Monday, March 29, 2004
???
Whoever is looking for:
'hallucinogenic beverage "eurotrip"'
on google, and found my site, I think you are looking for absinthe.
Just another example of the wierd stuff people look up google.
See the search here.
'hallucinogenic beverage "eurotrip"'
on google, and found my site, I think you are looking for absinthe.
Just another example of the wierd stuff people look up google.
See the search here.
NYC Recap
Jacqui and I returned from our New York trip, safe and sound on Saturday evening.
We get on the plane heading to NYC and as I am attempting to put my bag in the overhead flight compartment I almost succumbed to air rage, before we left the ground. I put my bag in the compartment lengthwise first to try and save space, but it was too long of the compartment to shut. This cranky old man starts yelling at me about how I need to turn it the other way if I expect to fit it in the bin. No Shit?!?! I was so tempted to say something smart assed in retaliation, but being the Eagle Scout I am, I remembered to respect my elders; even if they are senile, cantakerous, farts.
During our flight there, we decided to try and save money on transportation by taking the subway and walking as much as possible. Since we were arriving at LaGuardia, it was possible to take the M60 bus to the N line subway which had a stop right outside our hotel. So we land, get off the plan, and go about finding where the M60 stop is at the terminal. After attempting to board the bus with $2 in bills for the fare, we were rejected and told we needed to have the money in change. The next half hour was spent wandering around the airport trying to get 16 quarters for our fare, only to be turned down everywhere we went. Come to find out, there was a change machine right inside the door by the bus stop, doh!
We get on the bus and start the truckin along. It is interesting because there are about 10 people around us, all speaking Spanish. Did we get off in the wrong country? Now, I think traveling by bus in an unknown area is possibly one of the most nerve wrecking modes of transportation. Similar to Europe, where we once found ourselves sitting on a bus for 45 min while the driver took his break, we didn't know the exact bus route in NYC. We passed a stop, but I didn't see any subway signs, so I stuck to the bus rule of thumb, when in doubt don't get off. Next thing we know, we are in the middle of Harlem. Not that this was too bad, but definitely unexpected. One of tha gangstas on the bus actually helped us out by telling us where to get on the subway and walked with us since that was on his way. Definitely a big help (and a slight feeling of security) because we would have had no idea where to get off the bus.
We get to our hotel, Park Savoy, and were impressed with the location. At 58th Street and 7th avenue, we could see Times Square when standing at the street corner, were one block from Central Park, and only a couple streets from 5th Ave. and Trump Tower. (Ohh, we saw Trump's private jet at the airport) The inside wasn't too bad either for the bargain NYC price of $95/night. The room was absolutely tiny, but it was clean and we had our own bathroom. After lifting up the bed and not seeing any cockroaches hanging out under it, we knew the place was Kosher.
As we were walking by the Rockefeller Center, this woman came up to us and asked if we would like to attend a taping of the Carson Daily show, "Last Call." Since we didn't have anything else to do, we said sure, and got a couple of stand-by tickets. We had to wait for just over an hour to get into the studio, which by the way is the same one they use for the taping of "Saturday Night Live." I was pretty amazed how small it was, but that seems to be the trend when TV things are seen in reality for the first time. Now, I am definitely not a fan of Carson, I think he is ummm, ummm, a douche, yeah that's a good description. But, it was a chance to watch a show being taped, so we couldn't pass it up. I think the most shocking thing as an audience member was just how fake the clapping is. For example, Carson came out on stage before the taping actually started and there were about three misguided claps from the audience. However, when the taping began the "applaud" sign lit up and the producer of the show counted us down from 3-2-1- CLAP. When Carson came out for the second time the audience was roaring - how lame. Or, if Carson made a lame ass joke, in which there were many, he would motion for everyone to clap. I felt like a whore, because here I was clapping at some of the dumbest stuff I had ever seen. If it hadn't resulted in my ejection, I would have been booing at some of those skits/jokes. You can see for yourself just how horrible they were on Friday April 2, at 1:35 am. It's a good thing they don't pass out rotten food at the door, because I would have definitely made sure it ended up on Carson's face.
So we left there and went to the Stardust Dinner where all of the wait staff are aspiring Broadway performers. Each of them will rotate and take a turn singing a song to music. So not only do they serve your food, but they provide the entertainment also. I have to say, some of them were pretty good. Our waitress did a song from the musical Chicago. The food quality was definitely sacrificed for the atmosphere, however. Also, hamburgers for 13 dollars a pop is not such a bargain.
From there we walked down to the Empire State Building and went through what seemed like a maze to purchase our tickets and eventually make our way to the top. The view was awesome, as it was a clear night. I couldn't believe that the steel workers and construction guys could stand on single iron beams that high. Or that such an amazing structure was built without the use of electronics.
The next day was raining so we spent the majority of the afternoon in the Museum of Natural History. This was without a doubt the coolest museum I have ever visited. Although I have seen pictures of those dinosaur bones assembled as an entire skeleton, that was the first time I could experience it in person. Standing next to such a massive creature was unbelievable. The T-Rex was scary as hell, I kept thinking it would bend over and bite me in half. The other exhibits had a stuffed version of just about every major animal from around the world, in an artificial, but seemingly real environment. Some of my favorites were the giraffes and the bald eagle.
That night we had tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic theatre. The Phantom is somewhat a tradition in my family, and this was my 5th time seeing it. It is one of the only musicals I enjoy, let alone can stand. So, Jacqui and I got all dressed up and went to an upscale Asian food restaurant called Ruby Foo's, near Times Square. The food was excellent, I had sesame seed Tuna, with spinach leaves and shitake mushrooms, so, so, so good. We then walked to the theatre. As we are standing in line, this mother and her two daughters are snickering and looking at me. As I turn around, they mumble something unintelligible, and Jacqui sees that a bird has craped on the back of my nice coat. Great. The show itself was pretty good, especially since we had seats at third row center in the orchestra pit. It was cool to be so close as to see the expressions of the actors. However, the Phantom seemed to slur his words, and had a tendency to spit all over. Christine was alright. Raul was good. Overall, the cast was decent, but definitely not comparable to the London cast.
Later that night we went to a bar, and had some micro-brewed beers, which were pretty tasteful.
The next day we did too much to discus in detail, but here is a run-down:
We walked down 5th avenue. Saw Grand Central Station, and a bunch of cops and swat guys patrolling inside. Walked over to the U.N. building, home of U.S. hatred. That was mostly for Jacqui, as I have been in the building before, and actually gave a speech on the General Assembly floor for Model U.N. I then discover that a bird had crapped on me again, in exactly the same spot, different coat. What are the odds. I must have been a HVT1, or High Value Target. We then took the subway down to Ground Zero. It wasn't very emotional, as it mostly looks like a construction site now. However, some of the buildings around it have extensive damage. I saw the name of the only person I remotely had a connection to who died. A brother of a schoolmate. Then we took a boat ride and saw the Statue of Liberty. Came back and walked to Wall Street. Awesome feeling to know I was standing at the center of the heart of capitalism. Broad Street was probably my favorite street in all of Manhattan. We then walked through Chinatown. Ate at an authentic Thai place in Chinatown, the food was excellent. Then we walked through Little Italy, equally interesting. Later we just bought ice cream and sat in Times Square and ate it for a couple of hours. Saddest thing was a guy offering to shine my shoes, when I said no multiple times, his response was "I am homeless here, please give me a chance to earn some money ." That just about broke our hearts. We gave him about $2 in change, and told him thanks for the offer, but he doesn't need to shine our shoes. A bit of a mood kill for the night. We later went to a bar had a couple drinks, and went back.
Next day, our flight left at 4 pm, so we spent the morning walking around Central Park. It was a beautiful day and turned out to be a nice time. We managed to take the subway/bus combo back to the airport without trouble. And then we were off and away, back to Detroit.
I have tried to upload some of the pics on yahoo, but the server is taking forever. I'll post them by tomorrow, so check back.
We get on the plane heading to NYC and as I am attempting to put my bag in the overhead flight compartment I almost succumbed to air rage, before we left the ground. I put my bag in the compartment lengthwise first to try and save space, but it was too long of the compartment to shut. This cranky old man starts yelling at me about how I need to turn it the other way if I expect to fit it in the bin. No Shit?!?! I was so tempted to say something smart assed in retaliation, but being the Eagle Scout I am, I remembered to respect my elders; even if they are senile, cantakerous, farts.
During our flight there, we decided to try and save money on transportation by taking the subway and walking as much as possible. Since we were arriving at LaGuardia, it was possible to take the M60 bus to the N line subway which had a stop right outside our hotel. So we land, get off the plan, and go about finding where the M60 stop is at the terminal. After attempting to board the bus with $2 in bills for the fare, we were rejected and told we needed to have the money in change. The next half hour was spent wandering around the airport trying to get 16 quarters for our fare, only to be turned down everywhere we went. Come to find out, there was a change machine right inside the door by the bus stop, doh!
We get on the bus and start the truckin along. It is interesting because there are about 10 people around us, all speaking Spanish. Did we get off in the wrong country? Now, I think traveling by bus in an unknown area is possibly one of the most nerve wrecking modes of transportation. Similar to Europe, where we once found ourselves sitting on a bus for 45 min while the driver took his break, we didn't know the exact bus route in NYC. We passed a stop, but I didn't see any subway signs, so I stuck to the bus rule of thumb, when in doubt don't get off. Next thing we know, we are in the middle of Harlem. Not that this was too bad, but definitely unexpected. One of tha gangstas on the bus actually helped us out by telling us where to get on the subway and walked with us since that was on his way. Definitely a big help (and a slight feeling of security) because we would have had no idea where to get off the bus.
We get to our hotel, Park Savoy, and were impressed with the location. At 58th Street and 7th avenue, we could see Times Square when standing at the street corner, were one block from Central Park, and only a couple streets from 5th Ave. and Trump Tower. (Ohh, we saw Trump's private jet at the airport) The inside wasn't too bad either for the bargain NYC price of $95/night. The room was absolutely tiny, but it was clean and we had our own bathroom. After lifting up the bed and not seeing any cockroaches hanging out under it, we knew the place was Kosher.
As we were walking by the Rockefeller Center, this woman came up to us and asked if we would like to attend a taping of the Carson Daily show, "Last Call." Since we didn't have anything else to do, we said sure, and got a couple of stand-by tickets. We had to wait for just over an hour to get into the studio, which by the way is the same one they use for the taping of "Saturday Night Live." I was pretty amazed how small it was, but that seems to be the trend when TV things are seen in reality for the first time. Now, I am definitely not a fan of Carson, I think he is ummm, ummm, a douche, yeah that's a good description. But, it was a chance to watch a show being taped, so we couldn't pass it up. I think the most shocking thing as an audience member was just how fake the clapping is. For example, Carson came out on stage before the taping actually started and there were about three misguided claps from the audience. However, when the taping began the "applaud" sign lit up and the producer of the show counted us down from 3-2-1- CLAP. When Carson came out for the second time the audience was roaring - how lame. Or, if Carson made a lame ass joke, in which there were many, he would motion for everyone to clap. I felt like a whore, because here I was clapping at some of the dumbest stuff I had ever seen. If it hadn't resulted in my ejection, I would have been booing at some of those skits/jokes. You can see for yourself just how horrible they were on Friday April 2, at 1:35 am. It's a good thing they don't pass out rotten food at the door, because I would have definitely made sure it ended up on Carson's face.
So we left there and went to the Stardust Dinner where all of the wait staff are aspiring Broadway performers. Each of them will rotate and take a turn singing a song to music. So not only do they serve your food, but they provide the entertainment also. I have to say, some of them were pretty good. Our waitress did a song from the musical Chicago. The food quality was definitely sacrificed for the atmosphere, however. Also, hamburgers for 13 dollars a pop is not such a bargain.
From there we walked down to the Empire State Building and went through what seemed like a maze to purchase our tickets and eventually make our way to the top. The view was awesome, as it was a clear night. I couldn't believe that the steel workers and construction guys could stand on single iron beams that high. Or that such an amazing structure was built without the use of electronics.
The next day was raining so we spent the majority of the afternoon in the Museum of Natural History. This was without a doubt the coolest museum I have ever visited. Although I have seen pictures of those dinosaur bones assembled as an entire skeleton, that was the first time I could experience it in person. Standing next to such a massive creature was unbelievable. The T-Rex was scary as hell, I kept thinking it would bend over and bite me in half. The other exhibits had a stuffed version of just about every major animal from around the world, in an artificial, but seemingly real environment. Some of my favorites were the giraffes and the bald eagle.
That night we had tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic theatre. The Phantom is somewhat a tradition in my family, and this was my 5th time seeing it. It is one of the only musicals I enjoy, let alone can stand. So, Jacqui and I got all dressed up and went to an upscale Asian food restaurant called Ruby Foo's, near Times Square. The food was excellent, I had sesame seed Tuna, with spinach leaves and shitake mushrooms, so, so, so good. We then walked to the theatre. As we are standing in line, this mother and her two daughters are snickering and looking at me. As I turn around, they mumble something unintelligible, and Jacqui sees that a bird has craped on the back of my nice coat. Great. The show itself was pretty good, especially since we had seats at third row center in the orchestra pit. It was cool to be so close as to see the expressions of the actors. However, the Phantom seemed to slur his words, and had a tendency to spit all over. Christine was alright. Raul was good. Overall, the cast was decent, but definitely not comparable to the London cast.
Later that night we went to a bar, and had some micro-brewed beers, which were pretty tasteful.
The next day we did too much to discus in detail, but here is a run-down:
We walked down 5th avenue. Saw Grand Central Station, and a bunch of cops and swat guys patrolling inside. Walked over to the U.N. building, home of U.S. hatred. That was mostly for Jacqui, as I have been in the building before, and actually gave a speech on the General Assembly floor for Model U.N. I then discover that a bird had crapped on me again, in exactly the same spot, different coat. What are the odds. I must have been a HVT1, or High Value Target. We then took the subway down to Ground Zero. It wasn't very emotional, as it mostly looks like a construction site now. However, some of the buildings around it have extensive damage. I saw the name of the only person I remotely had a connection to who died. A brother of a schoolmate. Then we took a boat ride and saw the Statue of Liberty. Came back and walked to Wall Street. Awesome feeling to know I was standing at the center of the heart of capitalism. Broad Street was probably my favorite street in all of Manhattan. We then walked through Chinatown. Ate at an authentic Thai place in Chinatown, the food was excellent. Then we walked through Little Italy, equally interesting. Later we just bought ice cream and sat in Times Square and ate it for a couple of hours. Saddest thing was a guy offering to shine my shoes, when I said no multiple times, his response was "I am homeless here, please give me a chance to earn some money ." That just about broke our hearts. We gave him about $2 in change, and told him thanks for the offer, but he doesn't need to shine our shoes. A bit of a mood kill for the night. We later went to a bar had a couple drinks, and went back.
Next day, our flight left at 4 pm, so we spent the morning walking around Central Park. It was a beautiful day and turned out to be a nice time. We managed to take the subway/bus combo back to the airport without trouble. And then we were off and away, back to Detroit.
I have tried to upload some of the pics on yahoo, but the server is taking forever. I'll post them by tomorrow, so check back.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
New York, New York
New york, new york
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it - new york, new york
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it - new york, new york
I wanna wake up in a city, that doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill - top of the heap
These little town blues, are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it - in old new york
If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you - new york, new york
New york, new york
I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps
And find I’m a number one top of the list, king of the hill
A number one
These little town blues, are melting away
I’m gonna make a brand new start of it - in old new york
And if I can make it there, I’m gonna make it anywhere
It up to you - new york new york
New york
-Sinatra
Ok, as I mentioned the other day. I am leaving tomorrow to go to New York City to hang out for a few days. I have decided not to bring my laptop, since our hotel seems somewhat shady (we'll see, I have my fingers crossed). Otherwise, I could use my cell phone link-up to post some messages. However, if we stop at an internet cafe I'll make sure to post at least something little. If not, I'll be back Saturday, and I am sure there will be some stories to tell, or at least some observations.
For anyone who read my McDonald's story (March 9), I'll definitely make sure to stay out of the fast food rest rooms. Regardless, crazy things have a tendency to follow Jacqui and I during our travels, so I don't doubt something out of the ordinary will go down. Check back this weekend to hear about it.
Teva
I am one of those people who hate wearing shoes when I can wear sandals. From about April to October I wear them whenever possible. I used to be loyal to Birkenstocks and own a few different variations, those things last forever. However, last year I bought a pair of Teva flip-flops, specifically the Mush model. Let my say that I am an addict. These are the most comfortable footwear I think I have ever worn. They feel like you are walking on cushions, and just mold to your feet. Plus, you can get a variety of different strap patterns to fit your personality. Now, most people are like... so? I jealously understand that most people have thousands of flip-flop styles to choose from. Not me however. I spend years looking for shoes to fit my damn size 14 feet. Teva is one of those considerate brands that caters to those of us with larger....feet, of course.
I liked my Mushes so much that I later bought 2 extra pair just in case they stop selling them. You never know. There is nothing worse than falling in love with a product, to find it has disappeared just when you need it. Plus, at $25, you can get three pairs for the price of one pair of Birkenstocks.
Check it out, here.
I liked my Mushes so much that I later bought 2 extra pair just in case they stop selling them. You never know. There is nothing worse than falling in love with a product, to find it has disappeared just when you need it. Plus, at $25, you can get three pairs for the price of one pair of Birkenstocks.
Check it out, here.
One of the interesting things about having a blog is seeing who is reading it. I especially like seeing people who have found the site using a google search. I myself am always surprised by the topics people are searching for when my site comes up. I think some of the more unique ones are, "movie in arabic," "conservative documentaries," and "kiyosaki house." All topics that were only mentioned in random sentences on this blog. I would think there are much more content heavy sites regarding these, but I guess not. In fact, my site is only one of two that comes up if you type "conservative documentaries" into google. You can feel lucky, my site is number one.
Yet, what frustrates me is that my site as a whole (House of Thought) seems to yo-yo from the number one spot on google to far enough back that I don't bother looking. It gets annoying to tell people to just type the name into google, and have them tell me it is gone, considering it was number one hours earlier. Ohh well?
Yet, what frustrates me is that my site as a whole (House of Thought) seems to yo-yo from the number one spot on google to far enough back that I don't bother looking. It gets annoying to tell people to just type the name into google, and have them tell me it is gone, considering it was number one hours earlier. Ohh well?
George W.
Awhile ago I signed up as a Bush volunteer over at georgewbush.com and it has been pretty cool. I get emails about party events and other campaign info. Because of this, I added some links in my sidebar to the site under the "election" title. One of them offers a countdown until the big day in November, and the other lets you sign up to be a volunteer. All you have to do is enter your email in the box. You can click on either of the links to go to the campaign website.
While on the topic of who will get my vote in Nov., I have recently had more than one person question my decision. They like to point out one or two Bush policies that in their opinion should make me want to not vote for Bush. Sometimes I agree with them, and disagree with Bush. One specific example would be Bush's domestic spending. However, as I try to explain, I vote for a president not on one issue, but as an entire package. I doubt any candidate (aside for if I was running), will agree on every policy with me. Yet, as a voter I decide who on the whole best represents my opinions. Currently in this election, that person is W, especially when the other option is Kerry. Now, if it were other Republicans, or perhaps one or two Democrats, who were going against Bush, it is very likely I would not vote for him. But this is not the case this fall. The main reason Bush gets my vote is his hard-line foreign policy. In my opinion, the international aspects of the next term will be far more volatile and demand more attention than domestic concerns, and I believe Bush will better convey my interests and protect me as an American. Of course people will disagree with me on that policy, people who think war and strong-arm tactics are not the answer, people who prefer to throw 2,000 UN resolutions at the evil regimes of the world. But, that is a post topic within itself.
As for 2008, if Hillary Clinton runs I will vote for whoever is running against her. Whoever! The real task is to find a challenger who will be a great president once they defeat her. Colin Powell, please, please, please, reconsider your decision not to run.
While on the topic of who will get my vote in Nov., I have recently had more than one person question my decision. They like to point out one or two Bush policies that in their opinion should make me want to not vote for Bush. Sometimes I agree with them, and disagree with Bush. One specific example would be Bush's domestic spending. However, as I try to explain, I vote for a president not on one issue, but as an entire package. I doubt any candidate (aside for if I was running), will agree on every policy with me. Yet, as a voter I decide who on the whole best represents my opinions. Currently in this election, that person is W, especially when the other option is Kerry. Now, if it were other Republicans, or perhaps one or two Democrats, who were going against Bush, it is very likely I would not vote for him. But this is not the case this fall. The main reason Bush gets my vote is his hard-line foreign policy. In my opinion, the international aspects of the next term will be far more volatile and demand more attention than domestic concerns, and I believe Bush will better convey my interests and protect me as an American. Of course people will disagree with me on that policy, people who think war and strong-arm tactics are not the answer, people who prefer to throw 2,000 UN resolutions at the evil regimes of the world. But, that is a post topic within itself.
As for 2008, if Hillary Clinton runs I will vote for whoever is running against her. Whoever! The real task is to find a challenger who will be a great president once they defeat her. Colin Powell, please, please, please, reconsider your decision not to run.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Aarrggghhh, boredom!
Why does this torturous cycle of always wanting what you don't have at the current moment exist? During school I spend 10 weeks counting down each quarter looking forward to the day when I am on break and have absolutely nothing to do. Yet, the minute I am finished I become bored as hell and spend all my time trying to find stuff to do other than reading or watching tv.
This has pretty much been the scenario so far this spring break. I really don't have anything major that needs to be done, so my days are mostly spent thinking of stuff to accomplish. Yesterday I went out and cleaned out the inside of my car. Today, I tuned and waxed Jacqui and my skis in preparation for summer storage, took my one ski with the broken tip into the shop, got the exterior of my car washed, and stopped by Kmart in an attempt to replace the lamp in my foglight. First of all, it pisses me off that they charge an extra dollar at the car wash for SUVs and trucks. There is just no logic behind it, its not like they are using more soap or water. Pure discrimination. Second, my foglight burned out and typical GM style, they didn't put the replacement lamp type in the owner's manual. So, I have spent 2 days checking my Trailblazer message boards to ask some people, but both sites have inexplicably been down. I took the blown lamp out and went to Kmart, but their selection sucked (what a surprise) and they are the only place with car parts open this late on a Sunday.
So, getting back to my point, I pretty much spend most of my day feeling guilty that I'm not being productive. Yet, if I was at school, I would do anything just to be able to watch tv and sit around. What the hell, I guess I am just screwed either way.
Tomorrow I get to wake up at 4 a.m. and take my father to the hospital for a procedure he is having done. Like I mentioned before, he has cancer of the vocal cords. It involves using a laser to selectively destroy cancer cells. Part of the process is that he was injected with a chemical on Friday that makes his cells extremely photo-sensitive. He isn't supposed to go outside at all for 30-90 days. Saturday, half of his face got sunburned just from driving in his car 2 miles in direct sunlight. Anyways, that should be a blast getting up so early, considering my mind does not function before 8 am. I don't know how I am going to make it through my surgery rotations in a couple of years. I guess I can consider this practice.
As for the future of my boredom, it should be over soon because Jacqui and I are going to Freakshow Central, aka New York City, on Wednesday which will be a lot of fun. I guess I just need to keep myself busy until then.
This has pretty much been the scenario so far this spring break. I really don't have anything major that needs to be done, so my days are mostly spent thinking of stuff to accomplish. Yesterday I went out and cleaned out the inside of my car. Today, I tuned and waxed Jacqui and my skis in preparation for summer storage, took my one ski with the broken tip into the shop, got the exterior of my car washed, and stopped by Kmart in an attempt to replace the lamp in my foglight. First of all, it pisses me off that they charge an extra dollar at the car wash for SUVs and trucks. There is just no logic behind it, its not like they are using more soap or water. Pure discrimination. Second, my foglight burned out and typical GM style, they didn't put the replacement lamp type in the owner's manual. So, I have spent 2 days checking my Trailblazer message boards to ask some people, but both sites have inexplicably been down. I took the blown lamp out and went to Kmart, but their selection sucked (what a surprise) and they are the only place with car parts open this late on a Sunday.
So, getting back to my point, I pretty much spend most of my day feeling guilty that I'm not being productive. Yet, if I was at school, I would do anything just to be able to watch tv and sit around. What the hell, I guess I am just screwed either way.
Tomorrow I get to wake up at 4 a.m. and take my father to the hospital for a procedure he is having done. Like I mentioned before, he has cancer of the vocal cords. It involves using a laser to selectively destroy cancer cells. Part of the process is that he was injected with a chemical on Friday that makes his cells extremely photo-sensitive. He isn't supposed to go outside at all for 30-90 days. Saturday, half of his face got sunburned just from driving in his car 2 miles in direct sunlight. Anyways, that should be a blast getting up so early, considering my mind does not function before 8 am. I don't know how I am going to make it through my surgery rotations in a couple of years. I guess I can consider this practice.
As for the future of my boredom, it should be over soon because Jacqui and I are going to Freakshow Central, aka New York City, on Wednesday which will be a lot of fun. I guess I just need to keep myself busy until then.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Teddy Quotations
I thought I would just share some well-known Teddy Roosevelt quotations, both of which I enjoy.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
-T.R.
"Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords."
-T.R.
Rummy
FoxNews did a show tonight on 'a day in the life of Rumsfeld,' I don't think that was the exact title but you get the idea. It was really interesting. I hope to be half that quick-witted and sharp when I am 71-years-old. Although some people don't like his new defense strategies, there can be no denying this man's political genius. To have been a naval aviator, congressman, ambassador to Nato, Whitehouse chief of staff, the youngest secretary of defense (x2), and CEO of two Fortune 500 companies, is just unbelievable. Watching him work, he is 'that' intense all day long. One Lt. General was saying that he has never had to work harder for anyone else. His ability to manage and run organizations is amazing. Also, the amount Rumsfeld does in one day was literally unbelievable. He just never stops. Supposedly he constantly fires off these memos that have become known as "snowflakes." It must be a blizzard everyday in the Pentagon. Just during the one day he did 40 memos, and earlier in the week there was a day when he gave 108 memos.
I personally don't find anything more entertaining than watching a Rumsfeld Q&A session with reporters, possibly the best reality tv out there. It's nice to see a person take moronic questions and respond in such a way that the asker probably wants to cry. I get sick of journalists asking ridiculous questions that it is painfully obvious they aren't going to get answered, and Rummy is the arch-nemesis of these reporters. I think the best was when I saw Tim Russert ask him about an entry in his journal. Rumsfeld goes, I don't write a journal, you don't know what you are talking about. Great television.
The man is definitely a legend.
Rumsfeld Fighting Technique
I personally don't find anything more entertaining than watching a Rumsfeld Q&A session with reporters, possibly the best reality tv out there. It's nice to see a person take moronic questions and respond in such a way that the asker probably wants to cry. I get sick of journalists asking ridiculous questions that it is painfully obvious they aren't going to get answered, and Rummy is the arch-nemesis of these reporters. I think the best was when I saw Tim Russert ask him about an entry in his journal. Rumsfeld goes, I don't write a journal, you don't know what you are talking about. Great television.
The man is definitely a legend.
Rumsfeld Fighting Technique
Friday, March 19, 2004
Job Fair
Well spring break is here. While most of my companions were sleeping in and enjoying their first day off, I decided to get up early and go to a job fair. Although I have been accepted to medical schools, I thought it would be interesting to go to the fair just for kicks. I wanted to see what other college students were going through, and just how the process worked. Also, it should be interesting to see if I get any call backs or interviews. Now, I am not seriously entertaining the thought of getting a job instead of med school, I am only curious to see just how hard it is to get a job. Especially with all of this recent talk about job cuts and unemployment.
I made some resumes, put on my suit, and was out the door early this morning. The fair itself cost me $20 to enter, which at the cost of two movies isn't too bad. I got there when the doors opened and there were probably 500-600 other hunters there. It was fun to go up to people and practice my interview skills knowing there was no real pressure. I have to say, the basic interviews I did were cake compared to the gauntlet I went through at med. school interviews. I can charm and answer questions about my interests and background all day long. It's the ethical questions at med school ones that really screw you over, like "Should illegal immigrants be provided with medical care, even though they do not pay taxes? And if your answer is yes, propose how you aim to pay for such care. If no, how do you look people in the face and tell them you are going to let them die." Those completely throw you off guard when you are expected to have every answer and are competing with about 9,500 of the smartest students in the country for a spot. But hey, it's all fun.
I was surprised how diverse the job applicants were. Some were clearly in their 40s, while others were just out of high school. I personally felt bad for some of the applicants that were obviously poor based on they way they were dressed. Some had on t-shirts and black jeans, while others had stained shirts and mismatched ties. And then there are people like me probably wearing over a $1000 in designer suits and clothing. The poor people just had no chance, which made me slightly angry. It really is a vicious cycle. I wanted to go and take them to a second-hand store, and pick them out a decent looking suit, shirt, and tie for probably less than $100, what a difference it would have made. As a removed participant in the entire process, I really hoped they would find good positions. However, had I been truly looking for work, survival of the fittest... richest... luckiest. If it were between me and them getting a job, the gloves would have been off. I am just happy I didn't even have to think about out competing other people, and I wish that every one of them finds something they are happy doing.
Now I guess I wait, with smirk and curiosity, to see if I get any resume responses.
I made some resumes, put on my suit, and was out the door early this morning. The fair itself cost me $20 to enter, which at the cost of two movies isn't too bad. I got there when the doors opened and there were probably 500-600 other hunters there. It was fun to go up to people and practice my interview skills knowing there was no real pressure. I have to say, the basic interviews I did were cake compared to the gauntlet I went through at med. school interviews. I can charm and answer questions about my interests and background all day long. It's the ethical questions at med school ones that really screw you over, like "Should illegal immigrants be provided with medical care, even though they do not pay taxes? And if your answer is yes, propose how you aim to pay for such care. If no, how do you look people in the face and tell them you are going to let them die." Those completely throw you off guard when you are expected to have every answer and are competing with about 9,500 of the smartest students in the country for a spot. But hey, it's all fun.
I was surprised how diverse the job applicants were. Some were clearly in their 40s, while others were just out of high school. I personally felt bad for some of the applicants that were obviously poor based on they way they were dressed. Some had on t-shirts and black jeans, while others had stained shirts and mismatched ties. And then there are people like me probably wearing over a $1000 in designer suits and clothing. The poor people just had no chance, which made me slightly angry. It really is a vicious cycle. I wanted to go and take them to a second-hand store, and pick them out a decent looking suit, shirt, and tie for probably less than $100, what a difference it would have made. As a removed participant in the entire process, I really hoped they would find good positions. However, had I been truly looking for work, survival of the fittest... richest... luckiest. If it were between me and them getting a job, the gloves would have been off. I am just happy I didn't even have to think about out competing other people, and I wish that every one of them finds something they are happy doing.
Now I guess I wait, with smirk and curiosity, to see if I get any resume responses.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
The Captured Last Moment
When I got my Newsweek in the mail today the first thing I did was flip to the cover story about the Madrid bombings. I was shocked by a picture I saw in it that was probably one of the most gruesome photos I have seen in an American magazine. I thought about posting it straight in the blog, but since it is so graphic I figured I would link it instead. I warn any potential viewers that it is extremely graphic and shows a the face of a dead woman up close, and at least two other bodies from what I can tell. You can see it here if you choose.
At first I was a little angry that they would post such a thing in a national magazine. Some might consider my posting of it here to be hypocritical on my part, but only a handful of people read what I write here. Rather, an entire nation is looking at a rather disturbing photo of this woman, something I am sure her family does not appreciate. However, I think the photo is important because it brings the horror of this tragedy to such a personal level. It shows you the results of terrorism, up close and personal.
I have to admit that I have spent a great deal of time analyzing the photograph. Maybe it is the future doctor in me, but I don't find the gore disturbing, but sad. I look at this woman, who was clearly beautiful in life and I mourn for her family. I think about the children she possibly had, or her parents, people who may have been constantly ringing her cell phone, hoping she would answer, the fear going through their minds as they repeatedly got her voicemail, hours after the bombs went off. I look at the pink dress she wears and cannot help but think, when she picked out that dress that morning, I bet she never thought she would die in it. She probably wore it to impress herself and a few friends. Little did she know millions of Americans and people around the world would see her in it, in her most vulnerable of states.
And then there is the guy down to the lower left of the photo. In his blue and white checkered button down shirt, brown belt, and khaki pants. I look at that man and see myself, which is frightening. When he woke up that morning, the thought never occurred to him he would die that day. Just like you and I will never know when we are waking up for the last time.
I wish I could tell this woman and man how sorry I am that their lives were ended so short. I wish I could tell them that I don't look upon them in this horrid picture with disgust, but with empathy. And that they should not be ashamed of the photo, but proud of the fact that they have brought the tragedy so close to such a large amount of people. I wish I could promise them that we could prevent this from occurring again. But sadly, I cannot, which leaves me with a certain sense of despair.
At first I was a little angry that they would post such a thing in a national magazine. Some might consider my posting of it here to be hypocritical on my part, but only a handful of people read what I write here. Rather, an entire nation is looking at a rather disturbing photo of this woman, something I am sure her family does not appreciate. However, I think the photo is important because it brings the horror of this tragedy to such a personal level. It shows you the results of terrorism, up close and personal.
I have to admit that I have spent a great deal of time analyzing the photograph. Maybe it is the future doctor in me, but I don't find the gore disturbing, but sad. I look at this woman, who was clearly beautiful in life and I mourn for her family. I think about the children she possibly had, or her parents, people who may have been constantly ringing her cell phone, hoping she would answer, the fear going through their minds as they repeatedly got her voicemail, hours after the bombs went off. I look at the pink dress she wears and cannot help but think, when she picked out that dress that morning, I bet she never thought she would die in it. She probably wore it to impress herself and a few friends. Little did she know millions of Americans and people around the world would see her in it, in her most vulnerable of states.
And then there is the guy down to the lower left of the photo. In his blue and white checkered button down shirt, brown belt, and khaki pants. I look at that man and see myself, which is frightening. When he woke up that morning, the thought never occurred to him he would die that day. Just like you and I will never know when we are waking up for the last time.
I wish I could tell this woman and man how sorry I am that their lives were ended so short. I wish I could tell them that I don't look upon them in this horrid picture with disgust, but with empathy. And that they should not be ashamed of the photo, but proud of the fact that they have brought the tragedy so close to such a large amount of people. I wish I could promise them that we could prevent this from occurring again. But sadly, I cannot, which leaves me with a certain sense of despair.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Color Changes
I decided to change my color scheme to something that looked in my opinion a little more clean and professional. I still have the old template, so I can always make it grey again. Leave me some comments, tell me what you think.
The Fight Against Terrorism
Neptunus Lex, a Navy F-18 pilot, has written an amazing essay pertaining to Spain's election of a socialist party and its role as a success for the terrorists. I encourage all of you to read it. It's the March 15th entry.
Monday, March 15, 2004
Finals, blah
Well it's finals week at my school. Out of the three courses, I have two finals, which normally isn't that bad. However, for some reason it seems like I am the only person I know that has more than one. Ohh well. I finished the first one this morning and it went pretty well I believe. As for the next one, it's on Wed. and I can fail it and get an A in the class, so I'm not too worried. In the meantime I am studying and hanging out.
Let's see... I saw the video for that new Britney Spears song, Toxic, today. Talk about horrible. I thought the song was bad, until I saw that the video makes the song seem decent. It is filled with the crapiest special effects I have seen recently. If you didn't know better, you would think not much has changed since the days of Tron. Directors need to make a conscious decision whether they want to save money, or do special effects. Because if you try to do both you are destined for failure. It didn't help that Britney looked about as nasty as possible, especially in this sequence where she has a red wig on. Finally, the ending where she poisons this guy really pissed me off. It's already apparent that MTV is turning an entire generation into alcohol, tattoo, and partying junkies with their spring break and real world shows. But, now they are telling 13 year-old girls that it is "cool" to poison a guy? That station gets more lewd by the day. Not to mention that they brainwash the liberal viewpoint into naive viewers when people like Gideon Yago, or whatever the hell his name is, go out and do pointless documentaries. Just what we need is more teenagers who have no grasp of the policy issues going around saying how the war in Iraq was wrong, because Gideon interviewed Iraqis, and they are getting bombed for selling music. There are already enough socialists and communists entering college, or at least becoming so during college, we certainly don't need MTV creating more. Blah.
Speaking of which, I was over at Protest Warrior and they have yet another provocative video of a "peace" march they went to. Check it out, its called Eagle Strike, and it's under the 11/27/03 Update on their home page. It contains the usual liberal attempts of censoring viewpoints other than their own. I love how they try to rope the conservatives in. Also, the presence of radical political groups like communists, socialists, and self-proclaimed anarchists is definitely unsettling. And the FBI shouldn't be monitoring these protests? Well, you form your opinion.
Let's see... I saw the video for that new Britney Spears song, Toxic, today. Talk about horrible. I thought the song was bad, until I saw that the video makes the song seem decent. It is filled with the crapiest special effects I have seen recently. If you didn't know better, you would think not much has changed since the days of Tron. Directors need to make a conscious decision whether they want to save money, or do special effects. Because if you try to do both you are destined for failure. It didn't help that Britney looked about as nasty as possible, especially in this sequence where she has a red wig on. Finally, the ending where she poisons this guy really pissed me off. It's already apparent that MTV is turning an entire generation into alcohol, tattoo, and partying junkies with their spring break and real world shows. But, now they are telling 13 year-old girls that it is "cool" to poison a guy? That station gets more lewd by the day. Not to mention that they brainwash the liberal viewpoint into naive viewers when people like Gideon Yago, or whatever the hell his name is, go out and do pointless documentaries. Just what we need is more teenagers who have no grasp of the policy issues going around saying how the war in Iraq was wrong, because Gideon interviewed Iraqis, and they are getting bombed for selling music. There are already enough socialists and communists entering college, or at least becoming so during college, we certainly don't need MTV creating more. Blah.
Speaking of which, I was over at Protest Warrior and they have yet another provocative video of a "peace" march they went to. Check it out, its called Eagle Strike, and it's under the 11/27/03 Update on their home page. It contains the usual liberal attempts of censoring viewpoints other than their own. I love how they try to rope the conservatives in. Also, the presence of radical political groups like communists, socialists, and self-proclaimed anarchists is definitely unsettling. And the FBI shouldn't be monitoring these protests? Well, you form your opinion.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Madrid, Lo Siento 3/11
When I turned on my computer yesterday I was shocked to learn about the terrorist attacks in Madrid. I immediately went to the online versions of El Mundo and El Pais, the two major Spanish newspapers, because the American news outlets didn't have much information.
To me these attacks really hit home, much more so than 9/11. Although I can sympathize as an American with 9/11, I did not know anyone that was involved, and had only been to New York once at that point. However, I had lived in Madrid. I had ridden those trains daily. At least once a week I would walk by Atocha, if not go inside of it. One thing I found particularly striking was when I was reading an article and it mentioned the Starbucks across the street, and how it was empty. That Starbucks became Jacqui and my home away from home. We spent hours and hours in there, it was one of the only places in town that was smoke-free, and where we could work on our school projects. At one point while watching FoxNews I actually had tears well up while watching the footage of the trains and the bodies. If they would have acted a year earlier, that could have been me.
Of course sadness was my first reaction, but it was soon followed by anger, similar to what I experienced on 9/11. It will be interesting to see who is to blame for the attacks. If it is ETA, that just makes me even angrier. How could they kill so many civilians in such an unprecedented attack? Although ETA has been causing trouble for over 40 years, their attacks have mostly been aimed at government officials or were precluded with a warning. I am dumbfounded about what they were trying to achieve with such a massacre. Did they think this would get the government to ease up on them? Recently the Spanish government has been working hard to shut down ETA and arrest its members. Yet, if it is decided ETA is to blame, these previous actions will look like nothing. The only thing ETA can expect from this is further destruction of their organization, and even less autonomy as a region.
On the other hand, there is evidence that suggests this may be the work of an Islamic fundamentalist group. They found a van with detonators and a Quaran tape, but I don't know how compelling this evidence is. I wouldn't put it past ETA to toss in the tape, just to throw off the authorities. Although, I would say the style of the attack fits al-Queda's M.O. a little more than ETA's. It occurred on a much larger scale and with a greater degree of coordination than most previous ETA attacks. Also, like I mentioned above, ETA which is a socialist group has typically refrained from attacking the common people. Yet, using hidden bombs doesn't seem to fit al-Queda's past attacks. They have usually preferred the use of suicide bombers, not the remote or time detonation of strategically placed explosives. Although the date of the attacks, March 11th, exactly the half anniversary of 9/11 does seem eerily intentional.
It was interesting to me to compare the difference in responses between Americans and Spaniards after attacks. We Americans mourned publicly, but this soon turned to anger as we vowed to avenge the deaths and destroy whoever was guilty of committing such acts. Maybe this stems from the fight that each American holds inside and is willing to unleash whenever we are wronged or in danger. The same fight that has allowed us to climb to superpower status and made us so successful in armed conflict. Meanwhile, the Spanish protested the violence. They took to the streets and protested against ETA with signs saying, "Basta Ya", or "Enough Already." It was as if they were asking the terrorists to stop killing them. This behavior, comes off as perplexing from an American viewpoint. How can you be protest against someone killing you? Yet, this seems to be the European attitude and does show their inclination towards peaceful resolutions. It seemed like everyday there was a protest when I was in Europe. Sometimes it was for Socialists, other times it was for airport workers. Personally, it always seemed somewhat pointless, but maybe because I feel that much effort would be better put to use working towards a goal, rather than standing around and shouting.
But, these recent attacks just remind us, all of us, Americans, Spaniards, and the rest of the world, that terrorism is not over. That we must continue our fight against it and not be distracted by the details of our own personal lives. That we must not forget those who have lost their lives in such wanton murder. That we must continue to go about our daily activities, because the minute we don't, we ourselves become victims of terrorism.
My heart goes out to everyone in Madrid, my home for a short time, and the rest of Spain. I wish I could be there to mourn with you, but I cannot, so I must do it from across the big puddle. I hope all of my friends in Spain and the people I knew are ok, and in the words of Tupac, "keep your head up."
I urge you to click on the link below for El Mundo and look at their images. They are located next to where it says: "Las imágenes más impactantes" near the top of the site. I tried to link it directly, but it won't let me. Or, you can just paste the following address into a browser window: http://www.elmundo.es/fotografia/2004/03/atentados/atentados1.html
El Mundo
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Low Price or Service?
Yesterday I was on the phone with my mother who had recently bought the new book by Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the bestselling book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." From what I understand the topic of the new book is about where to invest your money when the impending market collapse happens. Now, I read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and I thought the message was cute, but that was about it. On the whole I think Kiyosaki is a shrewd businessman who is only marginally better than the people on TV at 3 in the morning pitching get rich real estate schemes. Kiyosaki talks about his investment advice enterprise like it is merely something he does for fun, and the benefit of others. Yet, there is no doubt this is where he is making the majority of his money, not on real estate deals like he claims. If he was so interested in teaching other people cash managements skills, he would not charge $200 for his board game called Cashflow. Most people who read his book will probably spend more money on his products than they will ever make from his advice. But, like I said before, most of the times the message he conveys, if adhered to, will put people in a better financial situation.
Back to the topic, the collapse of the markets. I think writing a book on such a topic is nothing more than a scare tactic to sell books. The whole idea of this possibility had my mother in a state of borderline depression. Which brings me to my point, I think people are becoming way to frenzied over the current trend of international trade and job outsourcing, which according to an article I read in the Wall Street Journal is only a small portion of job layoffs. The fact is that you can spend years worrying about the future, only to be wrong by an unexpected event. Look at 9/11, everyone was talking about the tech bust and the perils of it and nobody on Wall Street could have expected a major terrorist attack would throw a wrench into our economic gears. As long as a person stays business savvy, there will be places to succeed in society.
Here is one point I made to calm my mother:
Everytime she calls the phone company about her service, she complains up a storm about how long she waited on the phone. About how the person wasn't able to help her, could barely speak English, and it was a complete waste of her time. This is usually followed with a rant about how things were so much better in the "good 'ol days." Yet, my response was; how much was she paying for her phone bill? What's that... $50 for both unlimited long distance and local calls. That's funny, I bet she would have jumped with excitement for prices like that in the "good 'ol days" when long distance bills could be in the hundreds of dollars and the next town over was considered long distance, while two counties away was local. My point being, do you want to have a person on the phone that knows you by name when you call, or do you want to be saving thousands of dollars a year. Hmmm... easy choice, at least in this case.
Back to the topic, the collapse of the markets. I think writing a book on such a topic is nothing more than a scare tactic to sell books. The whole idea of this possibility had my mother in a state of borderline depression. Which brings me to my point, I think people are becoming way to frenzied over the current trend of international trade and job outsourcing, which according to an article I read in the Wall Street Journal is only a small portion of job layoffs. The fact is that you can spend years worrying about the future, only to be wrong by an unexpected event. Look at 9/11, everyone was talking about the tech bust and the perils of it and nobody on Wall Street could have expected a major terrorist attack would throw a wrench into our economic gears. As long as a person stays business savvy, there will be places to succeed in society.
Here is one point I made to calm my mother:
Everytime she calls the phone company about her service, she complains up a storm about how long she waited on the phone. About how the person wasn't able to help her, could barely speak English, and it was a complete waste of her time. This is usually followed with a rant about how things were so much better in the "good 'ol days." Yet, my response was; how much was she paying for her phone bill? What's that... $50 for both unlimited long distance and local calls. That's funny, I bet she would have jumped with excitement for prices like that in the "good 'ol days" when long distance bills could be in the hundreds of dollars and the next town over was considered long distance, while two counties away was local. My point being, do you want to have a person on the phone that knows you by name when you call, or do you want to be saving thousands of dollars a year. Hmmm... easy choice, at least in this case.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
What Title Could Describe This Story?????
I realize it has been some time since my last post, and thanks for everyone still checking back. This past week I finished up some big assignments and gave a presentation on the chemistry research I did for my senior thesis. It went well, and I am relieved that I can put the entire senior thesis chapter of my life behind me. It seemed like it would never end. If anyone is interested in seeing the powerpoint, email me and I would be happy to send you the link. So, to make up for my hiatus in posting, I thought I would post a pretty humorous and slightly embarrassing story. Here goes.
Prior to living in Madrid I had only visited and never lived in a metropolis. The only exposure I had to major cities were trips from my cozy home in the suburbs. Now, being transported to big city living overnight was somewhat of a transition. One of the most shocking things is the type of people you encounter while sharing a couple square miles with millions of people. It really is a freak show. Seeing people pissing on buildings, shooting heroin in alleys, and men sucking on their girlfriends breasts in the subway were all new to me. But, there came a point where I became jaded to such things. Eventually a man could have walked into a subway car naked, on fire, playing a trumpet, with a dancing monkey on his shoulder and I probably would not have looked up or turned down my mp3 player. But, this one incident in a McDonalds bathroom reminded me that I had definitely not seen "everything."
Jacqui and I were at the McDonalds eating like usual, since the Spanish food was absolutely horrible, and I went upstairs to the bathroom while she waited in line. As I open the door, I see this Spanish man, in his 50's, he is about 5'5" and pretty scruffy looking, but certainly not homeless. The bathroom is very small and set-up as follows: you walk in the door and directly to your right are two urinals, and straight in front of you is one stall, and outside of that to your right is the sink. So I walk in the bathroom and over to the urinal farthest from the door. The man almost jumps from his spot at the sink to the urinal directly next to me on my right, which seemed really weird. Every guy knows it is against the "Laws of Man" to occupy a urinal next to another guy unless absolutely necessary. I thought, whatever, maybe the Spanish haven't gotten their hands on the "Laws of Man" yet. So, I go about my business when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the guy was craning his neck to look at my penis. His face was about 4 inches away from my shoulder, as he peers into my crotch. What the f**k?????? At this point I am trying to hold the hose with one hand, and use the other as a visual shield from this guy. While trying to ignore him, I notice his hand making up and down motions by his crotch. It took a couple seconds for me to realize that this guy was masturbating while trying his damnedest to look at my penis. Unable to pinch off the flow half way through, I try the opposite and push as hard as possible to get all the piss out at lightening speed. Then, the guy starts sweet talking me in Spanish. He goes, "ohhhhhhh, eres alto, ohhhhh eres americano, no?" Translated, ohhhh you're tall, ohhhhh you're are American right? While the seconds seem like hours, I finally finish and rush over to the sink to wash my hands (gotta stay hygienic, I already felt dirty enough). As I sprint out the door, he starts to chase me. I took the door behind me and slammed it right in front of his face. I then ran down the stairs like Chevy Chase in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation when the squirrel was on his back, my feet were moving so fast I wonder if they were even touching the stairs. I leave Jacqui inside, and bolt out the door. She comes out wondering what the hell I was doing, and I grabbed her arm and started walking really quick down one of the side streets hoping to flee the crazed masturbating pervert that was stalking me. Eventually, we were safe and I explained the situation to her. She thought it was damn funny.
Needless to say, I was quite freaked out by this. I never thought I would be sexually assaulted in my life. Although, after a few hours I was laughing pretty hard about the whole experience.
Point: I don't know if there is one??? Maybe, use the stall if you find a weird looking old guy standing by himself in a fast food bathroom.
Prior to living in Madrid I had only visited and never lived in a metropolis. The only exposure I had to major cities were trips from my cozy home in the suburbs. Now, being transported to big city living overnight was somewhat of a transition. One of the most shocking things is the type of people you encounter while sharing a couple square miles with millions of people. It really is a freak show. Seeing people pissing on buildings, shooting heroin in alleys, and men sucking on their girlfriends breasts in the subway were all new to me. But, there came a point where I became jaded to such things. Eventually a man could have walked into a subway car naked, on fire, playing a trumpet, with a dancing monkey on his shoulder and I probably would not have looked up or turned down my mp3 player. But, this one incident in a McDonalds bathroom reminded me that I had definitely not seen "everything."
Jacqui and I were at the McDonalds eating like usual, since the Spanish food was absolutely horrible, and I went upstairs to the bathroom while she waited in line. As I open the door, I see this Spanish man, in his 50's, he is about 5'5" and pretty scruffy looking, but certainly not homeless. The bathroom is very small and set-up as follows: you walk in the door and directly to your right are two urinals, and straight in front of you is one stall, and outside of that to your right is the sink. So I walk in the bathroom and over to the urinal farthest from the door. The man almost jumps from his spot at the sink to the urinal directly next to me on my right, which seemed really weird. Every guy knows it is against the "Laws of Man" to occupy a urinal next to another guy unless absolutely necessary. I thought, whatever, maybe the Spanish haven't gotten their hands on the "Laws of Man" yet. So, I go about my business when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the guy was craning his neck to look at my penis. His face was about 4 inches away from my shoulder, as he peers into my crotch. What the f**k?????? At this point I am trying to hold the hose with one hand, and use the other as a visual shield from this guy. While trying to ignore him, I notice his hand making up and down motions by his crotch. It took a couple seconds for me to realize that this guy was masturbating while trying his damnedest to look at my penis. Unable to pinch off the flow half way through, I try the opposite and push as hard as possible to get all the piss out at lightening speed. Then, the guy starts sweet talking me in Spanish. He goes, "ohhhhhhh, eres alto, ohhhhh eres americano, no?" Translated, ohhhh you're tall, ohhhhh you're are American right? While the seconds seem like hours, I finally finish and rush over to the sink to wash my hands (gotta stay hygienic, I already felt dirty enough). As I sprint out the door, he starts to chase me. I took the door behind me and slammed it right in front of his face. I then ran down the stairs like Chevy Chase in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation when the squirrel was on his back, my feet were moving so fast I wonder if they were even touching the stairs. I leave Jacqui inside, and bolt out the door. She comes out wondering what the hell I was doing, and I grabbed her arm and started walking really quick down one of the side streets hoping to flee the crazed masturbating pervert that was stalking me. Eventually, we were safe and I explained the situation to her. She thought it was damn funny.
Needless to say, I was quite freaked out by this. I never thought I would be sexually assaulted in my life. Although, after a few hours I was laughing pretty hard about the whole experience.
Point: I don't know if there is one??? Maybe, use the stall if you find a weird looking old guy standing by himself in a fast food bathroom.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Internet=Distraction
I laugh ever time I see these commercials portraying the internet as this fascinating learning tool. Which, is true to some extent. It is amazing how much information really is at a student's fingertips with the internet. It must have taken hours in the old days to find what now takes 30 seconds with a google search.
But, I think for whatever time the internet saves students, it wastes at least 10x that amount. The internet is the biggest productivity drain for just about every person I know in school. We are addicts. We spend all day either reading other people's away messages on instant messenger, clicking through mindless websites like collegehumor.com, and blogging (wait, that's me). Yesterday I thought about how much time I waste on the internet and it was frightening. I could probably be working full-time if I just stayed off the internet. So, today I decided to unplug my wireless card from my laptop before I turned it on, that way there would be no way I could waste time. It was sick, as soon as my computer started up, I immedietely clicked on Internet Explorer, it was like a reflex. Anyways, it was amazing how much work I got done. Not only did I finish the presentation I needed to do, but I had time to interview two people for a journalism story I am writing. What is even better than having gotten all my work done is the feeling of accomplishment, opposed to the feeling that I frivolously spent 2 hours looking at agent orange photos, or whatever I typically do. I think I am seriously going to start limiting myself to 1 hour of internet per day, my procrastination is just too out of control.
I found some good links.
This tugboat captain needs a promotion: Wow
I really hope this is not true.
But, I think for whatever time the internet saves students, it wastes at least 10x that amount. The internet is the biggest productivity drain for just about every person I know in school. We are addicts. We spend all day either reading other people's away messages on instant messenger, clicking through mindless websites like collegehumor.com, and blogging (wait, that's me). Yesterday I thought about how much time I waste on the internet and it was frightening. I could probably be working full-time if I just stayed off the internet. So, today I decided to unplug my wireless card from my laptop before I turned it on, that way there would be no way I could waste time. It was sick, as soon as my computer started up, I immedietely clicked on Internet Explorer, it was like a reflex. Anyways, it was amazing how much work I got done. Not only did I finish the presentation I needed to do, but I had time to interview two people for a journalism story I am writing. What is even better than having gotten all my work done is the feeling of accomplishment, opposed to the feeling that I frivolously spent 2 hours looking at agent orange photos, or whatever I typically do. I think I am seriously going to start limiting myself to 1 hour of internet per day, my procrastination is just too out of control.
I found some good links.
This tugboat captain needs a promotion: Wow
I really hope this is not true.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
The Speedo Darkside
I have done it, I have officially converted to the darkside, I am ashamed to say I bought a spandex Speedo yesterday. I know, I know.... how could I sink so low? Nobody ever said training for a triathlon would be easy. There is no way I am going to try and swim long distances with my wakeboarding shorts that extend below my knee and are baggy as hell. No need to make the swim portion any more difficult than it needs to be. In an attempt to maintain some dignity, I decided to go with the Jammer version that is more like tight biking shorts than the Speedo you see old fat men wear on European beaches. There is an emphasis on some when I said some dignity. I felt like a certified douche wearing them. Whatever, I am sure it is something I will get used to. However, I promise never to bust them out for any recreational water sports. My friends would probably beat me to death if I tried wakeboarding in such apparel.
I started my swim workouts today, man has it been a long time since my elite lifeguarding days. I was struggling in the pool, but I am sure that will improve.
I started my swim workouts today, man has it been a long time since my elite lifeguarding days. I was struggling in the pool, but I am sure that will improve.
Monday, March 01, 2004
Pinky the Cat
This week I am going to be pretty busy as work starts to bottle-neck as the end of the quarter nears. The biggest thing I am working on is the presentation of my senior thesis, which is in one week. The title is "The Resonance Raman Spectroscopic Investigation of Peroxo Intermediates in a de novo Diiron Protein," if anyone is really interested (which I don't know why anybody in their right mindset would be) come to the presentation Monday in Dow at 11:50 a.m.
I think that is my problem with chemistry, it is always the last thing I want to be thinking about. I don't know how some of my friends are really into it, but I am glad they are, or else the world as we know it would be screwed. I have to agree with the philosophy of Rob when he said in regards to chemistry, "Let some other asshole figure this out." But, I guess all areas of interest are like that. In my Industrial Organization class I love learning about the material, while the economics majors whine about how boring the course is. Ok, enough blabbering.
So, because of all I'm up to, my posting will be light this week. I promise to pass on some good links though, so keep checking back.
The link for today is probably one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Every time I watch it I can't stop laughing. It's about Pinky the Cat, one of the meanest and toughest S.O.B.'s out there. He certainly earns my respect.
Ok, I tried linking the movie, but it won't allow me to link it, so just copy and paste the address below into a new window. Also, you might need Quicktime to view it.
http://homepage.mac.com/whysheep/iMovieTheater6.html
I think that is my problem with chemistry, it is always the last thing I want to be thinking about. I don't know how some of my friends are really into it, but I am glad they are, or else the world as we know it would be screwed. I have to agree with the philosophy of Rob when he said in regards to chemistry, "Let some other asshole figure this out." But, I guess all areas of interest are like that. In my Industrial Organization class I love learning about the material, while the economics majors whine about how boring the course is. Ok, enough blabbering.
So, because of all I'm up to, my posting will be light this week. I promise to pass on some good links though, so keep checking back.
The link for today is probably one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Every time I watch it I can't stop laughing. It's about Pinky the Cat, one of the meanest and toughest S.O.B.'s out there. He certainly earns my respect.
Ok, I tried linking the movie, but it won't allow me to link it, so just copy and paste the address below into a new window. Also, you might need Quicktime to view it.
http://homepage.mac.com/whysheep/iMovieTheater6.html
