Chad Thomas: 2020

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Music I Like

I know my taste in music is not what everyone else cares for. Numerous people of told me they do not want to listen to my music while riding in my car. I accommodate and change it. Now that I stream from my phone to the car stereo I have a more variety, but it's still what I want to hear. EDM is a genre I really like. Happy Hardcore is the sub-genre that I mainly like. Usually at 140+ BPM, it's a fast and upbeat electronic music. Repetitive in some ways. This music is what I listen to when I want to get work done. It helps me get into the "flow" and I get a lot of work done without realizing the time. Sometimes I feel I'm too old for this music, but I don't care. It's what I like. I have been listening to this for almost 20 years and I do not plan on stopping. This music makes me happy and that is what counts. Here's a few that I have listened to lately. All of these songs may not be true Happy Hardcore, but I found them through that type of music.

Allison Grey Change remix by Chris Unknown and Ganar. This song resonates with me quite a bit.

The Justice Hardcore Collective Ft. Roxie - Like A Prayer (Original Mix)

Scott Brown - Fall Into Your Arms (Original Mix)

Scott Brown - The Stranger (Original Mix)

Marie Louise, JDM - Love Everlasting

Little Kandi Raver 2012 - S3RL feat Sara

Scott Brown - Who's Runnin'

Which is a mix from this song by Three 6 Mafia

Someday (Styles & Breeze Remix) - Impact and Resist

This mix is what got me hooked. Clubland X-Treme Hardcore 3 CD 1 - Darren Styles Mix. Over an hour of music.

All Night Long - Sy & Unknown Remix - I love the record scratching on this song

I say I love you - Darren Styles and Francis Hill (Happy Hardcore version). Another song that resonates with me.

Rampant DJs featuring JT - Alabama (Sy & Unknown Remix)

Sy & Unknown Featuring JT - Love Song

The last song for now. Something I wish someone would understand.

I'm Sorry - Re-con & Demand

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Remembering Maddie

December 10th 2009 my dog Maddie went to the rainbow bridge to wait for me. That day was sad. She was with me for eleven years and I loved her greatly. She was always there to greet me when I came home and she slept beside me every night. I do miss her and I do not think another dog will come close to replacing what she was for me. I will see Maddie when I die, I know this. We will be together again.

Rainbow Bridge Poem

This is my favorite picture of Maddie. It was from one of our trips back to Nebraska in 2007 or 2008. I loved Maddie with all of my heart.

The last picture I have of Maddie. This was on December 10th, 2009. I took this in the morning before work. I could tell she was not feeling well. She passed away later in the day. My heart was broke.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

New Brakes

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I made a promise to someone and I do not break promises, even if they do. Because of what happened, I have been feeling down and I just stayed away from posting. This morning I am feeling just a smidge better and I wanted to share my new brakes I put on my car.

I bought the brake package from Figs Engineering for my Lexus RC F back in May. They have been sitting in my garage collecting dust. I was hoping to get the lug nuts I ordered from Yperion Titanium by then, but that didn't happen. I did receive the caliper pins and brake pad shims. After a friend of my had to have his brakes changed a Nissan Altima and it cost him $1200+, I decided to change mine myself. I bought the Chilton Manual online, which is not as helpful as you would think. Also, the purchasing process is not great either. Once I submitted my information, I got an error message and I was unable to login, but I had access for that time. It was odd and frustrating. I was eventually able to login and use the site, but it is super janky. The design is straight out of 2005.

Anyway, I managed to change the rotors and brake pads. I attempted one brake line, but the clip holding it on would not slide off and I was not going to force it. I left it and figured I can replace them another time when I have someone to help me. I had to beat the rotors off with a hammer, which was not what I wanted. Once I got the first one off, the rest went quick. I did this the night before Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving morning, I bedded in the brakes. The only thing I had to do after was readjust the parking brake. I was very happy with what I did and the brakes look awesome on the car. The scissor lift I purchased was used and I honestly feel it paid for itself with this brake change. In just being able to have all four wheels off the ground at the same time and not having to pay someone else to change the brakes. It made this process so much easier.

On a side note, I passed a Microsoft certification exam on database fundamentals yesterday. I won't say it was easy, but the amount of studying I did was overkill. There were only two or three questions on the test that I did not know off the top of my head.

Below are pictures of Gaby and myself. There's a few when her and I were invited by my friend Kim to be in the Thanksgiving parade in Austin in 2013. I am proud of my daughter and I love her. There is another person I love, but if they won't be there for me, why should I be there for them?

Sunday, November 1, 2020

That was a bust

Halloween was meh and that's being nice. I did not go to any get togethers or anything like that. I stayed home and I handed out candy to the 8 kids that came to the house. Now I have a bunch of left over candy that I do not want to eat. Daylight savings happened last night too, but I did not realize it until I woke up. I thought It was normal time until I went into the kitchen and my clock in there was an hour ahead. I've got too much on my mind and it's not what I want to think about. Hopefully today I can go to the gym and clear my mind.

I got a haircut - November 1st, 2020

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Putting in work

Yesterday I got my car all cleaned up nice and neat. It took from 6:00 AM until 2:00 PM, but it was well worth it. The car just looks so much better. To me, it's like it's glowing. If I could have polished it, the results would have been even better. I had to polish off the dirt where the emblems/badges were on the trunk. Soap and water was not working. The polisher took that dirt right off though, which made me feel good. Getting the new Lexus badge on the trunk lid makes a difference. I wanted it to stick on well, so I that is why I polished the area. I sprayed it down with isopropyl alcohol too so that there was no residue. It went on like perfectly. The sealing and waxing took the longest and was the hardest part. The only reason it was hard was that I could not see where I put the product on since the car is white. I had to tilt my head at a certain angle, but I got it on and off. I will probably wash the car again this weekend just because. I feel good about how the car looks now.