Autonaut

Did Something

2011-03-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

First was conformity, then there was frustration. After frustration came epiphany and following that... Action!

I did something.
I've been posting angry posts for a while because I had a long frustration phase and kind of a back and forth epiphany phase. I figured that I was a hypocrite for having realized what I truly wanted to do while carrying on with what I had always done.

What I did: I dropped all my classes.

Gasp!

Don't worry. I didn't drop dance.

I've printed off the classes that are required for the Creative Writing program and I am excited to start. I looked at the classes and I just started laughing. Its like play time! Each one of the classes is exciting and interesting and I can't wait to have the skills to express all the muttle that is in my head.

So, I will do most of them online, giving me time in the day to work full time, lay in the sun, find a girly to fulfill my "make out with beautiful women" goal, and then finally spend my evenings fwapping away at the keyboard.

Things to look forward to:

I've been writing for a little while and actually have things finished. Perhaps I'll get to posting them on here. I might also post cool tips and techniques that I learn. Perhaps I'll make a second blog dedicated to this. I'll let you all know.

Monopolizing My Brain

2011-01-31T21:41:00.005-07:00

I figured it out!! Or kind of. I'm in the process, and so the following thoughts aren't fully formed.

I know why I don't like nor do well in school: It monopolizes my brain!

I believe that you should be living the life that you think you should be living. That may seem straight forward, but a lot of people preach that you should be living a life FOR the future, abstract goal of a life that you are told you should aim for. That's crap! What is it that we're planning for? What is the end goal? Is it a career? Once we get a career are we done? Should we just die at that point? Is it parenting? Once our kids move out should we just die? Is it... retirement? Once we retire should we just die? What is it!? What are we planning for?

Do you know why there is no answer? Because the question is inherently absurd! This may be redundant of my other post, but it's not because I'm not angry. I'm pleased as punch to have had this epiphany. We're not supposed to live our lives preparing for the future. Stop what you're doing and look around! If what we're doing right now does not make us happy then we're doing it all wrong!

What I'm doing:
• Working 40 hours a week in advertising
• Doing 7 credit hours of school studying spanish, computers, and dance (yay!)
• Worrying about church? I don't know about that one. It might not actually count.

Anyway, that may not seem like a lot to you conformists, but if you took one look in my brain you'd explode with the amount of ridiculous nonconformist, disestablishmentarianist (big word used properly!), hippy nonsense there is in there.

What I want to be doing:
• Writing exciting fiction novels 40 hours a week
• Tending a garden (Didn't see that coming did you!)
• Traveling the world in a caravan (American translation - RV?)
• Sunbathing
• Making out with beautiful women
• Bringing down the established government and freeing the people

They were getting kind of ridiculous, but I'm serious! Is there something wrong with that lifestyle? I don't think so. I can't compare the two because what is the standard of measurement? We have two points on a line with no axis (for all you geometry buffs). The aformentioned life seems so much more healthy. It is so much more freeing.

As it is, my creative mind is monopolized by textbooks and search engine marketing. So what do I do? Nothing. Why? Because I'm an hypocrite? Possibly. Because I am scared? More likely.

Sarcastic and Offensive

2011-01-31T19:18:00.005-07:00

Topic being discussed in my computer class:

Piracy of software and music. Unethical? My argument as to why it is just fine and dandy.

Topic: File Swapping Ethics
Downloading free music, movies, and other electronic media from the Internet, although illegal, still occurs by using sites such as Limewire and Bit Torrents. Please share your thoughts to the following question:

Discuss the differences you see between sharing music files online and sharing CD's with your friends?

My Response:
I don't see any difference between sharing CD's and sharing music files. They are one in the same in my book.

If I try and stretch my brain to describe the difference I just sound ridiculous. If I think of a pretty poem, wrote it down and give it to you and then your friend looks at it and copies it onto his own paper, that's fine. If I take that poem and compose it in an email and send that to you and you forward it to you friend is that not fine? That is how I see sharing CD's and sharing music files. Same thing and trying to distinguish them only makes someone sound angry and possessive.

Sharing is caring!

Topic: Privacy Question
Which is more important to you: protecting the United States from potential terrorists by surrendering some personal privacy or keeping all of your personal privacy rights?

Response:
It is delusional for anyone to think that they have "privacy rights." If you post your thoughts on Facebook or if you type your questions into Google, you are sending that information over the World Wide Web! It is not a private thing and to think that is ignorance. Even talking on the phone sends your conversations through some server, a satellite, and who knows where else before it reaches the phone on the other end.

The only information that is truly private is the information that we as the originators of that information choose not to share. End of story. The government has all the right in the world to tap into the vast pool of publicly shared information that is the internet.
Rights are directly proportionate to abilities. They can, so they can.

More Questions

Topic: Pirating Software
My Stance: Go for it!

1) Q. Is it okay to borrow the software? A. Yes, although I would argue that there is no "borrowing" that happens in software piracy.

2) Q. Would it be okay if you uninstall-ed the application after use? A. Sure, but what's the point? You used it. Its software. Its not like you stole someone's car. Software can be replicated to the infinity times and it wont change one darn thing in the universe.

3) Q. Would it be okay if the software was on the school's network and you could copy it from there? A. These questions are self-discrediting. How about asking if the software was created in Japan, shipped to Guatemala, stored on a floppy disk that was pink and then given to your brother as a gift. Your brother then installed it on his computer but the computer exploded. You found the floppy disk amidst the rubble and converted it to a CD. The CD was then re-gifted to your school, leaked to a student, posted on a torrent, and then re-downloaded by the Japanese software designer's hacker son who tweeted about it. Is it okay for you to use it then? Point. End case.

Counteract

2010-12-07T18:40:00.004-07:00

I was in a mood when I wrote that last post, but, on principle, I will not edit it.

The strange thing is that I had just had a really nice day.

Now I want to counteract the mood set by my last post with something pleasant. I haven't posted something really pleasant in a while. Mostly frustration and criticisms of things that I have been frustrated with.

I am a happy person.

I put smiley faces in my text messages because I'm smiling as I type them :)

Sometimes I zone out while looking at nature.

I love Grandma's Homestyle Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies, and I can get them from the campus vending machine for 65¢!

I know a lot of very beautiful people.

I get to dance with my friends every Friday!

I play super hero games on my phone.

I have a massive family and they all live right here!!

My hair is finally long enough to wear in a ponytail, so I do.

My dad calls me whenever I post a "concerning" blog post or Facebook status.

There is a girl in my Abnormal Psychology class who is a good example of every lecture.

I have 23 followers. Most of whom I don't know.

I might be late for class because I insisted on sitting here writing about happy things.

It is a needful thing for a brain like mine to have a place to overflow. Thank you all for reading my blog.

Broken Penny

2010-12-05T23:38:00.015-07:00

There have been 106,456,367,669 people that have lived on this planet based off of a research done in 2002. There are just over 6 Billion people living now which means that you, as an individual are 0.0000000009% of all of the humans reported to have ever lived. Don't check my math, but break a penny into one hundred billion pieces and one piece is more than you're worth in the pocket of the richest man alive.

Congratulations on your college degree and six figure income, but guess what: Subtract your age from about 80 and that's how many years you have left on this earth and then what will it matter because you'll be dead.

I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about these numbers, so I had to write them down. If you're still reading then there is something really wrong with you. Don't worry though because there's something wrong with me too and that's why I'm here now.

If I don't matter then what does? Really. What does? I'm asking you. I don't know, but I know a few things that don't. I'm special because most people don't know what I know. Most Americans grow up in suburbs and are taught that they should go to a public school and then a private university. They should get a degree and then work 9 - 5.

The 2006 - 2008 American Census says that 27% of Americans between 25 - 34 have degrees. It is also reported that most people who obtain degrees will end up in jobs that don't require them. Lets say that most means 51% and conclude that 87% of Americans DO NOT achieve this goal. Great job, America. Can we say, "Unrealistic Expectations?"

If we have an estimated 13% success rate then why do we do it? There is a 16% chance of death while playing Russian Roulette. Think about that. Why do we continue on, generation after generation preaching this nonsense? I think that it is because, even though deep down we all know the truth, we're either afraid to speak up or we're too distracted by the fantasy.

I, as the Champion of Mediocrity, choose to speak up. I don't have anything new or revolutionary to say, but I have to say it. Not for you, but for me.

I have a mediocre job and a mediocre apartment. Other mediocre things that I have include, but are not limited to: my fashion sense, my academic ability, my spirituality, my love life, and my social status.

This isn't a confessional or a plea for approval, this is a declaration that I am aware that mediocre is a relative adjective with no real meaning except weight given to it by that which the subject is compared to. This post is a spit in the face of all of those who have set their arrogant standard by which they measure the worth of the lives of others. It may be juvenile, but, what can I say? I'm in a spiteful mood and I need to somehow get rid of these beer goggles of life that I've been given.

I realize all of this but it hasn't made any significant change in my life. This bugs me. I think that it is easy to realize the falseness of something, but then exponentially more difficult to find the truth. Lies don't make great things happen, nor does the uncovering of one. Truth is the only real motivator.

I'm sorry if you hoped to read some great moral statement or learn something truly inspiring by my post, but this isn't that kind of entry. If you have read this and had something come to mind, please comment. I don't care if what came to mind was the fact that you had to go to the bathroom.

Academic Insanity

2010-09-21T18:07:00.011-07:00

[I wrote this in my Calculus notebook last year before class while I should have been studying for my test. I forgot about it until now and realize what a tragedy it has been that I forgot about it. Even though this was written a year ago, these thoughts are still mine and I stand by them.]

I'm losing my mind. I must be because I am seeing the same thing as everyone else but I seem to be the only one who thinks it is not normal. I told them that I wanted to study psychology and here I sit, studying Calculus. I don't know what is crazier; that they perscribed this, or that I paid them my hard earned money and did it. I think the latter, which adds to my claim that I am losing my mind.

It all started around August of 2003. That was seven years ago. I sat in some office of some college in California and told somebody that I aspired to be a Psychologist. Since that time, I have taken approximatly five semesters of English, four semesters of Math, five semesters of Spanish, four semesters of History, countless semesters of who knows what and one, yes... one semester of Psychology [now two]. Mind you, I did take two years off for a mission, so it has taken me a calculated five years and many thousands of dollars to learn the most basic principles of Psychology and that this system is obviously not working for me. One of those basic principles of Psychology that I learned is that the defining characteristic of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Realizing that I am losing my mind fuels my desire to cure my insanity, not add to it.

Because of this realization, I have decided to do some deciding. my first decision is that I no longer want to study Psychology. My second is that no matter what it is that I decide to persue in life, this system will not work for me. It is undeniably evident that this system works for many people. All people? No. Most people? No, but many people.

So I have decided what is not going to work and what I don't want to do, but now I have to decide what I do want to do and what will work. If I stay like this for long, I fear that it may... become me, and I don't want to become "undefined."

Some may say, and at times in the past I may have been tempted to believe, that my lack of success has been the result of laziness. If you are tempted to believe this, may I refer you to the part about my five plus years and thousands of dollars worth of investment in this cause?

I received top marks in my one psychology course, but failed to achieve that in any of my other acidemic classes in all my college years. My lack of success is easily traced through my lack of motivation and down to my lack of desire. I never wanted to study Math nor Computers or even English. Is there any fault to be found in me for only wanting to acquire skills necessary for me to excell in my chosen profession? Absolutely not! In fact this desire should be commended and this truth justifies my desire and in turn my lack of motivation and success!

My point is that I don't belong here. My education is no longer an investment but an expense and I have no money for expenses and no patience for endevers that are fruitless time waisters.

My thoughts after these are vague. My decisions are yet undecided. My realization is that I have lived almost one third of my expected lifespan and I have no direction and no measurable skills to show for my twenty five years of life. It is time to do something.

The first thing I will do is find out what my true desire is and then perscribe for myself a method to achieve it.

[After writing this, I did so poorly on my test that I didn't bother ever going back to class.]

Poetic Observation

2010-09-21T17:56:00.003-07:00

Written last year, this entry was inspired by my calculus class in all of its ridiculousness. The teacher taught from slides and the left door was covertly locked. This was the first thing that I wrote in my notebook for that semester and it is heretoforerepresented in exactness.

Calculus is My Favorite!

We learn this magical art from the mystical blue screen of death! Our first task is to enter through the right door! But first, one must travel through the perilous construction... with no hard hat!

Oh the melodramatic insanity! Oh the bitter trial! Oh the majestic classroom which is the destruction of many a hopeful prodigy!

To calculate or not to calculate!? Is that even a question? Oh to take the complexities of this world and represent them! Represent as numbers and symbols and symbols for numbers. All of this in effort to simplify and quantify.

Oh retched door. The mocking blockade. The damning force. The vicious guardian with... no quantifiable purpose.

Just Me

2010-03-22T19:38:00.003-07:00

This is my first time blogging from my phone. Its slow going so hopefully I don't make a habit of it.

Today is a red day. Last night the health care bill passed and while I have much to say on the subject, I will suffice it to say that I got the news via text by Angela, who, no doubt, figured that I would want to talk about it. Usually I would and I am mostly outspoken about things that I disapprove of, but there was something in it that made me feel betrayed and altogether violated by those who I am supposed to trust. I was so upset that I told Angela that I didn't want to talk about it and I went to bed early. So early, in fact, that I woke up today two hours before my alarm.

Work was regular today, but splashed with he occasional comment about the bill and after work, once my mind wasn't occupied, I couldn't sit still. I couldn't think a moment's thought without it being some horrible thought about the government. I knew I had to do something, so I put on my running shorts and ran to my old house where my old roommate was gardening. After making small talk with him, I carried on running to Angela's house. She wasn't home, so I turned around and ran back home. I haven't done the math yet, but it was probably only a couple miles each way. Although I didn't experience any great Aha moment, I felt a thousand times better. I felt peace. Maybe that is "Aha Moment" material. It was a reminder that even though our great country is being lead in a treacherous course, there is still peace to be had.

I am cursed with the big picture. I am cursed with an overpowering desire to care about how this country is ran. I can't convince myself to ignore it or fool myself into thinking that it doesn't matter. Therefore it is typically difficult for me to find peace.

No matter what kind of corruption is happening in the world, I know that I am still free to live my own principles and to enjoy life for all the little things that it will always offer: like fresh air, old friends, and people to love.

I do hope that our dear, wayward country finds the truth soon, but in the meantime, I will continue my struggle for life and peace.

There Once Was a Blog

2009-11-05T09:10:00.003-07:00

I guess I'm not much of a blogger anymore. It just kind of died.

I blame Facebook. I will also point out that some not so pleasent things have become of my life and I'd rather not publicly post about them.

Overall life is good. I work and... hang out with Angela... and work some more. That's pretty much it.

The end.

Batch Pad

2009-09-21T14:25:00.004-07:00

I've lived in my Pad for almost a week now and it feels like it's been about 4 hours... I realized that I'm just not home enough to get all settled and "used to" it just yet.

I got home last night, after a pleasant evening with the family at Josh and Jackie's lovely home and had nothing to do. Nothing! It was the strangest thing. I've been so busy with moving and two jobs and etc., that I just now finally had a night with nothing but me and my batch pad. It was a bit weird. I just walked around and looked at things and kind of digested my apartment. It was a strange experience to say the least. And then I played video games until the wee hours of the morning.

The sink and mirror part of my bathroom are actually in the hallway. The toilet and shower are the only things actually behind a door, much like a hotel. So after assembling the bed in its place in my room, I sat upon it to relax and looked out into the hall. I immediately noticed the problem. "That is not okay," I said, seeing that the extra large mirror was a straight shot from my bedroom. Angela laughed and said she knew I would say that.

I have a thing about mirrors. I am not a superstitious person, but because of stupid movies I watched as an impressionable youth and some underlying psychopathic qualities of mine, I do not like mirrors. I don't trust them. They're mischievous portals to the evil world of Satan... okay, not really, but... I... just... can't get past it for some reason. At any rate, I need it covered. I bought a curtain railing so all I need now is some curtains and someone with a drill. I don't remember the exact dimensions. I think 4x3 or 5x4 or I don't know but whatever the size, its been hard to find curtains that size.

Consumer Whore

2009-09-03T16:13:00.005-07:00

I just experienced this phone call and I think it portrays a mindset that I'd like to make a public example of.

~beep~

Me- "This is David with Charter Communications, how may I help you?"
Her- "I'd like to add DVR to my service."

~insert probing questions and up-selling attempts here~

Me- "Well, in that case, you have some options... You can do a free self-installation if you pick up the equipment yourself or I can send a tech out to install it for $29.99."
Her-"Well, I don't really want to do a self-install, but I don't want to pay for it either."

~moment of silence~

Me- "So which one do you want?"
Her- "Well, can't you just have someone bring it out?"
Me- "Yes, I can. For just a one time charge of $29.99."
Her- In a very perplexed voice, "Well, can't you just waive that?"
Me- "No, I can't."
Her- "Well, can I speak to your supervisor?"
Me- "No. We're the sales office, we don't wave charges. If you want to speak with customer service, I'll give you their number."

~gave number for customer service~

I bet this lady voted for Obama. It's okay to ask for deals, but there really is a limit. There's a difference between asking for a break and expecting a handout.
I wanted to ask her why I should wave the installation charge. Why? What is the reason? Should this technician not get paid for his time taken to get the DVR Box and drive out to this persons house and spend about half an hour there or possibly more installing this DVR? If this process takes one hour from the time the technician obtains the DVR until he gets back to the office or onto his next job then this technician got paid $15/hr and that is only if 100% of this installation charge went to the tech. Should this technician do this as a volunteer service to this customer out of the goodness of his heart? Does the goodness of his heart feed his family? No.

*Read my political analysys of this situation here*.

New Political Blog

2009-08-18T12:14:00.008-07:00

So, I mix a lot of political mumbo jumbo into this blog. I want this to be all about my personal life, miscellaneous thoughts, etc. So I've made a separate blog for political commentary only. I know you've been waiting for this day and it's here.

*David John Outloud*

Ides Of September

2009-08-13T13:49:00.006-07:00

*Mr. Independent
So I've done it. I'm moving on September 15th into my very own apartment on Gilbert and Southern. If you didn't know, I've been living with some friends. They own a three bedroom home and I rent a room. It's a good situation because I only pay $220/mo, but you know... I'm a very independent person and it's just time for me to have my own little place. It's a tiny one bedroom. I have a bed, a desk and a nightstand. If you have anything you are just dying to give me that would be great!

If it's not cold already by the middle of next month then I want to have an apartment warming party! Just an idea so no formal plans, but there is a pool so it can be a pool party because there's no way i'd be able to fit a party in my apartment :)

*Why I Suck
I sold someone a bundle of Cable & Internet and told him the installation is $49.99 and he flipped out and told me that he was quoted only $29.99 and was very rude. After he explained to me why I sucked, I apologized for sucking and said, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" He was genuinely shocked that I was not going to help him with the charge and that I was just brushing him aside. It was obvious that he just needed the service and charge or not he would still have to go with us, so grudgingly, he set it up with me whining the whole time and I charged him full installation charges.

A couple calls later I had a customer call in with a similar order but he said that he was quoted free installation. Using my very unhelpful tone, I said, "No, I'm sorry that's incorrect. Installation is $49.99." He just sounded sad and asked very nicely if there was anything I could do. I said of course and I waived his installation, no problem.

Remember that people have more power over these kinds of things than you think and if you're just nice we are more likely to help you.

Test of Socialism

2009-07-25T10:52:00.003-07:00

This is an e-mail I got from a friend. I don't know if it's true or not, but that's irrelevant. It gets' the point across.

As the late Adrian Rogers said, "you cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
This man is truly a genius!
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Missed One

2009-07-20T09:12:00.001-07:00

So, I had posted at least once every month since December 2007. Last month was the first month with no post. Sad day. I guess its because I've become ridiculously busy. "Life" is actually pretty crazy and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would.

So currently, my life includes my two jobs (DAC and Albertsons), school, Angela, church and family stuff. All pretty normal and important and I love how they all fill my life with variety and excitement.

CASHIER Last week I was given my One Year pin at Albertsons. My manager just handed it to me and carried on with her work. I just felt like this was a little bit less than celebratory, so I told my next customer about it and we did a little dance together. It was pretty awesome. I only work one or two nights a week. I like Albertsons.

SALES DAC / Charter is the most prominent aspect of my life right now. I'm full time and most weeks I'll do as much overtime as I can stand. Currently, myself and one other person keep switching between first and second place on the rankings on the floor. I've applied for a special management program class for which they will choose only 8 people from the whole company to have special, one on one management training. I have been accepted for an interview on Monday. I have also applied for an actual Management position within my department. My manager is doing all she can to prepare me for management including assigning me to be a supervisor all last week where I spent my days walking the sales floor assisting the new people and also doing the managers' various projects. I have discovered that I love sales and I love teaching people. I like my job.SCHOOL I took some time off and was planning on going back in the fall, but I got a bit anxious and took a summer class. It was very intense but I finished and passed and now I'm free to take what I want in the upcoming fall semester. I'm glad I did it. I am a smart guy, but I am not academic. Many people are the opposite. I will argue that academics do not secure for anyone success in this life. I have no respect for the college and university academic systems nor their politics and if I had the power, I would call for a complete reformation. I could go on, and on about why the system sucks and perhaps I will, but not in this post. I have taken many classes and I have failed many classes. It was not my time. I will get my degree in my time and I hope that if you are sure enough that your way is correct that you keep that to yourself because I don't want to hear it. I'm not angry at the people who's opinions have proven to be different than mine. I am happy and proud to be able and ready to do things my way. I am filling my plate with everything I can and just getting it done. I live in peace knowing that I provide for myself in the now and I am constantly providing for my life in the future. That's all that I need to have peace. And I have that.

LOVE It has been almost 21 months since that day at the Macaroni Grill when I asked Angela if she would be my girlfriend. Sometimes I'm shocked that she could stand me for this long. Since that day we have entwined our lives, learning about each other and about love in general. I don't think it was an accident that Angela came into my life when she did and I can honestly say that all the best things in my life right now are because of her. If you ever really get to know Angela, you learn quickly that her life is full of giving. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding why she gives so much and so often to those who just never give back. Often I'll classify myself in that category. I don't how to give the way she does. She is a great example to me.

If I were a bit more of a man, I would be able to fill this section with sappy words that would describe how I feel about Angela, but honestly I don't think sufficient words exist.

SPIRIT I'm not an active member of the church and haven't been for over two years. A couple months ago, something happened. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but really it was a combination of things. Perhaps I just needed to establish my independence in order to appreciate the influence of the church in my life. Maybe it was just 24 years of spiritual education from my church leaders and parents finally kicking in in my adulthood. It's very possible that all of this was set off by Angela's outstanding, constant example. Whatever the reason is, I have decided to give it another shot. Not a major change or an absolute commitment, but a subtle shift in perspective. We'll see.

LIFE The way I look at it, I'm progressing pretty darn well in all aspects of my life and I have peace of mind. There are a lot of good things in my life and there are also a lot of crappy things, but I know I'm doing the best with what I have and so the crappy things don't get to me. Life is good. Thank you all for reading and thanks to all those of you who have and still play a big part of my life.

A Word from the Cable Guy

2009-05-14T14:07:00.021-07:00

If you didn't know, I sell communications; Charter Communications. That includes cable, internet and phone.

If you want to get a good deal while signing up for Cox, Charter, Quest, Comcast, Time Warner, or any other communications company I'll give you some pointers from the inside. First off, there are no guarantees. You may just get a sales rep who wants to milk the sale for all it's worth, so calling in a few different times to get quotes is a good practice. I'm the type that typically wont give you a good deal, but I have been known to on very rare occasions to girls with sweet voices.

Here are some tips.

1) Be nice to whoever you talk to. Laugh and chat a bit, but don't waste too much of their time. They want to be quick. It's up to you to get them in a good mood in a short time.

2) Most of the time you can get a better deal if you ask. They may say no at first, but ask again. Don't just ask passively, but say something like how you're really poor and how you know there are better deals, but say it like you're talking to your best friend.3) Usually, communication sales reps work under commission so they are less excited to help you get "deals" so it's good practice to look around online beforehand and see what offers there are and maybe even call in and tell the rep that you're just looking for information and not to buy. This way they're more likely to tell you the best deals and then you can call in a couple times to ask different reps and when someone quotes you a good, low price, take it.

4) Remember that there are scum bags out there who may be dishonest. After placing an order, call in to the billing department and ask them what you're signed up for and make sure that the rep gave you the deal he said and didn't tack on any unnecessary maintenance charges or anything like that. Remember to get the names and numbers of departments for everyone you talk to.5) Be understanding that there are also new people who may do it wrong out of genuine ignorance, so don't call in and freak out at someone because someone else messed up. That really ticks us off and we're likely to hang up on you or put you on "hold" and just never come back.

6) If you feel comfortable doing it, you can call in and say you want to sign up and when they quote you a price you can say something like, "Well, I talked to (insert made up name here) and they said (insert a price $10 less than what you were quoted)." Then see what the rep does.7) I don't know about other companies, but with Charter, there are lots of online promotions like $150 gift cards or free modems and routers after rebate, etc. So find out before you just call in out of the blue and sign up.

8) If you already have cable, internet, or phone and your introductory promotional rates expired, you can call into the retention department and tell them that you're thinking about switching over to their competitor and they'll most likely strike a deal with you.9) Another trick in getting back into promotional rates is downgrading your services back down to the very basic, wait for a month to pass and then call the sales department to do an upgrade and make sure you get back into a promotion that will last you 6 months to a year. This is better than canceling and restarting because you will avoid credit checks and installation charges, etc.

10) If you happen to reach me when ordering your services and you're saying numbers, don't say "Oh" instead of "Zero" because that annoys me to no end and I will get you the highest price I can.

PlatinumClub AoM

2009-04-21T07:33:00.005-07:00

So... I got Associate of the Month for March. Woot :D

They took my picture to put up on the Platinum Club wall and gave me a parking pass to park in the special AoM area.

I already know that I'm not going to get it for April because I'm spending the first half of the day as floor support for the new group of part-timers that just got out of training and Support Staff aren't eligible for AoM. I'm still sales, so if they seem to not need me I'll make a few sales calls and once they're more comfortable on the floor I'll just go back to full time Sales. Although there is a current outbound/administrative group in our department that will soon be learning the sales systems and will need support once they're out of training so I imagine they'll ask me to help out again. I really enjoy it actually.

My manager told me that she wants me to sign up for all the Sales Training Classes called the Boost Program and then by the time I'm done with all those they will be starting the management training program and that I should do that or I'll have the choice to do the Trainer training classes which are interesting to me as well. We shall see. That wont be for a few months still.

Time to bust out...
the Gold Star

Right Wing Extremists!

2009-04-16T07:54:00.016-07:00

So I guess I'm an extremist because I'm a capitalist. I believe in a free market, the right to bare arms, and freedom of choice, and I'm pro-life, but I guess I should take my fellow extremists, the founding fathers, and leave.

Um... No.

So I went to the Tax Day Tea Party at the Arizona Capitol Building in Phoenix yesterday and it was amazing!There was a reported 10,000 people there and there was speaker after speaker and each person had a unique message that got the people cheering. They covered everything from housing and inheritance taxes, nationalizing health care and the right to bare arms. These were all briefly mentioned, but the main focus, and most of the speakers spoke on different angels of how the government is overspending money they don't have and bailing out freeloaders and failed businesses and how doing this is going to put our children and children's children in the hole trillions of dollars. A common theme on the posters were pictures of children with captions such as, "It's not my debt!" or "Punish your own grand kids!" I even saw a few young kids holding signs saying "Keep your hands out of my piggy bank." There were a lot of signs in the shapes of pigs for lots of reasons.

There was a little bit of attacking Obama, but very little. It was the issues. People spoke about how the government runs out of money and starts to spend ours and says they're giving us tax breaks and we all fall for it and forget to actually think about this because money doesn't have value just because Obama printed it. We WILL have to pay for it. At any rate... Here is a link to a bunch of pictures of the event: Phoenix Tea Party Pics

And here are some of my own:
Of course I had to be goofy...You may think the trees grew there, but they actually came for the protest too.The closest blue tent is were the speakers were. We got even closer than this once people started to get all cost and close togeter.
Let me know if you hear of anything like this happening in the future and I'll do the same for you. I would love to get more involved. I want to be a Right Wing Extremist Activist!

Tax Day Tea Party

2009-04-13T13:00:00.010-07:00

City: Phoenix
When: *New Time* April 15, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Where: Capitol building
Contact: Keith Sipmann
Other Info: http://www.americanpoliticalanalysis.com
Facebook Group: Click Here

This is the Official Website for the movement : http://taxdayteaparty.com/

So I just switched my schedules at Albertsons so that I'm able to go to this on Wednesday. I just heard about it the other day, so forgive me for not posting about it earlier. What this is, is a protest against government spending and bailouts. All this stuff I've been talking about and finally something I can do. I'm very excited. So far It's me and I'm pretty sure my brother-in-law Clark is going to join me. If you want to come please, please let me know. If you're worried about our man Obama's spending habits and his recklessness with YOUR money or if you don't think that companies like AIG should get millions and millions of dollars to spend on CEO bonuses or if you think that money should be taken out of political "pet projects" and put back into worthwhile places like our public schools, then you need to be a body in the crowd and no longer be a silent majority!

Lets let our government know that they just need to be a little smarter with our money.

"Be not intimidated... nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice." -John Adams

Call me 480.xxx.xxxx

I Love

2009-04-10T16:04:00.019-07:00

I do a lot of attacking in my posts. I've talked about people and policies that tick me off. I was reading something last night that our man Obama was doing and I said to Angela, "I know what I'm blogging about next." But I was thinking, maybe I'll talk about that later. I wanted to post about things that make me happy. Small and big. I went hiking today with Angela and Karina, Angela's sister. We went up to Strawberry, past Pason.I pointed out how nice it was to be out of the city. On the way back, we were huffing and puffing up the mountain but the air was clean and easy on my lungs. It was nice. The sky was blue and the horizon wasn't brown. We saw a snake and Angela screamed. That was awesome. The other day I was sitting by the "Numbers Board" at work taking notes on where I can improve and one of the other team's managers commented on how well I was doing. Not many words, but a quick, passing acknowledgement of my success. I like trying and succeeding. Especially at work.

A little while ago Angela took me to a little place called Pop's Soda Shop and I got some obscurely branded Root Bears and a couple Vernor's Ginger Ale in old fashioned glass bottles. I love Root Bear and ice cold Vernor's Ginger Ale.

On Wednesdays I work until 11 at Albertsons after working a regular day at Direct Alliance and when I get home I'm really tired and just want to go to bed. About that time is when my babies are awake and doing their thing. When I come in, Babs climbs all over the cage, trying to get my attention and she melts my heart every time so I take her out and hold her against my chest and she'll squirm around because she wants to play so I put her back in her cage and let her chase my hand around inside or maybe I'll put her in her ball and lay on the floor, letting her run her ball into my face.
I love Babs.

On the bottom of my Blog I have a playlist with my favorite music. There are quite a few songs on there from Hip Hop to Christian Contemporary and everything in between. I suggest, if you have some time, take a listen. Maybe put it on while you're doing other things online and see what you think. I love music that I can sing to or gets my head bobbing or makes me feel uplifted or makes me think deep or maybe just puts me in a fun mood. This is the kind of music I love.

At a young age, my brother Daniel got me into Superman and ever sense then I've been a superhero fanatic and connoisseur. My brothers and sister and I used to watch Lois and Clark every Sunday night together and I really looked forward to it. I would borrow my brothers comics and eventually I got my own. I love Superman, the X-Men, my City of Heroes PC game and I am a loyal watcher of the show Heroes. I know the histories and powers of a practically limitless amount of comic book heroes and villains. Each scenario is an exaggeration of some kind of real life drama. Other than being serious, it's sometimes just an escape from the rigged structure of reality and lets me go somewhere where anything that you think of can happen. I wrote a poem about this interest of mine actually:

Entitled Escapism

I am average when I am at home
I write stories and rhyme and poem
When my world is mundane and a bore
When reality is cold and a chore
I am superhuman when I close my eyes
I fight the villains and fly through the skies
I escape into a new reality
When there is trouble, I am the remedy
With my cape I fight my battle
The laws and bondage of physics I rattle
My fame and my name are widely spoken
The sleeping villains are awoken
There are heroes in my imagination
When they save the damsel, one comes to know elation
Free flow of ideas in tragedy
Comedy
Fiction
Flight
Control of elements
Fantastic powers and might
Escape
I can go back when I am done
Saving the world is all in good fun
When life calls and reality is in need
I am no fool, for their voices I heed

As mentioned in my poem, I love stories and writing. I love imagining and writing about new, complex characters. People who are flawed yet heroic. Who don't quite fit the mold of a pure hero but are more relateable. Maybe one that makes more mistakes than he does good. Any kind of character, not just heroes, but villains too. I love the real complex villains that you can almost relate to. The one's who have real noble goals, but maybe corrupt methods. I wrote a short stories and posted it on my facebook. You can read it here if you have a facebook too.

Sad truth: The only worthwhile class that I've earned an A in has been Psychology. I love that subject. I love understanding why people do things the way they do. I love the idea of being able to predict, correct or control behavior. Being able to control it is kind of scary and a lot of bad people use that power to their advantage, but I think that if people as a whole studied Psychology, then the world would be a more balanced, understanding, productive place. We would know how to raise children. We wouldn't have so much prejudice, racial or other, if people took the time to try and understand why people are the way they are. We'd understand why we, ourselves, make mistakes and stop blaming others causing wars and unfairness. People can preach love and tolerance until their blue in the face, but honestly, I believe that those things are unachievable without real, practical, honest understanding. We could all be more at peace with ourselves and the world if we understood the human brain. I don't mean acceptance. Just peace. I love Psychology.

I love Angela. I've known Angela for a year and a half and she has been my girlfriend for all minus one month of that time. I realized that I loved her only a few months after we started dating and I remember the first time I told her that I loved her. I don't know if she does, but I do. I told her that I didn't really know what love is, but that for the past week or so, I had been suppressing the urge to tell her that I loved her and I didn't want to hold it back anymore. I'm not very good with words when it comes to stuff like that, but she said she felt the same, and that was it for us. When she's sad, I'm sad. When she's happy, it seems like the whole world smiles with us. I may not be the world's greatest boyfriend. I have my faults and I've learned more about them than I ever really wanted to... But I know what love is. Love is holding hands and feeling like she's just an extension of my own body. It's the smile that shines so bright that nothing else can be seen. It's a laugh that's contagious. It's doing something to hurt her and feeling like the world is in darkness and that life has no purpose until you've made it right again. Love is the sharp pain, deep in the back of the stomach that comes when you haven't seen her in a couple days. Love is finding something awesome and wanting to share it with her. It's the motivation to be someone worthy of her. Love is the lonely feeling in the car when she's not in the passenger seat. It's cuddling. It's the excitement I feel as I walk in her house and the spotlight heaven shines on her as she walks down the driveway to my car. I love Angela.

I love a lot of things and could go on and on. Thanks for reading.

Letting the Eye Nine Slide

2009-03-31T14:47:00.006-07:00

So I was watching CNN at lunch like I always do and they had a woman on there that I wanted to strangle.

The issue was immigration raids done on the job site. I don't know much about this but it sounds like there's some bill being passed by our man Obama that will take the punishment away from the illegals and putting it on the employers. The news anchor brought up a good point to the woman by saying that the employers can't always know. They can't tell if a green card is fake and why should they have the responsibility to manage the immigrations issues of America?

Good point.

The woman skirted the issue nicely and didn't even respond. She sat right next to him, and on live TV, she looked him in the eye and started talking about something else. I don't know what world politicians are from or how they've all gotten to the point where that's okay, but please. That is so inappropriate and rude. You are a guest on his TV show and you answer his questions. He is then bound by his responsibility as a host not to embarrass his guest so he lets it slide. The American attitude at its best. Just letting it slide.

What she said made me so upset. She was saying how these raids violated the rights of US citizens because sometimes the police would handcuff people at these work sites before they checked them and sometimes people would end up being American Citizens. Basically, what I interpret is that the police should come with a list of all the people who are illegal and only handcuff them before they do the check to see who is illegal... wait. that doesn't work. It may not work, but if we did it no one would be offended. That's more important I guess. Making sure everyone is all smiles.

She said that we shouldn't discriminate these immigrants because "they're Americans too." I think that if we're going to have closed boarders then we need to have closed boarders. Are these people breaking the rules or not? If we're just going to let it slide then open up the boarders and we'll see if people like this woman feel the same after just one day of open boarders. What an idea. They may be Central or South Americans, but I'll embrace that fluff the day I hear native Mexican people in Mexico proudly claim to be Americans. They're as American as Canadians are American. They are not legally Americans so... no. They're not American.

This made me think about immigration and the economy.

To be short...

Idea: Crack down on immigration hard core. If you're not here legally, then you get the boot unless you're the lucky few to have a legal child of age. You get mercy. If not, then you are forcibly removed.

Result: The government doesn't spend money to feed and shelter these people nor pay for their medical care. Also, there are masses of job openings for legal Americans and less American dollars being sent to worker's families in other countries.

Problem: My coworker brought up the point that Americans don't want to do those jobs and even if they did they wouldn't want to be paid what these people are being paid now.

My response was that that was a sad American state of mind that will have to change. I can't imagine a well educated father of four picking strawberries, but what about one of his four children? I'm sure there are loads of teenage people who would do these jobs or other people who could fit the mold. Maybe they'll have to pay more. Maybe produce will go up a bit more in price. At least it will be going to Americans. Just think of the poor situation we're in when it becomes too expensive to produce fruits and vegetables or to get a house built or a ditch dug. Maybe we're just thinking wrong. Maybe we should put more value in these things and less in our fancy cars and our fast foods and fancy restaurants. Maybe we shouldn't be spending money on so many luxuries. Maybe we should realize the state of the economy and the true worth of our dollar and only spend it where it's truly worth spending.

The dollar is a representation of our ability and personal work. Maybe physical work, maybe intellectual work. It is, either way, the result and physical reward of the usage of our talents. It's important that we redeem it for something worthwhile.

Time to go home. Thanks again for reading.

Babs the Beloved

2009-03-26T08:48:00.015-07:00

And now for something completely different.

I'm changing up the tone and introducing you to one of my babies.

This is BabsShe is a Cream Banded Teddy Bear Hamster about 6 or 7 inches long and about 7 months old, so she's still a baby. She may be small, but she has a huge personality. She is very active and whenever I'm in the room, she'll run around in her cage trying to get my attention and then when I come up to her, she grabs the bars and puts her nose thru the cage until I start poking at her and letter her grab my fingers and try to nip at them, but she'll get impatient until I take her out. She loves going in her ball and running around the house. She has a few corners that are obviously her favorite and for some reason she thinks it's fun to run full speed into doors. Especially my door while Karina and Eddie are sleeping. So I lay my robe in front of it so she smashes into that instead.

Some more pictures:

"Do you want to play with me?"

"Ever had the feeling that you're being watched?"

"Grace!" nom nom nom...

"Are you still there?"

So that's Babs. She's my baby girl, and now you can love her too. Next time I'll introduce you to my old man:

Spud

This American*

2009-03-18T08:56:00.013-07:00

*This post is the opinion of the writer. Please be aware that this is not directed at any one person, but it is in response to the news and media.*

So I've recently been more and more interested in politics. If ever my dad talked about it while I was growing up, I would nod and smile and be thinking about superheroes while he talks about national and world issues.

It was the recent election that did it for me. I remember the governal election in California that was a parade of midgets and silver screen stars. The only normal person running got fed up with being overshadowed by the overpowering personalities he was up against. The movie star won and he is sucking all the moral fiber out of California.

This past presidential election was similar. We had a Mormon, a woman, a black man, an old war vet with his flashy female sidekick and then a hippy that we only heard about because of his cult following and their rebel-inspired banners on the freeways and on car bumpers.

I would have supported the "Hippy" Ron Paul had he been more of a leader. He couldn't even get himself noticed enough to be mentioned on the news on TV or the radio, how could he lead a country? I liked his views, but he was not a leader.

I ended up voting for Romney in the primaries because he seemed to be in line with my moral standards and the general teachings of the Mormon Church which holds high regard for moral and financial responsibility which, in my opinion, are the two things this country really lacks. People flipped out about him being a Mormon and he just wasn't getting the support. We've had other very religious presidents, but for some reason, Mormon was just too much for the people to handle.

So I voted for John and Sara because they were the most down to earth. They talked about things with practicality. For example, the war; McCain said we needed to get the job done and then get out; as opposed to Obama saying that we just needed to get out of there asap, denying the responsibility we have to fix what we've broken. We will all see together that he will end up using McCain's policy anyway because we can't just pull out.

I liked how he talked about money. They mentioned a spending freeze. Stopping spending where it was excess and spending wiser where it was needed. Putting America on a budget is what any wise American would do in their own lives were they in this financial situation. They talked about tapping into natural resources currently guarded by hippy treehugers, and while we made money off of that, looking for alternate sources of fuel.

America looked at this financial plan and said, "Whoa!... The other guy is talking about tax breaks and bailouts while you're talking about spending freezes and budgeting!" These fat Americans sat in their large houses and glanced at their fancy cars and said, "No way am I giving these up!"

"I deserve these things," they thought.

"This is the American Dream!" they thought.

The decision was obvious to most people. 1) Struggle while we try to fix a mess we've created, or 2) create a large government who will just give us money for free.

I know a country who made this decision years and years ago. That country is England. I lived there for two years and I can say that Americans don't understand what it means when they decide to give the government so much power to take from the rich and give to the poor. I don't know a lot about the inner workings of England, because I was a focused missionary while I was there, but I have intense first hand experience with the neighborhoods they call "The Council", named after the government programme that owns a massive portion of British property. Somehow, the people have surrendered endless amounts of entire neighborhoods to the ownership of the government. These houses are dived out to people who can't afford anything. If a teenage girl has a child, she gets a house. If someone is out of work for so long for whatever reason, they get a house. Sounds a little sketchy, and seems harmless right? Entire generations grow up in these houses. These people get more money from the government for not working than they would get from any entry level job position. I heard many British people admit to my face that they chose to stay in this degraded existence because they would struggle more in the real world and had no conscience to tell them what they were doing was wrong because there are millions of people in exactly the same situation.

What is the solution? I don't know. Are we headed there? I think so, yes.

It's harsh, but I think that some people need to fail. Some businesses need to close. People need to learn to use their money wisely and only spend what they have and can afford. Don't tell me it's not that simple because if you think that then you're diluted. Diluted by the people who feed off of our desperation. Those who rise to power in times of turmoil with promises of free passes and bailouts. These people live in a fantasy world where they can spend pretend money and feed their children with a Peter Pan banquet of fantasy foods. The dream sequence fog clouds these people's vision and they are unable to see the long term consequences of their actions. If this is not the case then the other alternative is that they are liars who purposefully deceive the desperate with their quick fixes. Either way, these people are now our leaders. They have been given the power to suck away the value of our money by printing billions of fake, worthless bills so that we can feel like we have money to spend on our fancy cars and large houses and government bailouts.

A wise man once had a vision of a time where people ate, drank, and were merry in a large and spacious building that was floating as it were in the air with no foundation, no stability or anchor in and substantial value... with no real purpose or product. These people pointed and laughed at those who clung to the iron rod, fixed to the solid ground and straight path. We know the story. And for those who don't; the end is tragic for those who wore the facade of security and they lay in ruins, crushed by the great fall of the world in which they invested their lives.

I'm young and inexperienced, but isn't that what we need sometimes? Someone from the outside to step in and say, "Hey, what are you guys doing!?"

Please take into consideration the views I expressed. Don't take offence but take pride in yourself by taking responsibility for your actions.

As I step out the door of my parents nest and take flight into the world of independence, I'm afraid of the change I feel in the winds. I'm afraid of this man Obama who we, the people chose to fix our financial situation. Listen to what he says. We need to step out of our security blankets and look at this from the standpoint of cold reality. Long term. Not for our children or their children, but for us. The long term effects may be felt before long, so make sure that you, yourself are secure.

Get a skill. Get a voice.

Money, Money, Money!

2009-03-18T07:59:00.010-07:00

So, Great News!

I sold Martha off to slavery to some nice little 17 year old girl and her mother. They were very nice people and they really seemed to like the car so they took it for a healthy $2,2000 which is $1,200 more than what the Mazda dealer was going to give me and $200 more than what I listed it for here, so I'm pretty darn happy. I used the money to pay both my credit cards to a balance of $0.00 and put a big chunk of cash toward my car. She still owes me $600 so... suffice it so say I'm pretty happy about it.

I went shopping after with Angela and bought a nice shirt with no remorse. It's been a long time sense I've been clothes shopping just for the heck of it.

Martha For Sale

2009-02-28T14:37:00.007-07:00

* 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Loredo *
$2,000!You know you want her.

188k Miles, amazingly comfortable and loads of space inside. I'm starting the price below Blue Book because there are some minor defects with things like the power doors and stereo. The car still runs great and in today's economy who can argue with an SUV for $2,000!

Call me with questions at (480) 258-XXXX

**Update: Car status=Sold

My New Baby

2009-02-21T10:25:00.010-07:00

I did it!
Scary stuff.

Some car dealers are liars. Unfortunate. But some are quality and they now have my money. It came down to an 06 Nissan Sentra or an 06 Mazda 3. The Nissan dealer was dishonest with me and I just liked the Mazda better so I paid a bit more for something nice.
**Winner**
06 Mazda 3**Loser**
06 Nissan Sentra**Loser**
08 Chevy Cobalt

I promise that it's just a coincidence that they're all red. Those were all about the same price with the Mazda a bit more. I spent about 6 hours getting a car yesterday. I guess I've been looking for about a week and I was just done. Sleazy dealers and me not knowing really what was going on, I just decided to narrow it down to my top two favorites and I talked to my dad and brother Dan on the phone and they educated me and dad came down and we made a decision.

I'm so glad that it's finally over!
I didn't trade my Jeep in, but I am selling it. I'm going to ask $3k from the general public but a special $2k price for you for reading my blog because I'm just cool like that. If you don't know, it's a '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a lot of love to give. Her name is Martha and she needs a new home. I'll post a picture later. Let me know if you're interested.

Digital Transition

2009-02-19T10:46:00.007-07:00

So I work for a cable company and I have a lot of inside info into the digital transition so I thought it would be nice of me to share. I can't "copy and paste" the documents I have into public posts like this, but I can share what I know.

Before February 17th, and even still now, some cable and all antenna televisions get analog reception. The analog signal clogs up the airwaves for government and emergency communications and it is also unhealthy to have all that stuff floating around and microwaving our brains, so The Man (the FCC) has mandated a switch to digital which stays confined to the wires.

The date for the switch was February 17th, but the government ran out of converter box coupons and they just felt like being nice to people so they postponed the switch to June 12th. Pretty much everyone was ready for the February switch anyway, so companies will be switching over any time between those dates and even after that date some companies will leave a "night light" analog signal on for a while to throw a bone to everyone who isn't prepared.

Important Facts:
*If you are plugged in to cable through a cable provider with a digital tv set your service will not be interrupted. You do not need a converter box.
*If you have an antenna or basic cable you may still be able to receive an even more limited lineup at the charity of the provider for a limited time.
*Analog-only TV sets should still be able to receive the upgraded signal but at low power "Class A or translator television" lineup.
*You cannot make your antenna work with a converter box. You need to plug into cable.
*Some areas will lose Closed Captioning and TV Guide features in the basic lineup.
*Some areas will see their picture in a wider format with black bars on top and on bottom of the screen. This is not a cable provider issue, but the actual channel broadcaster's.

For more information, go to www.charter.com/localtv or www.charter.com/digitaltransition.

Crappy Channels

I just had a funny experience. A customer called and in a relatively upset tone he said,

"Hey, what's going on with my TV!?"
"I don't know. What is going on with your TV?" I said.
"Well, channel 4 is coming in crappy and channel 2 has been coming in crappy for weeks now and a few other channels are getting crappy reception..."
"Well," I said, "Let me get you to the Crappy Channel Department."

His frustration turned into a laugh and I sent him to technical support :)

थे हंटर [The Hunter]

2009-02-17T12:34:00.005-07:00

I don't know why my titles keep being automatically translated into some middle eastern language. Strange.

So I am officially on the hunt. The story goes...

I noticed one morning that the wires were showing on my tire and I went the next day to get them replaced. $200 for two new tires. I kept one and got them rotated. The guy told me it was so bad because of my alignment, so I went to get it fixed. The grease monkey looked at my car and said that the arms on my wheels were whatever and whatever... It was going to cost me over $500 to get it fixed so I told him to give me my car back and get lost, then I sharpened my spear and went across the street to the closest dealership to start my hunt.

So far I have seen and liked:

2008 Chevy Cobalt $10k 20k miles
2008 Chevy Cobalt $9k 2 door 23k miles
2006 Nissan Sentra $10k 35k miles
2006 Nissan Sentra $8k ?miles (Private Seller)
I also saw a couple Versas that I likes but didn't really investigate much.

Now, I know these prices aren't the best and I plan to get more cars in my knowledge base and then let my dealer friends duel it out for my business.

What I'd like is a newer car. Preferably 2006 or newer with under 35k miles. Something small and definitive Commuter with great gas mileage. I'm quite ignorant about cars and prices and pretty much EVERYTHING to do with buying a car. If you have any advice for me, it would be appreciated. So far my dad, brothers and brothers-in-law have been great helps. Thanks guys and please let me know if you have any more advice for me. Also if you ever want to come with me to a dealer and be my wing man while I talk with a dealer that would be excellent.

I just talked with a coworker who was a car salesman in his previous employ. He gave me some tips and even offered to go with me to a dealer. Cool beans.

What I've learned is that dealers are pretty intense. The Nissan dealer kept me at the dealership for about 45 minutes or more and called me twice that night after I left and pretty much every day after. I haven't been able to catch his calls sense that day but I'd like to so that i can tell him that if he offers me $7k out the door then I'll drop whatever I'm doing and run over there.

Update: I bought a car! More info to come.

You guys are the best! Thanks again for all your help.

Damn Good

2009-02-08T07:41:00.006-07:00

ब्राग Board
When I typed in Brag, it automatically turned it into "ब्राग". I don't know why, but there you have it. My title was meant to be:

Brag Board
I'm excited about my successes and I figure that my blog is a good place to brag about them.

So I was sitting down with my manager a couple weeks ago for the regular One on One thing and I was asking questions about sales figures and where I should be as far as numbers and another manager sat in and we were discussing it and my manager asked what my sales were like and I answered and she said, "That's very good." And the other manager said, "No, that's damn good!"

Of course that makes me feel good and I go on my merry way.

Then this week my manager comes up to me while I'm working and waits for me to finish my call. Kind of distracting and worrisome. I get off the phone and she tells me how she wants me to know how good I am at my job. She said that she was discussing with the other managers how under recognized I was and she told me that I was Number 1 in our group of about 20 and number 3 in the sales floor of about 65.

My program is a new program and it recently finished growing. Once it did, the management had to shift around every one's schedules so we filled out shift bids and numbered the available shifts from 1 to about 30 in order of desirability. Everyone was nervous and there was a buzz in the air because there are AAAAAAALLLL kinds of shifts including evening shifts and weekends. You probably didn't know but I've been working Saturdays and Sundays with Mondays and Fridays off for a bit over a month now. Of course I bid to have my Sundays off. They waited until the last minute the other day to tell everyone and before they were all passed out, my manager came up to me and showed me my new schedule. I now work 8-5 with Fridays and Sundays off. I was so happy and my manager said she was so worried and was relieved that I was happy with my schedule. I let her know that I was very, very happy. Later in the day I heard her go up to another of my coworkers and apologize to him for his schedule and let him know that they based it on sales and other sales numerics. I put one and one together and felt pretty good about myself.

There is only one manager on the floor on the weekends and yesterday, another group's manager was in charge and he came to me about mid day and waited till I was off a call. I don't know why I worry so much, but I was worried. Once I got off the phone he told me to set my phone to the "Coaching" setting which meant that he was going to coach me and him not being my actual manager made me think I was in trouble or something. He had me follow him to his desk and said, "I want to show you something." He then showed me the program on his computer that monitors all the other employees on the floor and how many calls are waiting to be answered. He said he wanted to go to lunch and that I was in charge. Woot!

So today is my last day working on a Sunday. Hopefully forever. I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I'm blessed.

His People

2009-01-07T23:35:00.008-07:00

Kelsey Grammer......has internet in his Malibu house because of me. That's right. "His people" called me today and I set him up with 16M High Speed Charter Internet Service at his Malibu place and billed it to his LA mansion. I must admit that i googled both addresses after and wow... this man probably has golden toilet paper.

And PS. I'm doing extremly well at work as one of the top sales reps there. Just thought I'd share so you can all be so proud of me :D

Matrix Philosophy

2009-01-05T23:09:00.003-07:00

I want to take a philosophy class. Does anyone have any favorite philosophers? I would recognize names, but not what they teach. Is Ayn Rand a philosopher? I think so... if she is then she's the only one who's works I've read. I really like her ideas and i think they're productive, but still very carnal. She doesn't seem to be concerned with anything that's intangible.

I was watching the Matrix and I realized that all the good philosophy comes from the bad guys. The good guys have a few good lines and Morpheus seems to know things, but he's a tool. His knowledge is only relevant to duty and what must be done. As far as the really deep juicy functions of reality and existence... those things are discussed by the "bad guys." I think this is because we're afraid of it. The Merovingian mentions that there is no choice. I think that choice and action/reaction is really what interests me. The Oracle tells Neo that he has these choices and she can't tell him what's going to happen because she can't see beyond the choice, but then later reveals that the choices have already been made and that Neo is only there to understand why. Are we really "free"? Can we change anything or is everything already laid out and we're just falling into place like dominoes? Personally i think we are just experiencing life... not controlling it.It's an interesting task to try and label the characters as "good" and "bad". You think that the Oracle is good because she's pleasant and seems to be a mentor or guide, but really, she is a deceiver. Someone who tells people what they need to hear and nothing more. A manipulator. She is also the opposite of the "Architect." Meaning she is the destroyer. She is the representation of chaos. She was the ultimate victor. She got what she wanted. Chaos. Chaos is what destroyed the "programs" and freed the humans from bondage. Her ability to calculate the consequences to actions gave her foresight which was worshiped by those who couldn't. Knowledge was the only power. During the great last battle between Neo, the "Savior" and his opposite, the "Tyrant", think about who won that fight. Agent Smith was the champion. He was holding back. He was only using a minuscule fraction of his power. He controlled the whole world but only used one of his minions to fight Neo so that "the rest of [him] could just enjoy the show." He got confused and frustrated so he used his overwriting abilities to absolve Neo. He succeeded. He consumed him and took on his strengths, but Neo's strength was really his knowledge and sacrifice. The darkness was unable to consume the light and the light, being consumed by the darkness, penetrated every part and reset the Matrix. Neo was the end and the beginning. Obviously I'm not worshiping Neo, but i think these are fantastic representations of philosophy. Anyway, i just had to share my thoughts so that i can rest my mind and sleep. Thanks for reading. Please reply if you have any thoughts on this subject.

If you don't know what i was talking about, go watch the Matrix movies.

Sony SignUp

2008-12-17T14:25:00.004-07:00

Biggest Loser!! Aka... Me :/

So I participated with my company in the Biggest Loser / Sony promotion thing. Here's how it worked:

When someone called in to vote on the show The Biggest Loser, they would vote and then after they would hear a voice say something like, "Press 1 now to find out about how you can save on [Blu Ray player, Digital Camera or EBook]". Then the person pressed 1 and it rang and someone in my building answered. I was there from 6 till 11:30 after a full 8-5 shift... it was crazy. Unfortunately for me, they had some technical difficulties and my line was malfunctioning and when people called in I couldn't hear them; silent calls. So they had me log off after a while but didn't tell me to leave, so i hung around and talked to all the other reps and it became like a big party for me. It was okay. I got payed overtime and a $35 bonus, so all is well. It was fun.

Business as Usual
So it's Wednesday. That means that i have 2 more days of training and then on Monday, i "Hit the floor"... "Go live"... aka get in my cubicle and start taking calls and racking in the commission. This and last week have been intense systems training. I'm pretty confident that I'll be okay because I'm learning quick enough that the teacher is having me go around and help people. Makes me feel good.

Being Wednesday also means that i work at Albertson's from 6-11. That will most likely be my forever Wednesday deal. I can do that once a week, but i wouldn't do any more than that.

Building Inventory
So Circuit City is kaput. Sad them. I went there during their final week and bought myself a pack of blank DVD's and a medium sized DVD case. Last night Clark let us come over and finish watching the last Matrix with him and i burned all 5 Harry Potters and Transformers. I'm excited. I've already bought some movies, but i don't think I'll do that anymore :D

Deeper and Deeper

2008-12-09T09:56:00.004-07:00

So this is the second Tuesday of my training. Turns out that we're on the express training which has been cut down to 3 weeks instead of 5, which is good because i would go crazy. First week was pretty much an introduction to everything and now we're getting more into serious systems training. Sometimes it's frustrating because i can see the people in front of me, one in particular, browsing the Internet on various distractions and then when she decides to come back from her diversion, she'll instantly interrupt the teacher and say she's confused and lost and it's too complicated and demand to get caught up. I can already pick out a handful of people who I'm betting wont be successful here. Some people are just silly. I am catching on quite well. I'm still confident and excited to see how i do on the floor in a couple weeks.

Something exciting:The Biggest Loser show is having some event and has contracted DAC (Direct Alliance Corp.) to take the inbound sales calls. They made the announcement to all employees and anyone could sign up to participate. Of course i jumped all over the opportunity to get my feet wet. Its tonight from 6 till 11:30. I get paid overtime plus a $35 bonus. I still have training from 8 - 5, so it's a full day, but why not? I really don't have a reason not to. I'm very excited. I'll definitely blog about my experience.

Also... I have to choose my benefits plan. I only have a couple more weeks to do it. If any of you would like to help me do that please let me know and we'll schedule a time to meet up. I would appreciate that.

Autonomous Beginnings

2008-11-23T15:03:00.006-07:00

So i've been job hunting pretty intensivly for quite some time now. Been to a couple interviews and got a lot of e-mail rejections. I figure i'm in an awkward spot. I'm a young adult; not young enough to do "teenager jobs" and not adult enough to do professional jobs. So there i am, right in the middle. I love albertsons but they hesitate to even give 30 hours and absolutly freak out if you take overtime so therefore it is not substancial.I had a day off on a wednesday after being quite busy, so i turned off my alarm and my phone. When i woke up midday i saw that i had a plethora of missed calls and messages. I checked them and turns out that the brother of eddie, the guy i'm living with, manages for a company that was having a job fair. I jumped out of bed and got all pretty and went down. I signed in when i got there, waited, applied online on their computers, waited, got interviewed, waited, got interviewed again by someone else, waited, took a computer test, & then waited. The woman who interviewed me first came out and told me they wanted to offer me the job and i didn't even have to think about it. The job is $11.57/hr base plus commissions. Minimum 40 hours a week. It's called Direct Alliance and other companies hire them as their call center. So my program will be taking all kinds of service and support calls from Charter and offering them what they need and upgrading pachages and selling whatever while they're talking to me, i'm not sure. Of course sales isn't the most desirable kind of job, but i'm confident i'll do when and i really don't care what i'm doing as long as i get the money i need to support myself and go to school in the fall.

I start my 5 week training course on december 1st, 8-5. It's going to be pretty crazy, but i'm way excited :)

Job, House & ... Alcohol?

2008-11-15T23:35:00.010-07:00

So I moved out! Go me.

No more school for now. Still doin' the Albertsons thing although I've been applying to a million places and I've had a couple interviews already. One tragic story is a story worth telling... So,I got an e-mail about a job fair/open house at an an auto loan claims call center so I applied for said company and went to their job fair. It was a 6 hour long open house and i got there 2 hours after it started. I signed in and waited in the lobby with a couple other people who were also applying. Then more and more people started filling up the lobby and i thought i was the big guy who signed in before all those schmucks. A woman came in and took us all into the building, thru the cubicles and into a conference room full with MORE people. So then I was a little disheartened, but i waited.Two and a half hours later and after making some friends i was called in for my interview, as they were going one at a time. I was lead into a cubicle where a man pulled up my file, took one look at my resume and said that all the level 1 positions had already been filled and they're only hiring people now who have 18+ months of experience. He then took 10 minutes of my time telling me about what the job would be like and encouraged me to come again in January. I thanked him and left. As i was leaving i was tempted to go into that conference room and warn the 50+ people who would wait another 2 1/2 hours to find out that they weren't even eligible for the remaining, unfilled positions unless they had 18+ months of experience because the people in charge felt fine about letting them sit there for hours with false hopes.

So yeah. I moved out. I'm sure you weren't satisfied with that one line so I'll elaborate. My reasons for leaving are controversial, so don't ask me. I live with some friends at Val Vista and Southern-ish area. Very close to work. It's nice. The house is a fixer-upper so none of the bedrooms have carpet right now. It's all good. I'm enjoying the adventure. I've helped them lay laminate dark wood paneling in the living room / study area. It runs thru the hall and in the family room. It's a nice, 3 bedroom place with a massive backyard with a pool with a slide and a spa, also a playground with a jungle gym and swing set setup thing. Pretty awesome. I've only been here a few days so i can't really go all feelings and philosophical on you about how it feels to be out. It's fun and an adventure.Work is great too. I'm branching out. I work a lot more now. Almost 30 hours every week... woopty doo. I do cashiering all my shifts but one, maybe two a week when i am in the bakery. I close the bakery by my self often. It's fun. I like cashiering better because i find myself being really comfortable up there being very friendly with the customers and being very professional, knowing how to trouble-shoot problems and appease customers without having to wait for a manager to come bail me out.Today i did something i hadn't done before. I was called into the liquor department to help out there. I went into the alcohol "walk-in" and saw more liquor in one glance than i have ever seen in my entire life. It was sticky and smelt funny. I rearranged some stuff and then helped the guy-in-charge stock the shelves with wines and rums and merlots... whatever those are. I also returned some crates to the Dairy Freezer. Did you know that when you are grabbing milk out of the shelf in the grocery store that you are actually reaching into a massive room filled with people and crates and tables and shelves and forklifts and endless supplies of milk? Can you imagine what that room smells like? Well... i know. And it's not nice. My manager gets jealous when the other departments use me, so she got anxious and called me up to finish the last half hour of my shift at my till.

Okay, the end.

City of Heroes

2008-09-29T14:34:00.004-07:00

This is what i do in the wee hours of the night when i should be sleeping. I was bored and made a slideshow. I didn't have a plan as to what i would do with it, but i figured i'd blog it. So basically, i use these self-designed characters to escape from reality and fight evil. I think it's fun.

You probably noticed that one is named after me and one is after Angela. If you could create your own superheroes wouldn't you make yourself and your girlfriend the most powerful?

Multi-Purpose Me

2008-09-23T15:54:00.004-07:00

So I love my job. It may not be big bucks, but it's enough to keep me happy. Other than that I love doing it. First of all it has it's downsides. My knees and back kill after standing there for 6 - 8 hours, and about half an hour into my shift, my throat starts getting tired and i get pretty weak in the voice quickly, so i suck on menthol all day which helps a bit. I don't know why my voice gets tired so quickly, but it's always been that way. So those are the downsides, but they are very much outweighed by the good things. I love people. I get to chat with people all day. All types of people. Everybody needs groceries, so there are no restrictions on what i might see coming thru my check stand. And contrary to what you might thing, and what i thought, everyone is so nice. I think i'm pretty good at manipulating the mood for the couple of minutes or less that i spend with each person, but everyone is pleasant if not happy to be there. I have had only one person get upset with me and that was because of some noob thing that happened and was unavoidable. It didn't bother me, they just got impatient, etc. So the customers are nice. A lot of them make jokes and understand that the checker appreciates a lively customer. Another thing i like is the people i work with. They're cool people. There is one cashier who is... a little magoo, but even he is cool in his own unique way. Then in the afternoon the courtesy clerks come, aka the baggers. They are high school kids and are all full of life and drama. Pretty fun.Another thing i like about Albersons is the variety. For example, i can pick up hours in any department i like besides the pharmacy of course. So far, i've only spent time in the bakery and that's because Deanna, Angela's sister, is the manager there. I don't talk to many customers back there and just do my job while chatting and joking with my coworkers. So I can mix things up a bit between cashiering and working in the bakery. I'm pretty happy. So, multi-purpose me.

And now for something completely different:

I'm in calculus. I know! enough said... but no. i have a story.

My teacher is eccentric. She paces the room while she talks so watching the class from her perspective would probably look like we're watching a tennis match. She's a decent teacher though, but she talks a lot w/out explaining things in great depth, you know? I did most of the homework, but not all and i didn't study until the last minute and i had a cram session and didn't feel like i was absorbing much, so i started playing video games. I went to the test in the testing center and forgot my calculator, so i panicked and then found it in my car. I was way nervous for the test and was preparing to fail. I started the test and the first part seemed to be going well and then before i knew it, it was over. I was so shocked when i turned the page and there was nothing else. I looked back and checked the backs of the pages and sure enough, i had finished, so i checked my answers and with a big grin on my face, i turned it in. Go me! It was easy! I'm happy. Easy first test. Confidence builder for the more difficult ones to come, no doubt.That was longer than i thought it would be. Thanks for reading it all! Go you! And vote on my presidential poll on the right of my blog please. I'm curious :)

Jam This

2008-09-15T10:05:00.007-07:00

So you might be wondering what happened with Body Jam. Well, in short, I failed. I think i'm a decent dancer and a decent teacher, but combining dancing and instructing all in one is just not something my brain could pick up, so therefor i droped it like a hot potato. It's okay. I still love BodyJam. Fun was had by all and life goes on. Here are some related pictures:

I hope you had a good laugh :D Here are some more if you liked it: Fail Blog

Currently Employed

2008-08-27T09:59:00.002-07:00

"It's your store!"

It's MY store now! Muahaha!

Yeah, i got the job. I applied sometime last week and she called me on Monday while i was between classes and offered it to me. She started me at more than i thought she would and they said i need to keep it quiet from the other employees because none of the other cashiers start as high as i am. Deana, Angela's sister, said it was her doing, so this is my public "Thank you" for that. She is the bakery manager. Oh yeah. I'm a cashier.

So I've done my drug test and they will call me when they get the results. Probably today or tomorrow. Hopefully they wont be able to trace the bag of hash i had hidden in my... Anyway. I'm excited to start. I've had a lot of jobs that didn't last, so i plan to stay here as long as i can. Deana manages the bakery, goes to school and is a mom, so why not?

Never mind the goofy picture. I thought it was funny. I'm excited about my job and i'm sure i'll enjoy chatting with middle aged women all day :D

BodyJam!

2008-07-15T18:42:00.009-07:00

So this is the big one! I spent last Friday, Saturday & Sunday training to be a Group Fitness Instructor. The company is Les Mills and they have a lot of group fitness programs such as weight lifting, cycling, yoga and combat types of work outs and a few more, but my favorite: BodyJam.

BodyJam is a dance inspired cardio group fitness workout. About a year ago, my friend Matt trained to be an instructor. He invited me and a bunch of people to come to his class and i loved it enough to get a gym membership and start taking the classes. I stopped after a while because i got a job and a girlfriend and then school started. So i spent my free time loafing and not going to the gym.

Then a couple of months ago, Matt came to me again and said that they were looking for more Jam instructors and he knew that i enjoyed the class and had some dance experience. I thought about it and decided that it was definitely for me, so I spent the past weekend training. Training was like getting a degree. It gave me the tools i needed and the certification to start practicing. My next step will be to film myself teaching a class by myself and send it into the big guys to be reviewed. I have three months to do it. Then i will be a certified BodyJam instructor and will be able to get a job teaching at any gym in the world that has the program.

I'm very excited and I'm just giving you all a heads up because when it comes time for me to make my video, I'm going to call on all of you to come and participate in my class. Look forward to it within the next three months.

You can practice here and get a free pass. If you do, let me know and i'd love to go with you. Enjoy!

4th of July - Show Low Style

2008-07-15T14:17:00.006-07:00

For the fourth of July I went with Angela's family to Show Low because she has a sister that had recently moved up there. I didn't recognize the area as anywhere I had seen while going to our cabin, but it looked the same. It was very nice. Green and rural. I really do enjoy that area.

We went to the lake up there and just messed around untill the weather told us to leave. It got dark and windy. That's why my hair is so rediculus looking.
Then when we got home it rained. It was okay because everyone enjoyed playing in it.
On the night of the 4th, we went to a high school and watched fireworks. I have never seen a bigger display. Bigger than Disneyland. No joke. It was quite amazing. So long the kids fell asleep. Haha. It was fun.

Body Jam & Guitar

2008-06-25T21:27:00.006-07:00

So... I have some time and I've been meaning to post about this, so here i go. Please do read my next post too :)

My Body Jam interview went well. I went into one of the workout rooms with the Group Fitness leader, Kelli, and she hooked up her iPod and i just had to bounce to show her I could keep a beat. Turns out that some people try out who can't, so that was pretty easy. Then I signed up for the training and participated in the class. I hope you're all getting excited about coming to my classes.

In other news, I've taken up the guitar. A lot of things inspired me. I've always liked the guitar and I've wanted to be "that guy." You know... So i went up to my dad a few weeks ago and asked if he could give me lessons. We've had our 3rd just yesterday and i can honestly say that I've learned a lot already. This is the type of guitar i'm learning on.

One Bill to Kill Us All

2008-06-25T19:57:00.006-07:00

**Warning: I am about to ignorantly bash a political issue that hardly concerns me, so if you get offended or otherwise upset with me, please click the little red X on the top right hand side of your screen and do not post your comments here. If you politely and intelligently disagree with me or would like to inform me of something, then your comments are more than welcomed... if you make it to the end of this very long post.***

I've gone back and forth about if i wanted to post the whole article here or how i wanted to do this, but I've decided that you need to devote some time to this issue and read the whole article yourself and then you can read my blog and i wont have to explain myself. Click here to read the article. Please don't read the following without having read the actual article.

Now that you have read the article, I'm going to say some things that you were probably already thinking.

First off, i am glad that the article admitted in the first paragraph that this whole thing is a re-election scheme, and i am glad that Bush doesn't support it and plans on vetoing the bill.

Democrats and Republicans both eager to claim election-year credit for helping hard-pressed homeowners.

"Hard-pressed homeowners" are a large, desperate consumer audience full of people who made bad decisions or are out of luck and will vote for anyone who will help them out of their pickle despite its long term or large scale economical effects on those who planned ahead and bought what they could afford.

We need to demonstrate to people in this country that have lost an awful lot of faith in almost everything, but certainly in (Congress), that we can get something done, that we can put aside differences and make a difference in their lives.

That is just bad parenting. If people are suffering because they couldn't afford their homes then they need to suffer and do what they can to get into a home they can afford. What a novel concept, but it doesn't get votes.

Still, conservative Democrats known as "Blue Dogs" are concerned about how to pay for the measure, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus call it unacceptable, arguing it doesn’t do enough to address the needs of black Americans.

Is it only the conservative Democratic "Blue Dog" who is worried about how to pay? Geez, who isn't? And who are these Congressional Black Caucus leaches milking this "good deed" for all its worth, wanting their own, undeserved piece of the "freebie pie." Don't they know that their race cards are expired? These beggars also demand more than offered. Read it in the article.

The limit for these loans is projected somewhere between $625,000 and $730,000. Holey moley! If you bought a $700,000 house that you couldn't afford... you need to live on the streets for a little while and learn some valuable life lessons. Beans on toast, my friend: one can and two slices will feed your family dinner.

"We have been working closely with them to try to change the bill in a way that we think that it could be something that the president could sign," Perino said.

"Just word it differently guys... he might fall for it."

It would provide a $14.5 billion array of tax breaks, including a credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers who buy in the next year.

Another $14.5 billion? Where is this money coming from? Aren't we already in a deficit? Why are politicians running this country and not business men?

"They expect the federal government to turn their backs on responsible lenders and borrowers and renters waiting — waiting — to become first-time homeowners, and support those groups that have pushed our housing market into decline with bad loans and bad investments," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. "This bill is a federal government bailout."

I think that is a wise statement and it took me a minute to understand what he was talking about. There are those good lenders and borrowers who are getting squashed as the government forks out money to bail the irresponsible ones out of their own debt. This is bringing the value of the houses down for those who worked for what they have, and this bill represents the government trampling their needs under their feet.

There is so much more I'd like to say about this bill because it represents a lot of things which i despise about politics and society.
1) Re-election schemes
2) The archaic, and outdated, Robin Hood method of taking from those who earned it and giving it to those who squander.
3) Quick-Fixes to problems that "wont come back to bite us... the next guy will deal with is" attitude
4) Someone tries to do something nice and is taken advantage of (Congressional Black Caucus)

I've done a lot of bashing, so it's only fair that i present an alternative. Ever wonder about the practical worth of a typical academic education? What if with math, English, science, and history, a new, basic, and commonly required subject was Practical Economy or some other clever name where people learn how things work that they will have to deal with in their lives like credit and financing... mortgages and how to budget. These kinds of things that we have to learn from experience or from out parents. What if our parents bought loads of stuff they couldn't afford? We'd do it too because we wouldn't realize that it wasn't normal. I don't know why this has to be novel. This is basic stuff that i would have loved to know about.

Also, why don't we provide a way for these people to get into houses they can afford or encourage them to get what they need to have a better paying job... That way, everyone wins and no one has to drag these useless moochers around all the time.

Dance: Old & New

2008-06-23T17:07:00.004-07:00

Old:

This is the extremly long video of my last dance performance. This happened in May. I think i blogged about it, but never posted it and that's because i just got this video from my friend and fellow dancer, Julie. So to recap this performance, i must say that i was happy to be in a smaller class this semester. The teacher was great. His name was Buddy. He was new and didn't know the program, so he taught us a whole bunch of little dances thru the semester and then the last couple classes were about putting it together into a big routine and it turned out great. There were some difficult steps and we spent a lot of time practicing backstage before the performance so that we got it down nicely and we had one of the ladies in the class standing infront keeping us on track, but i forgot she was there and didn't look at her once. I think i did pretty well concidering.

So I really like dancing. I even had thoughts of taking two dance classes next semester... but i wouldn't because that's irresponsible and i think i need to pass more acedemic classes before i have more fun classes.

New:
So, this is Body Jam. It's a Cardio Dance Workout Class that they provide at Fitness Works Gym. My friend Matt Wright started teaching the class quite a while ago and invited me to his first class and i loved it, so i signed up but stopped after a while for whatever reason; school, lazy, work, etc. i don't know. A couple weeks ago, Matt came to me again and told me that Fitness Works was looking for more Body Jam instructors and knew that i liked the class and had some dancing history. He called me up and gave me the information and i've contacted the people and i'm having my first interview tomorrow. I've decided that i really want to do it. It'll be a few months before i can teach a class, but i'll let you all know when and where for sure and you better come.

So that's my new venture. I'm pretty excited.

Cali Too

2008-06-16T14:16:00.003-07:00

Another pic from the wedding. This one is awesome and worth posting before I move away from the subject altogether.

From left: David Wyatt, Chris Pittman, Chris Chapman, Chris Anthony.

Cali

2008-06-13T14:44:00.006-07:00

So, i haven't written in a long while. I'll catch up slowly.

I went to California the end of last month to see my friend Chris Pittman get married. The weather was beautiful of course. Angela came with me and we had lots of fun.

The wedding was at the San Diego Temple and the reception at the Orange Stake Center. It was like i was home. It was a great feeling the whole time. Chris was all smiles and the old gang was talking and laughing the whole time. I was one of the groomsmen and they took a lot of fancy pics of us, so once i get my hands on them, i'll be sure to post the good ones.

Geoff, Jamie & Lucy joined Angela and I and we all went to Newport beach and made a sand castle so big that the other kids at the beach asked us how we did it. I told them, "A lot of digging." While making it, i got a pretty intense sunburn. Once we got home and i didn't have Angela there putting stuff on it everyday, it pealed off. Pretty sad.

Also, we went to Summer's birthday party, Josh's girl. She was scared of me as usual, so i didn't bother her, but what was funny was that while making my way over to Luke to ask him where Hunter was, i had to avoid this little kid running right in front of me. When i asked Luke, he pointed at the kid i almost ran over. I had to go right up to him and look him in the face before i recognized him. I couldn't believe that it was him. He's so big. Crazy how kids grow so fast.

Spiritual vs Monetary

2008-05-16T10:45:00.012-07:00

I never really know what I'm going to write about, but i haven't written in a while.

So I had that last final. I did well. I still haven't gotten the video of my performance from Julie. I need to do that.

I saw the midnight showing of the new Narnia movie with Angela. It was pretty cool. Definitely worth seeing. Lots more action that the last movie.

I've been reading a book called Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I'm on page 292 of this massive 1168 page novel. If you're not familiar with Ayn Rand, she has a philosophy called Objectivism. This is an excerpt from the Ayn Rand Facebook group:

Ayn Rand was once asked if she could present the essence of Objectivism while standing on one foot. Her answer was:

Metaphysics: Objective Reality
Epistemology: Reason
Ethics: Self-interest
Politics: Capitalism

She then translated those terms into familiar language:

"Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed."
"You can't eat your cake and have it, too."
"Man is an end in himself."
"Give me liberty or give me death."

I'm not sure if i would call myself an "Objectivist" just yet, but i really respect her philosophy. In the novel, the conflicting ideas are 1) Industry and Self Interest/Capitalism & 2) Charity and Common Good/Welfare State. The novel favors number one. The examples of each are very extreme and i don't want to be like anyone in the book per say, but their examples do inspire me. I think that a lot of people find it to be immoral to worry too much about one's own personal gain and so we are uncomfortable with the kind of monetary success that is described in the book. I say we, but i use the characters in the book and myself for the basis of that assumption. I've realized that there has been a conflict in my head between two complex ideas.
***The first is the desire to be a good person; a moral person who people trust and respect. A sympathetic, sensitive man who would be an amazing husband and father. A man who felt the Spirit all the time and was revered as a great priesthood holder who helped people at all times.
***The second is the desire for worldly success. To be financially independent and secure with money to do whatever practical want i have. I want to be someone who loves his work and excels and whatever i try. I want to be someone who people see as successful. i want to wear fancy suits with pocket watches in the vest and drive a Corvette from my mansion home to my glass and marble office building to make hundreds of dollars an hour in some honorary profession, namely psychology.
It wasn't until recently that i realized there shouldn't be a conflict of ideas. I shouldn't feel guilty setting my sights on big houses and fancy cars while at the same time, wanting to excell spiritually. I'm a pretty lazy person and I'm too prideful to do well in general education, so I'm not sure where I'll end up... hmm.

Mark 10: 25
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

What do you think? You think that it means that it's almost impossible for rich people to go to heaven? I studied this verse and i'll try and site it later, i don't have time now, but i discovered that there is a caravan pass called the Eye of a Needle. Wether this is the name of a specific pass or this type of pass, i don't know. But there in the desert is where the camel caravans go. In order for the camels to pass thru this very small pass, the rider must get off and the walk beside his camel while the camel walks on his knees. Then the caravan procedes together, on the same level, equally estemed. No one is higher than others. Thus the rich man must pass thru this life. He can have his extensive load, but must not be estemed higher than others... I'm not defending rich people because i think i'm going to be one, but i'm more doing it to help me be motivated to do what it takes to reach a worthy goal like that.

Spiritual vs Monetary . . . Tie Game

Spawn

2008-05-02T03:35:00.013-07:00

I know I've already posted and it's late and i should go to bed... but i was thinking. I don't think that many if any of my readers will appreciate this the way that i do, but this is the latest Spawn figure. Chris Pittman just showed it to me.

His name was Al Simmons. He was a CIA member who resigned because of corruption in the system. In his anger, he beat his wife. He was then assassinated by the CIA leader who he disagreed with and then was sent to hell where he makes a deal with "the devil" that he will be reborn as Hellspawn if he can see his wife once more. He is given the chance and thus he is reborn with all of hell's magic. He is still free to choose for himself and ends up being the champion of the downtrodden, spending his heroic days serving the bums and impoverish. The story goes on and on and gets pretty detailed, but the beginnings are the most important anyway. So, basically, he's a good guy empowerd by... the devil.I like Spawn a lot. So contradictory, yet he is such a simple person. Such an obviously evil and ominous presence, but he's still the champion of good... or sometimes bad. He's so imperfect, yet heroic.

p.s.
Those are all pictures of the same guy. His name is Spawn and he IS the good guy. That's the point.

Birthdays, Summer & Anniversaries

2008-05-02T02:26:00.009-07:00

I'm not sure what I'm going to write about, but i haven't written in a while, so here i go.

School:

My birthday was the other day. The day of my birthday was pretty crappy actually because i had a pretty stressful final project due the next day. Oh well. That was my last day of school. Friday... i guess tonight... I have my dance performance at 7. I'm pretty nervous actually. We learned a dance at the beginning of the semester and then on the last day of class, the teacher pulls it out again and says that we're doing it in our performance... i'm quite nervous. I'm sure my nervs will calm for the performance though because i do know the dances pretty well and we're going to have a quick run thru before we go out there. I have my Anthropology final on wednesday at 2 and then I'm done with school for this semester. I'm not a good student and i didn't do well this semester, i must confess. I just let a lot of little things distract me.

Life goes on. I'm planning on working as much as i can this summer. If Gary, my boss, doesn't take me on full time, i'll try and get another part time job. Why not? i don't want to be sitting around all the time.

Birthday:

I got distracted. Back to my birthday. So, the saturday before my birthday i had a little party at my house. Someone brought Rock Band so that pretty much monopolized the party. We tried to go out and play volleyball with the new ball i bought, but it was too dark. And just for future reference, if you're ever over at my house and want to play volleyball, just let me know and i'll probably drop what i'm doing and go play. I like volleyball a lot. You probably didn't know that.

Then on Sunday night, the family gathered at Geoff and Jamie's and we had my favorite dinner. Roast, cooked carrots, mashed potatoes and red jello. Angela was there and some other family i didn't know. Stefanie got me some very nice facial cleansers. She knew i wanted some. It's nice to have the Mary Kay connection. And Geoff and Jamie got me a super-nice BB gun. Mom says that i can't shoot it in our backyard, but what she doesn't know, can't hurt her. Angela gave me a posh MP3 player with a rediculous about of media capability and Clark helped me with putting movies on it. Fun times. And mom got a Wii. haha... I'm spoiled rotten.Angela:

To me it's late Thursday night, but technically, it's friday the 2nd which is mine and Angela's 6 month anniversary. Go us :)

Bank:

I changed to Chase Bank after Wells Fargo failed misserably at handling my fraud case. I like Chase a lot sofar. It's a very user friendly bank. Very simple and comforting. Everything i've experience sofar has been very clean and smooth... and not cluttered. It feels good. Like the bank isn't doing much else other than managing my money. And that's the whole point of having a bank. To me it always felt like Wells Fargo was cluttred like a really old computer that has all these files on it that you know you used once, but aren't really sure what they're for now and are affraid to delete it, so all of a sudden you're getting error mesages saying that you're running out of room... Oh yeah, that's my computer.

Martha and the Hallway

2008-04-02T16:24:00.005-07:00

So Martha had her 177,777th birthday yesterday. Quite a lucky birthday. Martha is the name of my car. She's quite beautiful for her age except she has a little pigmentation disorder on her nose and scalp, but I still love her very much. She does her job very well dispite the funny noises. I can't blame her for making embarrassing noises in her old age; it happens to the best of us.
Happy Birthday Martha :)

I told you about the hallway. Here it is. Take a look and imagine walking down that on the way to an interview or your first day of work. It's very... ominous? There are no doors on the right untill the very end: that's my door. And on the left there are the bathrooms and a couple, widly spaced doors. Quite exciting. Thought I'd share.

First Day...

2008-04-02T00:10:00.003-07:00

...Was good. I have my own office with two screens!, but spent most of my time standing by the copy machine scanning things :)It's okay. I enjoyed myself. People in the office are nice. It's a nice looking place too. The hallway leading to the office is a bit daunting. I'll take a picture and blog all about that later. Sofar, I'm making digital records of all the hard copy reports and assorted papers and i'll be writing and editing excel programs for dad. I'm quite excited for that. I like that kind of thing. I didn't start Residential Appraisal yet. Dad said I'll probably start that once Gary gets swamped with it.

Whatever I do, I'm happy. I'm just glad to have a job :)

New Job

2008-03-31T15:08:00.007-07:00

I got a new job!
*does a little dance*
So dad's boss, Gary, decided that they needed someone and dad told mom and mom told me and I called dad and then Gary called me. I went in to see him, Gary, this morning at 11 and sat down in his office. He started out with some small talk about school and then got right into it. He told me that I'd be involved in residential appraisal and helping out the comercial appraisers by managing the storage of their reports and I guess whatever other odd jobs they want me to do. I'll work five days a week for 4 or 5 hours at $12/hr. I'm pretty stoked. I start on the 15th of April because my position is new so they have to set stuff up and get me a computer etc., so after that date, I'm sure I'll bolg again on this and let you all know how it goes :)

Oh yeah. And after the "interview" which lasted about 4 minutes, he said, "I know this was short, but I know John, so it's okay."

Thanks Dad!I'm looking forward to being part of the office.

***Update!***
Dad just called me and said that I can start tomorrow! So I guess I'm starting tomorrow! :)

Superficial Individuality

2008-03-13T01:28:00.009-07:00

The dictionary had a plethora of definitions, so to serve my purpose I chose a couple that I liked.

in•di•vid•u•al•i•ty
1. the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others; sole and personal nature: a person of marked individuality.
2. state or quality of being individual; existence as a distinct individual.
3. the interests of the individual as distinguished from the interests of the community.

As inspired by my friend and fellow blogger Lady Di, and because I tend to stay up way too late, I have decided to blog on a topic that will be eternally discussed between two people who don't, nor want to, think the same way.

I don't consider myself a very unique guy or this extraordinarily individual-minded person, but I do empathies with those who do. I have done small things like dying my hair black or a patch of blue or bleaching it blond in whole or in part, and who can forget my shoulder-length mess. I've worn trendy clothes, ties with t-shirts, and I had my whole black clothing phase. I can't think of many other styles I’ve sported outside the norm. If you can, please remind me.

Because of the nature of the conversation being that the "normal" person will usually initiate the conversation by asking someone why they do some "abnormal" thing that they do and the "unique" person having to explain and/or defend their views, the "normal" person will often get the impression that the "unique" person feels that their way is correct or otherwise superior to that of the person who chooses to "follow the crowd." This is not the case, but please note I only speak for myself and what I have found to be common. This vibe is only felt because of the defensive nature of the conversation. No way is better or correct. Truth like this is relative to the individual. For some people, being superficially individual or unique is healthy or necessary. For other extreme cases it is pride or vanity or somewhere in between.

It comes to mind now to explore what makes someone "different". I'm going to use a common local high school scenario for an example. There is a common cliche lovingly known as Emo. You know you love it. So... a group of boys walk the halls in their tight girl's pants and wearing their dark-rocker clothing with their dark hair in their face. Some decorate themselves with multicolored hair, lip rings, and yes, eyeliner. Are these boys different from the rest of the student body or are they the same as everyone else in their cliche. . . Both! They want to stand out and be different, so they costume up to fit in with everyone else who wants to be different. I'm speaking cynically, because I don't like high school kids at all anyway. No one is really "them self" in high school. Puberty is still taking its toll on their emotional physiologies.

So what is different? I really don't know. I don't think that that word does justice to what these people want. I'm going to include myself in this and speak from the heart even though I don't qualify as an extreme example. What I want, and I think what everyone needs is a self awareness. The realization of self is the major difference between us and chimps, oddly enough. I learned that in my Biological Anthropology (Evolution) class. We all need that and everyone accomplishes this when they're children and they realize that it is them self in the mirror, but this goes a bit deeper when we get older and we have to find out who we really are which is the basis for many popular stories in books and movies, etc.

Batman said that it's not what's underneath, but what I do that defines me. I thought that was so true. As we grow, we start by following mom and dad or whoever takes their place. We are taught by them and our environment collectively what is right and wrong and what is socially acceptable and we acquire all our skills thru this process as well. When someone starts to become really self aware and has the desire to define them self, a common scenario would be that they look back at all the places they've been guided to; all the decisions they've been encouraged to make; all the norms they've been placed in, and in all this they might wonder what they have done. What has been accomplished by "Me." There might have been great things accomplished. Or maybe nothing accomplished. Either way, if they aren't felt to be autonomous descisions or accomplishments, they might not suffice. Many roads can be taken at any of these stages, but we'll follow them downt he path of the "individual-minded" person.

At this point there is a very easy path to follow which makes it common, and that is the path of rebellion. Doesn't seen relevant, does it? Well, this path will accomplish a lot as a quick fix to the "I haven't accomplished a lot of my own accord" problem. One might change their appearance to be totally unlike what they've been raised to become. They might change their political or religious views. They might do "bad" things. Voilà! I'm different. I’m individual. I've done this myself. I am who I’ve decided to be. I am not a "product of my environment."
*I am accomplished*

Right? Wrong? I don't know. Does a green mohawk make one truley unique? Does it dammage society or cause harm to others? Does a suit and tie move us all to become a happier people? I think the template of these questions are imortal because there is no answer. The only absolute is that we all need to be self-aware to be content, psychological beings. How we accomplish this is extremly... individual.

Hair & California

2008-02-21T00:26:00.007-07:00

So here it is. My new hair. I like it a lot. What do you think? And I'm going to California with Angela the last weekend of the month and she keeps telling me how excited she is. I'm really looking forward to this. I'm glad i can go down and help Stef and cellibrate the Wyatt-California heretage.

Thanks Stef & Clark for letting us come down!

Snow & Bugs

2008-02-19T16:12:00.013-07:00

So, the Juke sucks. It has horrible picture capabilities and not very user friendly interface, not to mention its tiny keypad which i thought i was going to get used to. So i'm returning it and getting my old phone back.

I'm getting my hair done tomorrow. I've showed Amanda this picture and she told me to bring it to the appt. and that's what we're going to do. I'm excited. We'll see what it ends up being like because my hair isn't as straight or as dark as his. I've done something similar before, so I'm confident it will look good.

*So... Updates:

I went do the snow with Angela and her family. It was really fun. I'm glad i went. We made a huge snowman whome we called Lum after one of the old people that Angela takes care of at the assisted living place. Someone on the hill with us gave us this strange strip of what i would guess was roofing where one side was slick tar and the other side was gritty. It was long and rectangular and great for sliding down the hill. And of course we couldn't leave without having a decent snowball fight.

I got a call from RM Jobs while i was at school and they interviewed me for the job i "applied" for. I didn't remember applying for it and i told mom when i got home and she told me that she had applied for me. I was a bit upset, but... they like me (of course) and i took the job. It's a summer thing, so training will start soon and then off i go, knocking doors selling pest controll. I know, i know. Door to door sales. I'm perfectly aware, but it pays well and i've learned to appreciate money.

New: Header, Phone & $$

2008-02-09T13:28:00.001-07:00

Do you like my header? I made it myself :)

& I got the $2,200 back that was fraudulantly taken from me. That makes me happy. I just need to go to the bank now and fight to get my 12 overdraft charges taken off. The bank lady told me that that would be easy to go because the bank accknowledges that it was fraud. I'm happy.

Monday is the day that Verizon bribes us to keep our contract with them by giving us $100 credit towards a new phone. I'm pretty excited. I think i have 3 options.

1) The Juke
*Small
*Trendy
*Great for Music

All qualities i really like. but it has a crapy camera and i don't think it has external speekers decent for music; which i'm going to have to really think about.

2) The enV
*Big screen
*Better Camera that I have now
*Decent for music
*Keypay (which i'm not so fond of)

But this thing is huge. Roughly 5x2x1. Yuck. Immagine that in my pocket. Iiiiii'm going to have to think about that.

3) LG VX8300 (Keep the one i have)
*Decent screen
*Decent Camera
*Decent for music

But... i've had it for a long time... and... i really want the Juke.

Plunder & Pillage

2008-02-06T16:31:00.001-07:00

I feel like sharing my experience with thievery. It is quite an exciting story really.

So... it was very late at night... early in the morning December 10th and Angela and I were leaving her parents to go home. We each had our separate cars parked in the neighborhood parking lot. It was cold and rainy, so to say our goodbyes we got into the backseat of my car and wrapped up in the blanket i had in my car that i used to move a table into her new place. She was cold and wet and tired, so we were just laying there all cuddly. If we were making out, i would say so. I'm not ashamed. Although you can think what you want :P

So, there we were: Lying in the car when i heard a noise and then some voices so i turned to see people and flashlights IN my car. In was intensely angry and violated, so i roared at them with intense vigor and launched myself into the front seat after them as they grabbed what they could and fled my car. I quickly discovered that they had taken stuff, said a few choice words and took off thru the parking lot after them.

I ran thru the rainy parking lot in my socks screaming who knows what kind of angry nonsense at these two hoodlums, and just as i was closing in, the farther ahead of the two calls frantically back the other and says, "Shoot him!" Over and over, "Just shoot him!" It didn't register at once what was going on, but when the one closest to me stopped running away and turned to face me with the other one telling him over and over to "Just shoot him," it clicked and i stopped running and put my hands up. I told them i had nothing, letting them know i couldn't defend myself and i started backing away when they began to peruse me back to my car. I didn't look back, but got back into my car as fast as i could, having to pull the blanket back in which i had trailed out the door as i ran. I finally got the doors locked, but i was just so frantic and shaky that i couldn't get a hold of the keys to get them into the ignition. I looked around and the guys were outside the car, still a distance away, obviously trying to decide weather to come after me or make a break for it. It didn't take them long to choose the latter.

Once they were leaving, i assessed what had been taken. Once i told Angela that they had taken her purse, phone, and wallet, she lost it and wanted to go after them. Luckily the door where she was didn't work properly and she couldn't open it. Plus, she had me holding her back telling her that they threatened to shoot me. Weather or not they actually had a gun is debatable, but nevertheless, i wasn't going to risk my life and especially not my girlfriends life for any kind of material possession.

They also got my wallet and at the time i thought they got my phone, but it turns out that they dropped my phone and my keys as they were escaping, which made me feel very badly that Angela lost everything and i only lost my wallet.

We did all the canceling of cards and calling of police etc... The End.

Word of Warning

2008-01-23T11:33:00.001-07:00

So, if you get robbed, you need to change banks. Not just cancel the card and open a new one. I'll tell you why:

You probably know that i got robbed. Perhaps i'll post the story later, it's quite exciting. They just started taking my money. They wrote 3 checks as if they were from a 3rd party written to me and they cashed them using my ID, so a grand total of $2200 has been taken from me. The bank is working on it. In the meantime, i can't access my money, so i have about $12 to my name. Suck a lot. So, with my ID, they can find my money anywhere. So once this is resolved, i'm changing banks.

School is good. I'm sad there was no class on Mondays because that is the only day i have my dance class.

Still no job. I'm not sure what i want/can have as long as a job anyway. I'll find something.

And girlfriend's birthdays are hard to shop for. Amen.

More or Less than Stagnant

2008-01-14T17:31:00.001-07:00

Is movement more or less than stagnant? I couldn't decide. Anyway...

So, i'm registered for school. In fact, today is my first day at school and it's been interesting. I have four classes:

Anthropology: Bones, Stones & Evolution
Psychology: Reserch Methods
Finite Math
English
Dance: Hip Hop

Okay, so I said four. I haven't signed up for the dance class yet, but there is a reason. I'm currently signed up for about 26 credit hours because of whatever, i don't know, moving on. I'll end up with 15 by the end of today. I took the dance class last semester and it was amazing fun. I would always talk about it and my family and girlfriend's family came to see me perform when it was all done and my dad got so excited that he signed up for it. Yes, John Wyatt is in a college Hip Hop dance class. I didn't think i could take the class because of my schedule, but it all got rearranged just this morning and i had time. So... i grabbed my gym bag and plan to surprise my dad by showing up to and signing up for his dance class. I think he'll really like that.

*I have my performance on video on my home computer and on my facebook. I'll see if i can upload it later.

So my anthropology class is a lab science which means it goes from 1 - 3:30, but today was the first day, so we just went over the syllabus and left, which left me a plethera of time untill my next class at 4:45. I wondered around, went to the institute, did my english homework (online class), ate, and whent to my 4:45 Psychology Research class where i met the department heads who were there to tell me my teacher was sick and they'll let us know if wednesday is canceled as well. So here i am blogging... Waiting for dance at 7. So, basically, i had a 45 minute class at 1 and i've been in limbo ever sence. Interesting day.

School [Check]

Job [Anyone have any leads?]

I could probably get one myself, but... I'm really not motivated to work retail or whatever jobs people have in highschool, although i'm not too pridefull to comply if that's my only option.

Christmas Bonus

2008-01-01T02:04:00.001-07:00

Crazy Christmas indeed. So, i get a call on the 27th from my boss explaining to me that there is no more work. The shop was bought out and we all got layed off. Turns out that the term "Family Business" doesn't mean much these days and everyone is looking to make a buck. So i'm out of a job. Merry Christmas. I was relying on that job to help me move out in January and now, those planns are shot and my school plans for next semester are frustrated untill i figure out my work situation. Basically, my life will be stagnant for a while...

On a lighter note: Happy New Year! I celebrated by going to the Tempe Block Party with Angela and some friends. The main attraction and reason we went was for the Bare Naked Ladies, who performed awesomly. Some lady tried to crowd surff over my head and ended up bludgering my ear with her heal, so Angela's huge brother-in-law ended up lobbing her into the isle. Right on her rump. Then she was escorted out by security. Quite funny.

So, the first thing i did this year was kiss Angela right on the mouth. It was my first time kissing someone at midnight, and truthfully, i hope she's there for all the rest of my New Years. I'm not going to get all sappy, so enough said.

So, it's a new year. What now, hu? I was thinking on the way home in the car today about what my resolution was going to be. I thought about being more healthy and i remembered something Geoff said about not drinking soda and then i remembered how much i liked soda and discarded that option.

I decided that my new year's resolution was to make sure that i did what made me happy. I've been around and thru enough to know the difference between what brings temporary pleasures and what brings lasting happiness and so i'm going to trust myself from now on. I'm going to go with what my gutt tells me and stop trying to be a people pleaser. I'm a very stubborn 22 and it's about time i put my piece where it fits in the puzzle.

More: Living, Laughing, Learning & Loving

Simple Beginnings

2007-12-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this, then you probably have a Blog. If you do, then you're probably one of the people who would say, "Oh, you didn't know? Well... it was on our blog." And I would say, "Oh, i should make me one of those." So, there's the story. The rest is history.

So... You probably want to know what i'm doing with my life. If not, you probably would have stopped reading by now. With that said, here I go:

I'm a fresh 22 years of age, living in beautiful Mesa, AZ. I just finished a year and a half at MCC (Mesa Community College), and i'm planning on continuing my pursuit of Psychology after the winter intersession. I'm working full time in a shop, crafting the frames you'll see on www.wallwoody.com, and i spend all my spare time with my beautiful girlfriend Angela.

That's the basic foundation of my life. In intricate details are quite fantastic, but those will come as i continue to update.

Thanks for reading.