blah blah blah

evif yadirf

Jan 30, 2004
You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first?
Honestly it would either be my accountant or my lawyer.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
Definitely a new car. Most likely either a SAAB (9^5 or potentially the 9^2X a new AWD that’s rumored to be coming out soon) or a Volvo (S80 2.5TAWD or S60 2.5TAWD)

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
probably a new shell(crew) for my sister

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
Yes, SPNEA

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
See answer number one. The accountant would take care of that shit.

madonna Wannabe

I have to thank some poster on trance.nu for this one.

for anyone who wants a huge laugh, go HERE

currently hearing: Black Sabbath "Paranoid"

Upcoming Changes

In my oh so plentiful spare time, I've begun to work on some changes to the layout of the site, adding some mor graphics and other fun stuff like that. Expect the new changes to be up sometime in the next 7 or so days.

On a side note, 3 hours classes from 6-9pm suck.

Normally snow doesn’t really bother me all that much, but this year for some reason it’s beginning to get on my nerves. The weather people have stopped even saying that it is going to snow, its just expected that thee will be a couple of inches that fall in any given day. The sidewalks have gotten to the point where walking on them is more dangerous than walking in the middle of the road.

On the happy side, lunch consisted of a strawberry/banana smoothie, and a turkey sandwich on French bread with Purple Haze cheese (interesting name). Things left to do today include a class from 6-9, meeting, finish a programming assignment and take over the world.

Grrr

computer not working well tonight. comments posted in blogs today have all been messed up. Usually the first sentence has been repeated (this happened in all but one of them)

more stupidity today although this time it wasn't involving dryer sheets and the washing machine. This time it was with my cell phone :-(.
today's lesson learned. Don't leave a cellphone on and then leave it in a car when the high only gets into the low single digits. Battery fucked up, screen fucked up...in general phone screwed until I deal with it

Lost

When I got up today around noon I must have left my brain in bed. I separated my clothes into two bags and them tossed them into the car. Because it was cold outside I put the fabric softener inside of one bag (I couldn't carry everything inside at once). I dumped one of the bags into the washer and added the detergent...About 15 minutes later im getting ready to put stuff into the dryer and I realize I can't find the fabric softener. I put everything into the dryer and what do I find at the bottom of the washer, but the entire box of fabric softener sheets...fuck what was I thinking...

the entire day has been more or less a comedy of errors like that. Breakfast ended up being some pizza and coffee.

Listening to: The Who "Teenage Wasteland"

Friday 5

Jan 23, 2004

At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song?
"Happy Jack" by The Who

2. ...food?
Are you talking about what genre of food? If so then hands down French. If you were meaning one particular dish then It would probably have to be something hot and steamy (like soup or cassoulet)

3. ...tv show?
WestWing...I havn't actually watched any TV in the past 2 1/2 weeks and before that it was only the news...its a dull life.

4. ...scent?
Fresh Baked Bread or Black Currant

5. ...quote?
No Regrets

brought to you by them

Its My Life

yea, so appearantly im one of he hardest people on the face of the Earth to get ahold of, or get time with. Ive been told this by a couple of different people recently. Yes I'm a student, but at the same time I'm also a grad student. The constraints on my time are more numerous than you can fucking imagine. While we might have fewer classes than under grads, the courses we take require a much larger time committment. Remember being told by your dean that 'you should spend 3 hours outside of class for every hour in class' well that hold try for grads even more so than undergrads. Throw in a research project, and some different committes and you have about enough time to do the 3 S's (Shower, Shit and Shave) and sometimes not even those.

On a resolution note, ive failed miserably with my goal of eating 2.5 healthy/balanced meals a day. I'm lucky if I get one balanced meal in, otherwise im eating whatever is within arms reach.

Things to do before tomorrow: Finish the draft of a 5-6 page paper, Read a chapter in a textbook, Study some C/C++, Call a friend in CA, Eat a meal, Sleep if I get a chance

Listening: Nina Simone

Looking back

Looking at the past 8 or so years of my existence I thought about things I’ve done and things I haven’t done and I came to the conclusion that I am quite happy with my where my life is at the moment. Are there some things I regret doing? Yes of course there are, but there are also things I regret not doing. If I had the chance to go back and do thing over, would I do things differently? Probably not.

(+)Skydiving was probably one of the things that really affected my life. It taught me patience (waiting for the correct weather conditions), allowed me to connect with a group of people that I still associate with on a daily basis (via email and phone...its too effing cold to go jumping now unless your in z-hills or CA somewhere) and it taught me that I can overcome my fears. Jumping out of a plane the first time scared the living shit out of me, that combined with the fact that I never bothered to do a tandem jump first (like many places require you to do) made me realize that new things can be pleasurable.

(-)Relationships. I was recently talking with a friend and found out that for the longest time we both had crushes on each other. Now on separate sides of the US a relationship isn't possible, but we both agreed that if the other asked while we were still geographically close to each other then our current others would have been dumped...Who knows what would have happened here. I also sacrificed some relationships for the sake of academics, which at the time I felt to be more important. I regret this to a major degree now looking back on it.

(+)Syracuse. Definitely no regrets about this one. I have met so many amazing people over the past 4 1/2+ years. Friends, enemies, random strangers. It all comes together to make for a wonderful environment.

(-)Politics.

(+)Psuedo-intellectual discussions. Be they over lunch, dinner, at 3am in the hallway or any other time. I don't think that there is a single student in the process of an advanced degree that wouldn't agree that these are something to look forward to. Topics have ranged from the reasons behind fluctuating currency exchange rates to the effect of technology on productivity. These discussions are usually accompanied by alcohol (wine or any other drinkable substance).

(-)Consequences. Its college, there are ways to get away with almost anything. I regret not being more vocal and standing up for the injustices that I had the ability to change or prevent. In taking the easy way out of certain situations I withheld the opportunity for personal growth that could come from defending me opinion to others. late resolution, for now on till the time when my masters is awarded I will be a vocal critic of anything I feel in unfair and unjust no matter what the consequences are

(+)Travel. Lucky is the only word to describe this. I have spent extensive amounts of time in Europe (Specifically France, Austria and Switzerland and smaller amounts of time in other places). I have been to most of the major islands in the Caribbean (and a large portion of the smaller ones as well). I have been to so many countries and islands that I usually forget about 1/3 or more when rattling them off. Right now if I'm on my third passport (its got about 2 years left before it expires though).

(-)Jobs. I had the opportunity to be hired full time after two years of doing a summer internship during high school. Despite not having a diploma or degree at the time the company was offering 30 an hour. I decided rather than to stay with they I would go off to college and see 'the greener pastures of academia.' I always wonder what would be happening to me now if I had stayed with them. Now the lack of jobs for people in my chosen field is a little bit of a downer. When someone says Computer Science the listener automatically thinks of IST, and the two are completely different. Jobs for Comp.Sci majors abound but most of them require 3-5 years of experience before you can apply to them, even while in the midst of a Masters they still won't hire you for a seasonal position.

Do you have memories that stick out for the good or the bad? Think about them.

----

grrr. Two papers, a project and 200 pages of reading. I thought I was supposed to have slightly less work at this point.

Surprise :-)

what a nice way to wake up (well besides the front-end loader clearing snow out of the parking lot). I fire up my browser of choice and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a story on Evangelion was the first 'real' japanese anime I saw back in highschool and I guess that gives it a soft place with me. Anyway appearantly Weta Workshop is doing the designing of a lot of the movie thats about to be released. This morning they released some of the concept art for the movie. Boy do some of the pictures look nice.

Theres an interesting conversation going on about likes/dislikes embodied by the concept art. I'm now siting with my fingers crossed hoping that they don't fuck with the plot too much.

Friday

1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?
Which account? Usually my name and some sort of contact information depending on a couple of factors.

2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?
I can't remember what my HS yearbook really looks like. I havn't looked at it since I graduated (4.5 years ago).

3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?
No I don't have vanity plates on my car. Quite honestly I'm not really all that sure that I would want them either, however if I were given a choice it would probably be the generic (HENRY or HGS).

4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?
Yes, usually just my initials HGS

5. What would you like your epitaph to be?
I'm not going to die. Ill get stuck in a transporter in a freak accident Like Scotty from StarTrek did.

brought to you by FridayFive

You drink what?

WATER

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Actually, likely applies to half of the world population.)

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pains for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8 - 10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short term memory, trouble
with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79% and people are less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking enough water each day???

COCA-COLA (Coke)
...click to read the rest...

1. In many states in the USA the highway patrol carries two gallons of coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be mostly broken down in a few days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-cola into the toilet bowl and let 'the real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in coke removes stains from vitreous china.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of aluminum foil continually dipped in coca-cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of coca cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in coca-cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The coca-cola will help loosen the grease stains.

8. Coke will also clean road haze from your vehicle's windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail over time. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

2. To carry coca-cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use a 'Hazardous Material' place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

You know

You know your from Syracuse when your happy that the temp broke into the negative single digits instead of being below -10

Bloody Cold

In an ever increasing attempt to make the lives of the students in Syracuse more and more miserable somehow the weather has decided to actually get cold. I have now spent 4 years here, this being the 5th and it has NEVER been this fucking cold before. When I say cold it hasn’t made it into the double digits since I returned from Christmas break, and from what I understand for a while before I returned it was also frigid.

So things that are going on now: Firewood is being delivered on Saturday morning between 10am-2pm so things are rapidly going to get nice and toasty in the apartment (in a non-electricity using way). I started the car for the first time since I got back on Sunday…car definitely didn’t like sitting for that long in that cold weather. Normally it puts out 12 volts, however when it started and at low speeds the car was only doing 10v (max). It got back up to the normal 12v however that was doing 60 on the highway so the alternator was cranking away. The battery has been in the car since it was purchased so its now significantly over 6 years old (closer to 7) and I fear it won’t be lasting out the winter if it keeps up. There might be some more funding for the ARDA project I am working on so I might actually get paid this semester (or even better just earn brownie points towards the SFS next fall).

One of the cars at our apt building pulled out and where the car used to be was a giant puddle of anti-freeze so either he filled it up and poured a huge amount on the ground, or one of his hoses broke and hell very quickly become an unhappy camper. Either way he’s stupid. Speaking of apartments, looking at a couple for next year, we just need to hear back from the landlord.

Major dislikes: the love-handles I seemed to have gained over break, the bone chilling cold, and the idiot bank manager who is in my IST642 class

Major likes: Having lunch with friends, shearling lined trench coat, Hudson Bay Blanket

Fall of Rome

The founders of our country said at numerous different points that they were trying to emulate a new Roman Republic when they ‘founded’ the USA.

I pledge allegiance to my Flag,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.
October 11, 1892 (James Upham)

This guy got it correct, it is indeed a republic not a democracy like many people seem to believe. In a true democracy each citizen would have one vote for each piece of legislation that came up for discussion. Obviously this is time-infeasible; nothing would ever get done. Thus a republic is a much better (theoretically speaking anyway) form of government… but this is a sidetrack.

When the founding fathers modeled their ‘new Roman empire,’ they were neglecting one major little issue. The Roman empire eventually fell. This was due to corruption and other problems, and the empire is regarded as having ended when the Goths came down, occupied, sacked and burnt Rome (roughly 410 A.D.). The Roman empire had a huge influence over the known civilized world (at the time), they accomplished this through a combination of economic, cultural and armed forces. Obviously the founding fathers wanted to draw a parallel with the cultural, economic and (to a degree) armed forces controlling the world, they neglected the time part of the equation WHERE ROME FELL.

We can see this issue in modern times. The if the United States were to become Rome (which it can be argued that they have, large army, massive cultural force and an almost unspeakable economic force) the Goths would almost certainly be one of the rogue or terrorist organizations existing. The Gothic tribes were regarded as inferior in terms of their fighting ability by Rome and as such little attention was paid to them until 410 (You decide which modern organization most resemble the Goths…hint think 2001…that’s my opinion though).

Rambling partially coherent diatribe over.

Speaking about names and all…The founding fathers were trying to be ‘Gothic’ in their rebelling from the tyrannical England. When you get outside of the traditional NewEngland borders you run into interesting naming issues for towns. While the NE states have names like Lincoln, Concord, Dover…the towns formed after the revolutionary war tend to have names reminiscent of the Roman empire; think Rome, Syracuse, Cicero, Ithaca…etc

You Know...

You know you are addicted to coffee if...

you grind your coffee beans in your mouth
you sleep with your eyes open
you have to watch videos in fast-forward
the only time you're standing still is during an earthquake
you can take a picture of yourself from ten feet away without the timer
you've worn out your third pair of tennis shoes this week
your eyes stay open when you sneeze
you chew on other people's fingernails
the nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse
you’re so jittery that people use your hands to blend their margaritas
you can type sixty words a minute with your feet
you can jump-start your car without cables
you don't sweat, you percolate
you walk twenty miles on your tread mill before you realize it's not plugged in
you forget to unwrap candy bars before eating them
you've built a miniature city out of little plastic stirrers
people get dizzy just watching you
instant coffee takes too long
you channel surf faster without a remote
you have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug
you outlast the Energizer Bunny
you short out motion detectors
you don't even wait for the water to boil anymore
your nervous twitch registers on the Richter scale
you help your dog chase its tail
your first-aid kit contains two pints of coffee and an IV hook-up
you ski uphill
you get a speeding ticket even when you're parked
you answer the door before people knock
you haven’t blinked since the last lunar eclipse

------
On a slightly different note, I noticed this evening that this is now my 101st entry :-)

Whats going through my head?

Soundtrack Added

Evil?

Late but not forgotten

yea its a little late, but I don't give a fuck
What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today?
nice roaring fire in the livingroom

2. ...over the next week?
Getting back to school

3. ...this year?
relationship, nuff said.

4. ...over the next five years?
Finishing up GradSchool and hopefully getting a job I like.

5. ...for the rest of your life?
I can't think that far ahead in my life.

brought to by FridayFive.org

NewYears :-)

Your text here

And Another One Bites the Dust

After a nice hiatus I decided to post an update about what is going on in Henry Land.

First off I turned on the TV tonight and the story that was on was titled something like “Robo-Tripping A Growing Problem in Children.” First, who the fuck comes up with names like those? Second who in their right mind would want to drink so much Robitussen that they would get a high? The stuff tastes like someone crapped into a bottle seriously, can anyone actually stand to drink the stuff? Every time I take it chills are sent down my spine. NBC had this 16(?) year old who by his own admission has been in and out of rehab for a year and a half was talking about how he got hooked. “One day I ran out of marijuana and a friend told me to try…” There’s another interesting question, how do you run out of marijuana? I don’t smoke it, but I could probably put my hand on some inside of 30 minutes wherever I am, so I don’t really see how some wouldn’t be available.

Update on things that have been going on lately: x-country skiing, I couldn’t go swimming cause the lake had frozen over, more donuts in parking lots when it started to snow, lots of nice fires (home, the lake house, or the other paces I’ve been), drinking, applications to a couple of places I would love to work at over the summer and general lazyness