This weekend Kristen and I went to her parents in Menasha. When we got there on Friday night we snacked on veggies and dip, and had a few drinks. On Saturday morning we all got up and went downstairs and did our morning tradition of sitting in the family room drinking our coffie and reading the papers. I read the comics of course, and a little about whats going on in that area. After we talk and read for awhile we each take our showers then come down and eat breakfast. Breakfast is always good, different every time for the most part, and always good.
After breakfast Kristen's father Matt called the golf course and set up reservations for a round of golf for he and myself. When he got off the phone he got a call letting him know that he had won a raffle for a golf package the included a new putter. Since he has a nice set of clubs, and mine is just ok so far, he desided that he would give me his putter out of his set, because he just won a new putter. We then packed up our clubs and headed for the golf course.
On the way there we talked about the new nine holes they had put in around the front of the land. We didn't play those because they were in the woods and super surrounded by trees and sand bunkers, they also had lots of water to shoot over. So we desided not to play on that one this time, but maybe next time we might give it a shot.
When we arrived we paid and got our things we need from them and we headed to the top nine holes. Apon arrivale we noticed there was a couple already there so we had to wait for them to get further down the course, so we wouldn't hit them with the ball. We both started alittle slow, me more than Matt, due to the fact that we havn't played yet this year so it was our first time out on the course. But we picked it up and about mid-way through Matt was telling me that he was going to buy a new driver, and if I liked his he would let me have his driver. He has a really nice driver and because it is better than the one I currently have, I said sure I'd take it anytime, so now I have a better putter and a fairly new, and really nice, driver. We both got better as the holes went on, and what better way to finish the day by getting a par 3 on the last hole of the day, GO ME.
On the way home I told him that I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and was thinking of buying a new golf set and asked if he would like to come with and help give me his opinion of what I should get. I told him I found a realy nice black and blue with alittle orange and white outline, Callaway golf bag and one of two options for my clubs. Because I will have his driver, I only need an iron set now. The first iron set I looked at was a silver and blue titanium set, including the 3 wood, made by Titleist. My second choise I found, and the one I may just go with, is a blue titanium hybrid iron set, that also included the 3 wood with the titanium coating, made by Cobra. The Cobra set seemed to be the nicer of the two and its a hybrid, so I think that is the one I will go with. While I was there I also bought a new pair of shoes, since I found that golfing in sandles does not really work that well. I may also buy a few new shirts next time I go up there.
When we got back Kristen and I took the dog for a walk around the neighborhood, like we always do in the morning while we are there. We say all kinds of flowers out and people walking their dogs. When we got back we all got ready for supper. We ate supper and then sat in the living room and watched Marley and Me, because her parents have not seen it yet. Then we all went to bed.
Sunday morning the grandparents came over and we all went to the Holiday Inn for a sudnay wine and brunch buffet. It was amazing, I had probably five plates of food and a big plate of dessert. I lost track of how many glasses of wine I had, just kiding I only had a few, I was driving. After brunch we all went back to house where her parents and grandparents then left to go to open houses, and Kristen and I went to town for some things for the brauts for supper later.
We then ate and everyone left, followed by Kristen and I. And that was pretty much my amazing weekend.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Cause and Effect
How Toyota's problems effect their buyers and their company, and will it become the problem for someone else?
Over the past several weeks Toyota has been working on an acceleration problem with their new 2010 model vehicles.
Cause: Unintended acceleration, aka sticky gas pedal, aka computer failure, aka BIG problem.
But don't worry because Toyota plains to fix it, or don't they. Toyota says they have a new team in place to fix the problem. "The Swift Market Analysis Response Team, or SMART, will try to contact customers within 24 hours of receiving a complaint of unintended acceleration to arrange for an onsite vehicle analysis".(Yahoo finance, AP) Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles due to gas pedals getting stuck under floor mats or in a depressing position. My pedal on my Saturn Ion gets stuck under my too big floor mat, maybe I should have a talk with the President at Saturn, get my car fixed and washed for free. Maybe I'll just get some better floor mats, hint hint.
HOLD ON!!!! Toyota does have a solution to fix the computer problem that causes the pedal to stick and the brakes to fail. What an unlikely coincidence by the way. Ah yes, the new Mazda hybrid, that's right. Mazda is going to buy the hybrid technology from Toyota,"Hybrids are spreading fast in Japan, and launching a model in the domestic market has become an urgent task", "That is one of the reasons why we decided to seek this agreement with Toyota"(Mazda VP Masaharu Yamaki). Now there's the way to get rid of the problem, give it to someone else.
"Mazda said it aimed to begin selling a vehicle that combines Toyota's hybrid system with its own next-generation gasoline engine in Japan by 2013. Key components such as battery packs, controls units, inverters and regenerative braking units will be procured from Toyota suppliers"(Reuters Update 3). Check out the "Key components," isn't that the "Key problem" with the Toyota's? And Mazda wants to buy them, good thing I got a new Saturn Ion instead.
Still think the 2010 Lexus GX 460 is cool? You ever wonder where the 460 comes from? Think maybe its because it rolls over 460 degrees? Lexus,which is a Toyota product, is now having problems with their safety roll over features, causing the vehicle suspension to alloy it to roll over, 460 degrees haha. Lexus has a solution too though, accourding to Mark Templin, Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager: “For more than 20 years, Lexus has made customer safety and satisfaction our highest priorities.
We are taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined to identify and
correct the issue Consumer Reports identified. At this time we have asked our dealers to
temporarily suspend sales of the 2010 GX 460. For any customer who has purchased a 2010 GX 460 and is concerned about driving their
vehicle, we will provide a loaner car until a remedy is available" (Templin) .Now there's a solution, if you don't own a GX 460 don't get one, if you already own one take it back and get something else. Or Lexus could just sell that safety technology to Nissan.
Who does this effect then?
Effect: Toyota dealers, Lexus dealers, customer buyers and owners, and even innocent people involved in the accidents caused by these problems.
Over the past several weeks Toyota has been working on an acceleration problem with their new 2010 model vehicles.
Cause: Unintended acceleration, aka sticky gas pedal, aka computer failure, aka BIG problem.
But don't worry because Toyota plains to fix it, or don't they. Toyota says they have a new team in place to fix the problem. "The Swift Market Analysis Response Team, or SMART, will try to contact customers within 24 hours of receiving a complaint of unintended acceleration to arrange for an onsite vehicle analysis".(Yahoo finance, AP) Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles due to gas pedals getting stuck under floor mats or in a depressing position. My pedal on my Saturn Ion gets stuck under my too big floor mat, maybe I should have a talk with the President at Saturn, get my car fixed and washed for free. Maybe I'll just get some better floor mats, hint hint.
HOLD ON!!!! Toyota does have a solution to fix the computer problem that causes the pedal to stick and the brakes to fail. What an unlikely coincidence by the way. Ah yes, the new Mazda hybrid, that's right. Mazda is going to buy the hybrid technology from Toyota,"Hybrids are spreading fast in Japan, and launching a model in the domestic market has become an urgent task", "That is one of the reasons why we decided to seek this agreement with Toyota"(Mazda VP Masaharu Yamaki). Now there's the way to get rid of the problem, give it to someone else.
"Mazda said it aimed to begin selling a vehicle that combines Toyota's hybrid system with its own next-generation gasoline engine in Japan by 2013. Key components such as battery packs, controls units, inverters and regenerative braking units will be procured from Toyota suppliers"(Reuters Update 3). Check out the "Key components," isn't that the "Key problem" with the Toyota's? And Mazda wants to buy them, good thing I got a new Saturn Ion instead.
Still think the 2010 Lexus GX 460 is cool? You ever wonder where the 460 comes from? Think maybe its because it rolls over 460 degrees? Lexus,which is a Toyota product, is now having problems with their safety roll over features, causing the vehicle suspension to alloy it to roll over, 460 degrees haha. Lexus has a solution too though, accourding to Mark Templin, Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager: “For more than 20 years, Lexus has made customer safety and satisfaction our highest priorities.
We are taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined to identify and
correct the issue Consumer Reports identified. At this time we have asked our dealers to
temporarily suspend sales of the 2010 GX 460. For any customer who has purchased a 2010 GX 460 and is concerned about driving their
vehicle, we will provide a loaner car until a remedy is available" (Templin) .Now there's a solution, if you don't own a GX 460 don't get one, if you already own one take it back and get something else. Or Lexus could just sell that safety technology to Nissan.
Who does this effect then?
Effect: Toyota dealers, Lexus dealers, customer buyers and owners, and even innocent people involved in the accidents caused by these problems.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Pay Attention
Pay Attention to detail, never take anything for granite, this could happen to you. So this was a really crappy situation to be in, but it was totally funny. On Friday afternoon, before this great Easter weekend, I was down on the south side of La Crosse getting a few things from Auto Zone for my new car I just got. It's just a 2006 Saturn Ion, so nothing fancy here, but I got a few things to clean it up anyway.
As I'm driving there in my new car, I notice the dark clouds in the sky. This really bugged me because I had just taken it through the car wash and cleaned it up. As I was walking out of Auto Zone with my thing, it started to rain on me. The first thing I thought was, "man this really sucks", but I had a car with a roof so I was good. As I turn onto Losey Blvd. it starts to down pour, raining so hard I could barley see ten feet in front of my car. It must have been that way for everyone else as well; because, traffic was going like five miles per hour.
I get to the first set of stoplights, and low and behold, guess what pulls up beside of me? A man on a motorcycle, a sweet looking Harley Davidson to be exact. Now that sucks. This does happen to a lot of people, but I'm never there to catch it up close and in person. The guy was only wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, man was he soaked, and super ticked. He followed traffic at five miles an hour all the way down Losey Blvd. till just before Onalaska. It didn't let up even the slightest little bit all the way, man this guy was soaked, but it was so funny to watch him shake his head and curse all the way there.
So with this in mind, no matter how funny it was, and it was by the way, pay attention. Weather your on a motorcycle or on a bicycle, watch the sky and see what it looks like to you. If you see dark clouds, don't get the bike out, and don't wash your car either; because, this could happen to you.
As I'm driving there in my new car, I notice the dark clouds in the sky. This really bugged me because I had just taken it through the car wash and cleaned it up. As I was walking out of Auto Zone with my thing, it started to rain on me. The first thing I thought was, "man this really sucks", but I had a car with a roof so I was good. As I turn onto Losey Blvd. it starts to down pour, raining so hard I could barley see ten feet in front of my car. It must have been that way for everyone else as well; because, traffic was going like five miles per hour.
I get to the first set of stoplights, and low and behold, guess what pulls up beside of me? A man on a motorcycle, a sweet looking Harley Davidson to be exact. Now that sucks. This does happen to a lot of people, but I'm never there to catch it up close and in person. The guy was only wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, man was he soaked, and super ticked. He followed traffic at five miles an hour all the way down Losey Blvd. till just before Onalaska. It didn't let up even the slightest little bit all the way, man this guy was soaked, but it was so funny to watch him shake his head and curse all the way there.
So with this in mind, no matter how funny it was, and it was by the way, pay attention. Weather your on a motorcycle or on a bicycle, watch the sky and see what it looks like to you. If you see dark clouds, don't get the bike out, and don't wash your car either; because, this could happen to you.
Ted Creativity
We grow up with such natural creativity, drawing, coloring, and tinkering with things, all the process of growing up. Then we get old enough to go to school. Pre-school is fun, we got to take naps and play all day. Kindergarden, it was okay but, that's where it all started. This is where we start getting forced into learning what they think we need to learn. The way I see it, we should be able to learn what we want to learn, do what we want to do, and in college we have a little of that ability but its too late by now.
My only advice with this is, stay in touch with your creative side. Keep drawing and sketching, keep tinkering around with stuff on your off time. Don't let yourself be taught out of your creativity.
My only advice with this is, stay in touch with your creative side. Keep drawing and sketching, keep tinkering around with stuff on your off time. Don't let yourself be taught out of your creativity.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Equal Education Oportunity
Do you wish you could have gone to a bigger, fancier school like Yale or Harvard?
Have you ever wondered what your neighbor, or the person that used to live down the road from you is doing right now? All over the World people are going to school, but not getting the education the deserve. What I'm trying to say is, the same two people with the same kind of skills and knowledge are going to two different schools, and getting two different educations. Why is this? Kids in rich neighbor hoods are growing up going to rich fancy schools like Harvard and Yale, while kids in less wealthy neighbor hoods or poor neighbor hoods, are growing up and going to lower class schools were the teachers are not getting paid enough to teach the students or there's just not enough money for a full education. The less money you have the less the education you get. The more money you have the better education you get.
For my first wish, I wish for everyone to have an equal education, so no one with a less wealthy background has to suffer with a poor education. No matter how much or how little money a person has, we all get the same education. I think that is fair and can can be done.
For my second wish, I wish for schools to be more affordable for everyone to be able to go to school. Affordable so that no one has to go without an education, and has to suffer not getting a job because they don't have a BA, or an AS.
For my third and final wish, I wish for everyone to be able to get accepted for financial aid, so everyone can go to school.
These are my issues, and I really think that in time they can come true.
Have you ever wondered what your neighbor, or the person that used to live down the road from you is doing right now? All over the World people are going to school, but not getting the education the deserve. What I'm trying to say is, the same two people with the same kind of skills and knowledge are going to two different schools, and getting two different educations. Why is this? Kids in rich neighbor hoods are growing up going to rich fancy schools like Harvard and Yale, while kids in less wealthy neighbor hoods or poor neighbor hoods, are growing up and going to lower class schools were the teachers are not getting paid enough to teach the students or there's just not enough money for a full education. The less money you have the less the education you get. The more money you have the better education you get.
For my first wish, I wish for everyone to have an equal education, so no one with a less wealthy background has to suffer with a poor education. No matter how much or how little money a person has, we all get the same education. I think that is fair and can can be done.
For my second wish, I wish for schools to be more affordable for everyone to be able to go to school. Affordable so that no one has to go without an education, and has to suffer not getting a job because they don't have a BA, or an AS.
For my third and final wish, I wish for everyone to be able to get accepted for financial aid, so everyone can go to school.
These are my issues, and I really think that in time they can come true.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
About Me
About me
My name is David Sandvick, I am about 5'9" tall, I have naturally light colored hair, I have blue eyes which some people really admire, I'm right handed and all my teeth are strong and healthy and in good shape, except for three in the front due to a trampoline accident.
I was born in Greenville Texas on September 10, 1984. Following my birth, my parents got a divorce, which left me without a father figure for some time. When I was six years old my mother gave birth to my half sister Jessica. We lived in a little town not to far from Greenville called Wolfe City. When I was in seventh grade I played the saxophone for the school band, I quickly grew out of that. From the age of eight years old to about fourteen years old my Dad got visitation rights. I flew sometimes to see him, and other times they took turns driving.
When I was fourteen I was able to make the decision of which parent I wanted to have custody of me, or which parent I wanted to live permanently with. I chose my father because I was afraid to be raised by my mother due to the fact that I didn't want to be raised a moma's boy. Bottom line, I lived with my Dad and went to school in Wisconsin. We moved around a lot throughout high school, because he was a farmer. I finally graduated from Lancaster High School in 2003.
After graduation I went into the Marine Corps. I spent almost two years and three tours in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Throughout my term in the Marines, I wasn't exactly a role model Marine. I got into some mischief and even got demoted in rank, but after some thinking I turned my life around and picked my rank back up and then some.
I got an Honorable Discharge from the Marines in 2008. In November of 2009 I became engaged to a lovely woman named Kristen. I started school in January 2010 for a few reasons, the most reasonable one being this ridiculous economy I came back to. I chose Architectural Technology because I'm an artist and I like to build things. I do have a website in which I sell my art work. I only have 15 items for sell right now because I just started to sell my art. The following link is my site that I sell my art work on, www.DTrainDesigns.etsy.com.
My name is David Sandvick, I am about 5'9" tall, I have naturally light colored hair, I have blue eyes which some people really admire, I'm right handed and all my teeth are strong and healthy and in good shape, except for three in the front due to a trampoline accident.
I was born in Greenville Texas on September 10, 1984. Following my birth, my parents got a divorce, which left me without a father figure for some time. When I was six years old my mother gave birth to my half sister Jessica. We lived in a little town not to far from Greenville called Wolfe City. When I was in seventh grade I played the saxophone for the school band, I quickly grew out of that. From the age of eight years old to about fourteen years old my Dad got visitation rights. I flew sometimes to see him, and other times they took turns driving.
When I was fourteen I was able to make the decision of which parent I wanted to have custody of me, or which parent I wanted to live permanently with. I chose my father because I was afraid to be raised by my mother due to the fact that I didn't want to be raised a moma's boy. Bottom line, I lived with my Dad and went to school in Wisconsin. We moved around a lot throughout high school, because he was a farmer. I finally graduated from Lancaster High School in 2003.
After graduation I went into the Marine Corps. I spent almost two years and three tours in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Throughout my term in the Marines, I wasn't exactly a role model Marine. I got into some mischief and even got demoted in rank, but after some thinking I turned my life around and picked my rank back up and then some.
I got an Honorable Discharge from the Marines in 2008. In November of 2009 I became engaged to a lovely woman named Kristen. I started school in January 2010 for a few reasons, the most reasonable one being this ridiculous economy I came back to. I chose Architectural Technology because I'm an artist and I like to build things. I do have a website in which I sell my art work. I only have 15 items for sell right now because I just started to sell my art. The following link is my site that I sell my art work on, www.DTrainDesigns.etsy.com.
Just Tinkering Around
I think what Gever Tulley did with the tinkering school was pretty cool. To actually let young children handle dangerous tools is crazy, but to teach them at a young age how to be responsible and safe with the tools is amazing. The kids learned how to be safe while using the tools to the point of trust and belief of all the other kids as well as the teacher. This will be a valuable lesson later on in life as they get older. This video got me thinking of some of the things I learned through tinkering.
As a kid growing up my Dad would let me help him out with different things, from helping on the farm to building things. I learned how to drive a tractor when I was eight years old, just from riding with him, he even let me help plow a field once. I learned how to drive, and even operate, everything on a Combine just from sitting in it when I got bored and reading the buttons. As a young boy when the grocery store opened up in the early morning, my Dad let me drive the Skid Steer there to get some groceries while he worked. I learned how to drive that by sitting in his lap and tinkering around with things. When I was about ten years old I learned how to drive a pickup truck with a manual transmition from tinkering and this phrase my Dad used, "Well u better figure it out", because the dry cows at the other barn down the road a ways needed to be fed, and it was my new choir because he was to busy in the morning. I learned by tinkering around with it. The best part is, I didn't know how to dim the lights because it was an old truck and the dimmer button was on the floor board by the petals. So when ever a car came, I just turned off the lights, till they passed.
I built many things out of wood, metal, and even brick. Just a few things I built out of wood are: Two gazebos, Three coffee tables, each having a midway shelf and various styles of etched glass tops, Two life size play houses that measure 6'x6'x4', for little children, a porch on the front and a deck on the back of my Dads ex-wifes house, and a T.V. entertainment center, which my Dad is actually using right now. A few things I built and welded out of metal are: Two spiral bird feeder hangers, an archway for my Grandmothers sidewalk that leads up to her house, for the vines to grow on, and some custom exhaust work for friends. For the brick work I built two brick fireplaces for some people in my community.
As I got older I tinkered with more complicated things. I've taken apart small motors on things like, lawn mowers, dirt bikes, four-wheelers, and a snowmobile. I cleaned them, and even got the required parts they needed in order to run again, put them all back together and they run like new. I can't take apart a car motor yet, but i can do a bit of work on them. I've worked on several friends cars to get them running, or just to fix what was wrong with it. I customized my own dual cold air intake on my truck, as well as installed and wired my own sound system, DVD player with a flip-out 7.5" tough screen, which has on XboX hooked up to it, a navigation system that is wired straight to my ignition, so I don't have to plug and unplug it all the time, it comes on and off with my ignition. I have successfully disassembled, cleaned and reassembled multiple laptops, that still work to this day.
So basically to sum it all up, I learned a great deal, and developed many new talents, just by tinkering around with things. I hope everyone who reads this blog finds it interesting, and as well learns something from it.
As a kid growing up my Dad would let me help him out with different things, from helping on the farm to building things. I learned how to drive a tractor when I was eight years old, just from riding with him, he even let me help plow a field once. I learned how to drive, and even operate, everything on a Combine just from sitting in it when I got bored and reading the buttons. As a young boy when the grocery store opened up in the early morning, my Dad let me drive the Skid Steer there to get some groceries while he worked. I learned how to drive that by sitting in his lap and tinkering around with things. When I was about ten years old I learned how to drive a pickup truck with a manual transmition from tinkering and this phrase my Dad used, "Well u better figure it out", because the dry cows at the other barn down the road a ways needed to be fed, and it was my new choir because he was to busy in the morning. I learned by tinkering around with it. The best part is, I didn't know how to dim the lights because it was an old truck and the dimmer button was on the floor board by the petals. So when ever a car came, I just turned off the lights, till they passed.
I built many things out of wood, metal, and even brick. Just a few things I built out of wood are: Two gazebos, Three coffee tables, each having a midway shelf and various styles of etched glass tops, Two life size play houses that measure 6'x6'x4', for little children, a porch on the front and a deck on the back of my Dads ex-wifes house, and a T.V. entertainment center, which my Dad is actually using right now. A few things I built and welded out of metal are: Two spiral bird feeder hangers, an archway for my Grandmothers sidewalk that leads up to her house, for the vines to grow on, and some custom exhaust work for friends. For the brick work I built two brick fireplaces for some people in my community.
As I got older I tinkered with more complicated things. I've taken apart small motors on things like, lawn mowers, dirt bikes, four-wheelers, and a snowmobile. I cleaned them, and even got the required parts they needed in order to run again, put them all back together and they run like new. I can't take apart a car motor yet, but i can do a bit of work on them. I've worked on several friends cars to get them running, or just to fix what was wrong with it. I customized my own dual cold air intake on my truck, as well as installed and wired my own sound system, DVD player with a flip-out 7.5" tough screen, which has on XboX hooked up to it, a navigation system that is wired straight to my ignition, so I don't have to plug and unplug it all the time, it comes on and off with my ignition. I have successfully disassembled, cleaned and reassembled multiple laptops, that still work to this day.
So basically to sum it all up, I learned a great deal, and developed many new talents, just by tinkering around with things. I hope everyone who reads this blog finds it interesting, and as well learns something from it.
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