Crazy Ex Midwestern Blog Dog

Sayanora Apartamento

2005-04-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

So I decided to take the plunge and purchase a house. Ok well a condo, but it's a start. I mean spending twice as much on a small condo as my parents house is worth is a good idea right? I feel like I am getting to the age that I need to start doing things like this. I thought of purchasing last year but thought everything was drastically overpriced. Now everything is just that much more expensive. With the tax write off, and the appreciation in Cali the homes are worth the price. Although, with my luck the market will probably crash once I purchase. I haven't picked the exact place yet, but my plan is to be in escrow on something within a month.

Traffic School

2005-03-30T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to spend my whole day in Traffic School. 7am to 4:30pm. Nothing like having to wake up extra early on Saturday after a long week of work. I had never been to traffic school before. In fact it was my first moving violation since I was in high school. Ten years. uh, has it really been ten years? Well, ten years with no ticket is pretty impressive. Especially since I tend to drive 80-100 mph most of the time I'm on the road.

So I didn't really know what to expect for the class. Besides the boredom that is. And yes there was a lot of boredom. I never even really understand what the point of traffic school was. Was it punishment or "rehabilitation". I think probably a little bit of both. The "teacher" tried to make it enjoyable. However, it was a stretch. I do remember one interesting fact. The West German Highway patrol used to use LIVE crash test dummies. Yes, you heard me right. We watched film of three of the crashes. It was pretty entertaining. The way they obtained these "dummies" was also pretty interesting. They would offer to commute prisoners sentences in exchange to act as the "dummies". I kid you not. Obviously, they do not do this anymore.

There was another thing that I was unfortunately reminded of during the nine hours I was there. Why is there always that old person in your class that must talk the ENTIRE time. It's usually a middle aged lower income slightly trashy white person (man or woman). They somehow think it's appropriate to ask fifty questions, and make just as many comments. Do they really think anyone gives a flying F*ck about their opinion? I certainly don't. Maybe they have one or two things worth saying. But, they just keep on blah, blah, blah, blah. If you have so much damn stuff to say why don't you become a teacher. That way you can get paid for your blathering and save me some time. It seems no matter where I take a class this person is always in it. Are you this person? If so please do not EVER take a class again. Additionally, please get a life. If you need friends join a club, start a blog, join MySpace . Just please do not show up to the classes I am in. Thank you.

Happy People

2005-03-30T20:43:00.000-08:00

There are really some unhappy people that write blogs. I suppose these are people that five years ago would have just been writing their thoughts in journals. But now they blog them. Some of these posts make me realize how boring I have become. I guess that's what happens when you start to grow up. The crazy stories become few and far between. However, I would much rather be boring than in jail, or unemployed, or depressed or addicted to drugs or alcohol. So here is an interesting post from another happy person on blogger...

Okay...

Wow, I didn't know I had updated so recently. I must've been high at the time or something because I totally don't remember it.
Well, I finally got Baker Acted. Wonderful, huh? Yeah, I got in this really terrible mood and decided to kill myself on impulse on Friday. We were all over at my house visiting for some reason or another and I was just really mad out of nowhere and started cocktailing pills. Mostly Asprin but also some other stuff. I guess one of the kids ended up telling one of the adults so my mom and Roy (my uncle) came into my sisters room where I was beginning to pass out and started to ask me what I took. I just told them that I took some asprin for a headache and benedryl to get to sleep. They didn't believe me but figured that Asprin wouldn't hurt me anyways. Nevertheless, on the way home to Roy's that night he started like yelling at me or something so I told him what I had taken. I don't really remember that part but this is what I was told so this is what I'm writing. The next day my mom ended up taking me to Memorial Hospital where they stuck me with an IV, took blood, did some X-rays, all that shit, and I was fine. My Asprin level was extremely high, it was three times the maximum of what it could be. Then the doctor there decided I was a danger to myself and BA'ed me to Morton Plant. I wasn't transfered until fuckin' three in the morning (Easter Sunday). Crazy huh? So now I'm moving back home and I'm starting back at Plant tomorrow. I'll also be starting some sort of intensive out-patient treatment.
I was also finally officially diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa. *Applause* *gag*
I'm not vegan anymore in case you haven't guessed.
Oh and for anyone wondering, I'm not still suicidal, it was just a stupid impulse so please don't make me promise my soul never to attempt again or anything crazy like that (Yes, some of my friends have actually done that).

Next blog II

2005-03-29T21:58:00.000-08:00

I am now addicted to clicking on the next blog link. I found some cool blogs. But I've also found that there are some really weird people out there. I found both of the entries below on one blog. Apparently I'm not the only dork on MySpace, and apparently there are Nazi's after this guys grandma.

MySpace

I suck. I haven't been faithful to blogger.
I've actually been checking out Myspace.com
I wouldn't recommend it. It's an obsession.
It won't last long.

Anyhow.

Nazis...

My grandmother has been targeted by real-life Nazis because of her book about racism being a mental illness...
I can't say more, because I found the link through google, and I'm sure that some of you reading this now found MY page the same way. If you want more info and a direct link to the evidence, email me. Of course, I'd have to verify first that you're not a Nazi, and that you'll abide by a promise not to hunt down my Grandma-ma` and make her put the crowbar on you...
It's really kinda funny. She laughed when I told her.

MySpace

2005-03-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

So I joined this site after some prompting from a few co-workers. I have to say I don't fully understand the point of it. It's an online community similiar to friendster. It enable you to post pictures, leave comments, and network with people. I suppose it's an all in one site to talk to your friends and meet new people. It has a blog feature, an e-mail feature, and an IM feature. Although, the features are inferior to what you would use else where (ie personal e-mail, blogger, AOL IM). I'm probably to old to fully enjoy it. If I was 15 I would probably love it. But if you want to check out the site you can go here and view my profile. This will enable you to check out the site without joining. If you join, and your not a freak feel free to add me.

Booke Meme

2005-03-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

From the writers blog:

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

“The place to be is backstage. I mean, you wanna see naked girls, right? Absofuckinglutely!

From “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” by Toby young. I knew I picked a good book to start. Thanks for the recommendations MN.

Next Blog Please

2005-03-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

I just discovered an amazing feature of Blogger. In the top right corner there is a "next blog" button. Pressing it takes you to a random blog in the Blogger system. I clicked it a bunch of times. I found blogs on a wide range of subjects (which would be expected). However, I also found blogs from all over the world. Canada, Iceland, Japan, Korea. It's crazy. I did know what a huge site blogger is. It's a neat feature that allows you to check out new blogs. I suggest YOU try it.

Easter Dinner

2005-03-27T21:14:00.000-08:00

My favorite Holiday Dinner is on Easter. There's really nothing like roasting up a big ham for the whole family to enjoy.

Terri Schiavo

2005-03-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't really been following this issue. Truthfully, I just don't care that much. I suppose that sounds terrible. I understand the greater ramifications of the decision. I can only imagine what a heart wrenching situation it is for all those directly involved. However, there are so many issues you have to deal with that directly affect you or that are more important in the grand scheme of things. I found this article on another blog I stumbled across, and I think it helps but things in a better perspective.

By Brian McGrory | March 25, 2005

Wouldn't it be something if George W. Bush raced back to the White House from his Texas ranch for something with a little broader consequence than the feeding tube of one woman in a vegetative state whose husband says she would choose to die?

Wouldn't it be something if he saw that much urgency in the lives lost in the nation's ghettos every day? Wouldn't it be great if he announced that people are dying every minute the government fails to improve housing for the poor, safety in the streets, education in the urban centers, and job prospects for those who are out of work, and that those deaths aren't acceptable anymore?

Wouldn't it be great if he picked out just one person, one otherwise anonymous boy who represents thousands. He could announce that the boy didn't ask to be born into poverty to a single mother and a violent father who has been sentenced to prison.

He could say that the boy shouldn't have to live in a public-housing project where cockroaches race up the bedroom walls at night, where drug dealers have taken over the urine-stained stairwells, where gunshots can be heard in the near distance like fireworks in the suburbs on the Fourth of July.

The president might add that this boy shouldn't have to go to a school where teachers have to reach into their own pockets to buy supplies, where textbooks are older than the students, where learning is an afterthought on the fortunate days when adults are able to achieve some small semblance of calm.

And the president could say that if the government waits just one more hour to act, we're going to lose this child. He might be caught in the crossfire of two rival gangs, dead long before his time. He might join a gang himself, get a gun, turn to drugs, and kill someone else.

Hours matter, the president might announce -- minutes even. The nation has to act, for this boy's sake, for the hundreds of thousands of youths just like him, for the millions who are affected by their actions. Society, he might add, cannot afford to do nothing.

Wouldn't it be great if House majority leader Tom DeLay proclaimed, as he did for Terri Schiavo, that, ''Every hour is incredibly important for this boy."

Wouldn't it also be great if Senate majority leader Bill Frist explained, as he did after the unusual Schiavo vote last weekend, ''These are extraordinary circumstances that center on the most fundamental of human values and virtues: the sanctity of human life."

But they don't, and it's grossly naïve of me to think they ever would. The problems of urban America are not easily addressed in an up-or-down vote. And there's no powerful political constituency praying and lobbying for the desperately poor the way the religious fundamentalists are pushing for Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be reinserted.

Four people were slain in Boston last weekend while Congress worked on trying to keep one Florida woman alive in a vegetative state that her doctors said she will never overcome.

The victims were good people -- and maybe some not-so-good people -- shot and stabbed, in a bar, in cars, and even in stark daylight on a city bus. There were no officials in Washington talking about that.

It's an hourly event in this and every other city: Potentially good children slip into drug-addled lives of violent crime because they've never been shown another way.

They go on to become miserable, predatory adults. Girls become pregnant, furthering the cycle of poverty. Law-abiding neighbors, also known as the working poor, barricade themselves in their houses and apartments out of fear of what's happening outside.

Neither the president nor the Congress ever rushes back to Washington in the middle of Easter break on behalf of these people, and I suspect they never will. The reason is simple: The sanctity of some lives isn't held in the same high regard by our sanctimonious and simplistic leaders.

Brian McGrory is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at mcgrory@globe.com.

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Picture of Health

2005-03-26T19:46:00.000-08:00

I was planning on taking a nap after the game. I've been sick all week and had to be at traffic school at 7am this morning (more on that in the next post). However, after watching that horrendous performance I was too angry and hit the gym. Probably a good thing since I am in horrible shape. Health wise I'm probably one step above a coma patient right now. The frustrating part is I'm probably going to stay this way. My knee is wrecked, and is getting worse. I actually hurt it in the same fall I got my concussion with snowboarding. My head hurt so bad I didn't even really notice how much I hurt my knee. Once my head starting clearing up I realized I may have done some damage. I was just hoping it would go away. The last two weeks my stomach has been really jacked up. The urgent care doctor thought it may have something to do with all the Vicodin they had me take for the concussion. Although, I also think there’s a good chance I have an ulcer from all the stress at work. Probably a little bit of both. Well my stomach has been so bad that the knee got put on the backburner. But now it's getting to the point where I can barely sleep because it's hurting so much. The limp is cool and all, but it's also nice to be able to walk places. I would go to the doctor. Unfortunately my doctor just retired a couple of months ago. Gotta love the HMO. The doctors at the Urgent care are clueless. They are a bunch of schleps that aren’t good enough to have their own practices. So I can't see anybody until I find a new primary care physician. Hopefully, it will just go away. But I'm probably looking at an exciting summer of recovering from knee surgery. The good news is I can keep the limp for at least a little while longer. I will have to wait until my stomach clears up to do anything as there is no way I can take any pain killers now.

Choke

2005-03-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

I just watched the worst 10 minutes of basketball I have ever seen. Arizona had a 15 point lead with four minutes left in the game. They somehow let Illinois tie it up and force overtime. If I grabbed four high school kids off the street we couldn't have done worse. I was so disgusted I couldn't even watch the overtime. I came back with 11 seconds left and Zona down one. They inbound the ball and then proceed to stand around for five seconds. Then they let their worst three point shooter chuck up a shot (that gets blocked) with one second left. What a joke. If I didn't know better I would assume the game was fixed.

Wikipedia

2005-03-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

I first discovered this online encyclopedia a few weeks ago via the default bookmarks installed in my Firefox web browser. It looks like any other online encyclopedia so I wasn't all that interested in it. However, I just read an article in Wired magazine that was fascinating. The Wikipedia a very unique site. It uses Wiki software that enables users (yes, that's you) to actually change the web page they are viewing. I don't mean just change your settings and how you view the page. But to actually change the page for ALL viewers. The Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that enables the people who use it to post, and alter previously posted encyclopedia articles.

Most encyclopedias use the "one best way model". This is your standard format for every encyclopedia that you used in grammar school. The method involves large groups of experts writing specific articles that are then viewed by other experts. The Wikipedia has developed a whole new method for creating an encyclopedia. It does not have a name yet, but it basically involves thousands of normal people posting articles that are then reviewed by other normal people viewing it. The Wikipedia actually enables you to alter and correct existing articles.

The Wikipedia has gained a cult following and has swelled to over a million articles. Just for reference Microsoft Encarta only has 4,500 articles. The Wikipedia format has hit a nerve. People seem to get excited about the ability to post, and change the articles. However, this obviously opens a Pandora’s box. If anyone can alter the articles, they can alter them anyway they want. They can add pornography, incorrect facts, curse words etc etc. This could effectively crash, and burn the whole Wikipedia. The part I find amazing is that this does not happen. Sure there are people who do these pranks. However, they are generally corrected in a matter of minutes. There are so many Wikipedia users that they are almost instantaneously correcting these actions. Wikipedia has a built in program that allows people to set up watch lists for articles. Wikipedia then notifies them when there are changes. This enables people to monitor the subjects they wrote, or find important.

Overall Wikipedia is a fascinating site. I'm sure the information may sometimes not be as factually accurate or grammatically correct as the old thirteen-volume world Book you looked at in elementary school. However, it does seem to give it a run for its money. More importantly the Wikipedia contains much more information, and the articles tend to be very up to date.

No caption necessary.

2005-03-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

ahhhh

To move or not to move

2005-03-20T20:23:00.000-08:00

When I first started this blog I had just moved into my apartment. Well I've finally unpacked everything. I still haven't hung up my pictures yet, but at least they are all out of storage and ready to go up. However, I think I may actually move again. My lease ran out on the 3rd of this month. It switched over to a month to month plan which I like. Unfortunately, it also went up another hundred dollars. Since I was already spending more on a one bedroom apartment than my parents do on a mortgage I think it may be a little to much. It's a nice place. 900 square feet, w/d, dishwasher, large balcony (that I've never been on), ceiling fans, new carpet, enormous bathroom and bedroom. I'd attach the floor plan, but from my last post you can see I can't figure out how to do it.

This is the first time and place where I have lived alone. Like everything it has its pluses and minuses. There are a few things I really enjoy though. It's nice to not have to deal with other peoples crap. You can sleep without worrying about other people making to much noise. You can make noise without worrying about other people sleeping. You don't have to clean up after other people or worry about them using and abusing your possession's. So now that I've started to get used to and enjoy the convenience of living alone I find myself wondering whether I should get a roommate. If I get a roommate I could realistically cut my housing expenses in half. Not only would my rent drop to half of what I'm spending but I would also have someone to split the utilities with. That's a lot of money that I could be saving and usually for other things. Financially it makes perfect sense. However, I'm a little bit nervous as I've become somewhat comfortable living by myself.

Two things prompted my thinking of getting a roommate. One was the expiration of my lease, and the other was discovering that Craigslist had expanded to OC. If you have never used Craigslist I highly suggest trying it. It's a community bulletin board where people offer jobs, classes, rooms, sell things, even find dates. I used it all the time when I lived in San Fran, and it's an awesome resource. Ok back to the roommate issue. Not only could I save a tremendous amount of money, but I could move to a new area (in OC), meet new people, and not get locked into a year long lease. The downside is that I would have to get a large storage unit to store all the crap I have managed to accumulate in the past year. I think renting a room from someone could be an exciting experience. Although, it could also turn into a living nightmare. But I think it's worth a try. We will see what happens....

Blogger Bot

2005-03-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

Does anyone understand this thing? I'm usually pretty computer savy but I can't get it to upload any pictures to my blog. I'm sending them through and it's been four hours but it still shows as sending. The picture I'm sending is only 500kb so it shouldn't be taking more than a minute.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Fantastic Mike's

2005-03-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, I cut my own hair. Apparently this is something most people find very strange. It never seemed like a big deal to me. In high school everyone had the short fade. We all would cut each other’s hair with clippers. I can't say it always turned out the best, but it did give me practice cutting hair. I never thought about cutting my hair at this time. When I was twenty I switched hairstyles to the short spiky, messy look that came into style then. Hmm, now that I think about it I still have that same hairstyle. Anyway, that summer I cut my hair myself on a drunken whim and it didn't turn out half bad. This was my first look into the wonderful and exciting world of cutting your own hair. It's been a slow progression since then, but now it doesn't even cross my mind to go and get it cut by someone. My rationale for this? First off I’m always under the impression that I’m going to grow my hair out. Not hippy long, but trendy longer. I’m always planning to change up my look. However, every time I start to grow it I really like it until one day I realize “boy my hair looks like shit”. It pretty much happens that way every time. I’m one of those people that just look better with short hair. However, I somehow always convince myself that I’m not. So it pretty much always comes down to one day I just really want to get it cut. When this time comes I don’t want to wait a week or three days or whatever the case is to set an appointment to have it done. Anyplace that is going to do a good job is going to take a while to get in to. When I want it done I want it done now. Chalk it up to impatience. So, my other option is to go a Supercuts, or a fantastic Sam’s or some other strip mall shithole salon. I used to do this for years. Sometimes they did a good job and sometimes it was terrible. The people at these salons aren’t the brightest. If I wanted a tad bit more off the back they would do it, but then take the same amount off the rest of my hair, and make the other areas to short. They can’t understand that maybe I like my front longer, or back shorter or whatever the case was at the time. They assume everyone wants the exact same uniform cut. So the only option was to take what they gave me and then go home a fix the parts I wanted corrected. This was better than them cutting it way too short everywhere. Eventually I realized if I’m going to end up fixing it myself I might as well cut out the middleman and just cut it myself. This way I’m getting the same results, but in less time, and without coughing up the 20 bucks. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at it. The thing that cracks me up is that when I tell people I cut my own hair they always tell me it would look so much better if I went and got it done somewhere. What I love to do to these people is after I cut it myself again to go up to them and tell them I finally went and got it done somewhere. I’ve done this four times now Each time the person says WOW it looks so good this way, you should always go there. Then I let them know I did it myself again. Priceless.

March Madness

2005-03-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time of the year again. I've been sick all week and slammed at work and somehow neglected to fill out a bracket. It's a little weird watching the tournament and not checking my bracket. But I still love March Madness. What other time of the year do terms like Blazers, Demon Deacons, and Saluki's mean anything? I would say it THE BEST U.S. sporting event. What other sporting events get people all over the country so excited? The superbowl's great and all. But it's one game. This is a several week long activity featuring 64 teams! I love the fact that people go crazy cheering for schools they never went to, in cities they haven't even visited. I don't have the stats but I'm sure more illegal gambling is done on the NCAA tournament than on any other event. I mean every school I've went to and every office I've worked in has had a pool. So who am I routing for? The Wildcats of course! I just got down watching them dismantle UAB. It's nice to see them not underachieving for a change. I like how when ever they have a high seed the blow it (well I don't really like it), but whenever they are overlooked they come out and kick ass. I mean they finished in 5th place in the Pac 10 the year they won it all (Oh that was a good party). So here's hoping for a solid finish, I have to go check all the other scores now.

Kazaa Krap

2005-03-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: All statements in this post are complete lies. I have never, and would never illegally download music.

Oh I remember the excitement when I first discovered Napster. All the songs I wanted at the tip of my fingers. No more re-purchasing CD's that you've scratched or have been stolen. No more purchasing a whole CD for that one song you liked. The ability to make the mix CD's you want, with the songs you want. Oh yes I remember. I also remember the confusion and heartbreak when the man took that all away from me. Okay, well multiple other sites immediately took Napsters place. Technology rampaging ahead to quickly for the laws to keep up. I tried several sites after the demise of Napster and decided on Kazaa. I've been using Kazaa for a couple of years now. However, over the last six months or so I haven't downloaded anything. When I moved I some how broke the sound on my computer (may have had something to do with dropping my PC off the back of the moving truck). Well I finally managed to fix the sound, and decided it's time to come back into 2005, and download some new songs. Can I say how bad Kazaa sucks? The last straw was when I tried to download two songs over the weekend. I downloaded oh about 90 different versions of each song. Not a single one of them was actually a song. Just shitty background noise. No more stealing free songs from them! Last night I went on the search for a new P2P. I stumbled upon BearShare. WOW. This service is awesome. Every song comes over beautifully. They are ranked, and list the number of people who are sharing the song. If you are looking for a new P2P to download music, I highly suggest using Bear Share.

Attention Federal Agents, please do not come kick down my door. Again, all statements above are total lies. I would never download an MP3 without paying. Anyone who would do so is scum and deserves to be prosecuted.

Iraq

2005-03-13T15:23:00.000-08:00

I will admit that I was a little concerned about how long our troops would be in Iraq. But after reading the following article, my nerves have been calmed. Thankfully, the Bush administration has finally devised a logical, and timely exit strategy for our troops in Iraq. Please take a look.

Make millions from the comfort of home

2005-03-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

That's right, you to can be a millionaire! No large start up fees, and no education is required. This is not a gimmick. You just need a couple of extra hours a week, and the desire to be rich! Trust me folks I would not lie to you. I was once poor, and living from paycheck to paycheck. Now, I live in my dream home, own a yacht, and have to Ferraris. You two can have everything you desire. If I could do it, so can you. All it takes it a $300 payment to me, to learn my secrets.

Hmmm. Sound familiar? Yeah it does to me to. How many pop up ads, spam e-mails, or infomercials have you seen promising these fantastic results. I received two when I turned on my computer. I actually clicked on one just to see what it said. It was promising 'proven stock winners'. This portfolio will return you over 100% a year. The monthly report would only cost me $299 a year. Do a lot of people fall for his? I mean if this guy is returning a 100% profit, why does he need to solicit me? Why isn't he rich? Maybe he doesn't have the capital. Well wouldn't his family, friends, and co-workers want to invest with him after seeing his fantastic returns? I mean if this guy really outperforms the market by such wide margins, why isn't he running a billion dollar hedge fund? Well the answer is obviously that he isn't returning the results.

The offers that really get me are the ones that are promising these ridiculously large returns via no down payment real estate purchases. First off, who the hell is selling all these houses with no down payments? Has anyone ever done a mortgage? Even if you are financing 100% you still need money for closing costs. And why are these people all selling for less than market value, and carrying over payments for you? It doesn't make a lot of sense. But let's gloss over the fact that these things don't happen in reality. If they really did work wouldn't the people peddling these be fantastically rich? If Jo Schmo on the infomercial went from making $30 grand a year to $30 grand a week, wouldn't the person who developed the method be doing even better? Wouldn't they be one of the richest people in the US or even the world? Why haven't I heard of them? Ok maybe they are hiding their wealth from the world (But probably not, since they are broadcasting it on national TV). And if these people are such good businessmen why would they be selling their secrets for so little? Wouldn't it make more sense to hire people out to work their systems? Couldn't they have Joe Schmo work directly for them? By paying Joe $100k a year (I'm sure he would be happy to go from 30k to $100k), they could put the 1.5 mil Joe would have made directly into their own pockets. That seems like a better business model than to sell the system for a couple hundred dollars. 1.5 mil or $200? That may be a hard decision for the people buying the systems, but it should be for the people who developed them. Ok, Well maybe they are just philanthropists. But if that's the case, why are they even selling the secrets. Why don't they just give it away?

Well the answers to the above are all pretty obvious. The schemes don't work. The people are making their money by selling these products, not by using them. The people that they prey on are the desperate and uneducated. I assume a lot of the people that buy these systems, may know they aren't going to work. But they are unhappy in their lives, and the chance to make a lot of money is worth it. Maybe they are out a couple of hundred dollars, but it's better than missing out on that cool million. Well you can either feel sorry for them, or get rich off them.

So please everyone go to my website (www.makemikerichyoupoorlosers.com) today. I have a fabulous opportunity for you to live the life of your dreams. Don't delay. Sally Jones of Bedford didn't and now she's making more than she ever dreamed of. Don’t think you can't afford it the $300. Let me ask you this; can you afford not to be rich? After, one month you will be able to pay it off 100 times over. So please do yourself a favor. Go to my website and send in that $300 today. In fact, if you log on today you only need to send in $200. Don’t delay, pay today! It will be the best money you ever spent.

Transportation of the future...or maybe not

2005-03-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one that remembers the hype surrounded the Segway Human Transporter before its release? "Code Name Ginger", "IT", the covers on magazines. It was like the Beatles. I remember circa 2000 being really excited, and debating what "IT" was going to be. Dean Kamen was going to revolutionize transportation. I remember one of his quotes. "It's going to change the world." There were many predictions that it would be the primary mode of transportation in a decade. Um, did I miss something? I'm not quite sure what happened. What I do know is you can buy a nice scooter type object from Segway for Four grand. Quite a steal. Don't get me wrong, I know there were a lot of engineering advances and novelties designed with/into the segway. But what a let down. How could the people at his company, and people with an insider’s knowledge of the product be so far out of touch with reality? There were many claims of how it would dramatically revolutionize the development of transportation in developing countries. Did no one realize that the 4k price tag might put it out the budget for people that make less than that? Ok let's forget that one small little detail. Let's pretend that they were affordable to all. How many people really want an object that is much slower than a car or a bike that needs plugged in daily (again I'm forgetting that it's 40xs more expensive than a decent bicycle)? If it was close you could just walk, if it was further away it would be quicker to ride a bike. If you had to hall a huge load, a car would be much more convenient. Ok again let's forget all of the above. Suppose it was cheap, faster, and didn't need plugged in all the time. Did anyone take into consideration local laws and regulations? I mean how many cities have now banned the Segway on their sidewalks? An over priced, uneconomical, slow mode of transportation that you can't use in the area it's been designed for. Hmmm, can I also sell you a $100,000 car, that only runs on racing gasoline, and can't be driven in the city you live in? Yes, these are the types of things I really think about. And I do actually plan on test-driving a segway this summer. I found out they rent them for two hour runs at the Santa Monica Pier.

2005-03-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Lordly Lordly has it really been since October since I wrote anything? There must be some sort of calender/clock glitch with the blog spots website. That is the only explanation I can come up with. So let's see... When I first started blogging I had just broken up with my girlfriend and was in an ultra depression (and I have concluded it takes the same amount of time as you were in the relationship to get over some one). I blogged mostly, to get my mind off of it. Then Around the beginning of November I started to go out again. Ok I started to go out a lot. I tried to be "college Mike" again. Ok well maybe I was only going out two possibly three days a week, but that's all I can really handle in my old age. That was a lot of fun. I went around pretending I was a millionare for a few months there. And now, over the last few months I have just been taking things easy getting everything back on track, and slowly paying off all the money I blew over the last six months. Let's see; What else has happened? My brother got married in Cabo, I had a birthday. I slammed my thumb in a car door and it's still healing. I got promoted at work. I started reading a bunch again. I started snowboarding. That's a lot of fun. Much more fun than I anticipated. Although, I currently have a pounding headache. I think it might have something to do with the severe concussion I got last time I went. I actually did go to the hosptial this time, and fortunately the cat scan was normal. I'm sorry if that destroys any of the theories any one had on me. Ok that's enough for now. Maybe more later.

Chaos Shiraz

2004-10-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I wrote anything. I anticipated this when I first started blogging. It falls in with my extremist nature. All or nothing. Write everyday, or don't write at all. I should probably be out dressed up, and partying for Halloween. But I really just don't care. I dressed up yesterday. And truth be told, I'm just so over going out. Instead, I thought I would sit at home and be depressed about my ex-girlfriend. Why do I still care? I don't know. Maybe I'm retarded (No offense to any mentally challenged people who have stumbled upon my blog). Well, the thought that prompted me to write was when I looked down and realized.... (Yes more ellipses) It's eleven o'clock I'm at home alone drinking a bottle of wine (I have to finish this case of shiraz that I bought because the ex liked it) listening to pearl jam and reading up on Chaos theory. I just couldn't help but laughing. It just struck me as so off the wall. Only the type of thing I would do. I wanted to call someone and tell them. But I realized if I call anyone on the West Coast they are just going to yell at me for avoiding their calls and not going out with them tonight. And if I call anyone on the East coast it's fricking 2:30 am. So I thought I would blog. Blog Blog Blog.

Halloween Resolutions

2004-10-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

I know most people make their resolutions at New Years, but I figured why wait. I've had a lot of changes in my life recently that have caused me to evaluate what I want to do. Below is a list of 10 things I would like to accomplish within the next year. Of course, I want to be a better person, keep in better contact with people, be less pessimistic and the like. However, I decided to list more tangible actions that I want to do, and will be able to check off. I'll let you know next year what I accomplished.

1) Work out a minimum of twice a week
2) Take the GMAT
3) Learn to ride a motorcycle
4) Vacation in a foreign country I have never been to
5) Visit friends in San Francisco, Phoenix, D.C., and Ohio
6) Take a piano class
7) Learn to Snow Board
8) Save X amount of dollars (I'll keep X to myself), not including 401k
9) Bleach my teeth (I've always wanted to try this)
10) Read a bare minimum of 25 books

Taco Tuesday

2004-10-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well I finally made it to a Taco Tuesday. For those of you not familiar, it's simply a happy hour held every Tuesday at a chain of Mexican restaurants here. If you go out on Tuesday it's the place to go. I'm not much of a weekday drinker, and especially not much of a Tuesday drinker. But I was sitting at work yesterday when the phone rang. It was one of my best friends from elementary school who just happened to be in town, and managed to find my number. Another guy we went to elementary school was in town on business for the week, and he had come along with him for a mini vacation. So we went to the infamous Taco Tuesday, and two things struck me while sitting there having a beer and some nachos. The first was there's not that many people here for a taco Tuesday. It was crowded but not overly crowded. The second thing that struck me was why are there nearly one hundred people here drinking on a Tuesday night. Don't these people have jobs? Well it was all around a good time. We had a few laughs, a few drinks, and caught up on things. It's nice to see people that you haven't seen in a while; people who know you from the past. It's a way to gauge where you are, and how far you've come. It’s also always fun to reminisce on the good times you’ve had. One thing I notice is that people from the Midwest are so much more down to earth, and so much more real than people in Southern California. I've always felt this, but being around some Ohio people again just really re-enforced it.

While I was driving

2004-10-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was driving home from the beach yesterday and took a way I usually don't go. As I was driving I started to notice a bunch of people lined up on the sidewalk for at least a quarter of a mile. They were all holding anti-abortion signs. The vast majority of them simply said, "abortion is murder". Seeing these people brought up a few questions. But, first of all let me state I am 100% pro-choice. I don't think abortion is a good thing. If you’re financially capable of supporting a child, and are in a relationship with someone you really care about I think abortion is wrong. However, if you are not financially capable, or don't care about the person you are with, or don't want to be with that person I think abortion makes sense. Obviously, these people who are having sex and getting pregnant (or getting someone else pregnant) at a time in their life where they cannot deal with the consequences are not acting responsible or in a mature manure. But, this just reinforces my point. Do you really want these people bringing children into the world? I don't. But, let me get back on track. The first thought I thought when I saw these protestors was what the hell are these people doing? I suppose there could have been an abortion clinic where they were standing (as I don't know the area that well). But it wouldn't make sense for them to have been so spread out. So they must have just been out protesting in general. Do they think they changed any ones mind? I mean did someone drive by and see the sign and say, "Sh@t. Abortion is murder. Damn I have to change my whole outlook on life now". I very much doubt it. But, I suppose if you strongly believe that abortion is murder then even if you made someone think about it, or possible changed someone’s mind it would be worth the time and effort you spent. One thing I've noticed about the pro-life crowd is that they are all religious. I'm sure there are some people who aren't. But, I've never met them or heard of them. So my question to them is "where do these 'murdered' babies go"? Obviously, if you are religious they go to heaven. Is this such a bad thing? Eternity in heaven, or a shitty life with parents who don't want you. I could understand the argument if you were an atheist. If you kill this baby that's it. But if you believe in heaven wouldn't this just take away all the child's future suffering? To take it to the extreme, who are these wack jobs that murder abortion doctors. This has always baffled me. They seem to always be total religious zealots. Again, isn't it better for the child to go straight to heaven? And more importantly if these doctors are murderers, won't they be justly punished by your god? Thall shall not judge. That is unless you are a crazy abortion doctor murdering religious zealot, and then it's ok.

After Life Threesome?

2004-10-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has his or her different views on religion and the afterlife. But, I do know that many people believe that they will be re-united with their loved ones when they die. The whole tunnel of light and "oh there's Uncle Sam, there's cousin Becky". I also know that in general most people consider marriage "till death do us apart". However, I've been to my fair share of religious weddings where that phrase is never uttered. Instead, there is a lot of talk on being brought together by the lord, and being together forever and ever. This particular blog is not to comment on the validity of any of the above beliefs. However, a certain conflict does come into play when you both believe in marriage for eternity and being re-united with your loved ones after death. What if your spouse dies when you are young? For instance you get married at 21 and your spouse dies when you are 25. Do you ever remarry? Obviously this is a delicate and important question in itself, but it's not what I'm concerned with here. I think that most people do end up getting re-married. After a period of grieving most people eventually find someone else and re marry. My question is when you die, and your new spouse dies, who spends eternity together? It would seem natural that the person you married second would be the person you stayed with. You've been with them longer and more recently. You are a completely different person than you were when your first spouse died. It wouldn't seem fair to say to the person you got remarried to "hey thanks for the last 50 years of marriage but there's this person I knew in my 20's and I'm going to spend the next eon with them". On the other side it wouldn't seem right to just forgot your first spouse. "Hey nice to see you again. Thanks for waiting for me the past 50 years and saving this place in heaven. But I kind of met someone else; I mean it's not my fault you got in that wreck. Oh and those vows I made, uh can we pretend that didn't happen?" Maybe it just depends who dies first. If you die before your second spouse you go with the person waiting. But it could get complicated if your second spouse died first, since they would both be waiting for you. Do they have to fight over you? Maybe you just all get together for a little holy ménage-a-trois.

Missing

2004-10-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen my gym? I think it's missing. Because I sure as heck haven't seen it. But I do still notice a $40 deduction from my checking account every month so it must still be there. I have a gym in my apartment complex that is actually very nice. Free weights, cardio equipment, nautilus the whole kit and kaboodle (yes I did just say kit and kaboodle). So I forced myself to go workout. Let me tell you I didn't think it was possible to be this out of shape. It reminded me of the "got milk" commercial where the neighbors arms rip out when he picks up the wheel barrow. But it did feel good to finally be back in the gym. So this is my public pledge that I will be going back to the gym.

Deborah Norville

2004-10-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'll admit I haven't watched a lot of news lately. I tend to get my news online. But tonight I was flipping through the channels and came across the Deborah Norville show. How could I have missed this? I mean she is HOT for a mainstream news show host. Ok she is hot in general. It's like watching a mid 90's Meg Ryan do the news. Ok I've had a couple of beers, but I think I've found my new source of news.

Perspective

2004-09-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

Oh Just got home from a fifteen hour day. Those are always fun. However, I felt obligated to write. To whom? Good question? Who am I asking these questions to? Another good question? Anyway, something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is how different people view things. It seems crazy how you can have two normal people experience (view, see, taste, touch etc) the exact same thing, yet come away with two totally different reactions. You go through life with your own views, values, expectations, experiences, and desires. Everything you do is colored by this. The stimuli you experience are viewed through your paradigm, and you react to things based off of that. Obviously, people are not static and change throughout their lives. But I think people tend to get used to viewing things their way and assume that their view is "normal". It's easy to assume that everyone is seeing things the same (This is probably the reason why people tend to associate with others that have similar backgrounds, goals, and experiences). But if you take a step back it can be surprising. The fact that people can view the same situations in such opposite ways is really crazy. It can be exciting. But, it can also be very frustrating, and annoying. However, one thing is certain. It is never dull.

Avoidance

2004-09-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've finished a whole week of blogging and have managed to avoid the one subject that has been having the most impact on me lately. The break up with my ex (I'll call her box (shout out to MN)). I'll admit I've been depressed about it. Ok EXTREMELY depressed about it. Irrationally depressed. But I guess since depression is emotionally based, it's irrational by definition.

I've only really cared about one girl in my life. That was my girlfriend from high school. However, I was selfish and immature and treated her poorly. Since her I've dated many girls. I've really liked some, and not really liked others. But I never felt the same way I did about her. I associated this with the fact that she was my first serious girlfriend so the feeling would always be a little different. However, after being together with box for a little while I realized what that feeling was. It was the feeling of being in Love. It feels a little dumb to say that but it's true. I dated Box for less than six months but I was in love with her (I hope she never reads this). We broke up because we are at two different points in our life. I was a jerk to girls and not looking for a relationship for most of my life. I've finally come to the point where I'm ready for a relationship and am capable of treating someone the way they deserve to be treated. The problem is she is at the complete opposite side of the spectrum. She had always been ready for a relationship and always treated the guys she dated well. However, she just got out of a very serious relationship, and was not ready to deal with the responsibilities of being in another one. She is at a point in her life where being single, partying and being free of responsibilities is what she wants. The whole situation is very ironic, but maybe it's my karma coming back to me. However, I thought my girlfriend from high school getting married when I wasn't over her yet was my pay back for treating girls poorly. I guess not though. Hopefully, this tilts the scales into my favor.

But enough about that. The question I really wanted to talk about was "How long does it take to get over someone". It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Of course it all depends on the person, how serious you were, how long you dated etc. etc. I dated my girlfriend from high school on and off for four years. It took me four years to get over her. So I always kind of used that as a guidepost. That seems like a very long time on average though. I suppose that would be the upper bound of getting over someone. I think that is because once you've been broken up with someone longer than you were together it's hard to not convince yourself to move on. The stripper in Vegas I was talking to about this (Yes, it's both funny and sad. I was wasted in Vegas for a bachelor's party and at a strip club. But, instead of doing whatever guys do in strip clubs, I decided to talk about my ex-girlfriend to a stripper for a good thirty minutes. For anyone who has ever seen Swingers it was very similar to that. In fact, that scene dawned on me while talking about it to her (She had never seen the movie though)) said that's it's half the time you were in the relationship (at least that's how long it took her to get over her ex-husband). So if you dated someone a year, it would usually take about six months to get over them. I wonder if anyone has done any studies on this? It would be nice if there was some sort of formula. Let's see we dated x months, said I love you y times, went out of town together on z occasions. Ok carry the one, divide by the square root of the times we talked about breaking up... November 3rd. Perfect. "Oh you’re having a party for Halloween? Sorry I can't make it, but I will be free and ready to party on November 4th!

Vegas Baby

2004-09-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

I spent Saturday in Las Vegas for a bachelor party, and boy do I feel great now. I've spent the last ten hours becoming better acquainted with my couch. Every time I come home from Las Vegas I feel like I've managed to take about five years off my life. Vegas is a crazy place. I think the motto should be "Las Vegas, leave your morals on the plane". I never really understood how normal average everyday people go somewhere for the weekend and just turn into new people. People go to Vegas and do things they would never do in their normal life. I suppose it's that people are holding back in their normal every day lives. These desires are always there but they do not act on them. Once they go somewhere it's considered acceptable (and no one will know about it) they act on these desires. Vegas is a place where consequences are greatly diminished. I always have reservations about people who consider Vegas their favorite place. Don't get me wrong, I love Vegas. I've never gone there and not had a good time. It's just that if doing the things that people do in Vegas are your "favorite" activities, I question your values.

Quick 7

2004-09-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

Since I've started "blogging" I've noticed a few things about myself. Some I already knew, but were just brought to the surface. while others were a little more surprising.

1) I'm overly verbose. No one is going to confuse me with being concise. (it's killing me not to elaborate)
2) I overanalyze everything
3) I'm an extremist. (Not in a militia/cultish way. But, in an all or nothing type way).
4) I tend to settle.
5) I constantly, forget, where to, put commas.
6) I really have a lot of thoughts going on in my head (Probably to many for my own good).
7) I hate being sick, but seem to always be (Maybe I'm turning into a hypochondriac).

Intro to psych

2004-09-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I can't say I remember a whole lot from college (I went to college?). Yet, there are a few instances from inside the classroom that I do remember. One instance that sticks with me comes from an intro to Psychology class I took my sophomore year.

The professor put up a list of words covered by a sheet of paper on the overhead projector. He slowly started to scroll down the list. The list started something like:

Kind
Friendly
Giving
Loving
Outgoing
Honest

Well you get the picture. It went on like that for a little while and then he stopped for a minute. He then started listing more words. However, they were slightly different. There started to appear words like cheap, conniving, secretive (still listed like above, but I will save some space and write them this way) and the like. After he gave us the list he asked us what type of person we thought they were. It's been a while so I can't remember exactly what happened next. But if memory serves, I believe there were specific questions that we had to write down answers for. Regardless, the point is everyone concluded that the person described was a good person.

After a few minutes the professor put up another list of words. This time it began with such words as stingy, deceptive, selfish and so on. This list also changed after a while and words such as smart, gentle, lavish and the like appeared. After viewing this list everyone came to the conclusion that the person described was a bad person. Then a funny thing happened. The professor showed us both lists and they were identical. The words had just been arranged in a different order. As you can imagine the whole class was shocked.

The above events show you how much of an impact first impressions have upon people. But to me it illustrates a more important idea. When you believe something to be true, you will convince yourself it is. What happened in the class was obvious. Everyone received an initial impression and vision of who they thought this person was. Then after the words started changing people began rationalizing to themselves so that there wouldn't be this inner conflict. How could this person be both honest and dishonest, or loving and hateful? If you had the belief they were honest to begin with you would just assume that they must be acting dishonest in order to protect someone's feeling (or something along those lines). If they are loving how are they hateful? Well. Maybe they are loving in general but hateful when people hurt the ones they care about. The opposite occurred with the second list. Maybe they are dishonest most of the time, but honest when they think it serves their purpose. Of course everyone rationalizes things in a different way. But the point is that everyone came up with the same conclusion. People have difficulty changing their initial viewpoints on things even if they don't realize it. Everyone constantly rationalizes things to fit their belief structures. They use whatever evidence is presented to them that fits their beliefs, while discarding the information that doesn't fit.

Something along these lines that I've been thinking of lately is... (I've become a big fan of the ellipses since starting this blog) when does the evidence you have been receiving finally convince you that you were wrong in your original conclusions? If you think a person is good. Yet they do A, B, C, D, and E to show otherwise. Does this change your view? Or do they have to do F, G, H, I, J, and K before you realize it. I suppose some people will continually rationalize it to themselves even if you go through the alphabet and back and never accept what the evidence bears. Of course, people’s reactions depend on many variables. How strongly, and for how long they held the opinion. How open they are to new ideas, and what evidence/actions the above letters represent.

Proud to be from Ohio

2004-09-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6080044/

Cell phones

2004-09-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

I finally got a new cell phone. Which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. I can no longer use the excuse "my phone must have died" when I decide I'm tired of talking or don't want to answer. But since my old phone was such a piece of crap it usually wasn't even an excuse, it was the truth. A little about my last phone... It had the wonderful feature of not working in my house. Ok that's not entirely true. It worked within the first two feet of my front door about 70% of the time. I would have to set it on the right side of the computer desk for it to get reception. The problem was whenever my roommate used the computer he would have to move it to the left side of the desk, which would take it out of range. Mind you this desk was two and a half feet wide. I'm not sure exactly how the satellite signal managed to penetrate earth’s atmosphere, then the walls of my house, but couldn't manage to make it to the other side of my desk. So working for twelve hours a day and not having my phone work inside the house basically left the car ride home to call people. Since I only lived seven miles from work at the time it didn't allow a lot of talking time. Well that phone is somewhere in Lake Tahoe now. Not that I was sorry to see it go. In fact it was somewhat of a relief. The weekend I tossed out that phone was the same weekend my ex-girlfriend and I broke up. Therefore, I was saved the grief of neurotically checking it every 10 minutes to see if she had called (the phone had the added feature of going straight to voicemail sometimes for now apparent reason). After about a week of not being able to contact anyone I know, or have them contact me I figured it was probably time to come back into the 21st century and get a phone. At this time I was in the process of moving out of my place and was thinking of switching service providers. Therefore, I didn't want to get a new phone until I decided if I was switching providers. Well lucky for me during the move I found an old phone I had a few years back. So I hooked that bad boy up. It was nice. Doubling the size of an item you carry with you constantly is a wonderful feeling. I don't want you to get the idea that it was outrageously large. No one confused me for Maxwell Smart on his shoe phone. However, it was just large enough to be really big, but not large enough to be cool and look like I was carrying a giant old-school box phone. This phone had some stellar characteristics of it's own though. It actually worked in the house amazingly enough. But it would just turn itself off now and again. It was a clamshell design and half the time you closed it, it would decide it needed a break and turn itself off. Let me tell you this is a great feature when you’re expecting a call. But enough about these two crap boxes. I finally upgraded and bought the stellar Samsung I-500. This phone was smaller than the last cell I was using, but has a fully functional palm pilot in it. This way everyone will be able to tell that I'm a nerd at all times. Not just when I'm writing blogs:0 I can't say that I've figured out how to use any of the features yet. In fact, I couldn't even figure out how to check my missed calls so I could call somebody back. But I'm sure it's going to be awesome. I may even read the directions on it. I know, I know, it's the last thing I would normally due but I figure since I spent this much money on a phone I might as well figure out how to call people on it.

Speaking of cell phones, does anybody remember when they were car phones? I'm talking pre- big box cellular phone. I remember growing up and my dad had a car phone that actually had a cord on it. It's amazing to think how fast technology progresses. The phone I just bought has twice the power of the palm pilot I had just a few years ago. It's also half the size and has a fully functional cell phone in it. I can only imagine what types of technological innovations there will be fifty years down the road. Well I'm getting tired so I won't go on. But one question before I sign off. With the unbelievable advances in technology going on all around us, where the f$*# are the flying cars at?!? Haven’t' they been promising flying cars since the 1950's. But yet I waited in bumper-to-bumper traffic again this morning. Come on people, flying cars!

Phewwww

2004-09-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

Maybe the title of this should have been "test". But then I thought someone might have thought it meant "test" like not a real entry. But I digress. Well the test in question is an STD test (Is that what it's called?). The whole she-bang. Sorry I meant shabang. Anything they can test for I asked them to test for. Not that I had any reasons to worry. Ok maybe a few, but that was a long time ago under an assumed name. Well the good news is everything came back negative. The weird thing was I wasn't even worried in the least. For a test that could foreseeable ruin your life (if you had HIV), it would seem that it would be something of a concern. Especially, since this was the first time I have ever had any test like this, and therefore had to think back to every girl I had ever been with in my life.

More importantly (maybe not more importantly but it seemed like a good segue anyway) This whole issue made me think about some other issues regarding these types of tests. When I was driving home thinking of what to write about the test popped into my mind. However, I wasn't sure if I should write about it. Is this topic something your supposed to talk about? I've never spoken to anyone about this type of thing before. I've only told one person so far that I had the test done (and that was before I had the results). He relayed a story back to me of a time when he got tested. He was a little worried at the time since he had just gotten back from Thailand (I didn't ask him to elaborate). That made me think "well I guess everyone has these types of tests done but no one talks about it". Why is this issue taboo? I remember calling to set up the appointment and being extremely embarrassed. But what is there to be embarrassed about? You wouldn't worry about getting a polio (am I dating myself with this comment?) or a strep throat test. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that people with STD's are considered "dirty". But this doesn't really make any sense. You only have to have sex with one person to get something. No one would consider you "dirty" if you had the flu or diabetes. Wouldn't having crabs be better than having say gang green? I mean it at least shows that your getting some, and you don't have to worry about having an appendage cut off. But I guess these are just societal norms. STD's and mental disorders are embarrassing but other diseases aren't.

One more thought on the subject before I finish. I was notified about my results with a phone call in the middle of the day, and a thought occurred to me. How come whenever you have any sort of test done by a physician they call you with the results. However, if anything comes up out of the ordinary they won't tell you over the phone. If your tested for X and they won't tell you over the phone you don't have X but need to come in... well wouldn't that tip the person off that they have X? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of not telling them? The only thing that I could think of is that maybe they never just test for one thing, so that you could never be sure what the bad news was going to be. Hmmmm.

Fluffy

2004-09-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Have you seen Fluffy? Last time I saw her was outside of Silky Sullivan's Pub on Friday. I thought she was a little drunk and tried to take her keys from her. But man did she throw a hissy fit! I havent' seen her since. She's usually so responsible, but sometimes... well you get the picture (bad puns intended).

Same Difference

2004-09-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Are you one of the people that say this? Do you also say "stop" when you mean "go", or "black" when you mean "white", or "potato" when you mean "tomato"? For those of you lucky enough to not know what I'm talking about let me elaborate. I'm sure most of you have heard someone say "same thing" when someone else is talking about two similar items, events, ideas etc. However, sometime around the 8th grade I started hearing people use "same difference" in the place of "same thing" (yes it bothered me then also). Every time I hear someone make this statement I feel the need to point out how illogical it is, but the speaker never seems to care. If you are talking about two like items how can they have the same difference? Does the word different all of a sudden connote likeness? It makes NO SENSE. I must not have received the memo that stated you can substitute any word for any other and still expect people to understand you. The only possible way that two items could have the same difference is if you were comparing them to a third item. For instance two circles have the same differences in relation to a square, but have the same qualities/similarities in relation to each other. Again, if there was a memo sent out and I missed it I apologize to everyone in advance.

Apartment

2004-09-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting in my new apartment writing this instead of finishing unpacking and putting things away. At first it may seem strange that I have been here for three weeks, and it looks like I just moved in this weekend. But then again I am the guy that spent longer looking for an apartment than most people do looking for a house to buy. By the way if anyone is planning on moving to Orange County (CA, not FL) I have seen every apartment complex there is, and could give you a brief synopsis of my 20 or 30 favorites.

I'm finding out that Apartment living is a little different than living in a house. (I haven't lived in an apartment since I was 20. And yes I admit that was 5 years ago, ok 6, ok it was 7 years ago but who's counting) The biggest frustration so far is that little call box, that is linked to your home phone to let people in the entry gate. When they installed this did anyone stop to consider that some people do not set up a home phone number? Why would I have a home phone when I have a cell phone that has over a thousand unused minutes a month (more on this later)? Plus if they can connect it to your home phone why can't they connect it to a cell phone? Seem like a bit of functional obsolescence to me. So now I sit here wondering. Do I (A) order the pizza for delivery and meet him at the gate (which I would have to drive to) (B) Order the pizza for pick up and drive to the restaurant (is this even really an option), or (C) Drink a Guinness, and skip dinner. I mean it's practically a meal replacement, right?

Ode to Journal

2004-09-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

So here is the first (and hopefully not last) blog, on the Blog Dog. I'm usually near the front of these trends. However, I must admit I missed the whole blog frenzy. I just never really got it. To me it seemed like a personal journal that everyone read. Isn't the whole idea of the journal that it's private? But since I've been planning on writing a journal for the past 10 years and today have a total of about 10 pages written.... Well the truth be told, I thought the blog may be able to shame me into writing. If other people are expecting to see new entries, I may feel obligated to acquiesce.