! Oh! OH! You could work for Disney!
Me - I suppose I could. I mean, I could work just about anywhere considering that businesses these days run off computers and all kinds of companies need software developers.
Person - (Blank stare)
(Awkward Silence)
Person - Oh, I guess you're right.
Me - (Swift Exit)

Image courtesy of Bruce Tuten

The funny thing for me if just realizing how little people understand about computing.  Since I have a "degree in computers", I'm qualified to write software, repair broken hardware, fix your recipe spreadsheet, and design microprocessors.  There is no difference really.  After all, it's just a computer, right?  In the same spirit, I fully expect a marketing person to be able to maintain the books of a fortune 500 company.  After all, it's just business.

Similarly, I received a phone call at work because an electrical outlet wasn't working.  Since computers run off electricity, then naturally I must be an electrician also. How nice. I'll be sure to email my past professors and let them know how much my degree helped with flipping a breaker.

This is definitely worth putting out there since I had to dig a little to come up with the correct information. I have a 2005 Nissan Xterra and the rear hatch lifts were shot. It has gotten cold here lately and the hatch would only hold itself up about 4 foot from the ground. I'm 6'5" and this resulted in several head bonkings! Normally you can just run to your friendly local parts store and pick these things up for $20-$25 each (you need 2). However, as I've found the case to be for most of my Nissan parts needs, none of the parts stores carried them.

A few calls to my local dealerships priced these from $30 and up (each!) with a 2 day wait for them to be ordered. If I'm going to have to wait, then I might as well get them cheaper. A few google searches and I figured out that McMaster-Carr sells generic versions of these which they call a "gas spring." It's slightly longer than the stock, but it works on my truck with no clearance issues.

The part number I got was 9416K146 which is listed as a "Gas Spring with Threaded Ends, 150 Force, 18.18" Extended Length, 7.87" Stroke". I was able to purchase them shipped to my door for $37 for both lifts. Here was the process for me:

1. Prop up the rear hatch with a ladder.
2. Unclip the stock lifts from the hatch and vehicle (Stick a screwdriver underneath the metal clip to disengage the ball socket).
3. Unscrew the ends from the stock lifts and screw them onto the new lifts.
4. Snap the new lifts onto the vehicle and hatch ball tips.
5. Remove ladder and open and close the hatch several times while admiring my work.

Like I said earlier, these are longer than stock. You'll want to check out for any clearance issues when you install these. My rear hatch now lifts a few inches higher than stock which is just fine for me with my height. At the top hinges I have approximately 1/4" clearance before the backside of the hinge would be able to contact the hatch lip.

Also, this worked for my 2005 Xterra. Others are reporting that it works for other year models (I saw reports for 2005-2008 year models). Some people reported needing to purchase 2 of part number 9416K79 because there was different ball socket sizes between the liftgate and the vehicle body. This is supposed to be the correct size socket that will thread onto the M8 threads on the lift spring. I didn't need those, but I would suggest pulling off your old one and looking at the ball sockets of each end before ordering.

Finally, I'm just putting this out here for general knowledge. This may or may not work for your Xterra. I'm not responsible if your hatch rips off or cracks you in the head. I just felt like $60+ for these was a little pricey. McMaster-Carr delivered these to me in 2 days which is the best the dealership could do as well. I hope this helps and you were able to find this quicker than I did digging through the message forums.

I'm a little late posting this because I've spent the past few days thinking about what exactly I want to accomplish this year. Now that we have a baby, my priorities have shifted. It seems like nowadays just having a few moments to watch a movie is a win. I'm not planning on using that as an excuse, but I think I'm going to drop the 10K goal for this year.

1. My top priority still needs to be getting myself in better health. I still think 250 lbs is a good year end goal for me. Unfortunately I went the wrong way last year and I'm now sitting solid at 300 lbs.
2. Focus on clearing some debt. Ashley and I have always done well in this area. We have no credit card debt. We have one car payment, my student loans, and the house. Looking back though, we waste quite a bit of money on silly things (like my eating out at lunch problem). So, this year I want to focus my energy towards getting rid of some of this debt. At the end of the year, my car will be paid off and I want to have half of my student loans paid for.
3. I'm not sure why I wanted to "grow this blog more" last year when I sat down to do these resolutions. Really what I want to do is write on this blog more. No offense to you, dear reader, but this blog isn't for you, it's for me. 100 posts in a year seems about right for me, so that's what I aim to do.
4. Redesign this blog. A little while back I sat down and mocked up what I want digitalbush.com 2.0 to look like. I want to finish that and get it live.
5. Along with the blog redesign, I want to reorganize my open source projects. This involves moving them to github and bringing my jQuery plugins up to modern standards. Oh, I also have a fun little mischievous project I'm working on to take care of a hotlinking problem I have. You'll know about that soon enough.

Those are my measurable goals. There are a few subjective things that I'd like to accomplish as well.

• Be more organized. Right now my garage is a disaster and my desk is piled high full of junk. This year that stops.
• Be more patient. I've been accused of being gruff at times. The reason I get so frustrated is my severe intolerance for illogical behavior and mediocre efforts. I think I can project a better attitude towards those frustrations and not let it bum me out so much.
• Focus on the things that make me happy. I'm already moving this direction by reducing my commitments to things that don't steer me towards my ultimate goals. In the end, I feel like I lost control of a few areas of my life in 2009. I want that control back.

Really, that last point sums up everything above it. I want to be happy (who doesn't?). I want to feel good, enjoy my family, have a safe and clean environment, and write some kick ass software. Is that too much to ask? I think not. Here's to an awesome 2010.