Laurie Glendinning

Mrs. Glendinning (nee Palmer), 46, of Doylestown, Pa., died on Dec. 21, 2006. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006, at the Grace Gospel Chapel, Plumsteadville, Pa. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Shelly Funeral Home, Easton and Kellers Church Roads, Plumsteadville, and 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Interment will follow in the Doylestown Cemetery. Born in Pomona, Calif., Mrs. Glendinning lived in New Providence, N.J., before moving to Doylestown. She attended Rutgers University in Newark. She was a full-time homemaker and in fellowship at Grace Gospel Church, Plumsteadville, where she was involved with the Awana Childrens Club. Mrs. Glendinning was truly devoted to her children and family (Proverbs 31). She loved children. She is survived by Ross, her husband of 23 years; her parents, David and Mary Palmer of New Providence, N.J.; a son, Eric; three daughters, Julie, Lisa and Claire, and two brothers, Doug and Randy Palmer. If desired, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Mrs. Glendinnings name may be sent to the Kitchen Renovation Project, c-o New York City Rescue Mission, 90 Lafayette St., New York, N.Y. 10013.

My poor little car won't run well enough to drive.

I left it in Columbia.

'Twas not a good day.

a watched grade is never posted

For me in my head, the semester doesn't finish until all of my grades have been posted. I know, it's over and done with once I've taken the exam, but I just don't feel like I'm done until the prof gives me my grade.

So why is my prof not posting my grade? I have two of them, but the third one, the exam we took four days ago, isn't posted. I just want to know how I did in the class and get it over with.

Alright, forget waiting for it. Done with studying, be back in about seven hours.

end of exams

Tomorrow's my last exam. Seeing how it's at 9a, I probably should be in bed now, but I'm finishing my studying.

Two grades have come in; B+ and a C+. Not the best, but better than the alternative.

I can't wait for this semester to be over.

Welcome to Danny, beta version

Blogger just switched my blog over to the beta version of the new google service.

I hope it's worth it.

I'm finishing up my "best of" list for 2006. Suggestions welcome.

Exam week

This is it--exam week.

Freshman year, I began a tradition that I continue to uphold. This tradition includes weird sleep patterns. Patterns such as: wake up for exam, take exam, return home, sleep for eight hours, wake up in early morning, study for next exam, take exam, return home, and repeat cycle. Days become defined as only the change in number.

We take way too much pleasure in other peoples' misfortune.

My iPod bit the bullet today.

And I feel way too superficial saying that.

I was thinking on my drive (that I had to endure listening to, gasp, the radio!) about how much in life I rely on that just isn't necessary. Scratch that, I rely on stuff that's just plain stupid. Like my iPod. Or my car. Or my computer. Or any one of the myriad of peripheral things that I think are important and seem to cause trouble for me when they go kaput. But really, I think about how people 50 and 100 years ago lived and what they did when their iPods died.

And when I think of it in those terms, and how all of these "important" things are just hay and stubble and are going to burn in the end, I really don't mind the fact that my iPod died, or that music library went with it, or that I drive a really old, noisy, hail-dented car, and I start to forget all the things that went wrong, and I start to think that God's sovereign and Jesus' will carry me through it. IPod? Car? Things? Forget those, and keep your eyes on Jesus.

It's funny how car troubles or a dead iPod make me think of God.

Free running

"That's when our radio show's on, if that's too late, then move to a different time zone and stream it." -the radio tonight

I just registered for the Cooper River Bridge Run!

Charleston, here I come!

Over the river and through the woods...

Today was my Marine Science section's field trip.

So, the professor tells us for the past week to meet up at the bus stop before 5:00a, because the bus would be leaving then. Then, around seven or so last night, my TA emails our section and tells us that the bus is leaving at 6:30a instead of 5:00a. Not wanting to be late, I quickly email the TA back.

He never wrote back. Well, that's not true. He did...at 5:20a this morning...after I had gotten up and left the house already, thinking I was going to be late.

Well, the TA was correct, and the bus didn't show up until 6:30a.

Other cool events of the day: it was my first time fishing like the people in the Bible; another guy and me waded in to about shoulder-deep water and took the net (a seine-net deployed from the shore). After our first attempt and failure, we tried again, and this time, caught several different types of fish, many the size of an open hand.

Another cool thing: I rode my bike to school in the dark. Fifteen hours later, I rode it again in the dark, back home.

A bus almost ran me over this morning.

I was legally crossing at a crosswalk today, and, in the middle of the crosswalk, the bus getting ready to turn decides that I'm not crossing fast enough. A quick U-turn back to where I came from is the only thing that prevented my untimely demise.

Tonight was too beautiful to do anything else but ride to house church. A quick stop at the library took me through a darkened section of town. The peace, the silence of nothing else except my tires slight hum against the tarmack. The out of the way road, which are rarely travelled in the day, now are completely lifeless, freeing any worries from my mind. Cars are much easier to detect, even from behind, because the headlights suddenly cast your shadow onto the road.

There's just somemting about the cool night air that mezzmerizes me. I love the night. I love riding, walking, just being in the out-of-doors during the night. Maybe it's the solitude that one can find with no one else outside, maybe the moon and stars in the sky add to the effect, but whatever it is, I like it.

the "How To" of the day (courtesy google)

How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel

I've been listening to this for the past several hours.

Great music.

"Don't worry, the grate over the heater can't get too hot."

So says the pilot lighter man. Boy, was he wrong.

I think I have a grid pattern burned in my foot now.

I know today's going to be good.

I woke up at 7:30a listening to Coldplay. The ride to school, while cold, was slow and peaceful. My second class was cancelled, and then I got to eat breakfast at Einstien's. And when I got back home, the house was warm and quiet.

SCE&G finally turned my house's heat on yesterday

Ok. Recap. So, for the past two weeks, it's been cold. Really cold. As in, 30 degrees at night cold. Now, for the first day or so, there weren't any problems. My house's insulation retained enough heat from the day to survive the night. After those first couple days, however, it was frigid. In my house;numerically, the thermometer said it was about 50 degrees at times. It was frigid in the sense that the winter jacket stayed on when you came in the front door. Frigid in the sense of, when you went to bed, you didn't take it off. Frigid, meaning that you slept in your sleeping bag, under the blankets on your bed. My normal five minutes wake-up shower in the morning turned into something a lot longer than that.

So, I call SCE&G and see what it takes for them to light the pilot light on my furnace. After they determined that I was the new tenant, and that the furnace had been on under the old tenant, I was informed that the city inspector had to come check it out prior to the pilot light being lit. Sounded reasonable, so I called the city inspector. They said that since I wasn't the property owner, I would have to have my landlord call the city inspector's office and give them permission to inspect the furnace. Again, sounded reasonable. So I called my landlord. He said that what I was told wasn't right; that the regulation only appiled once the property's title had changed hands, not the tenants. Then I called SCE&G back. After 45 minutes of wrestling with the operator over the phone, I got a scheduled for Friday, with a 30-minute call ahead. So, Ben and I take turns house sitting and waiting for the technician to show up. I left for work about 3p, and around 5:30p, SCE&G calls me. Due to "inclement weather" (apparently, the drizzle that occured on Friday was too intense for them), my appointment was re-scheduled for Monday. And, to make sure we weren't sitting around the house for the entire day a second time, our appointment was scheduled for 8a to 11a on Monday.

Monday rolls around, and no technician. I show up at home after class that evening, and I find a note on the door telling me that the tech had come by around 5:45p, almost seven hours behind schedule. Trying not to sound annoyed, I called again, and set another appointment for Wednesday, this time from 8a to 12p.

To our surprise, the tech showed up at 8:45a, and got the furnace lit and functioning (really, I was starting to think that they didn't work that early).

And being able to wear shorts and a t-shirt around the house is again a nice expierience.

Shellfenol: so why aren't you in bed? are you not normal?
DanGlen: no, i'm not normal. (haven't you figured that ou by now?) ;-)
Shellfenol: i guess so ;-)
Shellfenol: join the not-normal club
DanGlen: join? I started the club!
Shellfenol: oh!

"it's like having a friend, with a really cool mp3 collection." -the radio tonight

so many things...

...so many thoughts. i don't even know what they are. a 12 lane highway transistioning to a 2 lane street is the bottleneck that my mind create for itself. people and my relationship with them in our daily interactions. but hey, who ever said it's easy?

I get so fed up with people at times. I want to be nice, I really do, but some people can strech patience to an absolute limit. "Get this for me," no please, no thanks, no appreciation that they're interacting with a fellow human being. The choose to ignore that piece of themseleves, that reflection, that they see in other's eyes. They treat others like dirt, not caring one second for anyone else's well being; they are absolute in their minds. This is why I hate retail with a passion-it simply feeds the materialistic nature of people. It inspires them to treat themselves as a god, no care, no concern for others.

Then there was that preacher guy that hit town earlier this week. The ignorance he was showing towards other and their needs just dug at my psyche. I don't hate him; I have care and concern for him, as much as anyone else; the outrage towards his comments and speech was something that was hard to contain. I refused to jeer at him like the rest of the crowd (Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. -proverbs 26:4), but i just left the scene out of utter disgust for the man's actions.

Riding from class today to get lunch, I passed the public performance area, and heard a commotion. There, I found a sidewalk evangelist "preaching" to the surrounding crowd. Comments such as, "Tupac's a heathen and burning in hell," "Bob Marley's in hell because he smoked marajana," "Christianity is a religion of hate toward sin," really demonstrated the subject's lack of intellegence even before approaching the crowd.

After listening for several minutes, I discovered a fairly obvious fact: apparently, the man had ADD to some degree. After getting directed onto the topic of repentance and redemption, it would only take an individual in the crowd mentioning "homosexuality" or "democrats" before a tirade of ignorance would spout from his lips.

The crown jewels of the entire scene is when a student wrote "OPIATE OF THE MASSES" on a piece of paper and held it above the "preacher"'s head. The truth conveyed through that scene was ironic. And while it was good to see that people were actually engaging in a discussion about religion, the basis of Marx's statement of organized religion was upheld in the gathering.

11 Reasons Why Men Rule:

1. Your last name stays put.
2. Wedding plans take care of themselves.
3. Car mechanics tell you the truth.
4. Same job, better pay.
5. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
6. You know stuff about tanks, submarines, and other war equipment.
7. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness or selflessness.
8. One mood, ALL the time.
9. You can open all your own jars and containers.
10. If someone forgets to invite you to something, he or she can still be your friend.
11. The world is your urinal.

A large box knocked on my front door.

Then old man who was looking for his wife walked out of the box and talked to me.

I checked my e-mail with my cellphone today.

How cool is that?

"It's not enough to have a product, you also have to have the marketing. I mean, where would Paul Newman's salad dressing be without Paul Newman? Or Michelin tires be without that big, fat, hairless, French, albino, marshmallow guy? Or Janet Jackson without the Super Bowl?" -Red Green

My trip was great. But...

48 to 1 awake to sleep ratio is not good.

Bed. Now. Duemo muchos.

I saw this hawk today. Looking for lunch, it made a pretty good choice to come close to campus and its squirrell population.

I've needed some new speakers for a while.

So when I saw the home entertainment system 50% off at the store today, it was sorta a done-deal right there.

Plus 40% more off the discount price made it a very attractive offer.

It makes me happy.

events from my day

So yeah, after sitting in the Thomas Cooper for about four hours, I feel like a zombie when I emerge back at the surface. In fact, I feel like every muscle has atrophied by the time I get up from my little desk/cubicle. Not to mention the chairs are based on the worst anatomical design template. They might be comfortable for crash dummies, but not just regular dummies.

I went into work for a couple hours and rearanged cameras this evening. And I got all itchy from playing in the fiberglass insulation in the ceiling.

For some odd reason, Blackboard won't let me logon this evening. Which offers a new "I-didn't-get-my-homework-done" excuse: "Blackboard was down and I couldn't download the assignment."

And Cool Beans is closing soon, so I guess I should head out.

my prof's comment about the lesson today: "Now, that would just be too simple..."

Still not as bad as the prof who used the word 'theoretical' when describing an assignment's minimum length.

James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Gah. So tired. Exasperated. I don't know what.

I got my address on my driver's license changed today. And I got registered to vote in Richland County.

And, I got my glasses taken off my license!

I spend the best time with Jesus right about now. I've finished everything I've needed to get done for the day, and now I just sit back...and think. Since there's nothing else on my mind, I have my most focused thoughts now, and the peace, both inside and outside me and my house, just lets me dwell on spirital matters.

lesson for the week: 1 Corinthians 6:20 "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

When you were young

I just got The Killers' new single, "When You Were Young." It sounds great, and makes me excited for the new CD coming out next month.

light bulbs

I replaced all of the lights on my vehicle tonight. They were all dusty and old and needed replacement. My car's extremely well illuminated now. And that makes me happy inside.

I wake up early this morning, check the weather report: rain in the forecast. I look outside, and it's just enough to make me think the flood gate will open up on me as I'm riding down Devine street. So I start up Rojita and drive her to school.

If I haven't expressed my hatred for the parking system at school to you in person yet, let me know, and I'll make a special point to vent my frustrations for you. I friggin' hate the parking system! I left my house (five minutes from the parking lot) thirty minutes early, and just barely made it to my first class on time today. I literally drove around three parking lots to find a parking space.

Anyway, after exam central today, which is another story in and of itself, I decided to go run errands. Like Dane Cook put it, "You know you're a bachelor when it gets to this point: when you've got one light bulb left, and you just keep taking it out and bringing it into the room that you need it in." It wasn't that bad, but it was getting there. Not only did I get light bulbs that will save the earth (go environment), but I got car light bulbs, too!

David and I went to Cool Beans later, meeting JP and Art along the way. After some good laughs about school and other things, we went for a drive in NE and got some ice cream. A long talk on the front porch with my neighbor ended the day on a good note.

Agh. So many thoughts. To much. I need to sleep and have another really long, ridiculous dream like I did Sunday morning.

Organic pest removal

Once, a man had a problem with black sugar ants infesting his kitchen. Though they were not causing big problems, the fellow just didn't like the ants in his kitchen. And since he had childen living under his roof, he was determined not to use bug sprays that might harm his children.

This man googled a local "organic pest remover" serivce. All natural, the service promised not to leave any harmful chemicals or scents that might be harmful. The man with the ant problem had the pest remover come out to the house to access the problem and determine what needed to be done.

"Well," said the pest remover, "I can integrate these red fire ants into your house to eat the smaller sugar ants."

"So, how do I get rid of the fire ants?" the man with the problem asked.

"After the fire ants, I'll introduce aphids to kill the fire ants."

"And to kill them?"

"I'll bring in some praying mantises that'll eat the aphids. Then, to kill the mantises, mice will be brought in to eat them. Then, a cat will be brought in to eat the mouse. After that, we'll bring in a dog to eat the cat. After the dog, we'll get a puma to kill the dog. After the dog, we'll bring in a tiger to kill the puma. Now, to get rid of the tiger, we'll get a native tribesman to hunt down and slaughter it."

"And how do you get rid of the tribesman?" The pest remover handed a shotgun over.

"Here."

quote of the weekend:

"Lincoln needed to see that play like he needed a hole in his head." -Neil McCraw

Mr. T's fashion show

This video is the epitome of the 80's. Bonus: it's hosted by Mr. T!

Psycho screened tonight for my film class. Though I've seen parts and pieces of it out of order, this was the first time I've ever seen it in it's entirerty. An excellent piece of film.

my lesson for the day

Did you know:

If you ride your bike on the sidewalk in the city limits of the City of Columbia, it's a $440 fine? I didn't; at least, not until the cop stopped me and let me know.

The cop (ironically, who was on a bike on the sidewalk) said that the city ordinance is in place to prevent people from getting hit by bikers flying along by shop doors.

So from now on, I have to take my chances on the streets with the crazy motorists.

Thought to mull over

On the way into our kitchen, there's a note that reads: "...the world beyond our senses..." and above and below it are diagrams and notes of what we can't observe with any of our five senses. One of the better diagrams is a depiction of the electromagnetic spectrum. Think of it: the same waves that are entering your eyes and allowing you to read this are the same ones (albeit at a different frequency) allowing you to talk on your cell phone.

Anyone want to help me eat a family sized lasagna tonight?

The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The sergeant was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Ironically, a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading
"How do you like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-SHIT."

(This story won the 1995 Darwin award. Though it was confirmed bogus by Darwin, it's still one of my favorite stories I've ever come across online)

Qantas Airlines gripes and fixes:

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problem, document their repairs on the form, and then the pilots review the gripe sheet before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas pilots and the solutions recorded by the ground crews. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident with their aircraft.

Problem: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
Solution: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

Problem: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
Solution: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

Problem: Something loose in cockpit.
Solution: Something tightened in cockpit.

Problem: Dead bugs on windshield.
Solution: Live bugs on back-order.

Problem: Autopilot in "altitude-hold" mode produces a 200 fpm (foot per minute) descent.
Solution: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

Problem: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
Solution: Evidence removed.

Problem: DME volume unbelievably loud.
Solution: DME volume set to more believable level.

Problem: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
Solution: That's what they're for.

Problem: VOR inoperative.
Solution: VOR always inoperative in "off" mode.

Problem: Suspect crack in windshield.
Solution: Suspect you're right.

Problem: Number 3 engine missing.
Solution: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

Problem: Aircraft handles funny.
Soultion: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

Problem: Navigation radar hums.
Solution: Reprogrammed navigation radar with lyrics.

Problem: Mouse in cockpt.
Solution: Cat installed.

Problem: Noise coming from under intrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
Solution: Took hammer away from midget.

vade mecum:

vay-dee-MEE-kuhm
1. A book for ready reference; a manual; a handbook.
2. A useful thing that one regularly carries about.

(Vade mecum is from Latin, literally meaning "go with me.")

Therefore, my backpack is my vade mecum. Now I can really confuse people: "Yeah, let me run back in the house real quick and grab my vade mecum."

We won!

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colon.' Need I say more?" -Chris Rock

Riding my bike the mile and a half to campus from my house has been much more enjoyable than I initially thought it was going to be. It's so refreshing to ride all the way to campus in the cool mornings.

Though, right now, I'm waiting on the rain to stop so I can ride home.

my "Midas touch"

I just might have a gift like King Midas of Greek mythology. Only in reverse.

So, my car's timing belt died earlier this week and I'm driving my parents car.

Last night, I go to pull away from Cool Beans, and I find my tire's flat. Not just one nail, mind you, I'm too good for that. But a nail and a screw are both imbeded into the tire.

So, the moral of the story: don't let me touch your car.

my favorite quote of the summer:

"That's how I like my homeless people--unarmed and happy." and "Let me move the car so we don't get shot." -Eric

not the best choice in careers...

Maybe it's just me, but if I were a Japanese fisherman, I would want to have a change of career quickly.

In 2001, the USS Greenville collided with a Japanese fishing-training vessel off the coast of Oahu. This was a ship that was used to train new recruits about fishing. During the incident, several crewmen died, including several high-school students who were studying to become fishermen.

Today, a Japanese fishing ship with several crew memebers aboard became involved with an incident involving a Russian patrol boat. The two vessels were off the northern tip of Hokkiado, in a group of islands that are administered by Russia. The Russian patrol boat shot a warning shot across the bow of the Japanese fishing boat. Now, talk about a bad day, one of the crewmen was rushing forward on the fishing boat to recover equipment when the warning shot hit the crewman in the head, killing him instantly. Now, Russia and Japan are arguing about who is at fault for the incident.

Needless to say, it's not a good time to be a fisherman from Japan

Yesterday

I woke uo at 9AM, and got my things in order.

I left the house at 1:30PM, and headed to the bank.

I left the bank at 3PM, and started to drive to Columbia.

My car died at 4:15PM, leaving my stranded on the side of the road for the next 3 hours.

After trying to repair my car, then transferring my things to a different car, I finally got moving at 8:30PM, and arrived in Columbia about an hour later.

Needless to say, I went straight to bed after unpacking.

You might be from LA if...

You're driving on the 101 and see a clear cut definition of where the smog begins and ends.

You're sitting in traffic for at least an hour at any given part of the day.

You go to the beach and see that real lifeguards actually do look like the lifeguards from Baywatch.

You eat a different ethnic food for every meal.

You look around at the nice cars around you during traffic, thinking it'll be your favorite Laker or WB star.

You make a conscious choice to watch Jay Leno over David Letterman.

You know it's best not to be on the 405 at 4:05 pm.

Getting anywhere from point A to point B, no matter what the distance, takes "about twenty minutes". You begin to "lie" to your friends about where you are (i.e. "Yeah I'm like 20 minutes away") when you know that it'll take you at least an hour to get there).

You know what neighborhood someone lives in by the degree of damage incurred during the riots.

You've inadvertently learned Spanish.

You've got to bring the plants in when it drops to 55 degrees.

In the "winter", you can go swimming at the beach and ski in the mountains on the same day.

You've bumped into a celebrity at El Pollo Loco.

You know what "sigalert", "PCH", and "the five" mean.

If your destination is more than 5 minutes away on foot, you're definitely driving.

You have a gym membership because it's mandatory.

Your TV show is interrupted by a police chase.

You can't fall asleep without the lull of a helicopter flying overhead.

You've partied in Tijuana at least once.

You know Hollywood has a "lake".

You don't stop at a STOP sign, you do a California Roll.

You've lost your car in the Century City Shopping Center parking lot.

You think that Venice is a beach.

You drive next to a Rolls Royce and don't notice.

You've started crossing a street and returned to the curb when the DON'T WALK sign started flashing.

You've never listened to NPR.

Calling your neighbors requires knowing their area code.

You have a favorite Thai restaurant.

You think Johnny Rocket's is an accurate depiction of a diner.

You think Manhattan is a beach.

You eat pineapple on pizza.

You've been to Disneyland more times than Downtown.

When giving directions, you follow up with the phrase: "With/Without traffic."

You classify new people you meet by their Area Code. An "818" would never date a "562" and anyone from "323" or "213" is ghetto/second class. Best area code: "310."

Driving along, you see a high-speed police chase approaching in your rear view mirror. You don't panic or even flinch. Instead, you call your friends on your car phone and tell them you're on TV.

You know that if you drive two miles in any direction you will find a McDonald's or a Starbucks.

You never, ever go into the water at the Beach. You barely touch the sand.

It is not unusual for your waitress at a restaurant to have blue streaked hair, a dragon tattoo and tounge piercing.

You are awakened in the middle of the night by a moderate earthquake. Your reply: "That ain't even a 5-pointer" and go back to sleep.

You think you are better than the people who live "Over the Hill". It don't matter which side of the hill you are currently residing, you are just better than them, for whatever reason.

You live 10 miles from work. It takes you 60 minutes to get home.

You have to yell at your bank teller through a 2 inch thick wall of plexi-glass.

That last one goes for your local convienience store man, too.

You go to Las Vegas for a weekend getaway and the whole trip cost you $50.

You personally know at least 3 people who have been in a movie or TV show.

You know what In N Out is and feel bad for all the other states because they don't have any.

You've gotten parking tickets from parking in the red zone in front of your house.

You say you live in LA when really you live in a subsection of a subsection of a subsection of southern LA.

A movie star is picking out the best portobello mushrooms next to you at the grocers and you don't notice.

The guy at 8:30 in the morning at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney IS George Clooney.

Any invitation comes with, "Starts at 8pm or as soon as you can get through traffic."

You have never met a waiter that wasn't really an "Actor."

It's sprinkling and there's a report on every news station about "STORM WATCH '06"

You call 911 and they put you on hold.

The three hour traffic jam you just sat through wasn't caused by a horrific 9 car pile-up, but by everyone slowing to rubberneck at a lost shoe lying on the shoulder.

My strange body

After working out last night, I went to bed. Three and a half hours later, at 5:30a, my eyes snapped open and I was wide awake. All without any alarms or external stimulation. So I made breakfast, balanced my checkbook, and went to work an hour and a half early at 7:30a.

The wierd thing? After three and a half hours of sleep and working for eight hours, I feel more alert than I have in the past week.

And for the record, the "family size" label on a product doesn't mean anything: I just ate an entire "family size" lasagna. By myself.

My accomplishment of the day

I ate an entire casserole. By myself.

Oral surgery

I hate going to the dentist, and that's when I'm conscious during the inspection. I really was dreading the surgery, but I'm alright now-just short three teeth.

Things from yesterday that puzzle me:

Ok, so I don't understand someone who purchases a five dollar "coffee" drink from Starbucks. But why in the world would someone who just bought this five dollar beverage drink about a third of it and then toss the entire cup? It makes no sense!

Second, being a bicyclist myself, I can understand sharing the road and giving cyclists some room to ride. And I try to give everyone on a bicycle just a little extra space. But when three cyclists are riding three abreast along a two lane road whose speed limit is 55 mph, are they just asking to be hit? These three cyclists then they act like they own the road. I observed several potential collsions that only the skill of the drivers of the vehicles around these bicyclists prevented.

Two phrases to describe my summer so far

"501" and "no air conditioner"

That means the 'ol "455 is going in the car. 4 windows at 55 mph. And most of the time with 501, it's much slower than that.

At least with my bicycle I get exercise ;-)

A not-so-well thought out englilish paper

While I took this class as not only a GPA-booster, but also a get-ahead-in-your-studies class, it's really a lot more difficult than I originally imagined. Brit Lit is never supposed to be fun, but this is...well...I'm not sure. A little harder than I expected.

There was this guy I saw today whose actions can only be described as perverted. Wait, perverted doesn't even describe him well enough. Let's just say he was doing something he shouldn't have been doing in a public place.

South Carolinians, don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Ummm...yeah, definately bed time.

I got my new bike! I got my new bike!

HORAY!

A post for JP...

My two maxims for my life:

"People are stupid."

...and...

"Bears will eat you."

Welcome to Virginia!

This is what summer break is about-getting up at 4 AM. Wait, make that taking a road trip at the drop of hat.

So, Wednesday night (like 12ish), I walk into my parents room to tell them goodnight, and my dad says that he's taking a trip to Portsmouth, Virginia to repair a control system on a Coast Guard aid-to-navigation tender. I (jokingly) ask if I could come. To my surprise, he says: "Sure, I could use someone to drive me up there."

So, after just under four hours of sleep, I get up, gather my iPod, cellphone, and camera, and climb behind the wheel of a rented Toyota Camrey with my dad and an engineer to make the roughly six and half hour journey to Virginia.

The trip was fun. I got to listen to some new music on my iPod, and talk with my dad and his engineer co-worker. Coffee was the main course of the trip (3 cups a piece), with wireless internet a sidedish every now and again. (The secret is, you have to find a hotel along the interstate that had a wireless network, but one that isn't secured). "Danny, just keep up with the traffic," was the name of the game. My dad told me, "I know speed limits are important, Danny, but we need to get there as quick as we can." And you can't question your parent's authority.

One note about US58, from Emporia (VA) to Virginia Beach (VA): the world's longest speed trap, all 70-some miles of it. An interstate-capable road, the speed limit is 55, with the kind Virginia State Police sitting on the side to deter any one who thought otherwise. I've never had a problem with speeding, and I didn't then, but obviously several people passing me did. (I got to see them again a little later-blue light specials)

We finally hit the Outer Beltway, then the Inner Beltway, and made our way safely to the Portsmouth Coast Guard base. While my dad and his co-worker installed the engine controls on the ship, I, in my dad's words, was the "gopher-chauffeur extraordinaire." "Danny, climb 3 decks of ladders, turn the control head on, then climb back down here into the engine room." I thought I was in shape until I finished doing that a couple times; I found out I wasn't. In between all that, I found myself getting everyone lunch (Golden Arches Steakhouse-otherwise known as Mickey D's), chatting it up with the security guard at the base entrance ("Oh, so you know CPO Wilson?"), and taking pictures in the engine room.

The installation finished about 4PM. The rain started about then, too.

The drive back was good, too. Six cups of coffee for me, along with a near-hailstorm and rush hour traffic. Fortunately, the storm and traffic hit separately.

A stop at Denny's for an 8:30PM breakfast just across the VA-NC state line did the trick for everyone, and by 9, we were back on the road. We made it back by 11:45, which was pretty good time.

So, the first road trip of the summer is complete, and I'm ready to go for another.

Someone who understands

I know me and my roommate will get along just fine: he moved in at 4AM. Any other roommate I've had, they've looked at me like I'm crazy when I'm still working on homework past 1AM. But Ben moved in at 4AM on Sunday morning, which means that he understands the value of early morning activities.

It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

Move-out was today. Actually, clean-out is a better term. I scoured the tub early this morning (like 2:30), and was almost blinded by the results. My bathtub, which my and my suitemates shared, was a grayish black color, expect for the two footmarks in the bottom. After a little bleach and elbow grease, I was almost stunned awake by the level of brightness the shone forth.

After the tub was the rest of my stuff in the room, most of which went into convenient plastic tubs, which those went into a cool blue wheeling thing, which I took down all nine floors of my dorm by elevator. After sponging the floor (I currently lack a mop) clean, I cleaned the counters (with a different sponge, don't worry) of all coffee stains.

The bed was the easiest; I just took all four corners of the sheet and trapped all bedding material, preventing any escapes. That also went in the cool blue wheeling thing. I then took this cool blue wheeling thing downstairs and loaded my car with all my stuff.

I drove the 1.8 miles to my new apartment, and my mom and little sister met me there. I unloaded my car, then a cool little futon bed from my mom's car. This is the coolest bed in the world-not only is it extremely comfortable, but it also folds into a couch when you want it.

I also now (finally) have a roommate who dislikes the television as much as I do.

"We have a team of scientists that create the products, and one drunk guy who comes up with the names." -Lance Snack Cracker radio commercial

"I hate this class."

And now, it's over. And it's such a relief.

But my arm's sore now. I just finished 2 blue books worth of an exam for a 100 level class! So aggravating.

The common denominator

After a 2-hour study session with a classmate from East Asian Civ, the phrase the kept coming up over and over was:

"I hate this class. I hate this man."

And that pretty much sums up the class.

Click It or Ticket month

Exam [sleep-deprivation] week

All I have to do is hold out until Tuesday morning.

I was up until 4:30 this morning studying for my upcoming exams. Tomorrow is JavaScript and a take-home Criminal Courts, and Tuesday morning is East Asian Civ. And that class is hated by most everyone enrolled in it. Not only does the text cover the most obscure topics one can think of, but the prof likes to discuss everything else besides the text. I think the only reason I enjoyed showing up to the class at 11 in the morning is the sumo wrestler clips shown before the period starts.

Then there's the study guide we were given. Topics to study: Buddhism, Shintoism, World War II, bakafu, etc... Of course, that would be too easy of the prof to slim down the time line. So now he has the class studying bascially the entire book on the premise that, "...you need to learn something from this class." Yeah, I learned something; not to take a class from that prof ever again. There's something to be said from studying, of course. It's a good thing, and I'm not trashing it. But when the test is over something the instructor has failed to insturct upon, then it gets irritating.

And then, tonight, Matt, Joey, Lou, Ben, and I went on an eveing run through south campus. It felt good to run in a group, and run when there's not that many people out, either on the road or in vehicles.

USA PATRIOT Act

If airlines sold paint...

[Buying paint from a hardware store]

Customer: Hi, how much is your interior flat latex paint in Bone White?

Clerk: We have a medium quality, which is $16 a gallan, and premium,
which is $22 a gallon. How many gallons would you like?

Customer: I'll take five gallons of the medium quality, please.

Clerk: That will be $80 plus tax.

[Buying paint from an airline]

Customer: Hi, how much is your paint?

Clerk: Well, sir, that all depends.

Customer: Depends on what?

Clerk: Actually a lot of things.

Customer: How about giving me an average price?

Clerk: Wow, that's too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon, and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon.

Customer: What's the difference in the paint?

Clerk: Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.

Customer: Well, then, I'd like some of that $9 paint.

Clerk: Well, first I need to ask you a few questions. When do you intend to use it?

Customer: I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off.

Clerk: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.

Customer: What? When would I have to paint in order to get the $9 version?

Clerk: That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.

Customer: You've got to be kidding!

Clerk: Sir, we don't kid around here. Of course, I'll have to check to see if we have any of that paint available before I can sell it to you.

Customer: What do you mean check to see if you can sell it to me? You have shelves full of that stuff; I can see it right there.

Clerk: Just because you can see it doesn't mean that we have it. It may be the same paint, but we sell only a certain number of gallons on any given week. Oh, and by the way, the price just went to $12.

Customer: You mean the price went up while we were talking?

Clerk: Yes, sir. You see, we change prices and rules thousands of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. Unless you want the same thing to happen again, I would suggest that you get on with your purchase. How many gallons do you want?

Customer: I don't know exactly. I think I need five gallons. Maybe I should buy six gallons just to make sure I have enough.

Clerk: Oh, no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy the paint and then don't use it, you will be liable for penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.

Customer: What?

Clerk: That's right. We can sell you enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall, and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will be in violation of our tariffs.

Customer: But what does it mater to your whether I use all the paint? I already paid for it!

Clerk: Sir, there's no point in getting upset; that's just the way it is. We make plans upon the idea that you will use all the paint, and when you don't, it just causes us all kinds of problems.

Customer: What kind of problems? This is crazy! I suppose something terrible will happen if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!

Clerk: Yes, sir, it will.

Customer: Well, that does it! I'm going somewhere else to buy my paint.

Clerk: That won't do you any good, sir. We all have the same rules.

What would help roads in SC:

1. You should not be allowed to drive if you're over 60 and your eye glasses are thicker than your windshield.
2. If you can't see over the steering wheel, then I know you can't see me in front of your vehicle. Get a telephone book or a smaller car.
   
3. There should be a mandatory vehicle inspection on all vehicles that are registered in SC every two years (coincides with the vehicles registration dates). Stipulations would include:
• No blue smoke. If you're vehicle emits blue smoke (or any smoke, for that matter) at any time (other than a brief amount while starting), it needs to be fixed. In other words, if your car can be used to spray for bugs, then something's wrong.
• You're back window may only have stickers on the outer edging of the window. For example, if you're back window is covered by 546 "State Trooper supporter" stickers, you're going to get a ticket. Ironic, eh?
• No large items on the dashboard. Because when you get in a wreck, you don't want your Maglight as your airbag.
• You need a muffler. No, you're car is not lawn mower, nor should it sound like one under any circumstances. Your car (or truck) may be noisy, but it dosen't need any help. And straight exhaust pipes do not give you any additional thrust; use the curvy type to cut down on the noise.
  
4. Cellphones and driving do not mix. Either hang up or pull over. Or, at least, use a hands-free set-up and put your hands where they should be--on the steering wheel!
5. Books are a definite no-no!
6. Why are you playing your music so loud? Turn it down. I don't need to know you're getting near me from 12 blocks away. And I know you can't hear anything else happening outside.
   
7. Mandatory helmet wear for any motorcycle riders. And for bicyclists under 21.
8. If there's a traffic accident and you want to see what unfortunate things happened to someone else, then pull over and observe to your heart's content. Just don't slam on your brakes simply to see what's happening where the flashing lights are. Chances are you're going to have your own personel front row seat in a few moments.

BBC & NPR

I like the BBC. And NPR Morning Edition. And, thanks to iTunes and podcasts, I can listen to the BBC News Highlights and NPR's Morning Edition whenever I want.

Early-morning productivity

Easter has always marked the beginning of spring for me. No, the vernal equinox doesn't mark it for me. Easter does. And it's always such a colorful day, and not just because of the Easter eggs. I like all of the flowers that are coming into bloom. The air just seems...fresher.

Michele, Joey, and I went to Tommy's for the Easter service. The sermon' s topic, forgivness, seemed to be just perfect for the occasion. Maybe it was just the way it was tied to together. But afterwards, the three of us had a late breakfast at IHOP; conversation topics ranged from university parking to inciting riots to taking vitamins.

When I got back to my room, I just had all this nervous energy from I don't know where. So I ran my tri-city, dual-county circut. After I got back, I finished a good deal of work that needed to get done (including my taxes!), then I settled down and watched some movies.

Today, after struggling to get up on time for my 9AM class (which I got to early!), the professor cancelled it for lack of A/V support. So I found myself awake early (relativly) in the morning with nowhere to be. So I was able to get to the bank and pay the U.S. Government the $4.18 I owed them. I then mailed my tax forms and checked my mail for the package I was expecting, which came today. After that, I walked back to my room and started to procrastinate on the paper due tomorrow, sorta like I'm doing now. I'm going to start having to get up early; it just feels good to get stuff done.

My view of taxes

DanGlen: have you done your taxes yet?
glendine1: yeah
glendine1: i'm gettin some money back
DanGlen: it's like my math problem for the year
glendine1: yeah no kidding

Atomic Iran

Today, much to the dismay of many nations on this planet, Iran annouced that it has enriched uranium-235 using 164 centrifuges. Though the current amount of enruched uranium is much less and not enriched enough to make a nuclear weapon (it's only good for reactors to produce energy), it won't be too long until nuclear weapon grade uranium (>90% enriched; Iran only has about 3.5% enrichment) will be produced.

The International Atomic Engergy Agency (IAEA) states that Iran has has been running centrifuges since March, and to produce weapon-grade material, Iran would need to run thousands of centrifuges for several months.

Read the Wikinews story

Send it to your phone

I have the coolest extension ever for my browser, Firefox.

It's Google's Send to Phone for Firefox. Got directions in an email and have no printer or paper available? Important information you need to carry with you? Someone's phone number you want to remember? Message it to your cellphone quickly and easily. I find it extremely useful for about everything. All you do is highlight the text and click the little phone button at the top of the page. Then you pick the carrier and enter the phone number. It sends it quickly and easily. In fact, you don't even have to have text selected. You can just click the phone button and type you message in. It allows up to 800 characters maximum, and up to 160 characters per message (if you enter more than 160, then it sends the text in up to five messages). I recommend it to everyone.

I never...

I found it very ironic that last night, after a message about Israel's adulterous relationship, we played The Killers' "Mr. Brightside".

And I thought SC squirrels were bad...

Check this out. A water-skiing squirrel.

skiing.squirrel.mov

The Fightin' Fifty Fifth

After a day-time training mission over the Atlantic, approximately 40 miles east of Myrtle Beach, a pilot from the 55th Fighter Squadron based at Shaw AFB (SC) bailed out of his F-16CJ at a speed of nearly 700 knots. He survived with two broken legs and a broken wrist. A US Coast Guard helicopter from Charleston and a US Navy vessel began a search for Captain Ted Shultz about 40 mintues after the aircraft went down. Shultz was found and rescued just after sunset on 05 April 2006 by the crew of the Navy ship, and taken to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for treatment of his wounds. Though the exact cause of the crash is unknown, the pilot did report engine troubles sometime during the exercise and was heading back to Shaw when his jet went down. All F-16 flights from Shaw on Thursday were shut down, a standard procedure in such an event.

Come on

It would make sense that next to the washing machines and dryers that can only be paid for in quarters there would be a machine to convert dollar bills into coins. Butaccording to housing, that would be too complex.

Personally, I think it would allow them to make more money, but who am I to have a brilliant idea?

10-7

My bike died on me on the way up Greene Street today. The ball bearing in the rear axle finally gave out and now the tire won't rotate straight. It's so off kilter that it won't complete one turn without running into the rear frame or kick-stand.

I've needed a new bike for some time now (after my derailers broke), but now this gives me a good excuse to go get one.

Loose Change

Two interesting videos I found online relating to 9/11:

Loose Change Version One

Loose Change Version Two

The Postal Service

Today was supposed to be sunny and 70. But it's really rainy and 55. The weather guessers got it wrong againg (no surprise). I mean, the rain is good. I only have one pair of shoes and don't want to get them too wet. So, sorry Ben, I don't want to go running today.

Some things make you feel like other things. Somehow, The Postal Service makes it feel like Thanksgiving. Maybe because that was when I first heard one of their songs. And then I broke down and bought the CD in the beginning of November last year. It's strange to say, but it's the first CD I ever bought where I liked every song on it; there really isn't any of them that I like to skip through. In my room. Working on homework. Riding the bus. Driving places. Walking to class. I just find it overwhelmingly addicting.

Things I can do...

1. Make that cool snapping noise with my belt when I take it off
2. Run 10 miles
3. Take a full shower in 5 minutes
4. Wake up, dress, and get to class in under 6.5 minutes.

...more to come

My current addiction

Falcon 4.0: Allied Force

Humanities un-appreciation

Advisement. The entire word conjures up thoughts of being helped. With my past expireiences with "advisors," this definately is not the case. With me, my college gives me a new advisor every semester until your junior year. Advisor number one didn't know a thing at all about the course guide. Advisor number two didn't let us know about advisement until the day before. Advisor number three just wanted me to leave. Advisor number four was too much of an academic to care about my courses or what I was going to be taking. But advisor number five (the guy I spoke with today) was really cool. He's my 301 prof, I sorta already knew him. But he showed concern about my scehdule in a way the other advisors had not. He looked courses up, and when he didn't know and answer to a question I asked, he didn't pretend to know and give me some BS answer (like the other "advisors"). My only complaint is that he won't be my advisor next semester, but life goes on. My next hurdle will be to get into all the classes I want.

My biggest complaint of the day is the courses that I have to take. 9 credit hours of humanites: art appreciation, dance appreciation, etc...I don't like any of those classes. Well, except for one. Film studies of science fiction. That one looks like a winner.

And, for the record, I like writting papers. It's enjoyable; maybe enjoyable isn't the right word. More like bearable. More bearable than doing the research for the paper. But three papers in two days!?! It's starting to wear on me. At least there's two down and only one to go.

PowerPoint

I found myself rapidly typing up lyrics to five songs today after we hauled the band equipment over. I didn't mind in the least; working under pressure is the best (and sometimes, only) way I operate.

Bonus: I got to use these two (in my opinion) really cool pictures I had taken over spring break.








Advisement is tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, I should look at the course schedule and pick out something to take next semester. Hopefully, this advisor (who is my MWF prof) will actually advise me on what I should take, rather than my past three advisors, who simply sat there and signed off on the advisement sheet.

All this in addition to the paper due tomorrow and the one due Tuesday, one of which I should probably start soon (the other is almost finished). Not to worry, my "free" day around the corner, I'll finish both papers tomorrow after advisement.

I did it!

Finally. After a year and a half of different people teaching me (Matt #13, Stephen, Matt #47, Erick, and Ryan), I hooked up the entire sound system for Reunion tonight! Not to blow my own horn or anything, but now I feel smart!

And then I came home and had a mini A-Team marathon. Complete with my Mr. T coffee mug. ;-)

Another crazy guy

I was behind this guy today, and as he was walking, I noticed he dropped some change. A quarter and three dimes. Not a big deal, but I thought I'd be kinda nice and pick the change for him. So I did. What he did next shocked the socks off of everyone around me.

I said, "Hey, man, you dropped your change." He turned around and held one hand out in a cup shape. I poured all of the change in his hand. He then took the change in his hand, cocked his arm back, and tossed the coins as far as he could. And then he turned and walked away like nothing had happened. He got about 5 feet away or so, and then turned around, and, in a voice that souned like he was trying to educate me, he told me that, "If it falls out of my pocket, then it doesn't want to be with me anymore. So I don't keep it." He turned around again and walked away. Me and the four other people around me were so surprised that we just burst out laughing as soon as he turned the corner.

It was one of the funniest thing I've ever seen someone do.

Police harrasment

The Toronto Police Department ran an e-mail forum-a question and answer exchange with the topic being "Community Policing."

One of the email participants posed the following question: "I would like to know how it is possible for police officers to continually harass people and get away with it?"

From the "other side" (the law enforcement side), Sgt Berezowski, a cop with a sense of humor (or reality), replied:

"First of all, let me tell you this...it's not easy. In Toronto we average one cop for every 600 people. Only about 60% of those cops are on general duty (or what you might refer to as "patrol") where we do most of our harassing. The rest are in non-harassing departments that do not allow them contact with the day to day innocents. And at any given moment, only one-fifth of the 60% patrollers are on duty and available for harassing people while the rest are off duty.

So, roughly, one cop is responsible for harassing about 5,000 residents.

When you toss in the commercial, business, and tourist locations that attract people from other areas, sometimes you have a situation where a single cop is responsible for harassing 10,000 or more people a day. Now, your average ten-hour shift runs 36,000 seconds long. This gives a cop one second to harass a person, and then only three-fourths of a second to eat a donut AND then find a new person to harass. This is not an easy task. To be honest, most cops are not up to this challenge day in and day out. It is just too tiring. What we do is utilize some tools to help us narrow down those people that we can realistically harass. The tools available to us are as follows:

PHONE: People will call us up and point out things that cause us to focus on a person for special harassment. "My neighbor is beating his wife" is a code phrase we often use. This means we'll come out and give some special harassment. Another popular one is, "There's a guy breaking into a house" or "So and so has a grow op." The harassment team is then put into action.

CARS: We have special cops assigned to harass people who drive. They like to harass the drivers of fast cars, cars with no insurance or no drivers license and the like. It's lots of fun when you pick them out of traffic for nothing more obvious than running a red light. Sometimes you get to really heap the harassment on when you find they have drugs in the car, are drunk, or have an outstanding warrant.

RUNNERS: Some people take off running just at the sight of a police officer. Nothing is quite as satisfying as running after them like a beagle on the scent of a bunny. When you catch them you can harass them for hours.

STATUTES: When we don't have PHONE or CARS and have nothing better to do, there are actually books that give us ideas for reasons to harass folks. They are called "Statutes"; Criminal Codes, Motor Vehicle Act, Liquor Act, etc... They all spell out all sorts of things for which you can really mess with people. After you read the statute, you can just drive around for awhile until you find someone violating one of these listed offences and harass them. Just last week I saw a guy smash a car window. Well, there's this book we have that says that's not allowed. That meant I got permission to harass this guy. It is a really cool system that we have set up, and it works pretty well.

I seem to have a never-ending supply of folks to harass. And we get away with it. Why? Because for the good citizens who pay the tab, we keep the streets safe for them. "

Lack of an air conditioner

My room is unbelievably hot right now. The building's air conditioning system has yet to be turned on, so I'm sitting and sweating in my 80+ degree room. Uggg...not fun.

Lost watch

I was stupid today. I took my watch off at the gym, it was just getting in the way, and I forgot to pick it back up. That makes for another minor annoyance in my day. Fortunately for me, I only invest in cheap $5 watches.

Spring cleaning

I did what had to be done; I needed more free space on my disk drive. So, I deleted my music library from my computer, and moved it to my iPod. I now have a nice chunk consisting of 14.6 GB of free space on my computer's hard drive.

I wish I could delete stuff in my room that I don't need or use like I do with my computer. The old mom-ism, "Your room looks like a bomb hit it!" would apply to my room right now. You can't blame me. After carrying all of my clean clothes upstairs (you gotta love going home-especially the free washer and dryer), I sorta jettisoned them into the room and immedately returened to my vehicle to find a legal parking space.

And how can one unplug a refrigerator and not know it? I mean, shouldn't you hear the motor turn off or something and realize you made a mistake? *shrug* Oh well. Live and don't learn, that's me.

Trouble with 3rd grade spelling

Just saw this on Reuters and thought it was pretty good:

Problems with his pasport...

Wed Mar 1, 2006 8:25 AM ET

NICOSIA (Reuters) - You might have the best forgery skills in the world, but it is not much use if you cannot spell.

A Cyprus court jailed Pakistani national Fazal Ur Rehman for eight months for forgery after police spotted spelling mistakes on stamps on an Afghan passport he was carrying -- otherwise it was a near-perfect copy, the Cyprus Mail said Wednesday.

"Ministry" was spelled "Menistry" and the first "n" was missing from government, the newspaper said.

"The passport looked perfect and professionally made ... almost deemed original by forensics," a police officer told a magistrate in the Cypriot capital Nicosia

70 degrees...and it's not noon yet

Now that it's March, the weather can warm up.

And today it has been looking that way. Ok, it's too nice to sit inside. I'm going outside.

Early-morning fire alarms

At 4:22am, some idiot pulled the fire alarm on my floor of the dorm. I was jarred from my sleep by something that sounded more like the theme from Mario Bros. than a fire alarm. I woke up thinking: "Who's playing vidoe games at that volume level at this hour of the morning?" That's when the automatic voice warning cut in over the PA and told me to vacate the premises. I was just going to sleep through it like I did in Douglas last year, but then the lady on the PA said the fire department was going to make sure eveyone was out of the building.

So I jumped out of bed. I wearing only my shorts, and at first was just going to walk out in that. But I decided that it might be a little cold outside, so I threw on my jacket, a pair of jeans, and a pair of shoes (forgot the socks and shirt), and headed for the stairs.

Noramlly, almost ten flights of stairs is no problem, but with almost 800 really groggy people trying to evacuate down two stairwells, it was kinda difficult. It sorta sounded like:

[step on person's foot in front of you]

"Sorry."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Uhhhh...I don't remember."

Imagine a couple hundred people saying this, and you have what the evacutaion sounded like (insert some snoring too). It didn't stay that way for long though.

As soon as we hit the 30 degree air, everyone woke up. That, along with the sirens from the responding emergancy services. So we have a couple hundred people standing in the parking lot, almost all in pajamas and no shoes. I was freezing (remember, no shirt-only a jacket). As we got outside is about the time the university police showed up, an then Cola FD a couple minutes later.

The things we said from our sleep-deprived state was just amazing: "Look, the tiny fire engine's here. Oh no, alien abduction!""Why are don't they let us inside? Oh, the cops and firefighters must be hungry.""We're gonna put a strike party together and...[laughter]...what was I saying?" This was interspersed with tons of laughter. Looking back, what was said was completely rediculous, but for some reason, it made sense at the time, and was really very funny.

We finally started heading back in around 5:00am. Then some people actually wanted to take the elevator. The rest of us hit the stair, still making absurd statements and laughing for no reason.

When I finally got back up the almost 10 flights of stairs, I sorta tripped over the footboard in my bed and went back to sleep, jacket, jeans, and all.

I woke up about 5 hours later for class, but this event is, at the same time, both the high point and low point of my day.It was really fun looking at the time and looking back on it, but I'm tired now. And my chest looked funny when I got up at 10am from the pattern on the inside of my jacket.

Alarm

The good news: The fire alarm system in my building works.

The bad news: the fire alarm doesn't have a snooze button.

15 hrs.

I got more sleep last night (this morning and afternoon, too) than I have in the past 3 or for days.

Bedtime last night was somewhat early: around 11:45PM; I didn't get up today until 2:50PM. I was intending on getting some food around 11AM, but when my alarm went off, it was somehow quickly deactivated and I went right back to bed.

I finally got up when I realized that I needed to be at the Shack for 3PM to set up for church tonight.

I now feel more rested than I have at any point in the past two weeks.

Laundry

I have a bit of laundry to do. I made a discovery last week. No one does laundry after 2AM. So, if you're one of the "special" dew who do your laundry that early, then all of the washers and dryers will be free.

Laundry sort of inundates my world. I walked into my room this evening, and it was piled high on my bed. My books occupied the space on the floor. Seeing how I can't really do anything else, I have decided to wash my clothes. Though I think I could have saved a couple bucks and left them outside last night.

I went running with Ben today. And it was really a good day to go running, too. Sixty degree tempatures, with a five knot wind from the northwest. It kept you cool enough while you were running, but it didn't chill you after you finished.

And, I'm learning JavaScript in class. This makes me happy. I've even applied it to my blog. You can see it in the comment areas. It's now grammatically correct (even if I'm not), and sounds better than "0 comments" or "1 comments."

"The intelligent man is one who has successfully fulfilled many accomplishments, and is yet willing to learn more." -Ed Parker

Mr. Coffee

My Mr. Coffee (c) coffee maker's clock doesn't work right. It always, always runs at least 20 minutes ahead of what the real time it. It doesn't matter if I just set the time, it somehow always "re-sets" itself to what it thinks the time should be. This isn't kosher with me. If I set the timer for 8:00AM, I don't want it making coffee at 7:40. Checking on the web, I can't find my model anywhere, so the pic is not mine (no clock, duh!); maybe there was a general production fault with the clock or something with the model I have.

Running in the rain

I got up on time for class this morning (i.e. ten minutes before it starts), and as normal, did not shower before going to class. I did shower, however, when I got back. I thought I was fairly clean after taking one shower. Obviously, I needed another shower.

Coming back from the Strom tonight, rain was pouring down. I deceided that since I'd done it before, I'd go for a run in the rain. And it was really enjoyable. People looked at me like I was nuts (which, I'll admit, I probably am). BUt it was funny to see 10 or 15 people standing under a ledge, trying not to get wet, and then they see me walk by, and realize how foolish they look.

I'm also on a quest to see how long I can continue to wear clean clothes without washing my stockpile. One week? A week and half? Two weeks? I'm at two weeks and a day right now (though I think I'm going to do wash tomorrow).

Oh! Oh! I got promoted at work! I'm now a Senior Loss Prevention Specialist.

Change is good

I like gray, so maybe this will stay this way for a while.

Currently, I'm debating on whether or not to go to bed.

And I found this website the other night (or morning, rather): everything you ever wanted to know about every variety the Lockheed Martin F-16. Though I know most people won't care, but it really made my day (night, morning, whathaveya).

I've decided. I'm going to bed.

Quote by T Roosevelt

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated onan exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American andnothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any manwho says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American atall. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room forbut one language here, and that is the English language... and we haveroom for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the Americanpeople."

Theodore Roosevelt (1907)

2 Emails

I just got an email from two friends that I haven't heard from in a almost a year! Noah was a cabinmate of mine on the LOGOS II (he since went back to serve on the sister ship, DOULOS, and just returned from that last week), while my shift leader, Fernanda (far right in the photo), just finished her stretch of time on board the LOGOS II and just got back to Ecuador.

It was so great to hear from them.

To make this wierd, I just had a dream about the ship's company last night.

To get the emails today was wierd.

Is this still February?

Today was an exceptionally nice day. So nice, in fact, that I went running in a shorts and a t-shirt.

I've heard some people tell me that they always wake up with a smile on their face. Not me. I normally wake up with some wierd expression on my face and muttering: "Oh, must have slept on something wrong. Need. To. Strech." Then after my morning strech, I'll smile. Because then I feel really good. Rested (most nights) and, now, limber. All set to go sit in an uncomfortable chair for several hours listening to something that I probably don't want to hear. But I'm limber! And speaking of mornings, I was taking some sort of online quiz (see the bottom of the this) and it asked me this question:

When you get up in the morning, you're most likely to say "Time to make the ..."

1. Coffee
2. Bacon
3. Alarm clock stop ringing
4. Pancakes
5. Cappuccino
6. Donuts

My answer was to make the alarm clock stop ringing, which should be any sane person's response. Though numbers one and six tempted me.

To continue the topic of being limber, I went running today. I've been going on and off for the past month or so (on the good days) for a few miles, but today was beautiful! I went the full 4-5 mile loop, and it was so exhilerating. My running season lasts from spring break to Christmas break, and it's getting to the warm time of year again. I can't wait to get back home to the tropical-type climate! But, almost as good as going home, my family is coming up here on Monday!

One odd thing I discovered about me while writing a paper last night: high numbers after the colon on a clock are worse than lower numbers in the same spot. Example: 2:47AM looks a lot worse to me than 3:01AM. While writing the paper, I was mentally kicking myself for the time being 10 minutes to three. But at 3:01AM, my thought was: "Oh goodl, I've still got 55 minutes or so before 4." And I felt better. A little strange (but hey, that's me!)

Anyway, here is the quiz: "What kind of coffee are you?" The answer isn't surprising (predictable?); I drink black coffee normally. Oh well, here's what the little survey said about me. Take it for what it's worth (though I did like the "You drink coffee when:" portion)

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable. At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty. You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it. Your caffeine addiction level: high.