Today, I learned how to wire CAT6 cables. What fun that was. I was reading the tutorial linked below, however, there's both 568A and 568B wiring. It doesn't really matter which one you use, however, you can't intermix the two. So as I made 568A wiring and tested it out with a 568B CAT5 wire, nothing would work. So Greg and I went to Fry's, bought a cable stripper and asked for a little more information about the wiring. After figuring out the 568A & B problem, we came back, made a 568B CAT6 cable and it worked flawlessly. Now...just to hard-wire the four of them into my new room along with the CATV and speaker wires tomorrow. Yay wiring.

And here's our updated DVD watching list:

Conspiracy Theory (Christo Morse and T.B.D.)
Hackers (Wendell Pierce and Christo Morse)
Ray (Rick Gomez and Wendell Pierce)
Three to Tango (John C. McGinley and Rick Gomez)
Se7en (Lennie Loftin and John C. McGinley)
The Sum of All Fears (Stefan Kalipha and Lennie Loftin)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Pat Roach and Stefan Kalipha)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Frank Marshall and Pat Roach)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Alfred Molina and Frank Marshall)
Ladyhawke (Ken Hutchison and Alfred Molina)
Straw Dogs (Dustin Hoffman and Ken Hutchison)
Rain Man (Ray Baker and Dustin Hoffman)
Without a Paddle (Bruce Phillips and Ray Baker)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Stephen Ure and Bruce Phillips)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Katie Jackson and Stephen Ure)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Viggo Mortensen and Katie Jackson)
Crimson Tide (Gene Hackman and Viggo Mortensen)
Superman IV (Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman)
Superman III (Jackie Cooper and Christopher Reeve)
Superman II (Ned Beatty and Jackie Cooper)
Superman (Robert O'Neill and Ned Beatty)
Twelve Monkeys (Bruce Willis and Robert O'Neill)
Mercury Rising (Chi McBride and Bruce Willis)
The Terminal (John Williams and Chi McBride)
Star Wars: Episode VI (Anthony Daniels and John Williams))
Star Wars: Episode V (Peter Mayhew and Anthony Daniels)
Star Wars: Episode IV (James Earl Jones and Peter Mayhew)
The Hunt For Red October (Stellan Skarsgård and James Earl Jones)
Ronin (Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgård)
Godzilla (1998) (Ben Bode and Jean Reno)
Empire Records (Liv Tyler and Ben Bode)
Armageddon (Owen Wilson and Liv Tyler)
Permanent Midnight (Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson)
Keeping the Faith (Edward Norton and Ben Stiller)
Rounders (Edward Norton - Starting Film)

URL: How to Make a Category 6 Patch Cable

So...this is the class I'm taking: PC832 (link below). It's a pretty interesting class - covering everything from Search & Seizure to Report Writing to Arm Bar Takedowns. Just Wednesday, we talked about different investigative techniques, and now after Thursday's class, I know the proper way to arrest and pat-down a suspect along with two maneuvers to render them pretty helpless. It's been fun, and although there is a test at the end (next week), I don't expect it to be hard at all - especially when they tell you the exact chapters you need to study almost down to the page numbers.

Anyways, that's just part one of the course. After next week's tests, part two starts - firearms training. I feel I already know how to shoot a gun - but it should be much more intersting to see what actual seargents from the OC Sheriff's department have to say about the way I hold the gun, the stance, etc. Not sure where this will lead, but I do plan on testing for the SD Sheriff's Department on April 2nd and hope that goes well - though it would be nice if they'd reply to an e-mail I sent a few days ago with a few basic questions (which I will figure out next week via phone if I don't hear back by then).

And you better watch out lest I unleash my arm-bar takedown on ya.

URL: Criminal Justice Academies' PC832

Not all that much to blog about recently. I thought about blogging last night while watching COPS, but my computer was already locked and the monitor off. I also though about blogging about our little family outing yesterday as well - but thinking about it and actually doing it are two different things. This morning, I probably could have blogged as well, but I guess it'll all go together well in this one large entry.

Yesterday, I went with the rest of my family up to the CaliforniaScienCenter to see BodyWorlds 2 - it's a pretty interesting display - though after a while, you can only see so many muscles and tendons and nerve endings. The most interesting part of the day was seeing the BodyWorlds 2 IMAX movie that went along with the exhibit. In the movie, you learn a bit about everything in the human body - from the parts of your eyes that burn off each day when you open them and expose them to light to being able to actually see inside a beating human heart. In the exhibit they also showed effects of various diseases on various body parts - from smoking on the lungs to cirrhosis of the liver - a very enlightening experience. After the trip to the CSC, we headed up Western to Pico and ate at the original El Cholo mexican restaraunt. Boy do they have good tamales there - not only are the tamales huge with a good amount of pork filling, but the sauce was amazing. Not too spicy, but just the right amount of kick. Bueno.

Last night after returning home, I watched COPS on FOX from 8-9 (can't miss a week of that great show) and it just amazes me how stupid criminals can be. They'll be riding in a stolen car with an AK-47 in the backseat (which the cops know - and if they know that, they're not going to take you down easily) and then when you run in the car and then bail out and run on foot, do you think they're just going to take it easy on you when they catch up? It was actually funny to see this criminal go down. He turned a corner while being chased by a cop and was confronted with another cop and the television crew. He knew his luck was up and he went down to the ground, but when the two cops jumped on top of him, he wondered why they were using so much force and then as he sat handcuffed in the cop car, he asked them to loosen the cuffs. The guy fires an AK-47 earlier, leads them on a chase in the car and runs on foot...and expects leniance? Just like the guy that entered a pursuit and drove home, ran inside, locked himself in a bathroom, and I guess he expected the cops not to chase him. Unfortunately, he was able to flush the dope before the cop could stop him, but they still got him on a nice wide range of charges.

This morning, following up on my COPS experience from the night before, my dad and I headed for the shooting range to test out the new pistol we're borrowing from one of my dad's friends. After the current class I'm in finishes up, the second part begins wherein we'll pretty much do target shooting for two weeks for a half credit I believe. After getting a quick review of the range rules and having the gun examined, my dad and I took turns firing five rounds at a time (range maximum) back and forth for a good hour (we went through 100 rounds). Though I did have some problems throughout (I think the sight isn't properly aligned), I got the hang of it quite quickly - which is both good and bad - the fact that just about anyone can pick up a handgun, aim it at a target, and most likely hit it is a scary thought. It just reinforces the idea that I have to get my act together while preparing for the academy. You can't let someone get your gun. You can't let someone hit you from behind and knock you out. You can't be the weakest person on the field of battle.

After returning home, I went out and got some more work done on the new addition. The windows are in now, so it's a bit easier to see where things are going. The electrician comes out tomorrow, so we've got post-its up where we need the electrical outlets along with the coax and the speaker cables. I can't wait to finally get moved into that room. I've been scouring the internet for movie poster frames and found a couple nice ones at a few other sites than the ones mentioned below - might be able to get the cost per frame down to about $90 each. Here's a new layout with a couple additions - light switches are now penciled in along with another coaxial outlet on the bottom wall - one per wall sounds like a good idea. Also added the two lights in the room to the scheme. Looks like I might be getting a ceiling fan on the lower half of the room which will be nice - because with those big windows facing the setting sun, that room gets hot during the summer. Real hot.

On a different note, tomorrow I've got an interview at First American for a customer service position. Hopefully I can get it because I can't stand the bank much longer. I love the people there and the service we provide is top-notch, but if I can get a different job for a while as I work towards getting into the academy making twice as much, I'd be a fool not to take it.

URL: The First American Corporation