The All American Hokie.

I have been thinking about how proud i am to be an American recently. And I haven't really come up with anything too brilliant. In fact, I am having a hard time thinking of anything that makes me FEEL like a true American at all. After 9/11, all of us had that instantaneous rush of patriotism... well, I know i did. But after that, the patriotism kinda just fades back into the background. I'm not saying that i DON'T have pride for my country, but just that in a daily routine/life, being an American doesn't really roll into my head all that often.

I began to compare my pride for being an American to my Hokie Pride. On a daily basis, I am reminded of what it is to be a proud member of the Hokie nation. Even before April, I have had very strong feelings of being a part of the family here at Tech. Whether it's riding the bus to class with other students and 1/3 of them are wearing maroon or orange, or just taking a few seconds while walking to class to stop and admire the Hokie Stone on the buildings. Not to mention the football, basketball and other Tech sports.

Everyday when i'm living my normal life, there are constant reminders of being a Hokie in blacksburg. It's on the cars, it's in the stores, its on people's shirts, it's everywhere. Most stores have some sort of Hokie paraphernalia in the windows, for sale, and some stores even have Hokie-associated names (Hokie House (which is a bar), Hokie Hair, The Gobbler, Beamer's Restaurant). My point being that I feel the Hokie spirit everyday, but the American spirit? It doesn't feel the same.

While i was in the shower, i had a thought... What if my pride for being a Hokie is just a big part of being an American... like America is a big pie, and i'm just having the Hokie piece. So my question to you guys is, what makes YOU feel like an American?

TV Marriages That Wouldn't Work "In Real Life."

As i was watching tv the other day, i began to take notice of the many families that are portrayed in sitcoms and tv in general. To be more specific, I was thinking about all of the fathers of these sitcoms and the beautiful women that they end up marrying. Even though sitcoms are fictional, as are the characters, i feel like putting each of these characters together is unrealistic, even in a fictional setting. So I'll start with the character that sparked this idea, Homer Simpson.



Homer and Marge Simpson: After years and years of watching this show, I've seen how every week Homer seems to screw up something and ultimately jeopardize their marriage in most episodes. In a normal marriage, this would not fly. People who continually think for themselves first, then apologize when they realize how they've been acting generally don't stay married for very long. I can draw plenty of commonalities between this line of behavior, and the more serious behavior of spousal abuse. Moments of selfishness followed by apologies do not pan out in the long run.
The personality gap between Marge and Homer is so great, it amazes me that Marge's love for Homer keeps them together, because in real marriages, love alone wouldn't keep a wife from staying married to a Homer-like person. And that's exactly how this marriage is staying together, by Marge being so blindingly in love with Homer.



Peter and Lois Griffin: Peter and Lois are so similar to Homer and Marge, that i could almost cut and paste the entire paragraph above. Most episodes, Peter ends up doing something that jeopardizes the marriage, and then ultimately apologizes and gets forgiven for his sins. The only difference is that Lois isn't quite as nice as Marge, so i find this marriage to be less likely to be true in the real world. Lois is a much stronger woman, so i feel like she could "toss aside" Peter easier than Marge could.

Doug and Carrie Heffernan: The King of Queens eh? I doubt it. While Kevin James does indeed rule, I don't believe his character in this sitcom could've EVER gotten Carrie. In almost all of the episodes i've seen, there's been a problem between the two, and neither of them want to be around each other. Carrie is ALWAYS mad/upset/pissed/angry at Doug, and I don't see how they can survive. It seems like a hellish life to live being in a relationship where it's ALL drama and dysfunction. Drama and dysfunction are manageable, but not everyday like the sitcom implies.

Carl and Harriet Winslow: This show (from what i remember) was more about the relationships between the parents and the kids, and the kids and Urkel. Nonetheless, i think Harriet and Carl probably wouldn't have gotten together in the beginning. Carl is hard-headed, and Harriet is strong willed. Like the previous 3 husbands, Carl is also "big-boned," which is surprising, because he is a cop. Don't cops have to run and stuff? Anyways, the way that the two interacted with each other makes me believe that he would've had a hard time picking her up.

Ray and Debbie Barone: The thinnest of my list here, Ray is really just a bafoon. He and his "fed up wife" (as imdb.com says) live across the street from his parents. This really wouldn't be that big of a deal if the parents were easy going and nice, but they're not. They are terribly annoying and a huge stress on the marriage. The biggest problem of this marriage IS the parents. If Ray had ANY sense, he would move away from his parents and SAVE his marriage. With an overbearing mother bearing down on his wife day in and day out, the marriage seem to me to be on the rocks. I would think that most couples who end up living within walking distance of their parents are going to have some problems that stem from said parents.

Now while most mothers and fathers might take offense at my observation about their beloved sons and daughters, i think if they examined their own marriages and placed their parents next door or across the street, they would see my point. I love my parents, but i'm not too sure moving next door is the best environment for a marriage (sorry).


I also want to point out that even though i have doubts about these husbands and wives, their idiosyncrasies are what makes the shows entertaining. It creates drama and laughs, and that is what TV is all about. I like these shows (even if just a little bit) and they wouldn't be the same if they were all functioning loving families. No one wants to watch a show where nothing happens. So be thankful that the marriages are as crazy as they are on tv and hope that none of that travels over to your real life.

A Few Changes.

I'm not sure if this will affect my previous posts, but i've changed around a few things administratively on this site, so hopefully it will all go un-noticed from your viewpoint. If there are any concerns or problems, please contact me and i'll try to fix it.

Just One Small Problem.

There is a small problem with this commercial. And that problem is the word "again." Let's assume that everything in this commercial is "true." For instance, there is a substance called "high speed" and that there is a lab of rats could actually get into it, and that they would in turn become super fast.

Assuming all of that is true, the first technician says "The rats got into the high speed AGAIN." This implies that the rats have gotten into the once before. This creates 1 of 2 different outcomes. 1: They have already slowed them down once before, so they already know how to do it... or 2: The high speed didn't speed them up nearly fast enough the first time that it would be a problem.

#1: The technicians would have already dealt with this problem once before(or would be able to find someone who has). Even though it might be a problem, they would not be as clueless as they appear to be in the commercial. The white guy in the commercial says "We could give them DSL?" in a dumbfounded manner. I feel like one of the 3 of them should have at least an IDEA of what actions to take.

#2: If this is in fact not the first time the rats have gotten into the high speed, and they didn't fix the problem the first (or more) time(s), that identifies a major problem for Comcast. Their high speed was not enough of a problem the first time, which implies that it's not that fast in the first place. They can handle the rats the first time they get into the high speed, but it takes AT LEAST 2 doses of it to make the rats go haywire.

Technically speaking, this commercial is completely unbelievable (with respect to logic). I feel like this commercial would be 1000x better if they didn't use that freaking "again." I haven't seen any other fallacies with their other commercials, but i'm sure they're just around the corner.

My Food Blog.

For those of you that don't know, I tend to "bitch" about my food very often. Just ask anyone in my family. But through my constant bickering and such, they have all told me that i could be a food critic, even with my limited food vocabulary (aka, i am a picky-ish eater, and i usually order the same thing every time).

Even though most food critics like eating varieties of food, i feel that with me liking a small number of foods, it can actually HELP me with comparing and contrasting different restaurants. In scientific terms, having a narrow food tastes is like having a "control." If i order chicken fingers at every restaurant, i can objectively rate each restaurant from the differences in that one item. In contrast to rating spaghetti from A and burgers from B... which is kinda like comparing apples to oranges. I am going to compare apples to apples, and oranges to oranges.

So without further adieu, I am launching my new food blog today with a rating of Olive Garden from which Jess and I visited last night. You can find it at www.Foodinthefastlane.blogspot.com.

Enjoy!

Clothes I'm Never Going To Buy... Part 2.

Before i start this post, i want to refer you to my first clothing post. Now i don't want you guys to begin to think that i am becoming a fashion critic, because let me assure you, my fashion sense is far from being valid.

But, as i was browsing a few clothing sites, i came across these three beauties. From the looks of it, it's just a collared shirt, but it seems to have bleach dripped on it in a random pattern. I don't know what the person who designed these shirts was thinking, but i'm pretty sure that bleach stains are a bad thing. If i saw someone wearing this shirt on the street, i would assume that he is a complete moron because he doesn't know that bleach stains your clothes.... well that or he's colorblind.... or completely blind (not that there's anything wrong with that).

According to all these "hip" clothing stores, the way to make "cool" looking clothes is to find some way to slightly destroy them. Well Aeropostale, A&F, American Eagle, Gap, and Old Navy take note, because i'm going to go ahead and give you a brand new idea to push to all the high schoolers of America... the next new fad in fashion.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the newest trend for this summer line, brilliantly placed cigarette burns! Be the first to own the latest trend in hot-ness. Paris Hilton can be seen around that glass table with her rolled up dollar bill in her brand new Marc Jacobs CB Jeans! (Side Note#1: I had to google "designer jeans" to find a jeans company other than levi's)(Side Note #2: I was originally going to say "Dolce Gabbana" until i searched to figure out how to spell it. For the other men out there like me, they do shoes, not jeans)

On a more serious note, if any designers of clothing happen upon this blog, take a word of advice from someone who doesn't know much about fashion. Making clothes look like they are pre-ruined is a dumb idea... really dumb. Also, making them cost $58 originally is retarded.

Cars.

"I can't complain but sometimes i still do." - Joe Walsh
I've had my new car for 10 months now... Plenty of time to figure out all the benefits and pitfalls of my car. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my new car, but being me, I feel the need to have something to complain about, even though its really nothing to be complaining about. While i'm at it, i'll go ahead and throw in things i miss about the old Gustermobile. But i'll start with the new gustermobile, so here it is, the list of things i'd change.

1.) Radio: I love the radio in my car, but there is one weird thing about it. When i put on a cd and turn on random, the song has to finish for the random to take effect. In other words, if you try to get a new song on random by pushing the track forward button, it just goes to the next track, not another random track. Most other music players that have a random function lets you get a new random song every time you hit the track forward button, but not mine.

2.) Headlights: I prefer to drive with my lights on all the time because it helps my silver car be seen in dusk conditions. It's just safer to drive with your lights on all the time. The only problem with this is that my car doesn't automatically turn my lights off. Granted, my old car didn't let me do this either, but a lot of cars have this feature. Even my mother's 7 year old hyundai elantra turns off her lights for her (and has probably saved her a few batteries in the process). I still have to manually turn my lights on and off.

3.) Dimmer Switch: Most cars have a switch that you can dim your interior lights. On most of the cars i've seen, this switch is a manual wheel. My switch is in my instrument panel (you twist the odometer toggle button). Since my odometer is digital, so is my dimmer. The problem with this is that the step between full brightness and the next step down is huge. When i drive during the day, i have to turn the the dimmer on full brightness, because the next step down is not bright enough for me to see how fast i'm going. This wouldn't be a problem, except when i drive at night, full brightness is WAY too bright and i feel like my instrument panel is blinding me. So depending on the time of day, i have to adjust my dimmer to fit the time of day. Adding to the pain in the ass-edness of this, i have to reach through my steering wheel to get to the switch... which isn't very safe while i'm driving (granted it's safer than removing the keys of the car while the car is still rolling to unlock the glove compartment to listen to the radio, right tom?).

4.) Locks: In most new cars, when the car starts moving forward, the car doors lock themselves. It's just safer to keep your car doors locked while you're driving around. I try to keep them locked at all times when when i'm driving, but i have to remember to lock my door.

5.) Locks (cont.): Since i like to ride around with my locks on, it would be helpful if when i pulled the handle (to get out of the car) it would unlock. VW and Audi does this great. You pull the handle twice to open the door. The first time to unlock the door, the second time to open the door. One of the reasons for this is that someone gets upset when i don't unlock the door fast enough for her to exit the car. But that's another blog. Moving on...

6.) Gas door: My gas door is on the passenger side... kinda inconvenient, but at least i can actually pump gas into the car.... WOO HOO!

7.) Aux input: Last, and well let's face it, least. Important that is... is the placement of the auxiliary input for my ipod/mp3 player. It's right in the middle of the radio, so the cord that comes out of the radio is all over the car, as opposed to where everyone in their right mind puts their ipod, in the cupholder/cubby hole to the driver's right side. It would've been better to put an input jack somewhere closer to where the ipod is going to lay.

Now I'll go over some of the things i miss about my car.

1.) Eat More Chicken: My antenna topper. I don't have an actual antenna on my new car, so i can't have an antenna topper. This guy gave my car some character, some personality, some style. and i miss it.

2.) Apathy: Sorry mom and dad, but with the accent, i really felt like i could "abuse" it more than i can with my car now. For example, when it snows at tech, they push all the snow into big piles, and you only see 4 wheeling cars parked in those spots.... unless i was driving that day. I could park my car on a big pile of snow, and not really care if the suspension was harmed during the process. It also made me unafraid of driving in the snow. Right now, i don't feel particularly confident in driving my car with the extra power and the sport tires in the snow.

That's about it for my cars. Drive safe!

My Christmas List.

My mother has been bugging me about getting her a christmas for me. After some thought, i have compiled a few things via the internets that i would like to receive for this holiday coming up. I decided to post this list on here with descriptions so that those of you reading can get a better feel for who i am and what i enjoy. Most of this stuff that i have in this list will come as no surprise to the people that already know me...

Also, i encourage all of you reading this to make your own "wishlist" and post it for all to see, because the more people know about your little wants and needs, the more they'll know about you in general. So here we go:

Random Crap
Funny T-Shirt:
I actually used to play Ping-Pong for Tech so this one is funny but kinda true... it's very me.

Comfy T-Shirt:
Life is Good is a great company and this shirt is very much how i usually view things

Transformers Chess Set:
This is more of a thing i have with wanting to collect chess sets... i saw this at walmart and thought it looked pretty damn cool.

Brain Age 1 and 2:
Been playing BA1 on Tom and Becky's DS's and it is good fun.

DVD/Music
Multiplicity:
This movie is great, and i've been wanting to buy it for a while, just haven't seen it/found it since i thought about it.

Flight of the Conchords DVD:
Great TV show that totally cracks me up... check them out on YouTube... i suggest watching business time.

Flight of the Conchords CD:
Going along with the DVD, this tiny album will let me listen to them in the car, and on my ipod.

Ratatouille:
Great movie... Pixar really knows what the hell they're doing. Love their stuff.

Serenity:
I just realized that i've said "Great movie" on every single one of the other dvds... so i'll say this.... Awesome movie.


Drum Stuff
Bell Cymbal:
This thing sounds really cool. I would prefer the 6" one.

Splash Cymbal:
You'll notice that this link is going directly to the splash cymbal navigation page. This is because i really don't know which one i want... Also note that i already have one, but i would like another one on my right side that compliments it's sound... would be nice to get some contrast between the two.

Cymbal Stacker:
I would use this to put the splash cymbal above my crash without having to buy a new stand for it. Pretty cool concept if you ask me.

China Cymbal:
I also put the entire list on here, because i really don't know which one i want... the easiest way for me to pick out one of these is for someone to just pick one out for me. This is one that i am not really excited about... just some ideas to keep in mind.

Trashformer Cymbal:
More of a joke than anything else, don't really want it, but thought it was funny looking.... probably funny sounding too... (perfect for Lose Your Lunch).



That's it for now... i know i've mentioned a couple other things to Jessy that i can't think of at the moment, but i will keep this list up to date once i think of the other things that i want, but don't want to spend my own money on.

Why World of Warcraft is Fun.

I am a big dork. Starting on November 23, 2004... i was hooked to the World of Warcraft. Now this really isn't something that i like to brag about... in fact... there was a period of time where i would very hypocritically make fun of a "friend" who would do nothing but play WoW... but go home to pretty much the same thing as him. This is not something that is looked upon as "cool" or "useful" in the real world. This is a hobby of mine that i am not proud of, but still find a huge amount of enjoyment out of... So... in defense of this habit of mine that is not quite the healthiest of all, i will attempt to explain the ins and outs of what makes this game so addicting to the layman... or laywoman... whichever you prefer to be today.

As i said before... i started playing this game when it came out on November 23rd, 2004. My first character (named Babyo) really didn't see much playing time, as he is only level 38 (out of 70). I played this character to about level 24 until i decided that school is more important than WoW, so i cancelled my subscription during the semester, and finished up with said semester before i decided to pick it up again. Upon starting again, my certain class was an overplayed, overused, over everything in the game... so i asked my brother what new character i should start. So i created my current character Lloydxmas... (code for Lloyd Christmas, the main character in Dumb and Dumber). I've played Lloyd from pretty much that point on. In fact, i have 78 days, 14 hours logged on this character. Out of 1050 days since the game has been released, this is a fair amount of time i've spent in front of my computer (and why i don't look like i did in high school anymore).

So what makes this game worth all the time spent? I've invested a lot of time in this game and when i'm playing, i FEEL like my character. I feel powerful. I can kick some ass. I can approach anyone 1v1 and feel like i can take them down. In real life... i avoid conflict, i could probably be beaten up by a 4th grader. I've never been in a fight, and when things are looking like they are going to escalate into a fight, i am a flight kind of guy... I like to talk my way out of situations, and if that doesn't work, i'll walk away... or run away... whatever it takes. But in this game... i can engage in battle, without any real fear of getting hurt, or spending time in the hospital, or spending time in jail...it really frees me in ways that i can't in my real life.

I realize that this might sound crazy to some people reading this... but the game still gets my heart pumping. Just like a real confrontation would in real life, my heart starts pumping when it gets down into the dirty. There really is no feeling like being attacked at half health and half mana (the stuff that lets me damage the opponent) and coming out on top. It's a feeling that i really don't get to experience anywhere else in my life. It's a pressure situation... and in anything else i've done in my life, i don't really get pressure situations... i don't do sports, i don't do racing, i don't do surgery(thanks scrubs for giving me this reference)... the ONLY pressure situation i have where it's decide... or lose... is in this game.

I've played basketball, i've played baseball... there have been times where the clock is running down... or the inning is almost over... and my heart doesn't start racing like it does sitting here. I guess it really boils down to the fact that i didn't ever really care about baseball or basketball... it was just something to fill up the time... I feel like it's something that i'll never really be able to show or demonstrate to the outside person...

I'm sure my brother has had that feeling, but how do i show this? Maybe its like laying your eyes on the mona lisa for the first time(thanks jessy for THIS reference)... maybe it's like winning that spelling bee you've been training for... maybe its like seeing the looks of your kids faces when santa brings exactly what they wanted (thanks mom and dad)... maybe it's like seeing the looks on your kids faces when santa brings what they weren't expecting (thanks again mom and dad), maybe it's like hitting that perfect drive off the tee... maybe it's like writing a song without even thinking about it... maybe it's like finding that treasure under the ocean you've been searching for, maybe it's like learning how to ride your bike without training wheels... maybe it's like realizing that you can do much better than what you're doing... maybe it's like hating a class during the whole semester but then realizing once it's gone you miss it... maybe it's like 3 part harmony... I'm not really sure... but all i know is that the people who play World of Warcraft have all felt it.

It's this thrill that i get every so often that makes me continue to play this game, and i hope that when you are doing what you enjoy, you get that same feeling that i do when it's all going right and you're in your zone. So go find that thing that makes you happy, and do it, because that's all we have...








...well that and chipotle.

The End Of The Road.

Having a ton of songs on your Ipod is really only good for 1 thing... hearing stuff you would never willingly say, "I want to hear this song." Everyone i know that has an Ipod, has it filled with mostly stuff they like... but there are always skip-able songs, songs that they fell in love with in 3rd grade, or just random crap from some 1 hit wonder's full album.

Listening to my ipod every night has its ups and and downs... one of the downs includes these random ass songs that come on. And even though the song i'm about to dissect isn't really a random song... it really shouldn't be on my ipod... because i would skip it. This particular song happens to find it's way into the 100ish songs out of the 3000ish songs on my ipod probably 3-4 times a week. SO... after giving up hope, i decided that i would listen to it the next couple times it came on, and i realized that it really is a terribly written song. You all should recognize the song because it was very popular when it was a single... I will now dissect End of the Road, made popular (at least to me) by Boyz II Men... not Boys to Men.... not Boys 2, Men... not Men at Work... Anyways... here's my critique of this song, verse by verse (lyrics are in blue):

This song starts off with a short spoken line by the Bass dude who always talks in the songs...

"Girl you know we belong together
I have no time for you to be playing
With my heart like this
You’ll be mine forever baby, you just see"
- This opening line makes you start to feel bad for this dude...

Verse 1

" We belong together
And you that I’m right
Why do you play with my heart,
Why do you play with my mind?"
-If she knew he was right... then this song wouldn't really happen... so right off the bat, we know the "guy" in this song is dumb. He's right about them being together, but he can't figure out why she plays with his heart and mind?

"Said we’d be forever
Said it’d never die
How could you love me and leave me
And never say good-bye?"
-This line gives me the impression that he feels like she blind-sided him... apparently he needs to wake up, and smell the break-up. This blind-sided line "never say goodbye" has relevance later... so pay attention.

"Girl I can’t sleep at night without holding you tight
Girl, each time I try I just break down and cry
Pain in my head oh I’d rather be dead
Spinnin’ around and around"
-This is actually my favorite line of the whole song... very well written... you understand how he's feeling... the description of it is brilliant... no complaints here.

Chorus

"Although we’ve come to the end of the road
Still I can’t let you go
It’s unnatural, you belong to me, I belong to you
Come to the end of the road
Still I can’t let you go
It’s unnatural, you belong to me, I belong to you"
-You belong to me, i belong to you... apparently not. It's a chorus... a good summarization, but i really only think that he can say "i belong to you"... "you belong to me" is very stalker-ish.

Verse 2
This is where it starts to get a little weird...

"Girl, I know you really love me,
You just don’t realize
You’ve never been there before
It’s only your first time"
-If he's talking about love, or sex here... they're both kinda creepy. If she really loves him, but doesn't realize it... then is it really love? I am assuming they've been together for a while, so that rules out the "still getting used to you" realizations. If they haven't been together for a while, then this guy got wayyyy to attached wayyyyy to fast. And the whole first time thing... still creepy.

"Maybe I’ll forgive you, hmm
Maybe you’ll try
We should be happy together
Forever, you and i"
-Sounds like from the previous lines of the song, he's already forgiven her... so this is a moot point... she left and didn't say goodbye, so i'm pretty sure she's not going to try. And with the happy together forever thing... Didn't sound like the relationship was so happy in the first place. so this guy is all mixed up.

"Will you love me again like you loved me before
This time I want you to love me much more
This time instead just come to my bed
And baby just don’t let me, don’t let me down"
-The beginning of this verse is "Girl i know you really love me." And the first step he wants to take after she loves him more, is to run straight to bed? Not the best long term planner in the bunch folks. Everything gets solved in bed... brilliant plan there genius.

Chorus Again

Now after this chorus comes the part of the song that makes the rest of the song make NO SENSE. The bass guy comes on and delivers this very convincing speak to the girl. Hilarity ensues...

Spoken

"Girl I’m here for you
All those times of night when you just hurt me
And just run out with that other fella
Baby I knew about it, I just didn’t care
You just don’t understand how much I love you do you?
I’m here for you"
-Wow. So let me get this straight. This girl has played games with your heart and mind, left without saying goodbye, and cheated on you numerous times? "You belong to me" my ass. She NEVER belonged to him. ever. never. The next line says "I just didn't care, you just don't understand how much i love you." What the hell is this guy thinking? What does he even think love is? This guy has no clue. He probably "loved" her because she was looking for a place to crash and someone gullible enough to pay for her shoes and purses and stuff. From the sound of it... its more like his first time in love (or sex for that matter). Also, remember the "never say goodbye" line from before? If he didn't see the outcome of this relationship coming, then it's obvious this guy has the IQ of someone dumber than Forrest.... but he sure can sing his ass off.

"I’m not out to go out and cheat on you all night
Just like you did baby but that’s all right
Hey, I love you anyway
And I’m still gonna be here for you ’till my dying day baby
Right now, I’m just in so much pain baby
Cause you just won’t come back to me
Will you? just come back to me"
-Still wanting her to come back. This guy probably still lives with his mother and plays xbox all night, dresses up for harry potter, and goes to star wars conventions (granted i do 2 of the 4, so i'm only a half nerd, but i'm cool damnit). This girl has been using him from day 1 and will continue to do so when she runs out of money and has no other options. This guy will always take her back because all she has to do is bat her pretty little eyes and he falls for it every time. 2 things going on here... she's the devil, and he's retarded... this is a terrible combination for him.

"Yes baby my heart is lonely
My heart hurts baby
Yes I feel pain too
Baby please"
-"baby i knew about it, i just didn't care" this guy obviously has 2 personalities and they're both morons... just one of them has an aching head and heart.

Final Lead-in to the Chorus

"This time instead just come to my bed
And baby just don’t let me go"
- I'm sick of this guy and his utter lack of having a clue.

So that's it for this song. People liked this song because it was Boyz II Men and they were popular at the time, so no one really listened to the story of the words. Lyrically speaking, this is a terrible song. But it's got a nice sound and it's a good song to slow dance to at your prom... but other than that... it's getting skipped from now on... only because i'm too lazy to find it on my ipod and delete it. And for your viewing and listening pleasure... the video to this song...

Note: this is the "radio version" without the beginning speech. The album has the whole song.

Stoplights.

I drive at a lot of "weird" times... and by that i mean really early in the morning. Anywhere between midnight and 6am. At these times, there are little to no cars on the road... especially closer to 2-3am.

I have noticed that even though i'm basically the only car on the road... i still have to wait for some stoplights because they have a timer once the trigger is tripped. The programming for these lights just baffles me. It makes no sense to me to keep a timer past midnight... at the latest.

I've also noticed that once i'm on a normally busy road, and i'm still the only person on the road, that some lights still change no matter if there's someone waiting or not. It's like the box that controls the lights has to cycle through each position just so that it doesn't bug out. If i'm on a 3 lane highway (aka 28) and there is no one waiting to make a left turn onto said road, then the light should always stay in the direction of the 3 lane highway. It is ridiculous for a light to HAVE to cycle through. I'm sure there's plenty of people who can program these boxes to help us few late late drivers.

Going along with the last paragraph... if i come up to 28 from a side road... and i'm turning right... i don't expect the light to turn for me. This is less efficient for the flow of traffic. But if i'm turning left, this light should start to change as soon as i hit the trigger. It makes it more of a first come, first serve basis... and at 2am... i'm pretty sure everyone that's out driving that's been stuck at a light with NO cars coming would agree with me.

Bad News Never Had Good Timing... Part 2.

Before I start this blog i want to re-direct you guys to This Post. Everything that is said here is pretty much how i feel about that side of the story... you know... minus all the big words and art and stuff (i tend to think in small words that i know what they mean... and music... sorry honey).

I try not to think about the shootings because all it does is get me mad... with no way to release that anger towards the source... aka meaningless anger. So anytime that i got reminded of what happened, i just pushed it right out to avoid those feelings. No use getting upset for nothing. But after my 2 days off this week being spent at Tech, going to see the free concert put on by DMB for the students, you couldn't avoid thinking about it. Well... i couldn't at least. And i have a few things to add about the situation that i don't think too many people think about. Maybe no-one has thought of them. But there are a few points, none of which are related to another, so i'll just separate them by "-" marks in bullet form.

-Walking to the concert Jessy and I grabbed a Collegiate Times that we walked by, and one of the headlines on the front page was something to the effect of "Parents of Victims Call for Firings and Resignations." Now i understand that the families of all the victims must be living in a nightmare, but in my head... this is really only 1 person's fault... trying to throw the blame to someone who you can actually punish is just wrong. This whole situation is unthinkable. No-one can predict the future. Throwing the blame on people might make the victim's families have a little bit of closure, but at what cost? And it's not the same kind of closure as having the fuckhead here to punish. It would be like blaming the shower for getting your pillow wet, when you were the genius who went and laid down without drying your hair. Following the same example... you see water drops from your bed, through the hall, into the bathroom, and finally into the shower... and after finding out that water comes from the shower head, firing your shower for getting your hair wet, when there is clearly someone else to blame. (Note: i realize that the culprit of this little mystery story is in fact "you" but you get what i'm going for here)


-Virginia Tech failed to stop this kid from going on a rampage. But how many kids have they stopped from doing the same thing? Probably hundreds. Probably thousands. Probably Ten-thousands. Who knows... and who cares. Even if they have stopped 1 person from lashing out at society, they are successful. There are plenty of messed up people out there, and VT has surely helped a lot of them with their counseling center. All the public cares about is that Tech "screwed up" and missed all his signs. But they didn't. They tried to get him help. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." I commend Virginia Tech for help the thousands of kids who need help dealing with their problems... in fact, i commend ANYONE who helps ANYONE ELSE through a tough time. Whether it's just a phone call to check on someone you haven't talked to in a while, or helping an old lady across the street(sorry it's cliche, but you get my point).

-(Continuing on with the previous bullet, but in a different direction): Counselors help kids in many ways, but you really can't tell how many violent acts they have prevented. The only statistics that people ever see are the outcome of someone slipping through the cracks. You can't tell who would've been a rapist, murderer, or a thief... but after something happens, all the signs point to something bad happening... If you could tell who is going to be a rapist, murderer, or a thief... then this world wouldn't need counselors and therapists, etc. But the main point here is that the numbers only reflect all those that slipped through. I like to think that the majority of people that have the potential to do something bad that get help, are actually stopped with the right help. But as i said, we will never know.

-After thinking about all this on my 4 hour car ride home, i can't help but think about how much my life would've been different if this had happened 2 years ago. Even though i feel a huge connection with Tech, and still consider myself a Hokie for life... i have experienced this situation at an arm's distance... with my only connection with Tech right now being Jessy... she's really the only person down there that i even know anymore... But what if that was 2 years ago? How would i convince Mom to let me go back? Would i even want to go back? Would i know someone in one of those rooms? But i wasn't there. Which i'm thankful for.



So that's it. I know this not going away, at least for the time being... but i think i'm done for now. But yeah, it's not over with, and i don't think i'll ever be able to help those who were really affected...





But i will still try.

This Kid Has Music in Him Already.

Teddy as a Drummer:
Teddy as a Bassist:

Teddy as a Dancer/ Background Screamer... i mean Singer: I'm a little worried i'm gonna lose my drumming job if his parents keep putting those sticks in his hands... guess i better start practicing!

Check Cards, Credit Cards, and the Things That Read Them.

Debit or Credit. We hear this in our lives a lot nowadays. Will probably be hearing it a lot more in the future too. But there has been a major oversight in this whole trend of paying with plastic as opposed to cash. Actually a few... but we'll get there.

One of the first problems that arises involves the card readers that the customers themselves are told to use. "You can swipe your card there" as they usually say... but every store has a different one. Once you swipe your card, it's almost a guaruntee that the machine will assume that you want to use debit, but there is NO easy way to declare that you want to use your card as a credit card. A lot of times, you need to push either CANCEL, or NO (both of which are normally on these machines). But some stores, when you push cancel, it cancels the whole thing, and you end up looking like an idiot and having to swipe your card once again, and ask the clerk how to make the machine do what you want.

Some places handle this better than others... Wegmans (of course) has proven to be one of the easiest places to use plastic (though it is still not without it's troubles). You swipe your card, and it brings up a menu. This menu has "credit, debit, something else, and gift card" buttons on the touch screen.... if you push credit, it requires the cashier to push a button to confirm that is what you want to do, then it brings up a signature screen on the touch screen, you sign and be on your way (side note: you must spend at least $25 to require a signature, otherwise, it just prints the receipt). If you push debit, the cashier pushes his button, and it brings up the numpad on the touchscreen for you to put in your PIN with a big ENTER button at the bottom. Sadly, this is the EASIEST way i've seen it done.

I said before that some are better than others... and i think i've found the worst too... Shoppers has a card reader that has the WORST order of operations i've ever seen. This pad isn't a touch-screen like some others, instead, it has a numpad, a big green enter/yes, and a big red cancel/no, and to the right of the screen, F1, F2, F3 and F4. You swipe your card, and it brings up 4 options next to the F's... credit, debit, gift, and cancel... or something to that effect... where you have to push the F's to choose.... When you choose credit, you sign in the little touchscreen on the pad, and instead of pushing the BIG GREEN ENTER button... you have to push F1... You effectively NEVER push the BIG GREEN ENTER button... but are confined to the F's. The cashiers at Shoppers have gotten so fed up with this system that they have put a little sign on the pad, that tells you to push F1..... which people effectively NEVER see, because it's right in front of their face.

I asked the Cashier yesterday how many times he says "push F1" in a day, and he just rolled his eyes and said "too many." I feel his pain working in the dairy and getting asked where the velveeta was 30 times a day.

Using credit cards brings forth another problem i've seen...

Some stores you go to, you still have to hand them your card and have them swipe it. Most of the time, when the register prints the receipt, it prints out the customer's copy first, then it prints the copy that needs to be signed. THIS IS BACKWARDS. The first thing that any register should print should be the piece that needs to be signed... Now it's not a life or death situation, but it's freaking annoying.

The third problem that i've seen involves the card readers where the employee punches in the amount of money to be charged by hand. This is just dumb design. Everyone makes mistakes, but who wants to be at the wrong end of a $67.55 burger when it's only worth $6.75. Granted, the company will most assuredly refund the money, but this is just bad business tactics. Put something that's a little more fool-proof and i'll be happy.


My suggestion to any merchant that accepts credit cards, is to find a reader that doesn't make the customer feel like an idiot. There are some "new" ways to pay with credit cards that look really interesting... They are kinda like Exxon's speedpass, but with credit cards. I have only seen a few places that are able to accept this, but hopefully it's gaining popularity...

Staying True to Form.

A couple months ago, i lived with my brother Tom. It was nice freeloading off of them for a while... but times change, and people grow babies and stuff... so i decided to get out of there while i could (aka: before pregnant hormones kicked in... sorry Becky, you understand though).

Throughout my stay at the L.P. (Tom's house), I found out that i had really found a friend in their 1st child (read: Maddy). She would just WAIT and WAIT for me to sit on the couch so she could have a nice comfy place to sleep (aka: me). So it became apparent that i was one of her favorite places to sleep... so much so that she would almost never hear when one of them came home. I really didn't think much of this.... UNTIL....

So now i think it's just a trend that all of tom's kids will seek me out as their personal mattress... which i'm ok with, but once they hit 14 or 15, it's gotta stop. So enjoy the pictures of Teddy and his favorite uncle/mattress.


P.S. He stayed asleep on me like so for almost an hour and a half.

Some Things Just Bother Me.

I have realized that some companies are better than others. There are mainly 2 things that bother me which seem very very easy to avoid. Of course there's always the things that anyone would complain about, such as dirty bathrooms, stuff being misorganized, anything that makes shopping hard... but i'm not talking about that. I'm talking about things that mainly go unnoticed because they do not harm business, and they don't yell out at you like a leaky faucet, or a stinky garbage can.

The first of my 2 complaints are stores with a lighted sign in the front. Only, they have a few letters where the bulb has burned out. Whenever i see a store that is missing a letter, it says to me that the management is lazy... or they are penny-pinchers who are looking to save a few bucks to increase profit. I know that if i had a store, and the sign read Owe s Importing and Exporting, It would be fixed that night or the next day. Period. To me, there is no better way to say to the customer, "Hey, I don't care enough about my store's outer appearance, so i don't care about you." This offense is equally as dissatisfying to me as a store who never washes the windows, with fingerprints and gunk stuck on. Lack of professionalism. That's what it says. So fix your signs, and get back to me.


Moving on... double doors.

Store managers... If you have a double door to your store, please, for the love of God, KEEP THEM BOTH UNLOCKED. Nothing creates awkward situations quite like a double door where only 1 door opens. Just think of how many times you have tried to walk into a store, you pull the handle, and it's locked... Just at that same instant, someone is exiting the store, and of course they're walking right for the unlocked door (the one you did not choose), so you have to go through the "will they open the door for me, or am i going to open the door for them?" dance. What good is a double door where only 1 door works? Essentially, they should've just saved the trouble of building 2 doors, and just made it 1... they put 2 doors there for a reason, they might as well use them... I'm not sure if people think it saves money on heating/AC bills to have only 1 door that opens, but to me... it's worth the extra 7 cents a month so that my customers will be able to enter and exit at their own will.

What makes this even worse, is when there's the double, double door. I've actually walked into a store that had the left door locked on the first stage of doors, and then on the second set, the right door was locked, so you essentially had to walk through the left door, then the right door to get into the store. Can you guess how many door handles i touched in that 30 seconds?

4, that's how many. All because i guessed wrong on the first set of doors, then assumed that the same side was going to be unlocked for the second go-round. Wrong. It is just infuriating to me that i have to go through this to enter your store... not to mention that anyone who guesses wrong looks and feels like an idiot for having problems opening the door to a very "open for business" store. Its almost the same feeling as walking up to a store window at 9:05 when they close at 9 and having them lock you out... you feel like an a moron for not knowing that they closed.

Even when 1 of the doors is broken, this is still unacceptable to me. Once again, if i had my own store, this would be fixed immediately... I would call whoever i needed to get this fixed. Pay whatever i need to make it better. And if they can't do it until friday, then they really don't deserve my business, and i'll replace those inconvenient to fix doors with something that i know is going to work. Even if i have to do it myself.

In conclusion, I've seen what it takes to keep a store at the top of the game when it comes to appearance and customer service, and i've seen the lengths that some store owners/managers take to ensure their customer's satisfaction. It's not so much as something they do, but just their general attitude to the way that they treat their customers and their investments to make them as perfect as they can day in and day out. If i ever own a store, you can be damn sure that both the doors will be unlocked during business hours, and the sign will have all working lights. I guarantee it.

I'm an Uncle!

I am an uncle. I'm very excited about this... but i will spare you guys with a mushy-gushy blog... and instead just refer you all to Mom's Blog and Dad's Blog for pictures.



P.S. All of you should comment on mom's blog to get her to write more...

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.