FARRST - Industrial Strength Random Thoughts

Welcome to Stewart Farr's Portal - Click the links below

2011-08-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Revolution

2011-07-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

Prepare for a revolution!
I am looking to completely freeze this site - and setup a few other blogs all to run in parrallel replacing this beast.
www.farrst.blogspot.com has become a big of a beast, cluttered and unorganised. So I hope to turn her into a hydra and sort out the topics.
Some you will see appear to the right here >>>
So expect big changes over the next few weeks.

I will most likely still operate this site, but it will be considered a gateway to all the other sites. And entrance into a hallway of doors.
www.farrst.blogspot.com

hmmmmm is blogger working anymore?

2011-07-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

I just tried posting in another of my blogs and the post doesn't seem to have appeared on the main page.
Whats up blogspot - new format not working? Roll it back please.

In other news ipredict finally listened to the hordes of people who were leaving and revised its fee structure. So I am back on there again.
www.farrst.blogspot.com

Well that was a fun dash in ipredict, but now the honeymoon is over

2011-06-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

Recently the iPredict admin put this on their blog (https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=blog)

$2.50 account set up fee
$2.50/month account fee
0.35% trading fee (35 cents per $100 traded); 0% trading fee on Active Orders and bundle purchases.
No withdrawal fee.

We will be introducing a close account function with this change.

So alas, this has cut the bottom right out of the market, for small traders like me with sub-$100 amounts invested in different stocks.

I have big issues with this.....
- Most stocks take more than a month to mature
- If you gains are consistantly 30% (@$100 invested) you will end up with negative returns
- With no-one taking the "cheap risks" the only players left will be the sharks, completely red water market but with no prey.
- ipredict was a tool to define what the people think, now it is what the elitist think.

I believe you will find this is the beginning of the end of ipredict. No doubt there will be somebody out there that is thinking - "Hey now is the perfect time to create a competitor". If so you are correct, not only are you correct - but I have $1000 to invest in your company and become a shareholder. I will even help you get it off the ground. Drop me an email farrst@gmail.com if you wish to start this venture.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Yes we are parents now......meet Isaac

2011-06-12T04:01:00.000-07:00

Well what a chaotic 48 hours.
Got up, studied (4:30am), Did my economics test, got out of test, drove Yuqi to Aiport to pick up YuqiMum, got home.......and Yuqi's water broke. (1pm)

She wasn't feeling any contractions so after talking to the midwife she said that if nothing had kicked in before Sunday she would induce labor @ 8am.

8pm Sat night, the contractions kicked in hard. She was 2cm Dialated by 9:30pm.
Yuqi was not coping well at all, and was concerned she wouldn't survive the car trip to hospital. So we left for hospital at 10pm.

By the time we got there she was in incredible pain, we couldn't get in the Maternity entrance, so mad dash to get the car to the emergency side. She was give some drugs to take the edge off but they did very little. Yuqi was fantastic and drove through the pain, but she was being brought to tears. By midnight she was also on the gas, 7cm Dilated.

The contractions were no longer waves but tsunamis crossed with a mean rip current. By 2am Sunday she was having 2-3 in a row, and they were only 3 minutes apart. The pain was destroying her, and I felt helpless.
All she could do was death grip me, and I have to admit at that point her grip was fading - it scared me.

We finally got an epidural setup at 2:30. She was 9cm dilated, but her body was drained. Previous to this I was no longer tired, but actually reacting to simple things such as NOS and Drips. But I think the key thing was that I had not kept my fluids up, and I was shattered, In looking after Yuqi - I had forgotten to take care of my own well being. I was now useless to Yuqi, so I would take 5 minute breaks and sit down (I had be standing the whole time). By about 4am I both got about 30 minutes sleep.

I awoke to find out that the pregnancy had not progressed, so poor Yuqi had to have a C-section.
Little Isaac was brought into the world at 7am, Sunday 12 June 2011. He knew my voice instantly.

He was a big boy, at 8-9lbs (3.8-4kgs), his head was in the wrong position to go naturally and he also had the cord around his neck twice. So C-section was the only way we could have got him out.
Both him and mum are recouping fine. He is a smart young boy - his eyes are very observant, he speaks and he likes learning. Kinda scary considering how young he is.

Will Yuqi recuperating and having quality baby time, I ask that you don't call her - but a friendly txt is ok. Likewise she will be in hospital for 4 days so no visitors for this week.

I am stoked (and tired). He is awesome, Yuqi is a fantastic mum and while we had a little 'Storm' on our hands, sometimes you know when you taking a step into the right direction.

Now back to my Uni stuff :S Thank god I don't also have work to deal with right now.
-Stew

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Welcome to the fold

2011-06-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys, how are you going?

Well as you may have noticed from my sporadic posts. Life has been pretty full on, and it doesn't look like slowing anytime soon.

Big project I was working on, got delivered on time. As usually it required the usually finally 100m sprint to the finish line. In this case I worked 8am Thurs until 4am Fri. Then up again at 8am, loaded until the car and presented a few hours later.

But its not all doom and gloom. As you know the little man is on the way. And we have been given a whole horde of goodies for the little man. Including a Massive, no hang on that wasn't right.... MASSIVE contribution from Edith and Co. Guys we love ya. But will go into the boys toy collection when he arrives.

We also have some new adult toys at home....hehe ;) no not that kinda of toys.

We got a new TV. Sony CX520

It is such a relief to have good resolution and clear picture quality on my eyes. Not to mention the simple fact that at 1920x1080 @ 75 Hz @ 32" I think its actually the best screen resolution (on one monitor) I have actually looked at. Will the PC or laptop hooked up to it I can actually see whole network diagrams done in Visio. Fantastic bit of kit. Also with the internet hooked up in the back of it, a couple of simple button pushes and you can watch online content as well as the usual NZ Freeview channels. I am also pleasantly impressed with Freeview channel 7. Not a bad substitute for Discovery, especially considering it it free.

The other little gizmo in the household, is me submitting to the world. Work has now given me something I have been fighting for years. I am now in possession of a touchscreen (only) smart-phone. I now download apps like the rest of you saps. I now waste hours and hours throwing birds at pigs, getting my emails pushed to my phone, playing with pretty backgrounds that move when I touch it. I am a slave to the droid, I own a Galaxy (or is that Galazy?) S.

Right I best be off. I have just realized its nearly midnight, no thanks to the tv which is still on, or the android which will no doubt beep at me when I finish this post.

Lord knows how those apple fans manage to sleep at all.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Its only a matter of time now

2011-06-01T15:27:00.001-07:00

Time until no more work for a month Time until project finally presented Boy Due?
....But there is SO MUCH WORK TO DO BEFORE THEN!!!!

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Still watching......

2011-05-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

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Insane mad dash for the finish line

2011-05-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

I just thought it was ironic that I just finished the above diagram.........and it could be applied to my life right now.
I am tired, so tired. And all I want to do go home and nap with the wife and our yet to be born son.

But before all that happens I need to sort my uni stuff out (hence the economics graph) and also sort out a project for work. All this week. Then the next 4 weeks are dedicated purely to Family + Finishing Uni.

But right now my time is becoming less and less, So why can't I charge it out for more and more?
Surely if I am an elastic economic thing my work should be increasing my payments due to its limited supply.

I wonder if I value the hours more?

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Something I am watching with bated breath......

2011-05-29T04:11:00.001-07:00

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A drivetime commute that I enjoy

2011-05-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

Here is minutes of a 3.5 hour drive-time commute I do every week.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Recent Developments

2011-05-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys. I have been really slack lately on this front. But truth be told - I have been thinking a lot about this blog and what it means.

The biggest question I have right now is:

What was all this (www.farrst.blogspot.com) - all about?

I started it many years ago - for no reason except that I was bored. It wasn't originally to vent my opinions, it wasn't to talk about things that grabbed my attention.
In fact all it was - way back then was to show people what I saw from my side of the camera. An easier way to show images of my life.

Since then; I am now in my 3rd job, I have lived in 2 countries, I got married, I got made redundant for the first time in my life, been through 3 motorbikes, been through 4 cars, did MBA, changed computers 7 times, traveled to countries I never thought I would go to.....I even went through 3 camera's.
My perspective of the world has changed.

So what is this all about now? Do I need to start afresh?

Why did I do it in the first place? Has that idea changed?

Need to find a bit of clarity - from what looks like a milky background......

Take care all
-Stew
www.farrst.blogspot.com

Ever had your qualification rubbished in a blink of an eye?

2011-04-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Because that is what I am feeling right now.
Someone has just announced that what I do for a job is rubbish and any monkey can do it.
Here is why:

http://www.armyjobs.mil.nz/jobs/signals/systems-engineer/Pages/default.aspx

Army intelligence at its best - one arm holding open the box, other trying to work on the equipment. Its only a matter of time until that lid smacks him on the head.

Now previously it has only been the lovely world of I.T. that has rubbished my role as a systems engineer. You see there are millions of people walking around today calling themselves systems engineers........but the reality of the matter is they are a "computer technician". They have no idea about mechanical systems, or electrical systems, radio systems or even process systems. They know how to install windows on a computer - and that is all that makes them smart.

But now the army have cottoned onto this idea. The have a bunch of monkeys out rewiring analog tait radios - calling themselves systems engineers.
Now don't get me wrong. I do not have anything against the army. I do not have anything against engineers whom learnt off the tools.
My problem is that it should take 5 years of being "the boy" before your an engineer.

So these guys being called systems engineers because they work on radios, is the equivalent to me being called "Tactical Options Specialist" because I play lots of XBOX.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

I am digging my new macro lense :)

2011-04-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

Just got a cool little macro/fisheye lens for ANY hand-held digital camera......
Fricken cool.
Here is a photo without the lense.

and here is same shot with the lens fitted....

Now that is fricken cool :)

http://www.farrst.blogspot.com/

Its bad when you start the day with - "Well I can't be fucked, I busy enough already"

2011-04-11T03:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, I don't usually do this.......but I am tired. I am cranky......I NEED TO VENT!!!!

Its bad when you start the day with - "Well I can't be fucked, I busy enough already"
But this is the cold, hard truth that I am facing.
Its 10:30pm, I have a list of things to do before tomorrow.......but I can't be fucked.

I worked dumb hours last week. Because I have to do a big project.......and to get to site is 4 hours drive. So that basically means that I am driving 1 day of the week. Working another 5. My weekends are chewed up with either Uni tests or looking at houses/cars for wife......or if I am lucky cleaning. Then preparing for the next day of craziness......

This just goes round and round. I don't get stuff all time to spend with my future son or my wife for the matter. Whom needs all the help she can get at this point. The dumb hours I am working are just going to get worse this week as not only do I have to do all the dumb stuff I did last week......but I also I need to chew up what is left of my weekend by also setting up for a training course next week. Why the weekend.......BECAUSE I AM TOO BUSY THIS WEEK AND NEXT WEEK TO DO IT!!!!

This only gets worse when I look at how I am appreciated. Yep I worked it out. After tax, my last bonus and pay rise worked out to a 0.6% per annum increase over what was getting paid from day one........18 months ago. To make matters worse, this is still 20% lower than what I was being paid 2 years ago.

This image pretty much summed up how I felt like while I am tapping away at the keyboard right now.

Nuff said really.
MBA done in June
Baby boy due June
Big project finished in June

June sounds like an interesting month, need to line a few things up I think......and have a break for once.

Right that felt better. See I needed to vent. Now back to the things I was suppose to do tonight.......fuck it, I'm off to bed.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

What is your brand? Would you trust your brand with others?

2011-04-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c0VtOdibcI
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Family Heritage : Pre-Me part 3

2011-03-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Family Heritage : Pre-Me part 2

2011-03-28T03:13:00.000-07:00

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Family Heritage : Pre-Me part 1

2011-03-27T03:08:00.000-07:00

Just some cool old snaps I found. Why have such an awesome bloodline :)
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screw this.....i need coffee!

2011-03-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

So I was up at 4am this morning........ gotta do a test today.....
then drive to Tauranga....

F trying to do this without coffee.....I am off to the supermarket

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Adam liberty vintage cycle - Adam Cramer- CAFE RACER BUILDER PHILADELPH...

2011-03-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Bloody Awesome! :)
Makes me want to walk out of the office, walk straight into my dad's shed and start rebuilding the XS850 and 3TA.......
His website is http://www.site.libertyvintage.com/
Note to self: No matter what, own a garage within 3 years. My tools/bikes are my family, the deserve their own room. Just as much as my future son.
www.farrst.blogspot.com

Atlast Shrugged part 1......IN MOVIE FORM

2011-03-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of my all time favorite books. EVERY HARD WORKER SHOULD READ IT.

Before all of you ask me, "Who is John Galt?" - he is the creator of the engine.

Engine of what you ask? Now that would be telling.......
http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com
www.farrst.blogspot.com

Japan footage

2011-03-19T00:40:00.000-07:00

No doubt many of you have been hanging on news from Japan.
Well those of you whom have been checking my blog would have noticed the sidebar here>>>>>
being updated every time you refresh with new news from Japan.
The most popular contributor for many has been Reuters. Which has ran and live open stream for anyone to comment. This has allowed for scientists to put their own 2 cents in, and is completely unbiased.

However for those of us who don't have time for reading there are the following streams:

BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

and of course the one closest to the ground with the most current information
NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

New Zealand coverage is getting better.........but its still crap. We seem more preoccupied with a pompous prince in our country than quite possibly the worst disaster of our generation.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

The war on Chernobyl Documentary

2011-03-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone should watch this. I can help but feel for the people in Japan right now. While this is worse that what they have right now, imagine what will be happening to those whom live within 100km of their failed reactor.

It is worth noting that Japan has 4 failed reactors, and Chernobyl only had one......

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Mega Ultra Awesome Combos

2011-03-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

For those of you whom loved this era of button mashing fun......here is some real life awesomeness......

Ultra Combos 2 brought to you by Prank Videos
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A matter of Perspective.

2011-03-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Japanese House...........Middle of Ocean
Something is wrong with this picture

Navy spotted it.....a long way from 'home'
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Best way to get updates from Japan

2011-03-12T11:42:00.001-08:00

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/asia/live-blog-japan-earthquake

Screw NZ TV updates.....bloody joke here

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The internet is unhappy, and how to break google

2011-03-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

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Holy Invalid Policeman Batman! Where do they put the chair?

2011-03-06T01:47:00.000-08:00

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Some old notes I had from 2008.......oddly put into a folder named only "book"

2011-03-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

Written 2008….notes for book??? Or more random ramblings…..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well its 0700, i have been up since 0530, while this in turn is not shocking (lord knows i have done worse to my body in the past). I figure it is time i taught myself how to be a better person.
So welcome to the Journey.

I'm sorry if the terms i use in this book feel very "Engineer-like", but that is what i am. I walked away with my Bachelors and enough hands on skills to take on the world. How little did i know that I would become my own worst enemy in terms of my own future progress? That brings me to my first topic :

Resistance:
Contrary to most beliefs resistance is not the ability to stop things.
It is actually the ability to slow things.
So how does this translate to your life? We'll to put it nicely Human
resistance is the ability (whether you want it or not) to slow things as
they pass through you.
Human resistance however due to materials that make us up, changes. So while
one day you may be massively affected by something that is presented to you,
you may become hardened to these items in future. It is all relative to your
perspective at the time. This change in resistance can make grown men cry and
sweet women cruel.
A visual example of living resistance is that of a river bed. A river bed is
forever changing. Some days its collects more resistance in the forms of silt,
tree branches, river rocks changing position, even kids slowing up the river
flow for fun. But likewise every year, in the wet seasons a massive flood
washes down the river and often removes all excess resistance from the bed.
As humans we are not so lucky, we can quite often collect resistance and
store it for many years. And just like a river collecting excess resistance,
we eventually end up with a dam - blocking all flows through us.
This brings me to the next topic, directly related to resistance : conductivity.
Conductivity is the science of breaking resistance, allowing things to flow through or past you. The best saying I have ever heard on manipulating conductivity was by the hong kong great, bruce lee. Bruce states `you must become fluid like water...if water goes into a glass water becomes the glass.`
This means that you need to be able to change when situations change. You need to be dynanic AND flexible. You need to be water. You need to conduct in your chosen environment.
The downside of conductivity is the fact that people can also become weak. With a lack o their own resisatance. To looks back a bruces thoery. What good is a cup of water chucked in the ocean.
So now its sounding complicated
The reality in life is a lot of things sound difficult but in reality they are simpler then you have percieved them. Very few things in history are achievable by savants alone.
Tiger woods is not the greatest golfer there will always be.

It has been a while since I have updated here but here is the basic rundown. I left hvpower for no reason but leaving NZ for a job I Aussie. The money was not better. But I was getting to safe...... But opening a can of worms is an understatement to how tough it’s been. But I know what I know. And most of the time lessons are learnt the hard way.

So with that said today’s term is... Serenity.
Contrary to what you are thinking. Serenity is not always a good think. For two reasons as there are two versions of serenity. The achievable and the unachievable. Achievable serenity is the kind where you have to do nothing and it appears. When I was young and stupid - I could achieve this on daily basis. At the time I was growing. Trading and taking drugs. I was troubled by my home life at te time and while I needed to be calm a collected around my peers a family. I was losing it inside. Drugs gave me the calm serenity I needed. But took away more than I could imagine. They took away my drive to achieve greater tasks. To pass my comfort zone. I was not going backwards by any means. But I would never go forward either. I had reached achievable serenity. The good balanced the bad and all was right with the world.

Unachievable serenity is the kind where you get o satisfaction at all. A lot of people will tell you that you can achieve anything at all. I'm going to tell you that if you try you may lose it all.
When I was a child I hated heights. This was fear nothing more or less. But a fear that told me that I could achieve nothing to do with heights. But if I ignored that fear. Attempted Everest and died who would have said "maybe that was a bad idea because he was scared".

But alas I digress. My key points here are you fears most of the times are the opposites of your ambitions. If a fear is found fundamental to you - it may be there for a reason. See if you can find an alternative rather than always conquer you fear. You may find that the alternative is your nice. Rather than bastardising your goals so that you achieve "a pass" in something you had no interest in, in the first place.
I bet the guy named Jesus made a really crap carpenter do his fear of being told what to do. Who knows - maybe he walked on water because he could not swim?

Either way if Jesus was to die a man in serenity. He was not going to do it via building a nice house.
www.farrst.blogspot.com

Night at the speedway

2011-03-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

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Saturday Cruise - take the bike somewhere different.

2011-02-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

Needed to unwind a bit after hearing all the crap that Christchurch are getting. Dad was safe - so went for a nice slow ride with Kevin out west.
Found a cool little bay after a very interesting downhill.
Heading back home got a bit frustrated with a guy in a Merc doing some riding outside my torque range so at the top of the hill pulled over and vented a bit.
Overall cool day

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Christchurch Looters

2011-02-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

Name and shame - these people looted in the last Chch earthquake (2010). Feel free to call them whatever you like on the internet:
Christchurch Earthquake Looters
Kyle Paul McEntee, 28, Kimioa Ngatamariki, 28, Daniel Ezekial Peneha, 28, Timothy Brian Hurst, Deon Mathew Rich, 17, Dylan John Palmer, 17, William Johnson, 19, and Jack Duckmanton, 20.

2011 Quake Looter news:
"Stolen scooter in Christchurch, bastards.

Some dirty prick(s) stole my neighbors scooter yesterday afternoon, from the side of the road in spencerville where he stopped on his way home from helping injured people out of buildings in the city. He had the keys in his pocket so it has been wheeled or carried it away, unfortunately his car keys and wallet were under the seat at the time.

So if you see a light blue v moto milan reg no. 94ysw please let me know asap, either pm or txt me on 027 289 6201. If you see someone riding it feel free to club the arseholes around the head with whatever blunt instrument you can find, it doesn't get much lower than stealing shit off people after a disaster."

grabbed from KB

Telstra Clear are also looking for missing generators

11.30am
Three TelstraClear generators in Christchurch were stolen overnight, a spokesperson told the National Business Review.
The generators were powering road side cabinets that fed TelstraClear's landline and broadband customers.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Christchurch News Feeds

2011-02-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

I have chucked a few News feeds above so you (and I) can quickly get an update as to what is happening down there.

Its on the top of:
www.farrst.blogspot.com

Recommendations

2011-02-21T14:33:00.001-08:00

Systems Engineer

CSE-W.A.Fisher

“Stewart came aboard nearly 2 years and was required to provide support to key customers almost immediately. He had minimal time to learn the associated RTU and SCADA software and often had to provided extended support after hours.
Stewart has willingly offered his assistance late into the night on numerous occasions - testament to his commitment to CSE-W. Arthur Fisher and peers. Stewart is nearly finished his MBA and has already built a good understanding of the operational objectives & financial implications associated with modern day engineering projects.” February 20, 2011

Neil Pearce, Engineering Manager, CSE-W. Arthur Fisher Ltd
managed Stewart at CSE-W.A.Fisher

Engineering, Quality Control and Sales

HV Power

“I can recommend Stewart as an enthusiastic team player that is well focused and competent at the roles he was engaged with in our company. Stewart performed testing, support and sales competently.” February 15, 2011

Gideon Strydom, Engineering Manager, HV Power
managed Stewart indirectly at HV Power

Technical Support Manager

Reynolds Group Ltd

“Stew keeps his cool and friendly nature even when under huge pressure to resolve issues fast, tenacious at resolving them.
When I moved company I was glad to see Stew reappearing as the service support again.” July 8, 2009

Top qualities: Personable, On Time, Creative

Erica Fritse,
hired Stewart as a Technical Support in 2006, and hired Stewart more than once

Student

Auckland University of Technology

“Stew is what I call a Maverick with a modern edge, a fantastic and honest person to have in your team. This person is proven to have out of the box thinking which I believe is very important for an engineer perusing MBA degree.” November 1, 2010

Samir Kuraishi, MBA Operations and Logistics Student, Auckland University of Technology,
studied with Stewart at Auckland University of Technology

Aww thanks guys

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Midnight natterings 1

2011-02-19T01:31:00.000-08:00

Staying up late to try and sort a big assignment. For more reasons than one.
The assignment is a development plan. Where I sit down and set my problems, resolutions and goals for the next 3 years.
I know I have a slackness, lack of desire to push forward in some areas. I kill time with some pointless tasks - that do no inspire me. This has been leading me to do some dumb things, and pass up some dreams I have held for some time.

Its like that age old saying - "Would the 4 year old version of you, kick you in the nuts?".

What motivates you?

I think what motivates me is good music. Just have Shapeshifter in the headphones. Feeling good. Dunno why. Perhaps also V has kicked in. So I guess V also motivates me.
When I look back at my entries into "The angel, the devil and a motorbike" Yuqi motivated me......as well as music and V.....haha

I guess I feel a motivation in regard to Yuqi, and my boy on the way - but I am not sure how that motivation works. Need to do a bit of digging.

www.farrst.blogspot.com

Nitro-Circus Hamilton

2011-02-19T01:03:00.000-08:00

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FZR pics I forgot to chuck up before......new (quieter) exhaust

2011-02-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

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exerpt of mark zuckerbergs original blog........

2011-02-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Cos sharing is caring.

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10.28.03
8:13pm. to take
my mind off her.- - > I need to think of something to occupy my mind. Easy enough
now I just need an idea…
9:48pm. I’m a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it’s not even
10pm and
it’s a Tuesday night? What? The Kirkland facebook is
open on my computer desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendous facebook
pics.
I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have
people
vote on which is more attractive. It’s not such a great idea and probably not even
funny, but
Billy comes up with the idea of comparing two people from the facebook, and only
sometimes
putting a farm animal in there. Good call Mr. Olson! I think he’s onto something.

11:09pm. Yea, it’s on. I’m not exactly sure how the farm animals are going

to

fit into this whole thing (you can’t really ever be sure with farm animals…), but I

like the

idea of comparing two people together. It gives the whole thing a very Turing feel,

since

people’s ratings of the pictures will be more implicit than, say, choosing a number to

represent each person’s hotness like they do on hotornot.com. The other thing we’re

going to

need is a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, Harvard doesn’t keep a public centralized

facebook

so I’m going to have to get all the images from the individual houses that people are

in.

And that means no freshman pictures…drats.
12:58pm. Let the hacking begin. First on the list is Kirkland. They keep
everything
open and allow indexes in their Apache configuration, so a little wget magic is all
that’s
necessary to download the entire Kirkland facebook. Child’s play.

1:03am.

Next on the list is Eliot. They’re also open, but with no indexes

in

Apache. I can run an empty search and it returns all of the images in the database in

process.php

1/10/2006 9:33:53 AM

CONFIDENTIAL

asingle page. Then I can save the page and Mozilla will save all the images for me.

Excellent. Moving right along…

1:06am. Lowell has some security. They require a username/password combo

to access the facebook. I’m going to go ahead and say that they don’thave access to the

main fas user database, so they have no way of knowing what people’s passwords are, and

the house isn’t exactly going to ask students for their fas passwords, so it’s got to

be

something else. Maybe there’s a single username/password combo that all of Lowell

knows.

That seems a little hard to manage since it would be impossible for the webmaster to

tell

Lowell residents how to figure out the username and password without giving them away

completely. And you do want people to know what kind of authentication is necessary,

so it’s

probably not that either. So what does each student have that can be used for

authentication

that the house webmaster has access to? Student ids anyone? Suspicions affirmed –

time

to get myself a matching name and student id combo for Lowell and I’m in. But there

are

more problems. The pictures are separated into a bunch of different pages, and I’m

way too

lazy to go through all of them and save each one. Writing a perl script to take care

of that

seems like the right answer. Indeed.

1:31am. Adams has no security, but limits the number of results to 20 a

page.

All I need to do is break out the same script I just used on Lowell and we’re set.

1:42am. Quincy has no online facebook. What a sham. Nothing I can do about

that.

1:43am. Dunster is intense. Not only is there no public directory, but

there’s

no directory at all. You have to do searches, and if your search returns more than 20

matches, nothing gets returned. And once you do get results, they don’t link directly

to

the images; they link to a php that redirects or something. Weird. This may be

difficult.

I’ll come back later.

1:52am. Leverett is a little better. They still make you search, but you

can

do an empty search and get links to pages with every student’s picture. It’s slightly

obnoxious that they only let you view one picture at a time, and there’s no way I’m

going

to go to 500 pages to download pics one at a time, so it’s definitely necessary to

break out

emacs and modify that perl script. This time it’s going to look at the directory and

figure

out what pages it needs to go to by finding links with regexes. Then it’ll just go to

all

of the pages it found links to and jack the images from them. It’s taking a few tries

to

compile the script…another Beck’s is in order.

2:08am. Mather is basically the same as Leverett, except they break their directory down into classes. There aren’t any freshmen in their facebook…how weak. So I

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fzr parts for sale

2011-02-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

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Cooking pasta is not a simple meal - its a way of life

2011-02-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

"Hey, I am trying to cook here"

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Skybox house

2011-02-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

From New Zealand to Old Zealand we go.
In Denmark this interesting house has been made. Its called the "Skybox".

I quite like it. What are your thoughts?

Link to Achitizer http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/skybox-house/17682/

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Rock win a wife competition

2011-02-15T15:09:00.000-08:00

I am sorry, but this turns my dials.

WHY ARE THERE WOMEN OUT THERE SO VINDICTIVE THEY WANT TO RUIN SOMEONE ELSES CHANCE AT A HAPPY LIFE?!!!???!!!

(re: http://history-herstory-scubanurse.blogspot.com/)

grow up ladies. The win-a-wife competition was a very nice gesture that gave some poor guy some coin to find a lovely person to spent the rest of their lives with. On the flip side - it allows for a lady to leave the Ukraine for brighter shores, and fall in love with someone whom is not from there.

Why do you feel the need to shit on someone else's dreams?
What makes you feel like you should control their lives?

You talk about how the competition is degrading to women - but I am sorry what the hell do you think your doing?
You are degrading them by spouting comments about how bad it is for them to find love outside their own country. Yet many of you have done so anyway......You basically being a Hypocrite.

If you are so concerned about degrading others lives, keep to your own and leave others the fuck alone.
No one asked for your help - and if you paid enough attention and found out the whole situation you would feel incredibly stupid.
Rather than just jumping the gun, reading a headline and assuming that the Rock were going to "give away" a person.

When will we be saved from morons?

-Stew
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FARRST V2.0 is comming :)

2011-02-11T03:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry Guys you will have to rotate your photo itself. Blogger wont allow me to upload it rotated :S

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This is the last of a backlog of things I want to get through.....honest....

2011-02-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

Now its some fancy jewellery........for GUYS!
Millitary Spec Titanium........seriously hardcore.
Wish I knew about this store before - would have got my wedding band from there.
https://www.roguedzn.com

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Recon Instruments GPS Goggle

2011-02-09T23:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.reconinstruments.com

Nuff said really. I want!
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Got a old V8 Aston? V12 Jag?

2011-02-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Let me guess - your sick of the OPUS ignition failing?

http://www.reopusignition.com/index.html

Nuff said really - check out his site.

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Mountain bike of doom! (or an electric motorbike - you decide)

2011-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.m55-bike.com/en/home

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Web based SCADA

2011-02-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

For those of you whom don't know. I do a little bit of work with SCADA.
I am getting really sick of the Citects and Intouch's of the world. So decided to have a look at something new.
I am quite enthused that many of the SCADA's are moving to web-based platforms.
Two of my current favourites are :
http://www.integraxor.com

and

http://www.statusvision.com/

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Need a random number? Next weeks lotto numbers?

2011-02-08T16:58:00.001-08:00

Here is a handy site for you : http://www.random.org/

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Play some 80's style arcade for free - Space Paranoids

2011-02-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.spaceparanoidsonline.com/

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Kiwi made UAV's - US Predators here we come!! :)

2011-02-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

Found this recently on the web.........
While I am still a fan of the big UAV's out there - I think this is kinda cool
SkyCam UAV's
http://www.kahunet.co.nz

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Audrey Kawasaki

2011-02-08T02:14:00.000-08:00

I am digging Audrey Kawasaki's work right now.
Its got that whole warm wood glow going on that I am fond with.

I want that kind glow from the cot - so looking for a cot that still has the grain/varnish look.

but alas I digress
Here is some more of Audrey's art, and here is here site (http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com)

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How do send txt messages via cmd prompts (work crap)

2011-02-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

25.2. Syntax of the +CMGS AT Command in SMS Text Mode

In SMS text mode, the syntax of the +CMGS AT command is: (Optional parameters are enclosed in square brackets.)

+CMGS=address[,address_type]sms_message_body

Before we discuss each of the parameters, let's see an example that gives you some idea of how an actual command line should look like:

AT+CMGS="+85291234567",145This is an example for illustrating the syntax of the +CMGS AT command in SMS text mode.

The address Parameter
The first parameter of the +CMGS AT command, address, specifies the destination address to send the SMS message to. Usually it is a mobile number formatted using the typical ISDN / telephony numbering plan (ITU E.164/E.163). For example, "+85291234567", "91234567", etc. Note that the value passed to the address parameter should be a string, i.e. it should be enclosed in double quotes.

The address_type Parameter
The second parameter of the +CMGS AT command, address_type, specifies the type of the address assigned to the address parameter. Two values are commonly used. They are 129 and 145:

129. It means the value of address is formatted using the typical ISDN / telephony numbering plan (ITU E.164/E.163) but it is not sure whether the value of address is an international number, a national number or a number of other types. Example addresses: "85291234567", "91234567".
145. It means the value of address is formatted using the typical ISDN / telephony numbering plan (ITU E.164/E.163) and it is an international number. Example address: "+85291234567".

As address_type is an optional parameter, it can be omitted. If you do so, the GSM/GPRS modem or mobile phone will use the default value of the address_type parameter, which is:

129 if the value of address does not start with a "+" character. For example, "85291234567".
145 if the value of address starts with a "+" character. For example, "+85291234567".

The Character
, which represents the carriage return character, follows the address_type parameter. When the GSM/GPRS modem or mobile phone receives the carriage return character, it will send back a prompt formed by these four characters: the carriage return character, the linefeed character, the ">" character and the space character. If you don't understand what this means, don't worry. This should be clear to you when you see the example in the section "Example Demonstrating How to Use the +CMGS AT Command to Send SMS Text Messages in SMS Text Mode".

The sms_message_body Parameter
The third parameter of the +CMGS AT command, sms_message_body, specifies the body of the SMS message to be sent. Entering the character will cancel the +CMGS AT command. If you don't understand what this means, see the example in the section "Example Demonstrating How to Use the +CMGS AT Command to Send SMS Text Messages in SMS Text Mode".

The Character
When you finish entering the SMS message body, you have to enter the character to mark the end of the SMS message body. The GSM/GPRS modem or mobile phone will then attempt to send the SMS message to the SMS center.

Stolen from http://www.developershome.com/sms/cmgsCommand.asp
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Sometimes we get caught up in the "MUST DO THIS" stage

2011-02-06T01:23:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we get caught up in the "MUST DO THIS" stage, and we find ourselves in the position where we tried to get everything done (to spend time doing the things we like)......only to find that list is bottomless.
(house pictures are from a couple of nice looking builds I saw on Architizer - thought I better share the inspiration......keep reading.....)

I have discovered recently, that if you have enough self drive, that list forever increases in length - and on the flip side of the coin - if you have no drive......no items on the most basic of lists are done. Your house isn't vacuumed, the dishes sit in the sink, that project you started 6 months ago, never moves. Life stands still according to your list - but in reality the list keeps growing out of your control.

So what do you do. Well I can tell you now - the problem is not the list, its not you. Its the fact that we are put in a place assuming the role of the perpetual worker. As you know, as good worker - makes everything in his/her job a "MUST DO" task. Must clean the bench. Must get that proposal in today. Must get home by 5:30pm........and while these things are good - when you think about it; Are they must do?
Can they wait an hour? a week? a day?
So is being your best - the best you can be? Or the best you can do for now because you must do this other thing right now......
Obviously the flip of this is you get lazy, unmotivated....can't be F***ed. You think that if you stop doing things, you will be fine. But the fact of the matter is that while the world passes you by minutes, hours, then days......then one day you sit back and realize that you have this massive catchup list you need to do, the one that has built up over years. You jump out of productivity rehab, get told to run when you can barely walk.

This weekend I experience the middle ground. The 'must do' tasks changed from ones with deadlines, to ones that I wanted to happen. My uni stuff, my work stuff, even the household cleaning became second priorities to holding my wife, talking to my unborn son, chatting with friends over dinner/drinks, prepping cleaning room, sorting my motorbike......and I even dedicated some time to thinking.

Isn't it strange that we always imagine "thinking about something" is a must do task. Yet when we get around to it - the response is simply "Oh I don't have time for that now - lets just get this done".
Imagine if your doctor just pulled you into the operating theater and said that. Or a builder built a house without a drawing.

YOU MUST DEDICATE TIME TO THINK.

Even if its only 5 minutes to contemplate why you are unhappy in your job, unhappy in a relationship......or more importatly what you are happy for.

After 5 minutes of thinking you will come to some most profane conclusions. It may change you entire day. Your whole "Must do" list goes out the window. Because when you think of your priorities - is your life currently catering for them?

Take care all
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Little man

2011-02-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

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Choice feeling

2011-02-02T01:05:00.001-08:00

- Finding out your going to be a dad
- Finding out its a boy

Choice feelings right now.

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Change and Life Stages

2011-01-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

Change and Life Stages.

I guess my interest is that of a personal level. As I went out to research why I was feeling demotivated lately, or why I felt my career was not on the right track……only to find that what I was experiencing was not really too uncommon. In fact it was so common that it was published. So while this is a slight sigh of relief of knowing everything can be considered ‘O.K.’ – there is the concept that ‘O.K.’ simply means nothing is abnormal. As it’s normal to be this confused about things. With the scary addition that it may get worse before it gets better. No doubt a cocktail of destruction that may test the resilience I spoke of earlier.

So let’s step back a few moments and see how I have got to these conclusions.

Recently I was asked what a book about my life would be called. My reaction was to call it “Life and Scars”. This was not a figurative title; I literally mean healed flesh wounds and birthmarks. As I have found recently that I can track the scars in my body to a life I have lived, that is at complete parallels to my life I tell most people. Motorbike wounds, surgeries, accidents with knives, workplace accidents, bite marks….. All completely parallel as my life as a husband, engineer, student and son. I only realised this when I talked to others about visible scars they had. It’s funny as many people often talk about not being sensitive to people hidden injuries, and hidden disabilities – often we don’t even ask people about the obvious things (such as scars) that are right in front of us. Often the story to the scar is more important that the stories will actually tell about their life.

But I was wrong. Because “Life and Scars” is in fact Book II of my life, it is the story of now. I already have a Book I – I had just forgotten about it. Years ago I had a journal, through a very different time in my life.

The journal was aptly named “The angel, the devil and a motorbike”. And I have kept it this long as re-reading it, it was the story of me becoming a man. It has the stories of me leaving home, starting university, working, passionate love and massive depression and frustrating. At the time I was experiencing great highs and lows. Often the highs were attributed to people around me (“angels”), the lows were my own downward spiral of defeat and depression (my own devil) and the motorbike was something that seemed to separately me completely from the world for a short period.

Sheehy (1976) names this period “Pulling up Roots”, and states that “fear haunts us that we are really kids who cannot take care of ourselves” (Sheehy, 1976, p37). I guess this holds true as many of my moments recorded here were put there so I could put my fears could be put to rest a little.

Looking back at what I had in that journal, it seems like a whole lifetime ago. I guess it was. Back then; I had not graduated, I was not married, my wife was not yet a citizen, I did not have a nephew…..and I was nowhere near ready to be a father.

Dealing with New Zealand Immigration smashed whatever rose tinted glasses I was wearing for my homeland and shone a truly ugly light on what I thought was the best country in the world. If you want to talk to anyone in New Zealand about how corrupt it is, I highly recommend you talk to someone whom has to immigrate here. Their insights may open your eyes.
I was working full time, and studying engineering full time – simply to pay bills. It seems insane to me now, but I was taking ‘No Dose’ to stay away, and only sleeping 2-3 hours a night.
The highs were usually the love I had for my (now) wife, and friends. Or even achieving goals I thought were unapproachable (quitting drugs and smoking).
I seemed to keep ticking along, every day revealing the devils and angels for the day, down on paper as if to seal their fate or to create an epitaph to them. As things were changing in my life, while I could not see it then – the reflection is quite humbling.

This develops into what Sheehy calls “The Trying Twenties” (Sheehy, 1976, p39). In this stage, we start to ask questions about our purpose. To quote myself I was asking questions such as “Where is my course (direction) taking me?” and “Is there is light at the end?”. I did not talk up the situation at all, nor did I talk up my abilities. However you can’t help but notice that while most I spoke of was doom and gloom. There was something I had faith in, there was some kind of purpose to the whole lot.
I was just unsure as that purpose was changing. I was moving from one stage of life into another.

And so, 10 years on……I am right back here, and the purpose is changing again. Once again I seem to almost be flying a little blind, hoping that everything I am doing now will pay off in 10 years like the last lot did. The ironic thing here is, even though I now understand Fisher’s (2009) model of change and what stages I may be going through. It is only something you can really reflect on later. You can’t simply say “Now I am happy, so next to come is fear”. Although I have a feeling if you did try and do this – a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy would occur, rather than a correct diagnosis.

And so I am into the second book of my life, “Life and Scars” is all about me living in the period Sheehy calls “Catch-30” (p41). Here I get to experience life being changed again by my own choices – Sheehy (1976) warns that I may go out to destroy the career I have created over the last 10 years, I guess that is why I am doing the MBA. Engineering does not cut it anymore for me.
I am out to reform my own life again.

Elrod and Tippett summarise all the change curves of various different authors in their article “The death valley of change” (Elrod & Tippett, 2002). Stating how they all must have a drop in enthusiasm/productivity – and how this death valley requires a leap of faith, that not only will things get worse before they get better. But when they get better it may not be to a higher level.
Only difference this time around is that the angel and devil are both me, the motorbike barely gets time and I now have the scars to show I have done this all before.

References:

Sheehy, G,. (1976). Passages.
New York, Bantam Books

Elrod, P.D., & Tippett, D.D. (2002). The “death valley” of change.
Journal of Organizational Change Management

Fisher, J,. (2009) Process of Personal Change

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Random Song for the Day - Elegants - Little Star (static Revenge remix)

2011-01-30T01:06:00.000-08:00

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Reflection 1 for Uni - Resilience

2011-01-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

Reflection 1

To be honest for the first time in my life, I don’t know what to write.

It’s almost a case of I lack the inspiration even begin writing what I have to write, and it’s not the case that I don’t know what I am supposed to be writing…..but more of a case of where do you start with these things. But for those of you whom are out of the loop right now (which would be 99.9% of you), this term as a part of my MBA I have elected to take a paper on personal and professional development. As a part of this I am to write a bit of a blog. And I figure hey if I am going to do this once, why not chuck the draft up on here first, and give the Uni the “directors cut” version.

To be honest it all seems a hell of a lot clearer from behind the visor while riding my bike. I am no longer hounded by decisions I “have” to make for others. I am no one else ego.

I suppose when you put moments like when I have had a good day, a good ride, a good dinner with friends…….in those moments I am near my peak. I am in the zone a bit. It seems too addictive.
Outside of that I feel that life just doesn’t have the same buzz – I forever question why I am here.
It seems that 20% of my life is these “highs” that seem fantastic, yet addictive, 70% of it seems…..well to put it blankly boring, and those parts are infectious. If I have a ‘boring’ time doing something, it seems to cascade to all future events until I hit one of these “zone” events that break the cycle. Oh, and yes I know 70 + 20 is only 90% - but to be honest while 20% of my life is highs, 10% are pure low. Not boring, but pure black. Whether I am frustrated, sad, angry…..they are like looking down the downward spiral. So I think I have found what I was after to talk about.

The topic Resilience is an interesting one for me. As I think in my case – it feels like a bit of a double edge sword. On one hand it has helped me maintain relationships for decades (10 year anniversary with wife next month), it has helped me build a career on fixing problems and damage control, it has helped me keep my life on-track and steer away from many negative influences………But on the other side, people assume that; you will land on your feet, you can handle more and more extreme situations, you can take more and more pressure.

My first true experience of Resilience was when my mum left. I was 14 at the time, after a successful year at school, living in a family that was just getting up there – the world was literally my oyster (I was even promised a motorbike and that we would expand our property). Life was looking good.

I woke in the morning after noticing a bit of a commotion upstairs. Nothing major, and besides – I had a friend around so I did not need to occupy my brain with much else except mucking around with a mate. Dad came home, he looked a bit angry – but that was nothing new, usually something small. But something was out with house. Then I clicked - “Where’s mum, dad?” (Expecting some kind of response like “Oh, just shot into town to get some eggs for breakfast”.

I got one word – “GONE!”

For a fraction of a second my brain went to pure chaos. There were so many things messed up that I didn’t understand anything. Then like a white board being wiped clean my mind went clear, all my questions (“Where? Why?....” ) All gone in a second. My brain went to some other mode, with a clear almost automated mode I had compiled a list of things that needed to happen. I did not need anymore information about the situation. It was like a car crash and I was first on scene – the decisions I made now had to be clear and precise and most of all unemotional.

“Bianca can you give me a hand to fold the washing” I said to my sister.
”Give your mum a call, I will go stay at your place tonight” I said (almost demanded) to my friend
”Dad I am going to stay at Carls place tonight, Bianca will go stay at Amy’s OK” Not expecting a response merely stating the facts.

For the 2 years I had to deal with realities that seems almost a complete phase shifts from what my life was suppose to be. Angry bursts, bonfires of personal goods, court cases, depression…….my father thought he had lost it all. I had to make decisions – without being resilient about the situation I could not have survived seeing my father like that. But likewise it made me the person I am today. And set me up for much bigger problems I would have to face later in life.

You suddenly become the “Resilient” guy – or the garbage can depending on what side of the fence your own.

It seems that there are countless studies on how resilience is a good thing, on how we should encourage resilience. But I can’t help but feel that the promotion of resilience, is more selfish that selfless. Why do we promote resilience? To adapt a person to suit more of the requirements they may face? Or to make it easier for us to deal with them?

If you think of someone as a tool, a means for something (if this is a relationship, or a job – either requires a person as a means). When you make that tool harder and more adaptable – why? Because it can do more jobs for you?

However people are not tools. Where is the reward for these individuals overcoming the odds, where are the rewards to show the work they put in? Even Coutu, when talking of colleague whom was incredibly resilient – noted that his only reward for this was the fact that he was still alive. Stating “It always astounded me that he was never promoted to managing editor”. (Coutu, 2001).

Were people scared that too much pressure would snap him? Was his resilience ‘nice’ but not the safe bet?
Unless you are a type ‘A’ personality – resilience is not something that is spoken out loud, type ‘b’s whom talk about their hardship is considered charity cases. It is not considered heroism, it is considered survival – something you should feel sorry for.

So often after I explain stories to people about my resilience through situations, the common response is “Oh! I am so sorry for you”.

Why? Why do people feel the need to respond this way? The events in my past were not a plague that haunted me. They were hurdles in my life that created me the person I am today. Without them I would not be half the man I am today.
People do not interpret resilience like other aspects in life such as a weight lifters body, or a scientist’s brain. The natural reaction you give someone whom has displayed resilience is pity.

The other side to resilience that I have felt is the cold calculating way it operates. You switch to pure survival, self preservation, and mode. I have hurt many people, and myself when operating on pure resilience. I have found over the years that I have had to try and combat against my natural resilience to maintain relationships with people. If I had remained cold – they would have been cut from my life many years ago. In many situations, self preservation and saving face is more costly than simply being a bit selfless.

They say that resilience is when you find a sense of meaning in life. Well sometimes that meaning can be as simple as trying to prove them wrong or spite. These aspects of it are not very published – in fact not much negative is published about resilience is published. Extreme Optimism states that everything is good, but any intelligent person will tell you the world is out to get you in the end. Therefore sometimes resilience stems not from the facts of everything seeming good, but from the pessimists belief that it will all fail – and optimist belief that you can prove all the facts wrong.

I guess that is a scary element I have to deal with right now. My purpose has changed, my meaning has changed. I am no longer Stewart Farr, or the loving supporter and husband of Yuqi…….I am also now going to be a dad. It seems like I need to draw a line in the sand, everything on this side I can be resilient about, everything on that side I have to be more human/emotionally connected too.

Improvising solutions has pretty much become my career. When the crap hits the fan, I seem to be pretty much one of the last one left standing. However when people learn this, or experience it – they seem to either utilize it or avoid it.
I have had situations where I was avoided as I had seemed to come out of situations unscathed, and I have had other situations where they feel that because everything else has failed, I am some kind of magic bullet for them. This has carried on to the extend where employers have put me in situations where I become some form of scapegoat so that even if I am unable to improvise a solution in time they can fall back on to me as the failure.
I mean you have been so resilient about these things in the past – you will be fine. You will save my skin. Being the ‘last resort’ person is not always a way to get good credit with others – sometimes it can burn you.

So are resilient individuals the saviours of the world? I don’t think I can save the world.
I think that relying on people like me won’t save the world. Contrary to what popular literature says. Yes being resilient means you can make those last minute decisions, or that you can recover quickly. But we can’t solve the problems of others – we can’t save companies we are workers of. We don’t have the personal investment to save it. I am just more likely to pack up everything and leave a situation as a self defence mechanism than I am to try and rescue it.

These types of cold calculating decisions are what make me resilient. This decision process is what has helped me recover from adversity. This is what has kept me alive this long.
According to Viktor Frankl believed that resilience was based around some sense of purpose or meaning (Frankl, 1946).
So the short is that if your not a part of this meaning (for them), what do realistically expect them to do when you apply significant pressure to them?
So while resilience can help and individual, making it suitable application with owners of firms who have personal investment. Is it really a trait suitable for the workers of these firms? Won't they protect their own skin?

References:

Frankl, Viktor,. 1946 Man's Search for Meaning

Coutu, Diane,. 2001 Building Personal and Organizational Resilience

Harvard Business Review

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I came from Outer Space!

2011-01-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

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Complete Tron Sountrack Playlist in Order!

2011-01-20T02:16:00.001-08:00

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Random code? Xp code?

2011-01-09T15:42:00.001-08:00

Just found this written in a diary:

FM9FY-TMF7Q-KCKCT-V9T29-TBBBG

I can't remember whats its for - am guessing winXP?

aren't diary's grand lol
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Trademe - Exhaust Inlet

2011-01-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=344451440
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Boxing day at the beach

2010-12-27T00:51:00.000-08:00

Taken with Liquid Image 5.0MP Explorer Dive Mask......yes a dive mask not an actual camera.

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Cowshed orchard photos

2010-12-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

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How about this for an intermission!!

2010-11-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

Bloody choice!
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When the gears don't mesh - the clock breaks down....and for a second time stops

2010-11-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

Some would say I have been too busy (lord knows I have).
Others would say I have a lot on my plate.

But the fact of the matter - is my body, mind and soul simply got bored.
Once the boredom set in, the mind went to autopilot.
When the mind went into autopilot, the body went into hibernation.
And it went into a slow shutdown.

So how do we get out of this doldrum? What breaks the downward spiral?
Well we have to try multiple things - but the key thing you are looking for is the 'spark'.
The think that makes you push that extra 10%
The body is essentially a perpetual machine - as long as you have a bit of energy pushing you forward, you have the motivation and the task suddenly doesn't sound like a task anymore.

I need to break this cycle of self fulfilling defeat, I need to step up to the plate.
I figure its better to make this public - because to put it blankly, I need your guys support. I need to be reminded that I am doing the right thing. I hope to motivate you all, and in return all I ask it that you keep me moving.

So we better break this into steps.

Step 1 : Look around you.....find something that you think is holding you back.......chuck it in the bin (or sell it) and tell me.

a) What it was?

b) Why you were hanging on to it?

c) Why is it holding you back?

d) What do you want to change now it is gone?

I will put my response with step 2.

So here is where we start to change the game..... if your interested stay tuned
-Stew
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I know, I know.....I have been blatantly slack on this....

2010-10-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

But I promise you, I will get straight back into this over the weekend. It has been a interesting few months. But most of all I have lacked the motivation to get my a into g about a lot of things.

This unfortunately has rolled into a lot of my work which has become inconsistent. Even uni has taken a toll of my performance.

Currently the SRX is running and ready to come back to Auckland (coming up on Fri), and the FZR has exhaust and tyre issues. Everything has been put on the back burner as I resolve a couple of things. There is a mass clean-out I am doing, leaving only the core elements of things I wish to take with me.
Its a time to ditch baggage, whether is old uni notes, crap I have carried from childhood or even just attachments to lost opportunities.

Looks like the next "Farrst Development" will have to be me.

To be continued....
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B1200 for sale

2010-10-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

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The worker

2010-09-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Everyday a small ant arrives at work very early and starts work immediately.
She produces a lot and was very happy.
The chief, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision.
He thought that if the ant can produce so much without supervision, wouldn’t she produce even more if she had a supervisor!
So he recruited a cockroach who had extensive experience as a supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports.
The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a clocking in attendance system.
He also needed a secretary to help him write and type his reports and…
He recruited a spider who managed the archives and monitored all phone calls.
The lion was delighted with the cockroach’s reports and asked him to produce graphs to describe production rates and to analyse trends, so that he could use them for presentations at board meetings.
So the cockroach had to buy a new computer and a laser printer and …
Recruited a fly to manage the IT department.
The ant who had once been so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings which used up most of her time.
The lion came to the conclusion that it was high time to nominate a person in charge of the department where the ant worked.
The position was given to the cicada, whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office.
The new person in charge, the cicada, also needed a computer and a personal assistant, ho he brought form his previous department, to help him prepare a Work and Budget Control Strategic Optimisation Plan…
The department where the ant works is now a sad place, where nobody laughs anymore and everybody has become upset.
It was at that time the cicada convinced the lion, of the absolute necessity to start a climatic study of the environment.
Having reviewed the charges for running the ants department, the lion found that there was much less production than before.
So he recruited the owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant to carry out an audit and suggest solutions.
The owl spent three months in the department and came up with an enormous report, in several volumes, that concluded: ‘The department is overstaffed’.
Guess who the lion fires first?
The ant of course, because she showed lack of motivation and had a negative attitude.

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Cool 3D projection

2010-09-19T14:43:00.001-07:00

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Shout someone else this time

2010-09-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

With the recent events in Christchurch. I think its about time we all chucked in a couple of bucks. Not because they are poor and starving down there - but due to the fact that if I were in there shoes, I would kill for a warm shower, or heaven forbid a chocolate bar.
So go on chuck $5 to someone else. Its only $5
http://www.1-dayout.co.nz/dealLocation/13/title/Christchurch

Felt good didn't it

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I am sick, and busy........and all of the above.

2010-09-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

Will update site soon......I hope

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Motorbike manual list

2010-08-31T18:21:00.001-07:00

Stew's HV Power Siemens Digsi Training notes (from 2006)

2010-08-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Kinda useless for anyone else - but handy for me if I ever need it

1st time use:
Options -> Customise
Set zip program

Right click main window
-> Device Catalog
-> Left click and drag onto main window (device)

MLFB-> 7,8,9,10.....5-4EB

9/1 -> O
9/2 -> S (on side of machine)

Device properties are 1 right click away
-> Comms parameters

Settings
-> Right click / double click on object

DAS -> DAC

Reg D/A -> PLC

IEC61850
- Universal naming
- Universal comms

Two comms loops
- SCADA
- Engineering Comms

Garrettcom uses Telnet

FT14 -> 10mb
FTEHR -> 100mb

To creating more than 1 setting group
-> Setting
-> Device config
-> Adjust setting group -> Enable

Power system data

Matrix
-> view -> collapse -> ALL

double click these info source destination

Disable filter on top bar

Can add groups -> E.g. motor control by right clicking left bar

motor control -> rt click -> info -> tagging -> drag into motor control

source -> F -> rt click -> F1

Latched o/p (rt click) -> push and stay closed

destination -> CFC -> configured

I/O in relation to cfc/matrix
matrix o/p -> ? destination

CFC -> RT/Click -> create new

CFC(1) -> rt click -> Properties

CFC uses same L->R as scematics
Blocks use D/O in values of eg 5=5%

R/click inputs to assign inputs

Can do more than 1 point user defined fields
e.g. motor control -> motor on
-> less than 5%

EDIT -> Run sequences (in charts)

000 000

CTRL/Q0 GIGO 1 SPCSO 1 SP EXSP
Q1

Is this similar to the clipsal stuff?
Can connect from CFC page 1 to CFC page 2 but not between CFC's
Destination display
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futon photos

2010-08-24T02:46:00.000-07:00

FARRST - Industrial Strength Random Thoughts

Welcome to Stewart Farr's Portal - Click the links below

Revolution

hmmmmm is blogger working anymore?

Well that was a fun dash in ipredict, but now the honeymoon is over

Yes we are parents now......meet Isaac

Welcome to the fold

Its only a matter of time now

Still watching......

Insane mad dash for the finish line

Something I am watching with bated breath......

A drivetime commute that I enjoy

Recent Developments

Ever had your qualification rubbished in a blink of an eye?

I am digging my new macro lense :)

Its bad when you start the day with - "Well I can't be fucked, I busy enough already"

What is your brand? Would you trust your brand with others?

Family Heritage : Pre-Me part 3

Family Heritage : Pre-Me part 2

Family Heritage : Pre-Me part 1

screw this.....i need coffee!

Adam liberty vintage cycle - Adam Cramer- CAFE RACER BUILDER PHILADELPH...

Atlast Shrugged part 1......IN MOVIE FORM

Japan footage

The war on Chernobyl Documentary

Mega Ultra Awesome Combos

A matter of Perspective.

Best way to get updates from Japan

The internet is unhappy, and how to break google

Holy Invalid Policeman Batman! Where do they put the chair?

Some old notes I had from 2008.......oddly put into a folder named only "book"

Night at the speedway

Saturday Cruise - take the bike somewhere different.

Christchurch Looters

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Christchurch News Feeds

Recommendations

Recommendations For Stewart

Systems Engineer

CSE-W.A.Fisher

Engineering, Quality Control and Sales

HV Power

Technical Support Manager

Reynolds Group Ltd

Student

Auckland University of Technology

Midnight natterings 1

Nitro-Circus Hamilton

FZR pics I forgot to chuck up before......new (quieter) exhaust

exerpt of mark zuckerbergs original blog........

fzr parts for sale

Cooking pasta is not a simple meal - its a way of life

Skybox house

Rock win a wife competition

FARRST V2.0 is comming :)

This is the last of a backlog of things I want to get through.....honest....

Recon Instruments GPS Goggle

Got a old V8 Aston? V12 Jag?

Mountain bike of doom! (or an electric motorbike - you decide)

Web based SCADA

Need a random number? Next weeks lotto numbers?

Play some 80's style arcade for free - Space Paranoids

Kiwi made UAV's - US Predators here we come!! :)

Audrey Kawasaki

How do send txt messages via cmd prompts (work crap)

25.2. Syntax of the +CMGS AT Command in SMS Text Mode

Sometimes we get caught up in the "MUST DO THIS" stage

Little man

Choice feeling

Change and Life Stages

Random Song for the Day - Elegants - Little Star (static Revenge remix)

Reflection 1 for Uni - Resilience

I came from Outer Space!

Complete Tron Sountrack Playlist in Order!

Random code? Xp code?

Trademe - Exhaust Inlet

Boxing day at the beach

Cowshed orchard photos

How about this for an intermission!!

When the gears don't mesh - the clock breaks down....and for a second time stops

I know, I know.....I have been blatantly slack on this....