Go Cubs, Go!

Obligatory Update

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:02:13 GMT

This will be my pathetic attempt to recap the big, important events that went on in my world over the past year. If I forget something, let me know. That way I will know you are a stalker because you know my life better than I do.

1. I got married. I think that's an important one, yes? On January 17th, the love of my life and I became one. Not that we weren't at that state already, but Father Alton who gave us marriage counsoling put it best; the wedding was not a promise of commitment for each other, but more a promise of commitment for our friends and family. It was a beautiful ceremony in the chapel at Augustana. It was very humbling to see so many people in one spot showing their love and support for Angie and me. The reception was a lot of fun, despite some technical difficulties with the PA system and drama involving parents. If I have to go through another wedding (not for me, for my children), I would definitely hire someone to handle everything on that day. We did a fantastic job planning the whole thing, but there was some unneeded stress on the actual day because I felt personally responsible for making sure everything went according to plan and I didn't have the luxury of enjoying our one special day. After almost a full year, our marriage is as strong as ever.

2. I became an uncle. My brother and his wife had their first child, Gianna. Although I haven't actually met my niece in person yet, I will in a few weeks when I go home to IL for the holidays. From the pictures I've seen, she seems like a healthy, happy baby. My friends at school have taken to call me "Uncle Buck".

3. I got a job. Despite my previous reservations about the efficiency of nuclear power, I submitted my resume to the Westinghouse Electric Company LLC for a summer internship. At a meet and greet several days later, my manager outright offered me an internship working in the Incore and Monitoring Systems group. I had a lead on another internship with Sikorsky dealing with helicopters, but it would have been an hour commute and it turns out that the whole United Technologies conglomerate is kinda going down the crapper. Anyway, I did such good work over the summer in both the design process and procedure development, I was made an offer to come on board as an Engineer following my graduation next May. For $64k, crazy good benefits, and solid job security, I couldn't say no. I know this will delay my return to Illinois for some time, but this is an amazing opportunity to start my "adult life" in the best possible manner. I currently am continuing my internship 24 hours a week during the school year to make rent money and keep myself in the fold. No offense to my former alma mater (because others make their success in their own way), but the University of Hartford has already done more for me in the last three years than the liberal arts of Augie ever could.

4. I built my own computer. Details may follow in a future post if I find time to get the pictures uploaded. My 2001 Dell Dimension has all but had it, so I decided to save a little money by building my own rig. I ended up spending more than I originally intended, but my computer is pretty sick. So far, it has handled everything I have thrown at it in terms of processing and graphics and it doesn't even blink. The major impact of this experience is my introduction to Linux and open-source software. I am running Ubuntu on my new computer. Price tag on that operating system: FREE. Open-Office (equivalent of micro$oft office): FREE. I could go on, but it will always be the same: FREE. Why pay lots of money for a product that restricts you from knowing what is going on and limits you to do things the way it wants you to; paying money to be a slave to a monopoly just for simple word processing and web surfing. Linux does all the same things window$ (and MacO$) can do while being 100% transparent in its operations. The world of Linux users maintains the operating system and provides free and easy support. Why does this sound good to be true? Because there is an unfounded stigma that you have to be a rocket scientist to use Linux (technically, I am a rocket scientist thanks to my education, but that's beside the point). If everyone were to break their comfort with the great oppressor and overcome their fear of technological freedom, we could... I'm rambling. This is a topic for some other post.

That's the big stuff. I am entering finals week of my second to last term of undergraduate education. Still holding onto a 3.5+ GPA and I am looking to increase it more this term with four As and a B. Next term will be similar. Instead of the stress of looking for a job, I will have the stress of studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering examination, which is the first step on my way to being a fully licensed professional engineer. Steven Buck P.E.; I like the sound of that.

Peace out.

Happy 1 Year of Not Posting in LiveJournal

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:46:14 GMT

Hooray for not posting an entry in my LJ for 1 year. One would think that with all the milestones that occurred in the last year, I would have been posting more frequently. I guess I am becoming less reliant of the services LiveJournal has to offer. I don't really care about things that happened in the past. If it was something really good, I don't need LJ to remember it. If it was something bad, I learned a life lesson and moved on (I don't care to remember the cause, just the effect). The same basic nuances of daily life occur the same as they did in previous years, I don't have time to write them all down, and I don't think anyone is really that interested. I don't intend to ever write a memoir that I would need to reference this journal to fill in the details.

I wouldn't say that the reason for my less frequent use of LJ is because I am coming more into adulthood, since that would suggest writing in a journal is an activity for people who are not adult, which is not true. I would say that because of the activities and responsibilities that surround my adult life becoming more of a priority, I had to readjust the way I reflect on life, and that adjustment doesn't really include LJ.

I still check LJ almost daily. I belong to several communities that post about what's happening in baseball. A few friends post amusing tidbits or alert people to major life-changing events. I use my account to post comments on their entries.

There is an intimacy about LJ that is lost in other social networking outlets such as Facebook. I feel more personally connected to people here and in a private setting. Would that same feeling be there if LJ were to have the same popularity as Facebook or Twitter? Perhaps, but unless LJ has a huge resurgence, I probably won't cross that bridge. For now I will appreciate it being a nice seclusion from an ever shrinking world.

In the past I made promises to post more regularly after long periods without update. I will make no such promises now. I will continue to use LJ, but I will only update when I feel I have something that I want to share. I will, however, adjust what I feel like sharing. In order for me to feel that personal connection with my friends in this venue, I must travel the two way street and allow them into my life by writing my own journal entries. For the most part my postings will entail humorous or insightful reflections on my experiences and the occasional update of what I have been doing.

OK, I lied. I will promise one post, immediately after this one, because I owe it to inform people of the major events that occurred the past year; and there have been plenty.

See you again in a year... or maybe less... or maybe more...

This is reality!?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:42:49 GMT

I was rather shocked when I saw a comerical on TV that was mocking the idea of clean coal technology. I thought, "this must be a joke. Nobody can be this ignorant." I was wrong. There is a organization that is making the statement that there is no such thing as clean coal technology.

Curious as to why these people would claim this, I visited their website. What I found was rather appalling. Clicking on the "The Facts" tab, I was expecting some statistics and evidence to disprove clean coal. Instead, all that was there was misleading quotes about coal energy.

Let's explore some:

"Burning coal is the dirtiest way we produce electricity."
-dirtiest is a pretty subjective term. Nuclear power produces waste that is very radioactive and destructive to the enivronment and, in some peoples' minds, dirtier than coal. The same holds for other forms of energy production.

"The coal industry is spending millions advertising 'clean' coal, but not a single 'clean' coal power plant exists in the US today.
-I am assuming they are making the argument that the money spent on advertisement should be used toward the clean coal technology. Oooo, millions. Millions on promoting the idea of clean coal. Know what the cost of constructing a single power plant and connecting it to the power grid is? BILLIONS. The millions spent in advertising clean coal is to inform people of the potential of clean coal technology so that they will in turn demand their lawmakers to invest tax dollars into it. Also, building a coal plant doesn't take a few months. It takes several years. Since clean coal technology is still in its early development, it takes especially more time and money to get the first plants built and running.

I could go on, but it is difficult to defend against attacks that aren't even really directed at clean coal or have any substance.

This site claims that the coal industry is misleading the Americans public in its advertisements. The coal industry's website is farthest from that claim as possible. There is a feature that lets you see what places in America have projects aimed at developing clean coal and other energy productions technologies and how much money is invested in those projects. Seems pretty transparent to me. They quote such organizations as the EPA as well as ThisIsReality on the state of energy production. While the anti-coal organiztion produces libel, the coal organization produces the statistical facts that over 50% of our electricity is from coal and that renewable resources will never be able to replace coal and match the energy needs of America.

What more is misleading? I have seen other sites use the unequivocal depiction of the cooling tower as emitting polutants in the air. Those cooling towers can't possibly be putting any coal biproducts into the air. All the gas you see coming out of the towers is STEAM. Steam is what generates the electricity. Coal is burned to heat the water to turn a turbine. For the cycle to continue, energy needs to be rejected, so it is condensed through the cooling towers into steam.

ThisIsReality also uses the symbol of a canary and depicts it dieing because of the (misleading) quotes about coal and how dirty it is. How dumb. Canaries were used in coal mining to test for natural gas pockets. They died because of toxic gas, not coal inhalation o anything. If that were the case, there would be no point of having a canary down in a mine in the first place.

I don't deny that burning coal releases biproducts that are harmful to the environment, but for ThisIsReality to unjustly convey clean coal as a pipe dream is an outrage. Both sides are working toward the same thing. It would be wise for ThisIsReality to get their facts straight, no, just get some facts in general, and let the clean coal technology develop so that this problem can go away.

I invite you to visit the respective sites of these organizations so you can see my point of view and prompt you to get educated about this topic and its consequences.

http://www.thisisreality.org/
http://www.americaspower.org/

UPDATE

I did some searching around and found this page:
http://action.thisisreality.org/details

Funny. In their TV spot, the quote at the end says "In reality, there is no such thing as clean coal." However, on this page OF THEIR OWN WEBSITE, they state, "If coal plants capture and safetly store their carbon pollution, coal can be part of America's 100% clean electricity mix." But wait, didn't you just say there is no such thing as clean coal? How can coal be part of the 100% clean mix if there is no such thing as clean coal? Seems a bit hypocritical/confused/like someone got dropped on their head as a baby. The page continues to describe the elements of clean coal technology such as CO2 capture, sequestration, and injection.

This site is making my head explode. Now I know why people use crack; it's to understand "information" on sites like this.

Gay marriage is a question of love

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:49:43 GMT

Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.

Some parameters, as preface. This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics.

This is about the... human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not... understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want -- a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Only now you are saying to them -- no. You can't have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don't cause too much trouble. You'll even give them all the same legal rights -- even as you're taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can't marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn't marry?

I keep hearing this term "re-defining" marriage.

If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal... in 1967. 1967.

The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry...black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not "Until Death, Do You Part," but "Until Death or Distance, Do You Part." Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.

You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are... gay.

And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing -- centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children... All because we said a man couldn't marry another man, or a woman couldn't marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage. How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the "sanctity" of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless?

What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough.

It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.

And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate... this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness -- this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness -- share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

---

You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of...love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate. You don't have to help it, you don't have it applaud it, you don't have to fight for it. Just don't put it out. Just don't extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don't know and you don't understand and maybe you don't even want to know...It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow **person...

Just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.

This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial.

But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this:

"I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam," he told the judge.

"It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all:

"So I be written in the Book of Love;

"I do not care about that Book above.

"Erase my name, or write it as you will,

"So I be written in the Book of Love."

---

Good night, and good luck.

'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:51:48 GMT

This was published by The Onion days before President Bush took office in 2001. It is amazing how a fake news organization was more accurate then than ~~Fox News~~ Fixed Noise is now. I should ask the guy who wrote this for lotto numbers because he's freakin' Nostradamus.

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

The Onion January 17, 2001 | Issue 37•01

WASHINGTON, DC–Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."

"My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

Wall Street responded strongly to the Bush speech, with the Dow Jones industrial fluctuating wildly before closing at an 18-month low. The NASDAQ composite index, rattled by a gloomy outlook for tech stocks in 2001, also fell sharply, losing 4.4 percent of its total value between 3 p.m. and the closing bell.

Asked for comment about the cooling technology sector, Bush said: "That's hardly my area of expertise."

Turning to the subject of the environment, Bush said he will do whatever it takes to undo the tremendous damage not done by the Clinton Administration to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He assured citizens that he will follow through on his campaign promise to open the 1.5 million acre refuge's coastal plain to oil drilling. As a sign of his commitment to bringing about a change in the environment, he pointed to his choice of Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior. Norton, Bush noted, has "extensive experience" fighting environmental causes, working as a lobbyist for lead-paint manufacturers and as an attorney for loggers and miners, in addition to suing the EPA to overturn clean-air standards.

Bush had equally high praise for Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft, whom he praised as "a tireless champion in the battle to protect a woman's right to give birth."

"Soon, with John Ashcroft's help, we will move out of the Dark Ages and into a more enlightened time when a woman will be free to think long and hard before trying to fight her way past throngs of protesters blocking her entrance to an abortion clinic," Bush said. "We as a nation can look forward to lots and lots of babies."

Continued Bush: "John Ashcroft will be invaluable in healing the terrible wedge President Clinton drove between church and state."

The speech was met with overwhelming approval from Republican leaders.

"Finally, the horrific misrule of the Democrats has been brought to a close," House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-IL) told reporters. "Under Bush, we can all look forward to military aggression, deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries, and the defunding of vital domestic social-service programs upon which millions depend. Mercifully, we can now say goodbye to the awful nightmare that was Clinton's America."

"For years, I tirelessly preached the message that Clinton must be stopped," conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh said. "And yet, in 1996, the American public failed to heed my urgent warnings, re-electing Clinton despite the fact that the nation was prosperous and at peace under his regime. But now, thank God, that's all done with. Once again, we will enjoy mounting debt, jingoism, nuclear paranoia, mass deficit, and a massive military build-up."

An overwhelming 49.9 percent of Americans responded enthusiastically to the Bush speech.

"After eight years of relatively sane fiscal policy under the Democrats, we have reached a point where, just a few weeks ago, President Clinton said that the national debt could be paid off by as early as 2012," Rahway, NJ, machinist and father of three Bud Crandall said. "That's not the kind of world I want my children to grow up in."

"You have no idea what it's like to be black and enfranchised," said Marlon Hastings, one of thousands of Miami-Dade County residents whose votes were not counted in the 2000 presidential election. "George W. Bush understands the pain of enfranchisement, and ever since Election Day, he has fought tirelessly to make sure it never happens to my people again."

Bush concluded his speech on a note of healing and redemption.

"We as a people must stand united, banding together to tear this nation in two," Bush said. "Much work lies ahead of us: The gap between the rich and the poor may be wide, be there's much more widening left to do. We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it."

"The insanity is over," Bush said. "After a long, dark night of peace and stability, the sun is finally rising again over America. We look forward to a bright new dawn not seen since the glory days of my dad."

Why I Hate Sarah Silverman

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:38:09 GMT

I have two posts that I've been wanting to write after this week when I found the time, but I felt I needed to make this post now because it has really irked me.

Sarah Silverman is not funny.

As I am sitting here waiting for the answers to my thermodynamics homework to leap out of the book into my brain, I have Comedy Central going on in the background. Colbert Report was funny. Futurama was funny. Hell, I even thought South Park was a little funny. The Sarah Silverman Program: not funny.

Comedy sometimes tackles serious issues and successful comedians know how to do it. The recipe calls for pushing the envelope a bit, saying something witty, and maintaning respect for those who are at the expense of the joke.

Sarah Silverman:
a) shoves the envelope
b) doesn't say anything witty
c) has no respect for anyone

My opinion of her did not form out of tonight's experience, but was solidified by it; I was very unimpressed by her stand-up comedy routines I've seen.

This particular episode, Sarah pretends to have AIDS and she uses the condition to draw attention to herself. I don't have AIDS or know anyone who does, but seeing as I have a far less fatal condition in diabetes and I would feel greatly offended if the show had that as the focus, I can only imagine how offensive this show appears to someone who's life have been affected by AIDS.

The funniest part of the show was at the end when a crowd of people were throw things at her on stage and screaming their hatred for her.

If it weren't for my thermodynamics homework, I'd join them.

Richard Wright RIP

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:06:05 GMT

Richard Wright
Pink Floyd Keyboardist
July 28, 1943 - September 15, 2008

"Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine.

And no-one called us to the land
And no-one knows the wheres or whys
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can

And no-one calls us to move on
And no-one forces down our eyes
And no-one speaks and no-one tries
And no-one flies around the sun

Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
inciting and inviting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning

And no-one sings me lullabies
And no-one makes me close my eyes
And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky"

Villains

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:18:49 GMT

Definitely not how I wanted to start my Sunday.

Angie woke me up a little after 4:30 this morning. She said she heard two pops and glass breaking. My first thought was gunshots, even though I didn't follow Ricky's advice about gunshots and get low to the ground (I went to the window). Initially I thought my car was safe, but Angie looked from another window and saw that it was indeed my car that was broken into.

The driver side back window was smashed in to gain entry to the car. The vandals then destroyed the ignition system in order to hotwire the car. They didn't get far because they most likely heard Angie yelling about calling the cops and ran off. The trunk was also open which I think they popped with the trunk release since there were no signs of forced entry there. They did take an air compressor out of the trunk and it was smashed on the ground.

The most frustrating part of this is that the police wouldn't come to look at the car and make a report. All they did was give us a case number over the phone. We took it upon ourselves to take photos for insurance purposes. AAA got us a tow truck, but the driver said no place was open on Sunday (everything bad always happens to me on a Sunday when nobody is open/available). The best he could recommend is to disconnect the battery and leave it till Monday and then get it towed to a repair shop.

I don't even think the car is worth getting fixed. It's a 95 LeSabre, so the repairs might be more than the cost of getting another used car. This is frustrating because classes start up for me in a week and once Angie has a job, we can't be competing for use of one car.

Problems just keep piling up and there isn't any relief. Life sucks.

That guy's got the largest trouser snake I've ever seen

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:19:12 GMT

Good News

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:40:08 GMT

I got a call from my brother the other day. Turns out that I'm going to be an Uncle.

Now that my brother and his wife have situated themselves financially and have a home, they are going to start a family.

It's going to be exciting to have my family grow. I'm sure my mom is ecstatic about grandchildren. My dad is too, but he'll probably play it off as a nuisance (like he does with my cat; saying he's a pain in the ass, but spoiling him rotten).

They still need to go to doctors to make extra sure it isn't a false positive and that everything will develop smoothly, but it should be fine. The birth will be end of March / beginning of April, the same time as Rick's and my birthdays.

Now I can go around and say I'm Uncle Buck; like the movie.

The Dark (K)night

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:16:58 GMT

I'm horrible at blogging, so I'm going to attempt to make up for my lack of posts by posting a few times now. Plus, I actually have interesting things to write about.

I just turned on the Cubs game Sunday afternoon, hoping to see a winning performance and enjoy the AC and a nice dinner that I was going to cook. A little into the 2nd inning and....

Everything goes dead; all my power. I make a call to the power company to report an outage. They call me back about 10 min later and tell me that no one else in my building has made a report and that it was just me. Trying to find out how this could be, it turns out that I wasn't even supposed to be getting power. When the power company came out in May to start service, they couldn't install the meter because the socket was damaged/missing. Nobody told me of this, but I was getting power so I didn't know the wiser.

I just have to say props to Connecticut Light and Power for having such easy to work with phone receptionists who actually understand about what they do instead of just answering the phone. They told me the only way I could be receiving power is if someone illegally was jumping my power from another source. So, it turns out that for the past 2 months I was getting illegal power. I was assured that it wasn't my fault and that I needed to have the landlord fix the meter socket so that the power company could hook me up. Well, since all this happened on Sunday, the apartment office was closed. I can usually call the phone and get a message with the emergency number, but when I, I didn't get any message. My neighbors didn't know what the number was and none of my paperwork had it listed. My dad even looked on the internet and couldn't find anything.

So, I was stuck in my apartment with no power until Monday when the office opened again. Keep in mind Connecticut has been stuck in a perpetual heat wave for the past few weeks. Rather than roast in my apartment, I decided to go take in a movie; something I haven't done for a long time. I caught the 6pm showing of The Dark Knight. I must say, the movie exceeded the hype. It sounds cliché at this point, but Heath Ledger gave the performance of the century. I honestly believe he created the greatest villain in movie history. I was also pleased to see the Batman series get away from being campy like its predecessors. After the great movie, I went to B Dubs to get a late snack and read for a while. Came back and had to get ready for bed in complete darkness, including taking my insulin shots.

After being rather firm with the director of my rental agency about the illegal dealings they've been doing, I managed to get the head maintenance man to call an electrician and get my power on legitimately. It came on Monday afternoon, but I still don't think it's legitimate since I didn't even call the power company at that point to service my apartment. If I receive bills for the past two months of electrical usage, which would have to be estimated since there was no meter, I'm probably going to have to get lawyers involved to make my landlord cough up the cost.

On a side note, my empathy for all of you in the Quad Cities who got hammered by a storm and don't have power right now, although you guys have it worse than I. Hopefully things can get back to normal before the Bix this weekend and all the subsequent parties.

Nerds Only!

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:55:03 GMT

Ok, this question is directed toward anyone with a tenacity for technology.

I'm looking to beef up the graphic capabilities of my computer. I currently have a RADEON 7500 and I am looking for something more powerful. Specifically, I play Diablo 2 and I am anticipating Diablo 3 (which looks amazing). Can someone suggest a good graphics card that can support these games so I have limited graphic lag while playing online? I also have 1.6GHz processor and 640 RAM. Not sure if those need to be beefed up as well in order to support the graphics card. I was hoping to find something in the $200 or less range.

Any help would be much appreciated.

*Wipes sweat from brow

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:22:40 GMT

So, Angie just recently had an appendectomy and we thought she was uninsured because she was no longer a full time student. The hospital bill would have been a whopping $15k. A huge sigh of relief today when Angie made some calls and found out she is still covered until her birthday in December. I'd rather us pay $2k-3k than potentially postpone the wedding to make payment.

Here's a public Service Announcement for all of you that like to cook: When making chili, or any spicy dish for that matter, use rubber gloves when chopping habeneros. The pepper oil sticks to your hands and creates a rather painful, burning sensation that cannot be removed without the use or unsafe amounts of bleach or rubbing alcohol.

So, when you like to make things really spicy, remember to wear a rubber.

Friday the 13th Sucks!

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:05:07 GMT

Three disapointing occurances today that really bring me down.

First, Cubs lost their first game in an interleague series against Toronto. Close game, but still a loss. Hopefully they pick it up tomorrow.

Second, Tim Russert died. Important figures in TV and the news have died before in my lifetime, but I think this is the first one that makes me feel a sense of nostolgia and a realization that an important person has passed and left a void in society. I have enjoyed watching him Sunday mornings on Meet The Press and over the past few months on the extensive presidential primary coverage on MSNBC.

The most saddening thing today is that Angie is in the hospital with appendicitis. She was feeling abdominial pains early this morning and they kept getting worse. I went to be with her in the emergency room immediately after work and I would still be there now if they didn't kick visitors out. She should be alright, but it is a very frustrating situation for us. She was supposed to leave tomorrow on her way to being a counsilor at LSM for a month, and now she needs to change her flight plans and possibly miss part of camp. The medical expenses are going to be very large, and sa a result of our families being drained to cover them, we may need to push back our wedding date. She is still looking for a job that will provide us with a significant source of income and benefits. Also, the timing is threatening potential phone interviews for said jobs. For me, I'm really worried. She is out here in Connecticut because of me and I assured her family that I would take care of her and I feel like I took her away from her support when she needs it most.

All in all, today is really crappy. I only hope that it starts getting better here on out.

Political rant

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:46:28 GMT

I'm getting sick and tired of Hillary Clinton and her bonehead supporters.

Does she have the right to keep on going with her campaign? Absolutely.

Is she going about it the right way? Absolutely not.

Clinton has been campaigning as if she is owed the presidency. Because she is losing to Obama in one category, she comes up with some new category to explain why she should be the nominee. If it's not pledged delegates, it's super-delegates. If it's not super-delegates, it's popular vote. If it's not popular vote, it's states won. It goes on and on.

All the while, she keeps pushing why she would be a better president than Obama.

Thing is, Obama has been making the case why he would be a better president than McCain.

That's where the real difference is. It is a persuasion between the ideas of the Democratic Party and those of the Republican Party. The differences between Obama and Clinton are minuscule. For those who support either Democratic candidate, they should realize that the other would be just as good going against McCain.

The Hillary supporters that say that if they don't have things their way, they will support McCain is ludicrous. Why be so hell-bent on winning that you would vow to go for the real opponent if your candidate doesn't win. Hillary talks about the need for party unity, and yet her supporters insist on being divisive.

If Hillary really cared about her party and the future of this country, she would tell her supporters that she was staying in it until one of them is mathematically eliminated, and then they all come together to make sure the party is on the winning end in November. By not guiding her supporters, they are being self destructive and making it so much easier for McCain to win.

If there are 4 more years of poor economy and needless deaths in Iraq, I will hold each and every Clinton supporter accountable; even if they do fall behind Obama, they aren't doing enough to talk some sense into their fellows' heads.

The Beginning of the End

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:42:23 GMT

Today is a pivotal day in history. Today marks the first day of the last season of the Chicago Cubs being under a World Series drought.

Last year the Cubbies got a taste of the playoffs. They have made roster moves to bring in some new blood, including Japanese phenom Kosuke Fukudome. The southpaws and youngbloods played in Winterleague. Spring Training was so great in testing the players that some future stars sadly didn't even make the cut because of the amount of talent the team has.

Sports Illustrated has picked the Cubs to represent the National League in the World Series against Detroit. They pick Detroit to win, but they didn't factor in the passion of the Cubs and their fans; the passion that has been waiting for 100 years to unleash everything we've got.

No more goats. No more black cats. No more Steve Bartman.

This is it. This is the year that the Cubs will go all the way.

Opening Day starts today at 1:20 CDT and can be watched on WGN TV or ESPN2 and also on the radio on WGN 720 AM.

I encourage everyone to get in on this. Wear your Cubs hats and jerseys. If you don't have one, get one. Listen to "Jump" and "Straight Lines" and Steve Goodman every chance you get. Watch this montage from last years memorable season. Represent yourself as one of the greatest fans of the greatest team in baseball.

EAMUS CATULI! ~~AC006399~~ AC000000

Let's Go Cubs!!!

How CNN Makes Me Dumber

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:47:56 GMT

I should also note that it isn't just CNN, but MSNBC, FOX and other networks also; it's just that I find CNN's website easier to navigate.

This is the first presidential election that I have been following with great interest. I have read up on the issues, the stances, the policies, etc. I wish I could say the same for my fellow Americans.

CNN has a "Political Ticker," which lists brief abstracts of events concerning the presidential candidates. I know that the news networks have biases toward specific political parties and/or candidates (in CNN's case, they focus a lot on Obama). Being an educated citizen, I am able to read past the bias and generate an understanding of what is actually going on in the race for presidency. The easiest way of doing this is to (mostly) ignore the articles about mudslinging, name calling, and personal attacks. When the race is over and the president is elected, that won't matter anymore; only the issues will remain. That's why that is what people need to focus on during this race.

Now, if you go to the comments section of these articles, you will find some of the most unintelligent, unconvincing vocal diarrhea ever produced from a person. These comments are moderated for approval by CNN as well before being posted so that no scum is plastered all about the site. Unfortunately, the comments that are posted are the cream of the crop, which doesn't bode well for the intellect of our nation.

There are some comments that are posted that give me hope; comments that do focus on the important issues, constructively critique the candidates, and make sound opinions based on facts and research.

I will admit I am a supporter for Obama, but there are bad apples in both camps, just more so in the Clinton camp. On average (and I did the math), about 80% of the pro-Hillary comments are not in support of Hillary, but are an attack on Obama. I say attack meaning CAPS LOCK, multiple !!!!!!, name calling, and perpetuating rumors that have long been disproved. only about a fifth of the pro-Hillary comments laud her for her policies, stances, etc. For the pro-Barack comments, the figures are flipped, with about a fifth resorting to dim remarks and the rest heralding the issues at stake. I haven't looked at McCain because of the few articles that do include him, usually include something about the Democrats, so the Democratic supporters team up and bash him.

I find it astounding that with technology and communications as it is (with America being a leader in both), Americans are just dumb. The news is not responsible for the development of critical thinking and reasoning, but it brings about the information for people to test their ability to understand it and formulate educated opinions. Because of the class system we live in (thanks to capitalism), many Americans are ignorant by choice (well-to-do folk that couldn't are less) or ignorant by force (those unable to become educated due to socioeconomic status). The few Americans that do have the ability to understand and interpret this information are those who are well-off enough to garner a good education growing up, or the very well to do that use their knowledge to manipulate the system for their benefit.

I'm not sure what the answer is to this situation. both educating all Americans and developing a sense of urgency toward our government is something that will take a very long time, and even then may never be close to perfect. I guess what needs to be done is for the news to report the important issues and for politicians to focus on their issues. Limiting these base attacks will lead to fewer Americans getting riled up about politics, which will lead to a more intelligent nation.

In conclusion, don't read people's comments on articles about political happenings unless you are prepared to deal with a lot of bullshit.

I am so smrt

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:32:46 GMT

A while ago I posted that a big accomplishment of mine last year was having a successful first term at Hartford. I bucked up, ~~changed my~~ acquired study habits, and completed ALL my homework in non-last minute form. As a result, I pulled a 3.73 GPA. Even though that is a huge improvement over the 2.8 I had at Augie, I still feel I could have put a little more effort into it.

I decided to turn around my academic ways just so that I learn and understand the material that I will be using on a daily basis. Invitations to academic honor societies is a plus though.

Alpha Lambda Delta is a honors society for students who maintain a high GPA during their first term/year at college. Even though I'm technically in my 6th year of school, it is my first at a new school and a new undergrad, so I guess it counts. It's a nice way of saying, "I started off this ride with high expectations and I'm damn well gonna meet them."

The second group, which I will admit I'm really excited about, is Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. In order to be eligible, I needed to be in the top 1/8th of my junior class (I guess I'm considered a junior too because of my transfer). Since the number of engineering students at Hartford isn't that big compared to state schools, the competition (I couldn't think of a better term) is pretty high. The funny thing is, the chapter president is my physics lab proctor from last term; good guy.

I'm really starting to enjoy this being responsible concept. Next step, get a summer internship (in which these two babies on a resume sure will help).

Irony

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:11:30 GMT

BlackBerry out of service in North America

NEW YORK (AP) -- An outage has disconnected BlackBerry smart phones across North America.
AT&T Inc. says the disruption Monday is affecting all wireless carriers. AT&T first learned about the problem at about 3:30 p.m. ET.
There's no word on the cause or when the problem might be fixed.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion did not immediately return a phone call.

I guess their BlackBerry wasn't working...

For or against a student center at Augustana?

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:43:02 GMT

It may just be that I'm over a thousand miles away and not in the thick of it, but it seems like the debate over a student center at Augustana is getting pretty fired up.

I'm seeing many arguments for and against the construction of the new building, but I'm not satisfied with all the reasoning behind them. I guess I'll start with some of the cons of building.

A major argument I see is that the school has other spaces (i.e. the college center, Westerlin lounge, Pepsico) that aren't used to capacity. It's not always an issue of jam-packing these places, because then there is too much traffic and people can't enjoy their space. A student center does provide an alternative to these spaces without really creating "empty" spaces. People will still go to the CC for meals and use lounges for studying and Pepsico for working out. This center would provide something different recreationally for students (which could lead to less students going off campus and engaging in heavy drinking; an increasing trend I have noticed over the past few years).

Another con argument would be that there is no good place to put the building. I appreciate the concern over aesthetics, but seriously, no one here is a civil engineer. A building can't be placed just anywhere that looks good, especially on a rolling campus like Augie. With the kind of money the administration is working with and the building standards of our time, no design or construction is going to be put forth that doesn't take into consideration how it looks while still maintaining the building's safety, cost effectiveness, ability to withstand many years of use, and student needs. Personally, the site between the library and Founders sounds the best. Larger site area with a hill that is easier to build into than others, central to the campus, preserving the quad, and aesthetically overlooking the slough.

One more con. Some see the construction of new housing to be a greater priority. A reason students are placed in lounges isn't necessarily because of inadequate space, it's because the college accepts a certain number of applications each year from prospective students with the thought that X number won't accept. They usually get it close, but it will never be perfect. To accept too few applications and end up with empty rooms means the school is losing money and people that want to go there are denied the opportunity. There will still be students in lounges because the admins know that students who choose to go to Augie will deal with it in order to go there. I have heard conflicting information; the administration is trying to increase/decrease the student population. If new resident halls are being built, I think it's safe to assume the administration is trying to increase the population. If it was just to solve overcrowding, they wouldn't have built a hall on the magnitude of Swanson because there isn't that much overcrowding.

Now for some pro arguments. The main one I'm hearing is that the college is keeping up with the demands of a materialistic society in order to compete with other liberal arts schools. What I don't like about this argument is that it places the prestige of the school on its amenities and not on its academics, which is really what going to school is about. Having an ace such as a student center will draw more students, but the value of the education is what is most important. Future employers aren't going to look at a résumé and say, "Jee, they graduated from Augie. I heard they have a great student center." Augie probably has the best liberal arts education in the midwest. This needs to be the selling point, otherwise Augie is being turned into a resort rather than the great academic institution it claims. Too much emphasis on a student center, which I can easily see happening, will diminish the true value of attending Augustana.

Another argument (more so a defensive retaliation) is asking where everyone was years ago when this issue first came onto the table. If you think about it, the people who are speaking out against the construction of the student center were either freshmen or not even college students when the discussion started. As nice as it would be for first years to get involved in shaping the future dynamics of the college, they haven't experienced it enough to have strong enough opinions. Upperclassmen know that they won't reap the direct benefits of the center because it won't be constructed in time for them to experience. College pride may motivate some to care, but the truth is there are a lot of upperclassmen that have other things to worry about (like their senior papers and applying to grad schools/jobs) than to advocate for or against the building. The same thing happened with the honor code: a low voting turnout and it passed anyway because the majority of those voting were the ones who created it (please refrain from commenting about the honor code. I have many issues with that and this note is about the student center, so let's keep it to that).

I applaud those who do take up issue for or against the student center because it acts as a barometric gauge for the administration to base its future planning to meet students' wants and needs. Those speaking against it, the plan is already in effect and there is no stopping it now. A student center is going to be built, so try to make the best of that and let the administration what you'd like to see best made of it. Those speaking for it, don't get too defensive. The idea of liberal arts is to have differing view points and bring them to the table and be civil about it. Not that anyone is getting nasty (actually, most have been extremely courteous), but I see signs of people getting too emotional.

My opinion? Augie doesn't need a student center yet. Going forth with this plan requires a large sum of money; money that can be allocated in many ways. With the prospect of the student center, combined with the reconstruction of Carlsson Hall (TWO S's PEOPLE, GET IT RIGHT) and the building of Swanson Commons, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent. These projects need being done, but stop and look at the rest of the campus. There are several projects that are in dire need of attending to. Some examples are:

Sorenson. Anybody have a class in there? I remember taking Intro to Psych behind a giant concrete support pillar in a medium sized classroom with 40 other students. Not the best learning environment when you can't even see the professor. Also, I know most of you reading this haven't had to get around in a wheelchair before, but does anyone know how to get to the education department if you are wheelchair bound? You have to use the freight elevator by the loading dock in the back of the building. Our Ed program is the best in the state at preparing our graduates for working in our schools; that should warrant better facilities. I would personally love to see the education department expanded to have more facilities and accessibility so that children from the community could come and seek tutoring or help Ed students get practice working with disabled students. The psych department is rather confined to a small space and I haven't taken any business courses, but I'm sure they run into the same boat. The building is a warehouse from decades ago; definitely needs an overhaul more so than a student center.

Bergendoff. One thing I love so much about the music department is that so many students outside of a music major participate in lessons and ensembles. Our music faculty is top notch and our touring ensembles helps bring in so many prospective students every year (I personally came to Augie after seeing the symphonic band, my future ensemble, when they were on tour in the suburbs). Besides the ER, which is a fairly new extension that was built properly, and Larson Hall, which had work done to improve it around the same time as the ER was built, everything in the building is outdated. The practice rooms are hardly soundproof, small, and few in number. Some professors have to share offices/studio spaces with others or worse, be put in the rooms originally designed to be dressing rooms for Centennial Hall. For a building that serves so many students across the whole campus and a department that the most visible to the community, neglecting significant revamping for the construction of a student center is irresponsible.

Centennial Hall. http://getyourwings5.livejournal.com/76747.html#cutid1 This is my senior capstone paper to why Centennial Hall is the biggest piece of shit ever called a building. Sorry, I rarely swear in my journal/facebook, but this infuriates me to no end. Not only is Centennial essential to our ensembles, but it is the most used building for the community. The hall is always in use by church conferences, leadership seminars, professional lectures, and community and touring music groups. For the one campus building that gets seen in the public eye the most, it is horrible. I feel like I need to go apologize to these people for our monstrosity. Basically, about 60 years ago, Betsy Brodahl went over the heads of administration, who wanted to build a good concert hall mainly for the use of the Oratorio Society, went with the cheapest designers and builders she could find, and took credit for building what she claimed was a great contribution to the school. As a student currently studying Acoustical Engineering, I can see nothing redeeming about the hall. Dr Culver told me a story about when the Chicago Symphony came to début the hall. After spending hours of extra rehearsal time trying to make the ensemble sound good and performing a good sounding concert at the cost of much needless effort, the conductor was asked his opinion of the hall. His response, "bulldoze it." Of course, they said the opposite to the administration. You are a guest in their hall; you don't insult them by being honest. Also, of course it would sound good for them. They were touring around the state playing in high school gymnasiums, so Centennial was a relief. This issue is so important to me that I have pledged to not make contribution to my alma mater until they demolish that hall and actually consult professionals to design and construct something worthy to show to the public and say, "Come. Listen to our wonderful music ensembles in our beautiful sounding hall. Come watch our theatre groups perform on a stage that allows for them to put on performances. Bring your events here to make use of the glorious space that can suit your needs. Ok, breathe. Whew. Seriously, I don't know why anything else is even being considered before this.

There you go. In short, student center is going to happen, people debating it is a good thing regardless, and look for other justifications besides the obvious or misleading. If I learned one thing from Augie, it is that a liberal arts education means thinking outside the box, looking harder than normal at the situation, and asking the tough questions. So far, I'm not seeing that going on.

Comments, commence.

2007 in Review

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:50:19 GMT

Since I haven't journaled much this past year, I'm making an entry that recaps the most pertinent events from the past year (in chronological order, I think):

1. Grandpa Died
It was a tough blow to see one of my biggest supporters in life to pass on. Even though we all saw it coming over the last year he was alive, it was difficult to say goodbye. It was time for him to go because he was falling apart physically and mentally. What made it especially hard for me was that it happened right in the middle of a rather difficult term for me at school that I barely got through.

2. Bears in the Superbowl
It was the first football season I got into since I gave up being a Lions fan back in the early 90's. It was exciting to see so many people in my communities at home and school affixing themselves to the TV (or like me, radio) every Sunday to catch the Bears running over another team. It is sad that they couldn't pull it off in the final game, but it was good to see a Chicago team go so far.

3. Capstone
For the first time in my life, I enjoyed writing a paper. The funny thing is, my senior music capstone was supposed to be one of the most difficult to write and comprehensive of my undergrad career. Instead, it turned out to be the most detailed, finely researched document I've ever produced. It also was unrepresentative of what I had learned in the previous 5 years, but representative of what I was yet to learn in the next 3. Still, it was a good feeling to submit my first draft (that was written very easily) and being told not to change anything by all three on my council.

4. Band Trip to England/Scotland
Unfortunately it was not as part of the band, but being the sound guy and being able to say, "I'm with the band" is cool enough. It was my first time outside of the country and I couldn't have had a better experience. Cost a lot of money because the dollar was half against the pound. I got to sample the local beverages of choice, see some historic sites, and had one more opportunity to be with the best college band in the Midwest.

5. Getting the Heck out of Augustana
Hindsight is 20/20 and if I could go back, I would definitely choose a school with a focus on the liberal arts. The three things I take away from that school that I still respect are my friends, the symphonic band, and campus ministries. Bahls is leading that school so far down the crapper. Of course, there will always be the pro-school 4.5 students and Greek group partyers that will blindly give money to the school to keep it going. Having to get a second, usable education in another 3 years is my punishment for being fooled into a 5 year extension of High School.

6. Completing a Year of Being an Adult
This wasn't a particular event per se, but rather just a feeling I got during the summer. I had made many adult decisions in the last year prior to then and I felt that I made the right ones. I successfully found a reasonably priced apartment, maintained it, and kept abreast of all bills and rent. I held a part time job on top of school that entailed on average 24+ hours a week. I managed to be self sufficient and independent of my parents for all my living purposes. I know it is something that I can do again.

7. Moving to Hartford
After an arduous 2 day drive across half the country by myself in my overstuffed Buick, I arrived at what will be my home until at least May of 2010. Stemming off of #6 above, being away from not only my family, but everyone and everything I know was a big challenge for me. I managed to not only fall into my studies diligently, but managed to establish a social network to keep me sane. My experiences at Hartford are only just starting, but I continue to grow more confident every day in what I'm doing and knowing that I will be successful.

8. Cubs in the Playoffs
Didn't get far, but the fact that they went from worst to first in one season gave me a feeling that a North Side World Series is in store very soon.

9. Getting Engaged
Turning out to be the best decision I've ever made. After 2 years, I felt that I have truly found the person that completes me. Since that October night I feel that our love is stronger than ever and that our relationship will be lasting and satisfying.

10. Finishing a Successful Term at University of Hartford
Despite having to deal with a few cases of irresponsible classmates and almost unbearable campus life, I managed to pull off a great first term. My GPA is an astounding 3.73, which is the highest GPA I have ever received in my life. It's somewhat bothersome that I feel I could have done even better because there were times I knowingly didn't apply myself to the fullest. My roadmap of coursework is set for the next two years, and with luck, I'll land a few summer internships along the way. If you told me ten years ago that I was going to be an engineer, I would have told you to institutionalize yourself. My, how crazy life is.

Take a trip with me back through time

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 03:23:15 GMT

I recently went back and looked at all my previous posts in my journal, going all the way back to early 2004. What an interesting journey. So many entries that made me cringe and think, "what was I thinking back then." Other made me smile and chuckle at the good times.

Some of the more interesting times:

obsessing over Aerosmith and the Cubs - (not so much Aerosmith now, but still Cubs)
actually rooting for the Red Sox (2004) - (why?)
swearing off alcohol and detesting drunkenness - (HAHA!)
listing every detail of my day - (who cares)
taking tons of quizzes that try to relate my personality to something - (didn't I have better things to do?)
http://getyourwings5.livejournal.com/2005/01/16/ - (Day of Emo, or Mental Breakdown)
http://getyourwings5.livejournal.com/2005/02/11/ - Paul the Blue Duck (at the time, most number of comments)
Managing to relate anything to a box of chocolates... sexually (thanks Chris)
Having Mike's ex harass me through comments - (thus, I screen all anonymous comments now)

My journaling has definitely changed over the last 3.5-4 years. I don't update as often because I don't worry about the every little thing that happens every day. If I every write memoirs using this journal as an aide, I'm not going to include that I hated my professor one day for talking down to me and the next day talk about how things are better because he wasn't being a douche anymore. I'd rather just write an entry at the end of the term assessing my overall feeling about the course. Same goes for any other subject. Now I update if I'm amused by something or if I have some special announcement.

Kinda wish I started journaling earlier, like at the start of my college career. Actually, I did have a journal on some other site (onlinediary.net I believe), but I abandoned it because too many people (who I once thought were friends) kept slamming me for every little opinion they didn't agree with and every typo and misplaced comma I wrote. Then again, my freshman year would have included entries about how girls sucked because none would date me and how mono was screwing up my classes).

I also have become more cynical, or at least that's how I kinda see it. I used to write really peppy, optimistic entries. Now I write ones that criticize stupid people or say how stupid something is. I guess it hasn't become all negative; maybe just more "tell-it-as-it-is" and less "everything is wonderful." I tend to occasionally drop a swear once in a while as well when I would previously become irate when I saw such foul language used in a public forum in which children may have access.

I noticed the shift somewhat happened around fall of 2005, and considering changes in my life around then, it makes sense to correlate the two. I think I matured a lot during then and it got reflected in my writings. I learned life is not as peachy-keen as I believed. Don't get me wrong, I always try to see the best in every situation no matter how sucky, but I can still be a realist. As much as I would like to delete several of my posts from the conception of my journal up to that point (probably the last physical reminders of "that"), I don't believe in deleting entries because I created this journal to do just this: see how my life has changed from the past till now.

I didn't write much this last year in part because of how busy and mundane my life has been; living off campus away from everyone, going to boring classes, followed by boring work, followed by homework and sleep, repeat next day). Now that I am back to living in a more social environment and having time for things other than just class and work, I am trying to get into the habit of updating more frequently.

Thanks to all you who still read this and leave comments. Know that I still check my "Friends" page to read what you're all writing, even if I don't comment often.

mind your P's and Q's

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:29:15 GMT

Does anybody use polite phrases anymore? I'm talking about little things like, "Please," "Thank you," "You're welcome," "Bless you," etc.

Working at the school's cafeteria, I notice many people nowadays don't use these phrases. Not sure if they were raised in a family/culture where these phrases are not important, or if they are too brain-dead, lazy, sleepy at 2pm, etc to think about using them.

I try to use them as much as possible, even though I forget once in a while. It just seems to me that it's old fashioned and not normal to be polite to people.

Although I do have to say I probably get farther in life by being poilte. I know I take better care making sandwiches at the deli when people are nice to me.

Also, what ever happened to opening doors for people?

Announcement

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:54:39 GMT

Now that Angie has had her candle lighting, the cat is out of the bag.

As of last weekend, Angie Marie Clark and I are engaged to be married.

After a little over two years of dating, we have decided to officially start moving toward a permanent relationship. Granted, we kinda knew after only a few months, but we took our time to make sure that we are a right fit. We've been through many ups and downs since Sept 30, 2005 and we feel our love is so rock solid that a life together will be the best thing for us.

Here's the play by play. I wanted to be sneaky and make it a surprise for her. Yes, we picked out the ring together and yes, I told her I would be proposing to her before the end of her senior year, sometime during the fall preferably. Over the summer, Angie's mom went to a Rockapella concert in Iowa. Angie was extremely jealous and sad she couldn't see the group that inspired her to be a singer. A few months ago I learned that Rockapella was performing a few concerts up in the New England area in October. I found one show that was for the 20th in Mass. I asked if she had that weekend free and it just so happened it was the one weekend all term that she didn't have student teaching responsibilities. So, I got the plane tickets for her, the tickets for the concert, and I started the ball rolling on having the ring sized, set, and shipped.

The ring came in Tuesday of last week; a little close, but in time. We hit a snafu when Angie missed her flight out of Moline on Friday evening. Fortunately, she managed to get aboard another flight early the next day. This whole scheme was a surprise (even though my roommate blew the surprise of going to the concert by letting it slip). The concert was part of a foundation gala for the community college. From 6 to 7:30 we ate the most amazing hors d'oeuvres prepared by the culinary students; shrimp, fruit, salmon cakes, and a whole bunch of others that I don’t even know what to call them other than yum. After eating to our hearts’ content and making stops at the open bar and sweet table, we headed off to the auditorium for the concert. Most of the people there were at least 50 or older (we were probably the youngest couple there). Since seating was general admission and we got there early, we scored front row seats almost dead center; probably the best seats in the house. The concert was amazing as Rockapella simply is the best a cappella group I’ve heard live. Angie and I were the only two who screamed (do it Rockapella!) when they started their signature Where In the World is Carmen San Diego after saying “there’s only one more thing to do and you know what it is…” They totally looked at us and smiled for that. After the concert we got autographs and pictures taken.

That night after getting back to campus, we made plans to go out to the Village 2’s for a party. On the way over I took her on a detour over a small dock over a pond on campus. I didn’t want the four people complaining about their algebra class there when I would propose, but it was cold and I didn’t want to give away the surprise by asking them to leave. Up to this point I’ve been telling Angie I didn’t have the money available to purchase the ring and that I was working my butt off at the cafeteria to save up for it. I must have convinced her because she was in shock. I told her that I had to come clean and that I was lying to her. I got down on one knee, presented the ring, and asked her if she would marry me. The answer was of course yes and there were many hugs and kisses. Later, at the party, my friend Cole embarrassed us by yelling to the crowded apartment, “Everyone shut the F#@k up!! I’ve got an announcement. My man Steve here is now a married man to be.” Thanks Cole. Also, my suitemate Dane set up a bottle of Champaign in ice and some glasses for us when we returned from the party. Thanks Dane.

It’s sad she had to go the very next day, but it was well worth her coming up. I’ll get to see her again in a month when she comes up for the second week of her two-week Thanksgiving break.

The wedding won’t be for a few years until I’m close to being done with school. Until then, we can enjoy being engaged and make plans for the big day.

Happy Mole Day!!

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:05:22 GMT

Today we celebrate Avagadro's constant (6.02 x 10^23), or one mole, a base unit in chemistry.

more infor on Mole Day:
http://www.moleday.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_Day