Wikipedia!!!!! WHY HAST THOUGH FORSAKEN ME!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you are sitting down; because I have some harrowing news. Our common source of information and random information is down. I would suggest that you keep tabs on children and the elderly, as vigilantes have no doubt entered the street and have begun pillaging. With Wikipedia down, the world as we know it is gone. We must band together if we hope to survive. Fortify your home as if preparing for a hurricane, and get plenty of bottled water.

Just to be clear I am referring to the fact that Wikipedia went down today at 10:30am, eastern time, as I tried to look up some information regarding theory relating to a project. I have come to rely heavily on Wiki for information lately, as have we all, and without it I will have to search the tired halls of the internet for information the old fashioned, time consuming way.



This is going to be a long one...

Sorry Sorry Sorry

I know that I have said this before but I promise you that I will have the list of sites I go to, to watch shows, up tonight.

On my honor as a man...

A Spontaneous Weekend

Friday, I was ending my shift at work and was contemplating what I should do to entertain myself this weekend. While mulling several options over in my head, one stood out among the pack. I could go and visit my girfriend for the third weekend in a row, or I could sit at home and watch TV all weekend only going out to Walmart to buy things I don't need. A dilemma arose.

After deciding that the latter was lame, I thought about wither or not I could afford to make the trip. "Well," I thought to myself "If I only spend money on gas I can do it." And so the adventure began. I called her up after work and we discussed it, and we both became excited about the visit.



The weekend itself was great fun. We even went out to one of her friend's apartment where he was cooking traditional Chinese dumplings. As the weekend showed itself, again, to be too short, I made my way back to Greene. The roads were treacherous and blinding tractor trailer trucks did nothing to help. Never the less, I made my way home and here I sit writing to you, on a break from work.

Public Restrooms are evil

I don't know about you, but I can barely step foot in a public bathroom these days. Everything about the experience is unpleasant. It's an assault on the senses, and that is not the worst part! The worst part is that there are always individuals in there to make it worse. For instance, even if there are thirty open urinals; someone has to take the one right beside me and then start talking. If I choose to sit in one of the stalls then someone's foot is always edging it's way under the stall wall. All right all right, I will stop the needless ranting and break it down for you sense by sense.

Touch
Everything is always wet. Every try grabbing a handle of a toilet and find that your hand got wet?

Sight
Have you noticed that every public bathroom in the world has the same fluorescent pure whit light that flickers so fast you risk a seizure?

Sound
One of the worst, I hate hearing people do their business. I also hate hearing the heavy breathing and sighs of relief that come with the "business."

Taste
Sometimes, when conditions are just right, you can taste everything you smell in a bathroom. Almost enough to make you get sick.

Smell
Possibly the most disgusting thing about the public restroom is the smell. I will not go into detail as you already know why.

And that is why I use the guest bathroom...

4 Minutes

Well I did it again, I over slept. I woke up at 8:10am when I was supposed to be up at 7:00am. And to make it all the more worse, I had a meeting scheduled for 8:00am. Now you can imagine the amount of panic that coursed through my body as I shot upright in bed as if electricity had hit me. After an initial wave of panic, I spent about a second thinking and decided that I had two options. I could call in and say that I would be late coming in and miss the meeting, or I could rush and try to make it in on time.

The race against time had begun.



I had neglected to set out my clothes the night before so I ran around my apartment looking for something that I had not already worn, that was clean, and that was easy to iron. I did everything I usually do in morning routine, but at break neck speed. In a moment of genius I thought "combine tasks," so I brushed my teeth while combing my hair. I went to the john while shaving, and the list goes on.

Just as the title suggests, I completed this all in a mere four minutes. The hilarious part of this situation is that after I ran to my car, sped to work, ran into the building and calmed myself as I neared the meeting room; I noticed that it was dark and empty. After further inspection of my email, I discovered that it had been canceled. What a relief. To top it all off, after I arrived; my boss hadn't even come in yet.


In any case, I have set a new record and defy you to challenge me.

9 weeks and counting

So today is the nine week left point. Meaning that in nine weeks I will be at home munching on yummies and thoroughly enjoying myself. This also means that by this time next week I will be able to say, "I will be home at the end of next month." These are exciting times we live in.

I have grown to appreciate my life in Greene more as time marches forward. The autonomy, freedom, life lessons, and experiences I have gained here will no doubt carry me into future jobs with higher chances of success and achieving my dreams.

And yes, I will be putting up the internet TV list today. I will start it at lunch and post it tonight around six or seven. My dad has been chomping at the bit to get these sites ever since he discovered that he can watch his favorite shows online, while mom dominates the TV.

Fun stuff...

Moral

Moral is an interesting concept. It is a part of our every day lives, and yet it is only considered when either on the battlefield, or when it becomes a problem. Moral can shift as quickly as the wind. A single word or action can cause moral to grow to large proportions or sink to nill.

In my own situation, I have noticed that moral can either come in waves or completely erratically. Now do not mistake me for someone who is bipolar, my moods are never extreme. However, I have noticed that certain things can have a big impact on me.

For instance, if my apartment is dirty and cluttered I can easily get depressed. If I have the windows closed on a sunny day then moral will suffer. If I have not been tired from physical activity in over a week, then moral will also suffer. Also, I have found that paying attention to the passage of time drops moral straight through the floor. I am reminded of a rainy Saturday afternoon, as a child, looking out the window and hoping for the day to go by quicker.

Conversely, I have found that there are a few things that give the opposite effect on moral. When stuck in a situation where you are removed from friends and family it is important to stay in the loop and to remain informed. If you feel even the least bit involved then you are closer to them, in a small way, then you were before. Physical exercise also allows you to increase moral. It has been shown that after a long work out, endorphins are released in your brain. These endorphins create the natural "runners high" that we hear so much about from those in our groups of friends who run.

I would like everyone to know that I am not depressed. I just thought that it would be interesting to write about moral and how it is related to our actions.

a low after a high

Man, this weekend was great! I got to spend four full days with my friends, family, and girlfriend. I slept in, ate good food, went to a couple of get togethers, and enjoyed myself. I enjoyed myself so much, in fact, that when I got back to my apartment I became a little depressed.

You see, For the time being I am working in a little town called Greene doing a six month co-op. The place is nice and clean, but dreadfully small. I try to stay as active as possible. I participate in karate, visit home whenever fiscally possible, and work out; but there is only so much one person can do in a small town.

But I digress, I walked into the apartment that I was in to much of a hurry to clean the week before and my heart sank. Now, my life isn't all that bad. There are plenty of people who would love to have my life. I am healthy, have many good friends, a wonderful girlfriend, and I have very supportive family. I guess my point is that I do complain, but I am very appreciative of all that I have worked for and been given.

But, back to my story. I walked into my apartment at 8:00 p.m., and it was dark. I flick on the big light and drop my bags on the floor near the door. Immediately; every corner, nook, and crannie is bathed in blindingly bright white light. Half of my apartment is still pitch black, and it is very chilly. I look around and realize that the only living things there are the fish that haven't been fed in days.

To top it all off I have a terrible cold and cannot take any time off work to recuperate. More decaffeinated green tea for me please.

To get back to the main point, I have to say that my day today has been terribly depressing by comparison to the past few days. I guess I am going to have to become a more robust person and learn how to make my quality of life better in the face of solitude.

Got any suggestions?...

Comming Soon!

A whole blog about how to find your favorite shows on the internet!

I have continued searching the internet for sites to watch your favorite shows, and have found 11 new sites! I am currently going through the list to determine wither or not they are worth going to and rating them according to variety and volume of shows. After I have completed this task, I will put up a blog about them including links and ratings.



There are absolutely no reasons to worry about copyright infringements or viruses, on the recommended sites, and I will tell you why. I have gone to each of them, searching every function they have, and have received no malware or viruses. And, as far as copyright infringement worries go; you do not break copyright infringement laws by viewing a video online something. You break the copyright infringement laws when you reproduce, sell, or post without the owner's permission. And, none of that has taken place here.

Think about it this way, if you were going to get in trouble for viewing the videos; then YouTube would have been shut down ages ago. And, it is still going strong.

Take a look

Have you ever noticed that Sara Palin has a face that is not quite symmetrical. I hope I am not the only one who has noticed this, but it looks like she got socked in the right cheek. Take a look and see if you can notice it. If you need to, you can click on the image for a larger view



You see what I mean? Well, I guess there is now one more thing about Mrs. Palin I do not like,...


...her lopsided face (even though she is kind of attractive)

A Critical Time for Politians

With Obama steadily decreasing in popularity and McCain steadily increasing, in the wake of his running mate announcement; there has not been a more important time for citizens to pay attention to the candidates.
No matter who you support, you should make an informed decision. And, once you have made your decision, it is your responsibility to let you friends and family know your opinion and why. If everyone compares opinions, based on facts, a few might have a new perspective that they never would have had before. So, no matter who you support you should get out to vote and help bring others to the polls.





Oh yeah, and don't vote for McCain in '08. Think of what would happen if he died in office. We'd be left with a hot Alaskan governor as president.

A close call

So,

On the way home from Star buck's, this weekend, I threw some trash out of my window while driving. I had checked behind and ahead of me to make sure that no cops were in sight. After becoming reasonably sure that none were around I threw my cup and a bit of trash out the window.

No one else was around so I felt like I was safe, that was until I heard some strange noise behind me. "Crap! its the five-oh!," I thought to myself as I saw a large SUV come speeding up behind me. So I pulled to the side of the highway and started to slow down. Just as I thought I was done for, I saw an ambulance behind him in the distance. "Phew.. It was just a car accident," I thought in a moment of sadistic relief.



The SUV and Ambulance went around me and I didn't get caught. "Ha!," I exclaimed aloud after I was sure that I was in the clear.

Don't judge me, you would have done the exact same thing.

Capsule Game Review: Sushi Go Round

Sushi Go Round is a popular game hosted by Mini Clip. In the game you play the role of a temporary replacement sushi chef who is given one week to prove himself. Hungry customers come to your restaurant in search of delicious combinations of sushi ingredients. As you have no doubt guessed by now, it is your responsibility to make the sushi by selecting the right ingredients, rolling the sushi, and placing it on the conveyor belt for their hungry mouths to receive.



As the game progresses you receive more types of sushi to make in less time. If this wasn't already difficult enough, you have to balance your cooking with ordering replacement ingredients on the phone when you run out.
If you wait to long to serve a customer they become angry and leave. However, there is one way to keep an angry customer happy if you are swamped with orders, yes I am talking about that quint essential Asian beverage Saki.
The game has the ability to hold your attention for hours as you race to serve as many people as possible before closing. If I were to put this into a category I would have to say it is closest to the puzzle/time crunch genre.

I give it a eight out of ten possible thumbs up. A good game all around.

A great weekend

This weekend was great. I worked overtime all week so that I could leave early on Friday. At about noon I took off from Raymond and arrived in Potsdam at approximately four o'clock.

Friday was spent relaxing with my girl. We hung out and got some food and then later went to visit my brothers who were hanging out over in Riverside. Saturday was spent relaxing, chatting with friends, checking out the downtown stuff going on for the students, coffee at strawberry fields, and snugglin'. Sunday was spent pretty much the same way as Saturday, except we went to my parent's house for some great spaghetti. I haven't eaten that well in a long time. A bunch of my parents friends were leaving, because they had,had lunch with them and they made it very awkward as they said that me and Ashli make a great couple, and that the pastor (whom we had accidentally seen the day before) thought we looked good together. Man what a pain.



Anyways, Monday came and I left at about 4:30 p.m. Labor day allowed me to stay an extra half-day. As I made my trek back to Greene, I was sad to leave but happy to know that I would be back soon enough.

83 days to be exact.