Headphones.

So in the past week or so, i have realized something that has been going on in my life for a long, long time that is really annoying. It is really hard to get a good pair of headphones.

Honestly... think about it. Almost every pair that i have had in the past, present (and hopefully not future) have taken some "getting used to." Which means that your ears hurt like a bitch for the first 100 hours of wearing them... at least. Until your ears just lose all feeling in them at the contact points cause you've worn them so long. Even those old headphones that look like an upside-down U used to hurt your ears. Why is it so hard to make headphones that don't hurt? Seems like they should've had enough time to get it right by now.

I bring this up because recently i killed my ipod headphones by being rough on them (read: having them ripped outta my ears numerous times at work). So i asked Father if he had a set i could use temporarily until i got unlazy and got a replacement for the ones i broke. So he gave me a set of GPX's (it's an electronics company apparently)... anyways, i took them to work and tried them on... no less than 10 minutes later were my ears hurting because of them. These headphones sorta clip onto your ears with a hard plastic curved thingy that is spring-loaded. They are not tethered together with a headband around the top like they probably should be because they are heavy on my ears, but only with a chord that carries the signal from one to the other... in other words, your ears are the only thing holding them up. So i spent that whole night just listening to my music one ear at a time while the other was resting. That was fun. Now add all of this up and THEN try to imagine that they feel like they are about to fall off your ear. Did i mention that they sound terrible too? I doubt anyone at GPX even tried these things on before they sold them. They are that bad.

After the second night of using these headphones, i decided that enough is enough... so i figured that ANYTHING would be better than these pieces of crap. So i looked at what Wegmans had in the way of headphones... Sure enough they had some cheap headphones for sale. So i spent $5 on a set of headphones.

These newer headphones are sorta like earbuds, but to keep them on, they have a rubbery hook that hangs over your ear, and the buds kinda fall into your ears. Needless to say, they are better than the GPX's... that's for sure. But tonight was filled with "is my left earbud falling out?" Which is a problem i've had with other earbuds in the past, so i try to avoid them when possible.

The headphones that come with the Ipod though, are pretty good for being so simple. They sound decent, and don't hurt your ears. They also are really good at letting in outside sound so i can still talk to people. They were ideal for work. But i have had problems of them feeling like they're going to fall out.

I do have a couple sets of amazing headphones though...

-My inner ear monitors. These things are amazing. The sound quality is amazing, and they block out all other noise, so it's just music. Nothing else. And they are form fitted to my ears, so they are comfortable. They also cost about $600 so i can't really use them unless i'm playing drums, or sitting still listening to my ipod/computer.

-My ear-covering headphones. Also great sound quality... but i look like a doofus in them. Really. Thanks Tom, but they look funny on me. and you. and everyone. I made the mistake of wearing them around campus at Tech one day.... and i could SEE people snickering to their friends. So that was the last time i have worn those in public. And for your viewing pleasure, i have added a photo of me wearing said headphones... so enjoy. (sorry about the crappy quality, but i just came up with this concept... leave me alone.)

So electronics companies... what i want from you is a good quality, comfortable, reasonably priced set of headphones that i can wear to work and not worry that i need to take 7 advil to offset the pain that comes from wearing them. thanks.

My New Car.

Back in late 2000, my very awesome parents went and bought me my very own car to drive around in. Little did i know that some 6 full years later i would finally get to upgrade myself. Now, i'm not complaining about this car (i.e. biting the hand that feeds you), but i will say that that car gave me a lot more trouble than what it was worth. Bright blueish color that the girls always said "is your car purple?", transmission problems (twice), and we all know about filling up gas... that car was always a mess too, with no place to hide the essentials of my everyday stuff except in the passenger seat... Not to mention throwing all my trash in the too small for people backseat.

BUT.... it got me from point A to point B, almost every time. i racked up 78,000 miles on that car driving from Manassas to Ashburn to Blacksburg to Harrisonburg to West Virginia to Fredricksburg to RTJ to Wegmans over and over and over again. All the while only 1 really really really minor accident to which i wasn't even driving (some paint was traded, but that's it). Hell you couldn't even see it after i washed the white paint off cause the bumper was made of black plastic, and the blue paint was fairly dark for being so bright (just pretend that makes sense).

Anyways, father and i had been "shopping" for cars for months because the Accent was ready to be replaced. We shopped around for cars that were in my price range, and we found quite a few nice choices. Dodge has a new SUV called a Nitro. VW has the Jetta. Infinity has the (used)G35. Nissan has the Sentra SE-R.

All of these cars were cool, but none as cool as the Sentra. It has a lot of features on it that are pretty much made for my age group such as an ipod auxiliary jack, 6 dish in dash mp3 compatible cd player, intelligent key, cool rims and a kickin spoiler, and most importantly.... cruise control.

When I first saw the Sentra, i immediately liked the styling of the new model, and all the cool features just seemed to fit into what i wanted in a new car... so i went in there by myself, and test drove it, and pretty much did the whole thing by myself (with dad on the phone making sure i didn't get raped with a huge interest rate). Paid for everything on the car with my own money(except for the trade in value of the Accent), and drove away in a brand new way of getting around (once i stopped shaking of course). And i must say, it really is "me."


So say goodbye to the old gustermobile to usher in the new era of the Gustermobile. See you on the road.




P.S. Don't park so close to me, i get nervous about it.

My Little Secret.

Ever since i moved into Tom's house, i realized that i had to do something different than i was used to. In fact, most men have to go through this at one point or another... and it's all because of you women. I must say that this is one issue that i stand firmly behind the guys and it is totally unfair for us to have to put up with this. That being said, i changed my ways (while i was there) and learned from my mistakes and found it easier to "fall in" than to have it my way and get yelled at, because let's face it folks, it wasn't my house. So here it is, here's my secret:

I put the toilet seat down after going number 1.

I did this mainly because i didn't want to get yelled at by Becky. But men, you can fight back... like i do. This is my TRUE secret that i have come up with to make it fair, the only way i can... so men, if you get yelled at when you leave that pesky toilet seat up, follow these instructions... Every time you go #1, put the toilet seat down.... BOTH of them. That way when she gets in there, SHE TOO has to take at least 1 action before doing her business. Let's review the ins and outs of the procedure here to further see why it's unfair for women to ask such a daunting task from us. First starting with the condition that men must put the toilet seat down.

Toilet seat down upon entering:
-Male going #1: toilet seat up(1), * , toilet seat down(2)
-Male going #2: nothing, * , nothing
-Female going #1 or 2: nothing, * , nothing
ACTION COUNT: 2 for males, 0 for women (this is fair.... not)

Now lets examine this if there is no rule as to the position of the toilet seat once we are finished...(note: see above for when toilet seat is down).

Toilet seat up upon entering :
- Male going #1: nothing, * , toilet seat down
- Male going #2: toilet seat down (1), * , nothing
- Female going #1 or 2: toilet seat down(1), * , nothing
ACTION COUNT: 1 for each... seems actually fair to me.

note: * means doing the business.

So men, if your woman wants you to put the toilet seat down after the fact, and you want to "even the score," put both the seats down so she'll ALWAYS have to take an action before she does her business (so will you, but since you have to put the toilet seat down anyways, what's your worry?).

Now the women may have some "arguements" as to why what i'm saying is totally unfair to them, i will attempt to silence all of these by guessing them.

-It's unfair that men get to stand up to pee, so they should suffer to make it even.
Sorry ladies, can't help you there... talk to God about that one.... or mabye Eve.

-When the toilet seat is up, and i don't look, i could very well fall in.
HAHAHAHA, wow... ever heard of the saying "look before you leap?" Maybe you should look before you put your toosh someplace. i look in the chair before i sit down, and i also look at the toilet seat before i sit down, just to make sure i don't fall in. (this is a terrible excuse).

-You should sit when you pee cause it splatters everywhere.
While this may be true, there is nothing that you could do to make me sit down when i pee. nice try.

-You're missing the point, me asking you to put the seat down was to make my life easier.
Well honey... do you want me to put the seat down or not... you either get the full commitment, or you get the toilet seat left up, you decide.

-I'm a woman and i am always right so you're just going to have to deal with what i say cause i'm the boss and it's tough cookies for you.
OK, you win.

In conclusion, ladies.... if i have been around your house, apartment, condo, and you get into your bathroom to find a toilet with both lids down, you know who's to blame.



P.S. I have changed the title to my previous blog to better suit the entry. thanks to John Mayer for the words.