Bug Bash.

Bug Bash

Found a web comic that I could almost nearly want to follow. Felt an obligation to read some techie jokes now that I'm on the borderline in the biz, yo.

However long is forever long.

When I was posting that last comment I thought it said "You are now posing as A_Shadow."

...

However long is forever long?

How did you speak with your betrayer?

You did it so civily, without any outward wrath. I would have asked you earlier but that transaction was robbed of me.

How do you speak to the one that hurt you, lied to you, and cheated on you about how untrustworthy people are? How does she get off complaining about that?

Teach me, my master.

However long is forever long?

When I say forever, what does that mean?

Forever is forever. FOR-EVAR.

Does that mean that "This is taking forever."? That the Sun will exist "forever"? That I will never speak to you in "forever"?...

Have you ever walked with me when I'm alone?

My perfect timing and precise posturing. The places I stand and walk?

Have you ever felt what I have felt? The illusive realities and the ever present illusions?

Is it a problem that I identify more with the darkness then I do with the shaded lights? That I feel more comfortable with the rebels then I do with the fallen saints?

Have you ever seen my collection of leaves? Leave me alone forever. Why don't you leave? Why do you leave?

What is reality when your reality is fake and your illusions are real? When you don't persist in life, only in imaginations?

................................................................................

I lost a lot of that, but much of it I still got down...

I saw something on the news today that made me angry again. Go figure. But there was a drunk driving accident somewhere near Hunter High. Why's that bother me? I've been graduated for a year, haven't I? The child was only 16. Only 16... That could have been my brother walking home from school. After all he's the brother that I have never, nor will ever, met.

He was walking home from school, likely a similar way that I have. Likely the way I would have shown my own brother... It was three in the afternoon, tops. So what kind of person is driving about drunk on a Monday at three in the afternoon...?

So many lives wasted. Or was it meant to be?

..............................................................................

On a totally different and not so deep note, I called the Brittons today.

I got to call England so that they could reset a password for someone that called me. The intricacies of this companies networks is boggling at times. But it was exciting as well as impressive. They managed to reset the password and tell me that they "absolutely refuse" to reset another in the space of what had to have been like 3 minutes. And in that time I spoke with two of them, one of them was likely a supervisor or some equivalent to a team lead.

And earlier this morning I discovered a Multi-user issue. I botched it by sending the proper information, but the wrong reference number, but I still was the first one with the issue. The more I think about it, the more it was dumb chance, but I had gotten disconnected with the gal, and I had decided to call her back. It was kinda neat, I felt extremely important for once because I had the first, and thus most pertinent at the time, information.

Well I guess that's my entertainment for today.

I think I decided a new stance on cloning, heh... I will only allow it if I'm the only one to be cloned. Scary, isn't it? I know... I'm terrified. A_Shadow for every house. Can you feel the evil glee? Can you?

Getting my groove back.

So I guess this job is actually helping me get back into the long term planning (something I've found is essential to my life) and steering me away from the day to day drawl of hell that I've been experiencing for the last 10 (nearly 11, so nearly that it might as well BE 11) months.

I got a benefits thing in the mail today that is walking me through setting up my retirement fund.

Pause for effect.

Yep, retirement fund. At 19 I'm worrying about that. Something, that God providing, I won't even need to really think about in any serious and worrisome manner for another 46 YEARS! Do you know how long that is? I think I know ONE person (other than a grand parent) that is older than that, currently. ONE friend. My grandparents all exceed that, but there's no way to know what will happen to me in ONE year, let alone 46 YEARS. It boggles my mind, talk about long planning, I've planned out a decade or so for school, I've planned out a rough guess of what my next 19 years will experience, but no way in hell do I want to think about what I will be like in 46 YEARS. I'll be all wrinkly and grey, all chalk bones and worried about the next generations loud music. I'll be planning my GRANDCHILDREN'S college fund (God willing again).

In-freakin'-sane.

So have fun going to school and working yourself through college. I'm far from giving up my dreams, but I can sure as hell afford a short jaunt down this path for the next 5 years if it comes to suit me. I'm just focused on getting through it week to week for right now.

But speaking about the future: It's link time. I found some links that I felt were worth sharing, hence I'm torturing you with them.

What the Fuck? (I know that might offend you, but read the article, and have you ever written out the "F" word? It looks so wierd without the stupid little * in it...)

The helicopter parents from Hell! No! It's not another horror story (at least not fiction), it's real life! And they're probably YOUR parents! I thought the biggest point of interest was that in a world where we should get MORE involved with our children (on some things) we are TOO involved in others.

LED lights as the lightwaves of the future. Read that article and all of you that have taken health and at least ONE psych class tell me at least ONE thing wrong with the articel.

*waits*

*and waits*

Read it? We are documented as having a 25 hour clock! Not a 24 hour one. That's a great what to do about why our clocks are always screwed, though I completely see unnatural lighting as a huge bane to healthy living as well. You just need to go somewhere with NO artificial lighting for a whole year and then lock yourself in a vault with ONLY artificial lighting... You'll FEEL the difference.

Other then that, I think I'm done for now. I've been thinking of my laptop all day, which sorta scares me, but I just guess I'll have to knuckle down and get it.

Because together we shall rule the GALAXY! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!1

Yep, another one.

So here you are for yet another update.

We went to the 7th Fleet Olympics this weekend and had a blast. I was actually all ready to go off on Marla's neighbors and vent here, but I hardly see the point now. We had brought out my dad's new paintball gun so that he could let some friend's shoot it off and her neighbors got all in a huff because we were "hurting the trees".

All I'm going to say is that even if they could feel, they wouldn't have felt that, and the ammunition is completely water soluable and bio degradable. I have even less love for the environmentalist crew that sinks to that far left now.

But apparently there were emotional enhancers. Does it excuse their reactions (trust me, they did more than whine about the tree being "hurt"), probably not. Am I willing to overlook it? Yes. It turns out that their dog died last night (after all of this), but that they knew he was dying before that, and before they had been yelling (and cussing) at us. That's all I feel like saying about it for now.

On a much brighter note, I found my baby. I think I finally tracked down my laptop that I plan on buying. For almost $2700 I can get something that not only can it navigate a nuclear submarine, it could probably fire a missle at the same time. While I'm mostly joking, for that meager amount (I was looking at paying almost twice that) I will get everything I wanted PLUS a whole mess of things. At about $2,000 it comes with more than you could possibly need:

Main Features

• P4 560 3.6 GHz

• RAM 1 GB

• HD 100 GB

• DVD±RW

• Mdm

• LAN EN

• Fast EN

• Gigabit EN

• 802.11b

• 802.11g

• Win XP Pro

• 17" TFT WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)

For those of you lost, you needn't worry. I know and could explain you if you call... I'm kidding, but I could explain it if you needed. Anyways, but for about $600 more, I get to add another Gig of RAM. So I would have 2 Gigs of RAM. I have never heard of a computer having that much. I know they're bound to exist, but I wanted 1Gig so that I could be a step above what is considered cutting edge. With 2 I would be a leap and a bound above them. And as Carl said: That should keep you on the cutting edge for about six months.

Heh, hopefully I won't have to upgrade until I graduate. But we shall see.

It's time for the song of the week. This one might be a bit ambiguous for it's message. It can go for and against what I'm posting it for, but that's alright. It isn't meant to mean what I want it to mean. It's meant to mean what you think it means. Lost yet? Good.

If it makes you happy, by Sheryl Crow.

I've been long, a long way from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos,
And drank til I was thirsty again
We went searching through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo
And Benny Goodman's corset and pen

Well, o.k. I made this up
I promised you I'd never give up

[Chorus]
If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad

You get down, real low down
You listen to Coltrane, derail your own train
Well who hasn't been there before?
I come round, around the hard way
Bring you comics in bed, scrape the mold off the bread
And serve you french toast again

Well, o.k. I still get stoned
I'm not the kind of girl you'd take home

Chorus

We've been far, far away from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos
And everywhere in between
Well, o.k. we get along
So what if right now everything's wrong?

Chorus

And the darkness falls.

Forgotten:

How does one respond to such an offer? I suppose I could stand another midget (even though this one will have the added feature of being a hobo), but the poor lass will have to settle for NOT being under the bed. The only thing under there is the floor.


And I think I will have to say that I'm a, perhaps as good as decent, story teller. I've been told this as of late (and I hate that I can't find it in me to write something creative, that's why I've gotten back into some of my political rants), but I dare say that I'm not a master. Oh, and it would definately have to be story telling because there is a 0 (like a big goose-egg) on my "interesting-life-o-meter" and I've buried the needle. My life is substantially unexciting. I just tell it in ways that seem (for some wierd reason) to be somewhat entertaining. I don't go out with friends (ok, that's not entirely true, but at a point I stop thinking of them as friends. I see them ALL THE TIME. And it's not like they're my age...) or do anything all college-aged/teenage-ish. So whatever excitement you find here is your own accord.

Lol.

=============================================================================

Sorry, it was just such a bloody long response that I felt like posting it to the main page. And it gives me an excuse to talk about other useless things.

And no, this isn't going to be about a bad mood, I'm in a really good one, actually. It's more about the subject matter of caves and demons.

Like last night I went and saw The Cave. It's not too bad. But if you're a natural critic like me, you won't walk away from it without noticing at least three movies that have VERY similar plots at times. Sorry, I'm a noticer, and I watch a goodly ammount of movies. But it is good. I do recommend it.

And today is my Friday. It's so bitchin'. Even if I don't technically have a three day weekend, I feel like I do. I work on Sunday, but it's like 1/10 of the work with 1/10 more pay for it. So awesome. And I get the most popular days off: Friday and Saturday. Which would be great, if I ever got out of the house, lol.

Today was payday even. I have more money on this ONE, TWO WEEK, check then I made in a month at my old job. Really cool? Indeed. Or at least it will be next month when I don't have ANY DEBTS anymore. Most of this check is going to my grandparents that loaned me money for books and for my paperweight (car). But that's my choice, essentially, and I really needed to do it anyways.

Other then that, I've got some really interesting research to do. I need to look up things on Emily Rose. Now you're probably wondering WTF (Who The Fuck) that is, but apparently she is the first, publically, recorded exorcism by the Catholic Church. There's a movie coming out that is (suposedly) based off of her true story, and I wanted to see what I could see about it. Sorry, in typical form these things fascinate me. Not because I wish to go and shake hands with a demon (like some of you might), but because it is a counterpart, and a very little known one at that. No one of "rational" mind outrights accepts this sort of thing, and if there was an actual investigation into it, I want to see it.

Then there's this weekend, more time with "friends". They are friends, really, but I grew up with them, so they are more then that. So I hope you "older" friends don't get hurt or something when I don't refer to you as such, and I hope you "younger" friends don't get hurt or something when I leave you out, too. You all are, (most likely, save some of you who might read this without knowing me) friends of mine in some degree. But yeah, we'll be up in Logan (lol) this weekend, me until only Saturday night because of work on Sunday.

And now it's time for more searching of the re. I shall adorn you with useless, interesting, scary or funny information at some future point and time.

Tomorrow.

It's as fitting a title as any.

Forgotten: You aren't SUPPOSED TO find this interesting. That's why if you do, and own up to it, I will have you committed. As in to the funny farm. With men with nice white coats and junk. 'Cause they'll be coming to take you away ha-ha!

AND!

You needest deliver me, fortwith and henceforth, cough drops. I have been weezing like an old man for quite some time now and need a remedy...

"Also, life's a bitch and then you die." - Bart Simpson.

====================================================================================

Ok, so today was another rollercoaster. I'm finding that the job is bearable as long as I needn't deal with my superiors. Because they suck. And not in the typical "I'm your freakin' sup. so listen to me, Maggot!" suckage, but they seem to be idiots.

That of course is my expert opinion.

Tomorrow is a massive audit. They are bringing in Capital One people to audit us and check our security. So they send out an e-mail at some point during the day saying that BY TOMORROW we are to have certain CBTs done if at all possible (Computer Based Training). Right. The one that I pulled open and then tried to test out of is a 3 hour course. Not at all possible to do that and about 4 others overnight. Not and sleep at the same time.

What's worse? So many other things, but I probably shouldn't list them here for legal reasons. I might have done it, but I'm trying to keep a mostly spotless record throughout my life, not a task easily done.

So one good thing is that my schedule got pushed back an hour letting me sleep in an hour, which tonight was spoiled by my attempt at the CBTs and cleaning a couple of A-5s. So completely crap. The one we borrowed was a beast and a half...

Anywho...

I have a new gmail account. Not that I'm going to give it out en masse and have it replace my current one. But it's much easier to remember and a hell of a lot funnier. I haven't decided how best to use that, yet. Thus it won't be shared. Least of all on public channels where any of you joe blow robots and spammers can steal it from me.

But if you hear me tell you to e-mail somewhere that sounds too funny to be right, it probably isn't.

There was a whole Utah Rave bust thing, if you didn't catch the news. It's kinda funny on one end because all the ravers that were there were bitching about how legit it was and how brutalized they were. And then when you read the actual reports you know what was going on. The ravers claimed to have all the permits, about 700 people, and not only did they "not have drugs" they had hired their own security. The task force said that not only did they not have a permit, they did have drugs, and at least one 17 y.o. girl ODed. At least I believe that was her age. Interesting how you OD when no drugs are present.

If I weren't trying to go to bed, I'd post the link. If you must, I must, and will, but not now...

Alas I must sleep so that I can pass my boring (but stressful and exciting?) day away tomorrow. I have no idea what they're going to do with us new hires...

Sleep, for tomorrow is another day every bit as demanding as this one.

Today.

Whichever one of you is my secretary, put this on my TRAVEL HERE FRICKEN' FIRST list, k? Liberty, Ohio. I know it's probably not all it's cracked up to be, but still...

Today was a pretty good day. We had about... Almost 100 times as many calls today as yesterday. Which is about half as much as a usual Monday. Not that I'm complaining.

But the really cool part was the gratitude from people (BTW, I did slip up and say "Thank you for choosing... Er... Um..." today) whom I helped. I didn't do any of the actual resets, but I did do all of the talking and paperwork. But I was helping people today that had spoken with up to 7 agents (that's what I am) and been working on the SAME ISSUE for upwards of TWO MONTHS.

Even if I had these people on the phone for 40 minutes or more, on hold for probably half of the time, they still were very greatful. I started feeling that was really odd. And the people from India would THANK ME for putting them on hold. Every time that I did it, they would thank me. That was funny, I thought.

Well another day another dollar? Luckily I'm making more than a dollar per day. But I just decided that I would do a brief update for anyone that finds this interesting (and actually it's a trap... I'm searching for those of you that find this interesting so that I might commit you. Lol.)

Other then that, look over there!

News stuff update.

Yeah, in typical fashion I found a couple of links that were blog worthy...

First the stormtrooper that was almost nearly arrested for armed robbery.

and...

A possibly interestingarticle on a rights based vs. responsibilies based society and why that's a bad thing. In all honesty, I didn't read this one yet, but it seemed like an interesting idea. Let's see how well this gentleman handled it.

Rollercoaster.

There's just so much that happened since Friday. It's hard to keep track of it all exactly...

Friday was great until the last 20 minutes of work when we talked to our supervisor(s) and they decided to force a schedule on us. See, the trainer spent all week telling us that we would more than likely have a M-F work schedule, and that some of us would have to come in early, but most likely only a few of us (which is about the same tune that they sang in the interview). Then the Sups told us that unless we had hours restrictions listed on the application, we were SOL.

Right.

Bastards.

I'm mostly over it now. But do you know of a company that will even LOOK at your application if you don't have near full availability? Me either.

So I worked my first day on the floor today. It was great, actually. I got an extra dollar per hour today and we got some really, really, good experience in. I've pretty much got down the processes that don't require logins ('cause we bein' noobs don't get logins for two more weeks while they make them). So me and the other trainee that were there actually ended up being happy about it, because that gives us an edge on the others when they start tomorrow. Which will be hell. Today we got about 70 calls from 5AM to 2PM. Weekdays they average about 1200.

Yep, sounds like fun, eh?

Other than that, we went paintballing this weekend (a brief scare from my grandfather who was admitted into the hospital, but it turned out to be a false alarm. They thought he had internal bleeding). The Marines rocked the Weyland socks off. So cool. Though I got angry at my brother, father, and crew because they kept picking on our guys. But by the end of the day, less then half of my deaths were actually from the Weyland Utani. Seriously, most of my deaths were from engaging something way more indestructable then I am. 'Cause I'm cool like that. Three deaths from the tank (one when I was stuck in the open on the hill by myself and it ate me), one from an alien that I picked a fight with because he was in our LZ, and at least one from a predator that jumped my squad.

I had a blast, though almost not. When I was just about to go play Friday night, I screwed in the CO2 and the gun leaked like you wouldn't believe. When I cracked it open to look at it, I dropped two super critical parts, but did find the problem (lol). Apparently the owner of the gun pulled out two really important pieces of the firing mechanism, causing the gun to leak.

So after sweating it for about 2 hours trying to find the one piece that I KNEW was missing, I said screw it and waited until morning. In the morning Frank found it and we put the gun back together, only to find that there was another piece that I was missing. We found that one more quickly because it was brass and bigger (ok, ok, it was all Frank again. It was super cool). So we finally got the gun up and running and I got to go kill some Mercs. We call the Weyland guys that because they are mercenaries hired by Weyland Utani. Just FYI.

So by the end of the day I had completed three short term goals that I had set for each little section of the day: I got a 100%, no questions, confirmed kill. I watched the ball from my gun, break on him. I usually claim some others when I think, or feel, that I got the kill, but this one can't be disputed. Then I managed to survive for two insertion cycles (when the dead guys come back in to play every 20 mins) which is HUGE for me because I usually take the first hits in the fight. And then I made it all the way down to the other side of the field in a combat situation, a couple of times. It was awesome.

It was pretty funny too, because by the end of the day the General had hand picked me as one of his lieutenants. I was seriously in the dead zone with like 20 other guys and he came straight for me. So we went out on our mission, got eaten by a Predator, and went out again, lol. BTW, I might be pretty decent as a tactician, but I found that I'm a lousy field commander (or squad leader in this case) because I can't help but lead my men from the front. Which equates to me getting dead first 90% of the time and my squad being leaderless. Seriously, I can only think of one time that I have lead a squad into battle and I survived to the last man. It was the second attempt on a mission to flush out some aliens and me and one other guy survived and then got shot in the back (as well as our other squad members) by a SINGLE (as near as we can tell) Merc. It was hideous.

But we won anyways, that was awesome.

I need to post a song, because it's Sunday. But I'll have to settle with posting one that was sent to me by a friend. I was going to do both, but since I can't remember mine...:

Alanis Morissette - It's Never Quite Enough

Sometimes is never quite enough
If you're flawless, then you'll win my love
Don't forget to win first place
Don't forget to keep that smile on your face

Be a good boy
Try a little harder
You've got to measure up
And make me prouder

How long before you screw it up
How many times do I have to tell you to hurry up
With everything I do for you
The least you can do is keep quiet

Be a good girl
You've gotta try a little harder
That simply wasn't good enough
To make us proud

I'll live through you
I'll make you what I never was
If you're the best, then maybe so am I
Compared to him compared to her
I'm doing this for your own damn good
You'll make up for what I blew
What's the problem...why are you crying

Be a good boy
Push a little farther now
That wasn't fast enough
To make us happy
We'll love you just the way you are
If you're perfect

Fun.

I can't even remember the title that I was going to post.

I'm tired and hurried so let me merely post my thought notes:

Tonight was Whitney's B-day party.

Sorry for not seeing you there, Forgotten. Family troubles, so I heard. (By troubles I mean "things"=family stuffs).

It was fun. Nice to see friends from a year or more ago. Nice to know that they don't hate me, though Anna does a good job at playing at it.

It was really fun.

Lol.

But I had to leave way early which I was pissed about, but at least I got the time that I did. Katie and I still seem to hit it off really well.

I'm getting up at 3:30AM 'cause I'm an idiot. That, and I want to work on getting my first promotion and certificate. ($3.00 raise per hour just for doing this thing, even though it's technically a 30 hour class. It's going to be cake for me, save maybe the hardware parts).

Anyways, morning = early.

Adieu.

I shall probably not post again until Sunday for my once a year paintball thing is tomorrow and Saturday. Then I should have a more coherent and long post.

Rants and Raves

Forgotten: Yes, I did indeed say that. And I thought about that when I posted it. But it was just too important, and just consider it over time. Whatever I'm paying you, I'll triple it. Enjoy your bonus.

Today I figured out my biggest problem with the Mormon Church. Who knows how many times I've said that over the years, but seriously, I found the root of it.

And it stems from Free Agency. You have a church that preaches Free Agency from God that also robs its members of that agency legally. I have an entire page on it in my notebook from this morning, but that's my issue of the moment with them. Legislating things that needn't be legislated. If your members can't handle themselves, that's a point to bring down the legislative system on the rest of the non-believers?

I've heard numbers between 50-75% on how many Mormons are in the state, population wise. That's still enough to pass laws, but there's still enough of us to raise a mighty big stink.

What's the deal with legislating a teen ban on tanning? What about having your religious organizations throwing out coffee machines (or anything else related) from comunal stores and areas because your doctrines tell you coffee is evil (because someone with the power of God said so, naturally)? WTF? Coffee pots can be used for other things, not to need to argue for them. Teens can sunbathe outside, but not as convenient or often. So we should obviously shut down, or restrict, our primary mode of business in that industry because we have a massive double standard complex. Obviously.

I'm just tired of seeing it. And I realized what was at the heart of it this morning. That for YEARS I have debated with your missionaries on Free Agency and your other doctrines, and for YEARS have gotten the same or similar answers. But you can't deny the fact that the church robs you of it at every opportunity. Closing stores down on Sundays, and so many other things (I should clarify that none of these things are inherently wrong if people agree to them, but I'm tired of it being forced into law because it's in the book of mormon or doctrine and covenants.)

It's the same thing that I've always had a problem with members going to each others houses on Sundays looking for those that missed church. Call them, but why do you need to go in assault squads looking to berrate them or coddle them en masse? Three of you or more are required to attend each of those sessions? WTF? I maintain that it is no christians, buddhists, or anyone else's responsibility to maintain anothers soul. If you want to see them do something, talk to them about it, but this constant enforcement is crap. If they didn't show up on Sunday, they had a good reason, why? BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SHOW UP. Who cares? That's between them and God. Not them and you. They still answer to God and God alone just like everyone else. So why need you judge them on Earth and THEN in Heaven?

I'm tired and obviously digressing. It's just been a long time since I've vented on these things. But because the members accept them nothing will change. And the non-mormons will suffer just as much, but more because they're ACTUALLY AWARE of what is going on. But heathens never have anything good to offer, eh?

Other then that I found a unique idea about the Iraq war from an unexpected source. Unique in the sense that I've yet to have heard of it. But essentially our soldiers there are magnets for the terrorists (that part is by in large a great big: "Duh!"). But the side effect of this is that it keeps the attention there. Essentially the comment was made that "I'd rather have the insurgents killing Americans there where they have body armor and M-16s than here." Here we loose women, children, men, and so many other things. We lose our sense of security. Those soldiers are PRECISELY and DIRECTLY dying for our security right now. Al Qaida and all the other little groups out there are very much divided in attentions. At least more so than if we sat here waiting for the next 9-11.

I just never thought about it in those SPECIFIC terms. Losing American Soldiers, our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and friends, is still a VERY tragic occurance. But their sacrifice is purchasing the lives of our children that have yet to come into age and defend themselves. They defend those not able to defend themselves. And some of them bravely give their lives for it.

Just thought that would be a good dicotomy from the previous topic.

Great goodness, it is coming true.

SpaceshipTwo and Virgin Galactic in 2008? We shall see. But in 8 months we could see the first "spaceliner". Cah-razy.

That definately beats the pants off of anything NASA's been doing. I was seriously drooling when I read that. I just don't see any way to get in there in two years. But I definately wouldn't mind being part of the first wave of new engineers when they start building and maintaining a fleet.

Robots and their touchy feely new skin. Data - eat your heart out. Oh, wait...

And there are a few others, but those are the important ones, naturally.

I might have access to a mess of MP3s of FDRs speeches which is really nice, and something about Harvard weighing in on creation.

Yep.

Unisys Take 2

So today was better by about 150%.

It really was quite good.

We actually had training and we actually had someone responsible for us and not just trying to occupy us. I SO hate "busy" work. Even if I get paid for it.

So I'm a real boy now, at least that's what I've been telling everyone since I got my badge. These badges are really neat, they keep the security guards from tackling you each morning and deactivate the landmines in the courtyard so that you may pass on your own accord now, and not need to pass in proximity to any other ACTUAL employees (which I can now prove that I am. As well as NOT being a terrorist and all of the other fun things that I can now prove that I'm NOT).

We actually did training, as I said. We got to get into the programs (sorta) and mess around with them. Because each of the "queues" or projects have their own contracts, needs and wants, each has entirely different requirements (from people, machines, and software) to fulfill. Because of that, and the fact that they aren't 100% sure that we are ALL going to Capital One (a very new, very important project for them) they are holding off on any specific training. Which we probably won't get until we're on the floor on Monday. Great.

But it's been a huge boon in understand just what exactly is going on when we watch someone take a call. So now we can have questions to ask.

Other then that, three breaks and an hour lunch (1:45 of work time off, heh) kept the day running rather smoothly for me. Only nodding off a couple of times. But we have our headsets and badges and will "finish" up training on Service Desk tomorrow (the program). Which is great since that's two days of "training" and then active duty. But even though we are pretty sure we'll bomb it early on, it REALLY doesn't seem like anything all that difficult. Super easy, so if you're looking for easy money, I can definately get you an inside track on moving in on it.

*wink, wink. nudge, nudge*

Sorry, I've been waiting to pimp myself out for three days.

Yeah, 'cause I forgot to mention a few things yesterday, I plan on boring you with them today:

Their facility is a freakin' compound. I've actually learned two specific subterfuge/strategic things since I've started (believe it or not). One involving computers that you don't want messed with and the other involving counter-storming on a building (or making it a hell of a lot harder to take a building by using ground forces - that is, unless they have HEAVY or tank support).

Anyways.

That and the fact that their facility has three generators (which currently it only takes one to power the ENTIRE building, and 6,000 gallons of fuel which equates to 4 DAYS of continues and uninterupted run time). And I think it was a 4 hour UPS which provides a SEAMLESS power continuance in case of an outage. This place is stacked. So that coupled with a foosball table, and you're set for life. Heh.

That's about all I can think of to waste time with today. So why don't you take the rest of the day off? I'll see you tomorrow.

Blasted.

I think this post might see the reoccurrance of the words "blast", "ed", "blasted" or any other form of the two (or their synonyms) that are concievable.

I.e.: I am blasted tired.

Today is one of, but not THE, longest days of my life. 8 hours, litterally, of watching (and more specifically listening) someone doing their job. But it's the easiest money I've ever made. Even if the jokes of insurrection did come up occasionally, we were mostly joking.

But today I got a taste of some of the complexities of corporate America. It's so refreshing and informing. Even though it's technically a call center, you aren't dealing with the average Joe consumer. The people I will be helping are other employees. Employees at Captital One, to be precise.

I find that refreshing because they are other professionals, which will cut way down the number of idiots you are likely to find. But they still exist. And you naturally get the angry person who's been on hold all morning. But I think it is in FAR less numbers then it would be at any of the other such companies I've applied for or heard of.

So today they weren't even ready for us. There were about twelve of us and the trainer was still coming out from Texas (the next nearest company installation) and they really didn't know what to do with us, so we wasted away to mass boredom for 8 hours. It was so bad that by the end of the day we were litterally counting the minutes, and when that time hit, we were out of our chairs like bullets. But this supervisor stopped us and demanded that we fill out some more paperwork (today we only filled out two things, and they had to wait until the end of the day for the last one??)

But this should be no tribble at all. It really seems like super easy work. No offense to those who may or may not be challenged by it. I really don't care if you are, that's great, if you aren't, I salute you (or something). But thus far the most complicated/time consuming part of MOST calls seems to be the programs that you use. You occasionally get the long one that you have to trouble shoot from multiple angles. But it's no big worry.

The only slight downer would be a piece of forebodding that I daren't utter. It's a somewhat credible rumor at this stage, and it could be a piece of corporate information that they might not want out. Wow, I know something important to the survival of a company (perhaps).

Neat.

Now to make up for my not writing out the "blasted"s that I warned you about, here are some:

Why in all of creation would a self respecting business close BEFORE SIX PM on MONDAY?

WFreakin'TF?

Ok, I kinda let the D.I. go because they are Mormon (but just BARELY. That BARELY gets the better of my religious tolerance, but I'll still complain, damnit!) But a PAWN shop? WTF??

Stupid state and its blasted stupid *grumbles some more*...

Tomorrow is another long day. But at least, in theory, we'll have something to occupy ourselves.

Until then.

Oh, yeah, on a side note, the neat-o thing is that they have an "XBox room" and a room with THE BEST foosball table I have ever played on (really well oiled, or graphite or something...) for break rooms. In case you cared.

Interesting and new.

So it is the eve before I start my job and I can't help but be a bit nervous about it.

Everyone has confidence in me, as usual, I just suppose I'm a bit more cautious then they are. Or perhaps I don't always give myself enough credit to be free of worry, but just enough credit to get miraculous things accomplished.

It should be good, easy, and all the usual things. I'm mostly concerned about the havok it will have on my body in the next week. I'll be getting up at 5 AM or earlier every morning and now integrating that with the start of my year. The forthcoming events that I have spent a year planning and waiting for. I should be able to take them well in stride, but it will be the natural adjustment period for taking on such a large job. I've never before had to work a full-time desk job. But it's the desk part that makes it seem like a breeze, regardless of anything else. I really think it is the best job I could get at this time.

It should even serve in many other, and much needed, ways.

So in continuing with documentaries on the History Channel about Hiroshima and the dropping of the only two atom bombs in all of history (at least on actual targets) I caught one of these such and its recounting of the time just prior, and immediately after the detonation on Hiroshima.

It is amazing to think about the thought process of our leadership of the time, and the circumstances of it. Many would like to pass judgement that it is the single greatest evil act Americans have ever perpetrated, ever. And while I agree that use of such weapons is horrific, you have to understand WHY they even considered it.

They well and truly believed with all their heart that it was the only deterent. That they had to "shock" Japan into surrendering or go in fighting to the very last man.

It's a perfect, and thus horrible, tale of the lesser of two evils. We instantly killed 180,000+ (in two seperate attacks, two. TWO. TWO bombs only. Just one of those bombs were the equivilent of 200,000 of the bombs that were standard equipment in the war) Japanese (mostly civilians). Now ask yourself if that is randsom for the thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands that would have been lost on each side should we have invaded. You think Iraq is a quagmire? That has no comparison to the numbers that would have been lost.

Now judge our people on our merits.

It's hard still. But I believe we did what we needed to. I also think that it prevented a world war for the last 50 years. We might yet see that war. But we detered it for long enough as to realize the actual dangers. Our officials didn't realize the effects of radiation until afterwards, and a horrible thing it is, but the lives it might have saved our countless.

Some enemies can be ignored. Some enemies need be struck down.

Don't find yourself in a situation where you won't back down. The fury of your opponent will defeat you. No oppressor in all of history has remained the victor. They all fall to defeat.

I think the saddest thing is how something can go relatively unremembered. It's not rememberance when, on the days of reckoning, you memorialize the actions. It's rememberance when every time the situation comes up, you feel that pain. Every time war is threatened the people of the world should think of the suffering of those days. Should think of the horror of the following years.

Sure, we have a few that call for disarmament. Are they ever heeded? Are there even enough of them to be anything but an echo of memory?

Song of the Week

Alrighty, it's about time I take charge of everything in my life and fulfill years worth of threats and promises, so be prepared to see something new from me at least once a week: Song of the Week.

According to the plan, I will be listing A song that I feel stirs me emotionally, or has helped me deal with something in my life. The hope is that at least one of you will need to hear it, read about it, or be reminded of it.

That being said, this week's song is Vindicated from the Spider Man 2 soundtrack. I'll post the lyrics, and I'd love to post the song, or a snippet of it, but I haven't the technical expertise. If any of you do, I will be greatly indebted to you.

One last thing and then the song: If you feel you have one that you need to share or want to share, send it to me or post it yourself on your bulletin and I will do my best to make sure it gets out there.

So the song:

DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL LYRICS

Vindicated


Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of which has caught my eye

And roped me in
So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated

[Chorus]
I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along

And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

So clear
Like the diamond in your ring
Cut to mirror your intentions
Oversized and overwhelmed
The shine of which has caught my eye
And rendered me so isoloated, so motivated
I am certain now that

[Chorus]

So turn
Up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall forever
Defense is paper thin
Just one touch and I'd be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current
So let me slip away [3x]
So let me slip against the current
and let me slip away [4x]

[Chorus]

Slight hope
It dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption...

Alrighty then.

Well I was going to go all 20x6 with that one (you know, from Homestarrunner), but I laughed too hard and had to erase it. But here's the thing:

I am formally issuing a call to anyone who would like to chime in with thoughts. You can contact me via any method feasible (i.e. telepathy, homing pigeon, rifle fire, or even e-mail and actuall calling me or talking in person). I'm finally calling in a debate on the nature of love and your choice in the matter. It doesn't take a degree, or a nerd, or a jock, or a robot. It takes a living, breathing, opinionated human being. There needs be no experience, only an opinion. Essentially it's a yes or no question and why. That simple.

I personally hold that it is a choice. You all should be up to speed on that by this point (if not, you have two posts before this one to read). I think that it's obvious, and that's not even counting the fact that I think that you are personally responsible for all of your actions.

So some of you think it isn't. Is it just some sort of canned response for you? Or do you actually have reasons for this? That's what I'm looking for: the reason, if any, behind that idea.

That's it, it is as long or short as you want it. I think we'll both benefit more from more serious answers. Obviously there's more to talk about that way.

That's my new challenge to my friends. Note that it's a challenge, it's there for you to accept or decline at your conveniance. No push, no shove, only choice.

=================================================================================

Okay. Now that I have thrown the gauntlet, here's the nifty cool nicknack of the day:

Alleged Photographs of Dragons

I say alleged because I can see the neatness of them, but I don't see them as being like conclusive proof of dragons (more on that in a bit). But it's really neat, none-the-less. Also, the article claims that they have seen "dragons" fall from the sky. Like, living, breathing lizards actually fell. Wierd. It'd be nice if I could find something on that...

And on the whole "need more proof" thingy. I was thinking about that earlier today. See, I wasn't always like that (k, just making sure you caught that, because I'll be the first to boast that I remain constant, true or not). When I was in 5th grade they told me that I should question more, I never did, and now I'm a skeptic. They used to tell me to talk more, because I rarely did, and now I won't shut up. So what's the next big change? Whitney told me I should conquer a township. So if the trend holds does that mean I will actually finish what my namesake started? If so I have to start going now, I have a lot of catching up to do. Oh yeah, and she told me to "make a little money". Lol.

We shall see.

Ok, for reals this time.

First thing: I got the job with Unysis as soon as I confirm it with them.

Second thing and really why there's yet another post today: Let's go back through the knowledge, philosophy and ACTUAL thought that I was trying to get at with a previous post. It hasn't gone live, but I'm not afraid of my mistakes nor do I want to lose that flavor there.

So here goes on my views on the greater meanings of love, etc.

To say it in the basest senes, love isn't something you do because you need it. At least it shouldn't be. You shouldn't love someone because you get something. Unless that something is love. But you still don't need it. Before I get off on the actual meat of this; love is something you GIVE, not something you TAKE.

So if we solely stick to that, if you love for anything but TO love then you're likely doing something wrong. So, loving for self-esteem issues? Right out. Loving because of the mundane or vain things? Nope, no gold diggers or sluts. That should be obvious. Loving because they complete you? No. I don't think so. But that is at least one of the least of my worries. Mainly you should be complete and acceptable to yourself BEFORE you try out this relationship thing. I'm not saying that works for everyone. But that is the golden rule of it I think. Because once you are secure with who you are, you could care less about everyone else. You could have one person, or no people. It doesn't matter to you. Because you aren't loving them because they want it, or you need it. You are doing it because you WANT TO. Because you love them. You could even care less if they loved you back. That's love. That's a big reason why I don't run around dating everything with a pulse. But not like you much care about that.

So why is loving multiple people wrong? That's a good question I suppose. But why would you need or want to? When you look at it, you really don't need to love even one person. I don't find anywhere in nature TRUE love existing with multiple partners. Excess always exists with GREED. What do we call GREED between human beings? Lust. Lust is a bodily greed. You are lusting over some of their features because you want it. All of these are base emotions because they are the simplest and strongest of them. Kids feel greed. Not wanting to share, wanting to get as much "stuff" as possible. If you have kids, or have ever shopped with kids, you should know that. The classic "Mommy/Daddy, I want one!". That's a base instinct. That's your kid wanting whatever he sets his eyes on simply because he felt a momentary reaction of "Hey, cool. That'd be neat." But you don't actually want it. Because if you did, you wouldn't discard it in any ammount of time (or your child, anyways, you know how it goes on Christmas. How long do those new toys last that they've pestered you about the whole year? Most of them don't survive the week.)

It's essentially the same thing with lust. You become greedy. You see a woman not in a respectful way (at least not for long) you see them as a piece of meat, or an ammusement ride. Once you've had your turn, you could care less. That's the extreme, of course, but that's where that sort of thing leads. Care to point out any successful multiple relationships? I know I haven't.

And now you've got the whole self-esteem issue. I personally would say that it's the biggest reason for young'ns failed relationships and bulk of relationships. That's my personal opinion. But find me a girl who wants to be with an insecure guy, or vice versa? Always clinging to you, always suspiscious because you just KNOW that they can't be faithful to you. Because you wouldn't be to yourself because you have no self love. Because you don't think you're worth "it". "It" is just a blank, but that's what it comes down to. And you not being worth "it" is the biggest piece of crap people swallow on a daily basis. But it comes down to a self fullfilling prophecy in a relationship that's foundation is low self-esteem. You think they are cheating on you, and you basically drive them away. Because those few moments apart, or whatever, drive you insane because of the worry. Thus driving them insane. Basically. So they don't want to be with you anymore. So they either end up cheating on you, or leave you, which are essentially the same outcome, that you break up. Doomed relationship.

Another one of the things that keep me from dating, really. First of all I'm not quite confident enough in myself. I need to get back to that. And secondly, anyone who might want it would need something from me. Which they shouldn't. Being together should be a thing of fun, beauty and love. All of those stemming from the latter and not from the fact that you are infatuated or lusting after the person. Not because you get to ride in their fast sports car or spend their money, but because you actually like being with them. Because you love them because you can, and not because they love you back.

That's what I feel love is about. Why do you need all of those other things? You don't really. And realizing that is the true victory in my opinion. Why's a new car nice to have? Because you don't have to worry about it breaking down all the time. Do you need it? I can tell you for a fact that you will survive just fine without it, whether you believe me or not. Same with anything else that you enter into relationships for. You don't need them. You have a biological urge that makes you want to procreate to pass on your DNA. You don't need that either. But you do need to fight it to make sure you do these things for the right reasons. All your basest of instincts and emotions care about is getting fulfilled. All greed, lust, and gluttony want is more. When they get that, they're fine. Your higher emotions like Love, don't need fulfilling. Their fulfillment is a gift. They give instead of take. Not because giving makes you feel better, but because you can. It's the only thing in the world that someone can't take from you. It's the only thing in the world that you can't buy. Well, that and they haven't commercialized oxygen yet...

But that's why it frustrates me to see it abused. Am I going to stop you? No. Can I? No. So what am I going to do about it? I just did it. It's my only weapon. I tell you how I see it, how I feel about it, and you take it or you leave it. I can't cram it down your throat, and that wouldn't work anyways. Did I make you read this just now? No, you read it all on your own. You'll understand it or not on your own, and you'll live by it or not on your own.

None of that can I do for you. And none of it would either of us really want me to be able to do.

That's how I see it. If you want to talk about it and pen something bigger, greater, or more correct then that, I'm all for it. But this is what I've come to realize in the last three months. Yeah, most of it's been there longer then that, but the actual purpose and evolution of it didn't really hit until about three months ago.

Anyways. Thanks for reading it if you did. Hopefully you actually get something out of it. Believe it or not, those eyes of yours are more than just light receptors. They're one of the primary ways to input knowledge.

Where's the lost voice of reason?

So it's happening.

(BTW, this is going to be an infuriatingly vaigue post.)

The corrupt morals of the lost are left to wander and not even that tiny nagging conscience is left to persist.

It's actually kind of funny and horribly sad. I mean, I definately feel bad for the person, but this is entirely one of those situations where you are completely powerless. I could no more have stopped this series of events then I could have haulted two trains in a collision course. For me that is impossible.

And now, bittersweetness. Such an odd taste this one is. Seeing a years old prediction coming true whilst watching the corruption of fall of not one, nor even two, but many old friends. There's no longer a voice of reason represented there. They've long been cast out in fear and anger. Still the only example I have of wisdom and intelligence being so thouroughly rejected. Reject the wisdom for carnal pleasures because the latter becomes more naturally. What a simple and flawed way of looking at the world. Lazyness is a natural constant. The atoms themselves will not react without a lower energy being obtained. And explain to me, now, the great wonders that man has created in his great lazyness?

I was just talking about this yesterday. I was forced out, so what of the others? Simple abandonement?

If there's ever a set of people that needed help, I have found them. If there's ever an impossible task, I am helpless to even begin it. But it's not my task, that was taken from me long ago. Withdrawn once given, or allowed. But that's fine, I'm not really worried about it. But its situations like these that are the toughest for me to live with. I've become a man of action, and I would give my life to try to stop that train wreck if I thought it were remotely possible. So now I simply watch it unfold, helpless.

Oddities. I take back former comments and allusions of carpet bombings. The big issue now is that it is spreading without the world. I can't understand why no one steps up to do something about it. Challenge it on your morals, your religious background. Or can you find no weaponry there?

Or maybe the actual truth is that it doesn't matter. That the reason no one steps in is that it will solve itself? And/or that it will never be a serious issue?

I hope it's the latter and not the lack of a basis of defense. I truly do.

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

That's just one of the many quotes in a collection of Einstien. Real genious there. Oh, and here:

http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html

It's sort of interesting, ok, really interesting. Naturally you should all read them all if you can find the time.



Oh, and of course, the doom and gloom message of the day:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1546797,00.html

I winned.

I found the Terrible Secret of Space!

Here's the chat prank:

Prankage

Who knows if that's real...

And here's the flash. Watch it twice. It's a totally different experience the second time. You notice more.

That concludes the sharing of the most classic flash thingies of all times. At least without cracking open Homestarrunner and eating all of the SB e-mails, heh.

Also, idiocy strikes again in Utah:

Explosion in Spanish Fork.

What kind of idiot drives FASTER with explosives? You and me would regret going over speedbumps or little tiny rocks with that load...

Sheesh...

Links 2: Revenge of the Links

So with the re-introduction to AlbinoBlackSheep I bring you more pointless and maybe funny links, don't worry, all of these just link straight there:

Star Wars Rap

The llama song

LOTR: What's taters precious?

A classic for me: Patrick Moore Plays the Xylaphone

And the obligatory "All your base are belong to us." That one is interesting when you play around with it.

The bastardization of my favorite holiday song of all time: "Ding fries are done."

Quite possibly my favorite flash movie thingy EVER. Kenya

I would have posted The Terrible Secret of Space, but their link wasn't working. I'm crushed. It's super classic. I'll find another one and then that will be the last of my links for the day. Maybe I'll even find the chat thingy.

A link.

Yep, I keep on top of them link thingies.

You definately DON'T want to click on this link. I'm serious. There's nothing special about it, no free ipods or anything of the sort.

Click the link, you know you want to

CLICK ME!






























Told you. Aha, aha, ahahaha.

Discovery has landed.

They actually decided to pull it off. Good for them.

I just thought you might need something like this after that last one. And if I don't, then ForgottenPain will call me on it :-p.

What's the point?

What's the point in being there with a bandaid when you get a scrape? To only have you yell at me?

What's the point of my pulling you out of the water in which you are dieing to only have you spit it at me?

What's the point in healing you when you no longer want anything to do with me?

What's the point in asking, just so that you can turn me away?

What's the point...?

========================================================================

I don't understand anymore. Not like I think I ever did. People screaming out for help, litterally, and then they are angry with me for responding. Sure, some of them aren't exactly asking for me, but it's a general plee for help. I answer, and I get yelled at, or dropped like a sack of potatoes, or the cold shoulder/silent treatment.

While I was gone a gal I haven't known for that long, but have spoken with plenty sent me a message about how she had mutilated her self in anger and what not. Now she doesn't even find it in her to talk with me about that or anything else.

My mom just was in the other room and screamed aloud for God knows why and she just said "I'm tired, leave me alone."

Fuck this shit. I'm tired of being the defender of an ungrateful world. Never a thank you, no gains, just losses. That in and of itself isn't the horrible part. It's when the people that I've defended as long as I've known them, picked them up when they're down and otherwise physically or mentally aided in their healing become my enemies. That's what it comes down to. I'm abandoned by those that I end up helping. Betrayed. Stabbed, shot and beaten. So what's the point?

Right now I'm more inclined to be the antichrist.

You want me to help you? Maybe I should ignore you instead. Maybe I should just add to the problem or maybe I should run from people like you, always needy, always ingrateful and never improving. Then what? When even I am found running from people, what's left? Who's there to help you then? You have others like you. That's rich.

You have other backstabbing, bitchy, hopeless wastes there waiting on you. The blind telling you what the landscapes look like. The deaf telling you of the beauty of the angellic chorus. And the quadrapalegic telling you how to run a decathalon.

That's what this world is built on. We fear and loathe those that are better than us. We fear and loathe those that seek to help us.

And now I drive YOU off.

I'm not allowed to have these thoughts. It's not meant to be, but I have them.

I'm supposed to be some kind of shining example. Some diamond in the rough. Whatever. My friends never have to really worry about me doing anything crazy, neither does my family. And then I get like this and the whole world stops because everyone thinks I'm going to crack.

Not going to happen. But you're getting the exact response that you gave me.

I spent several hours last night arguing with someone about this.

It's a waste.

If you don't want help, stop fucking asking. What happened to our self control? You scream fire in a crowd, what the fuck do you think is going to happen? Do you bitch at the firefighters for coming when you pull the fire alarm? Do you yell at the people for running to your aide when you scream "Help!"?

Then why me?

Why am I yelled at, screamed at, berated for trying to help you when you scream out for it?

I try to fulfill that same purpose, but I'm yelled at for it. Maybe I need a uniform. Is that it? Like the rest of the vain world I need something tangable to SHOW you that I can do what I'm doing? Fake or not?

It's idiocy.

Great and mighty crickey.

I shall now relieve you of your wits for about the next while so that I might stupify you with my journey in the "outback" of Utah.

But first, a short interlude by a dude:

I had an interview with Unysis today. They're like Convergys, but a BILLION times better. And all I did was have a 10 minute interview. So hopefully they will hire my, that would be great. The only sorta problem I have is that I don't exactly have a way to get there. But that might not be a problem, but it currently is a problem. Oh, BTW, because you're all as big of nerds as I am. My typing speed is 47 WPM (*pausing for you to catch on if you didn't* *gives up hope for those who don't get it*). Yep. I'm a geek.

So, the trip. The trip was good until yesterday. That I shall elaborate on at the end when I write it on the fly. The next stuff is going to be from days ago when I wrote it in a binder (so primitive, my wrist didn't like it...)

So the following BOLD texts will be the subtitles of what I named the things that I wrote. I wrote them mostly as entries already for convenience. Because you care. You know you do, don't fight it. "Smile! Or else!"

True Wilderness

Monday, August 1st, 2005

So today I invaded another country.

...

Just letting that sink in because I'm serious. I know how I often joke about that.

Tresspasser. Unwanted Visitor. Invader. $10,000 fine if caught, all that jazz.

Naturally I didn't know at first, but I continued on once I found out.

I got a taste of mother nature in her purest, truest, form. Complete with the assortment of wildlife. Ground so pure that it's like sand under my feet. Trails cut by elk and deer, not by the feet or machines of man.

You have no idea that bliss for me.

No powerlines.

No houses.

No cars.

The only dampner was to know that just back over the hill, it was still there, waiting.

But so was Bigfoot. She's - just jumped up and interrupted me writing about her (we like to call that irony) - but she's also adorable. All 24 toes. (Yep - 7, 6, 6, 5. 24 toes = Bigfoot).

Civilization

8-4-05

Ok, so I decided to put an intermittent log before I fill you in on the sob story.

So I ran into a problem classifying civilization today. Those of you that have heard me gab on about it before remember that, to be civilized, a location MUST have a Wal-Mart (in the modern sense, anyways).

Traveling this far out from "mainstream" Utah (if you can ever use those words concurrently in a sentence) has produced a dilemna. Many of these "cities" don't have a Wal-Mart, McDonald's or anything else found in even the smallist municipalities (even the Russians have McDonald's!). It is fair to note, however, that they do have recognizable (or chain) gas stations.

Moving on. The real kicker for me was when we came accross a car lot (however small) and this "city" still lacked a stabilizing Wal-Mart. (And I was later further confounded by a SECOND car lot in the same area!)

Needless to say, I have increased the complexity of my scale on civilization, after some deliberation (naturally) and have come up with the following:

Type 0 (Village) - less than 50% of the population has a connection to the outside world. In the basest sense that requires a TV and/or! a telephone.
Type 1 (Hamlet) - 50% or more of the pop. with connection to outside world.
Type 2 (Town) - Majority of the pop. has connection to outside world AND important, non-national (non-chain like Wal-Mart, McDonald's, etc.) business, such as car lots.
Type 3 (City) - Internet is the key factor here. It's rather common (50% or more of population has AT LEAST dialup - if you can call that civilization, heh). You can find a Wal-Mart as well as other nationally recognizable businesses. Majority of buildings are lower than 3 stories tall (0-5 buildings). Layton is a prime example of this.
Type 4 (Metropolis) - Population is generally counted by millions of people. 5-10 Buildings is an average number of those with MORE THAN 3 stories. Salt Lake City is an example of this.
Type 5 (Name undetermined as of yet) - Numerous sky scrapers and other large and recognizable buildings. Extremely large population (2 million or more). L.A., New York, London, etc. are all examples of this.

All your tears are belong to us

Today, the 5th of August, 2005 (in case you didn't know)

So the only real damper on the weekend was that we got thrown out of where we were staying. Without elaborating a huge ammount, we were at a trailer park (of sorts, this is more like where you park your RV, etc. and not a trailer home) where my grandparents have been living at for a while.

Early in the morning the "manager" (for lack of a better term) basically went ballistic on my grandfather for a very small thing and after a bit of retalitory hostility and yelling, the guy threw us out, which is a huge shock to all of us because it's an idiotic thing (the wiring on a golf cart) and completely out of the blue and unwarranted.

So that's what we did yesterday on our "rest" day. We moved them to another camp, their old one.

The headline stems from the fact that you couldn't much tell the difference of what was happening here from a funeral. I've never seen that many older people cry and be solemn except at a funeral... So we left and that was it. And the huge sock in the gut had been that we had been an extremely tight knitt community all week until then.

So in my cynism I discovered one of the great lies of humanity: maturity. You don't ever really grow up, you just think that you do. But what really happens is that your toys get more expensive and the tantrums get more violent (though maybe maturity is the fact that they are less frequent). And I say that because I honestly couldn't tell the difference between their fighting and a couple of four year olds. After learning what it was about, I side with my grandfather (and this stems into something more than family, the guy's reaction is completely unwarranted) and exclude him with that. But I've never before witnessed someone so aged (50+) throw such a big fit and tantrum as that guy...

-----------------------------------------------------------

Anyways, that's about it. Just wanted to let you know.

And if the next time you see me you have to blink and ask who I am. It's 'cause I have chopped my hair off. To natural lengths, of course. So now I am sick of writing and you are sick of reading.

Somewhere... Over the rainbow...

Anyways, I am home.

I am abbreviating this post because I need to vacate in preperation for my busy day. It's freakin' 10AM and I already have a busy day...

I shall give you a severely lengthy post at some time later about our exploits in foreign countries (seriously) and about why I will be busy today untill the even.

Other then that, wish me luck, because with any luck I shall land a decent job today.

Abien to.

"You fools! You've messed with the natural order!"

Sorry, had to finish the episode for you.