My sister is a huge dork…
…but I miss her anyway…? 😛
A milestone…
So, for those who have ever sat next to me in class, you know I have Solitaire on my Sony Clie (a Palm device, for those who don’t know…).? Finally, I “won” $100,000, which means that the game no longer keeps count, since it can’t go over 5 digits.? Therefore, I must restart the game at $0.? But before I do, I mark the occasion with some stats that have been recorded since beginning the game over a year ago:
Games played: 1227
Games won: 500
Games Lost: 727
Percent Won: 40.75%
Longest Win Streak: 6
Longest Loss Streak: 12
Average Game Time: 1:59
Total Time Played: 1d 16h 52m
Shortest Win Time: 1:20
Highest Score: $100041
…time to reset…
I hate GM…
Okay, so I was driving back from class and saw what I thought was a 2006 Chevrolet Impala…but no…it’s a 2006 Monte Carlo. Here are pictures of the two (Impala in black; Monte Carlo in red):
Here’s my problem with GM: recycling. I don’t mind a decent product, but when the exact same thing is spread over 6 different brands (Saturn, Buick, GMC, Pontiac, etc.) it gets old. Now, when they use the exact same front half of the vehicle for two different cars, that’s just going too far. Seriously…the front half of the Monte Carlo and Impala are exactly the same. The butt end of the car is different…but for the Monte Carlo, it’s the same as it’s earlier iterations. It’s like they took the back off of the 2005 Monte Carlo and the front off a 2006 Impala and put them together to make a “2006 Monte Carlo”… The only thing truly “different” between the two cars is that one is 4 doors and the other is 2. GM…why don’t you try being innovative and come up with something new?!
The 2005 versions were based on the same platform/power train, but at least they looked different. I mean, I know the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger are on the same platform, but they at least look different…but with GM, their cars look the same with a different insignia (Saturn vs Chevy, Buick vs Pontiac).
Unbelievable…
Reading Rainbow
How many people didn’t watch “Reading Rainbow” back in elementary school? Well, apparently, the show is still on…but maybe not for much longer. It’s been on for 24 years with LeVar Burton hosting and producing and has won 24 Emmys, as well as a Peabody award (among others). Apparently, they’re running low on funds to make new episodes because sponsors aren’t convinced that the viewership exists.
So, as a result, some good folks have started an online petition called SaveReadingRainbow.org to try and save the show. If you have some fond memories of that show and want it to be around for your kids to watch someday, I’d recommend you check it out and sign up.
So, I miss Kirksville…
I miss the people I met over the years
I miss getting up 5 min before class and still making it on time
I miss the lack of traffic
I miss a good Super Wal-Mart
I miss being able to care very little about classes
I miss the Dukum and everything about it
…but…
I don’t miss the fact that it was 10 F when I woke up today in St. Louis…but it was -14 F in Kirksville…
Friends in Kirksville? You kids have a nice day 🙂
Soccer = Pat Robertson
So, Thursday night, I went to Praise Band practice and, at the same time, some yearly pre-school event was going on…the parking lot was full of vehicles…and therefore, I come to the following conclusion:
Soccer moms will cause the end of the world.
Let me explain… Soccer moms drive mini-vans…and more recently, because they didn’t like the stigma surrounding them and their bretheren, they started driving SUVs. More and more SUVs. The largest ones possible. The more soccer moms there are, the more SUVS and mini-vans that drive on the roads, and it is those vehicles that cause greenhouse gases to knock down the ozone layer and increase global warming.
Therefore, rather than killing off all the soccer moms to solve this problem, I say that we eliminate soccer as a sport. It isn’t that entertaining anyway. And we’d save the world while doing it…literally…
Who’s with me?
Links and more…
The Kansas Board of Education has, again, voted in favor of Intelligent Design instead of Evolution in high school classrooms. Two-page article…don’t forget to click “next” at the bottom… A few good quotes from that article:
?This is a sad day. We?re becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that.??? said board member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat.
…and…
In 1999, the board eliminated most references to evolution. Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould said that was akin to teaching ?American history without Lincoln.??? Bill Nye, the ?Science Guy??? of children?s television, called it ?harebrained??? and ?nutty.??? And a Washington Post columnist imagined God saying to the Kansas board members: ?Man, I gave you a brain. Use it, OK????
Also, Jerry shot me this e-mail with a note passed on by Dr. Lockhart at Truman, a Biology professor, essentially outlining “not-so-intelligent design” in humans…kinda amusing, really… Things like high blood pressure, colon cancer, etc…if we were so well designed, wouldn’t we have better defenses against such things? Who knows…not I…
Apparently, the Dover, Pa. school board members that were up for re-election have all been booted…and there were 8 of them… This is where the infamous Scope’s Monkey Trial took place many a year ago, and the site of a new trial where the board was trying to force ID on high school students…w00t!
And finally, there’s an essay in TIME Magazine this week written by a Nobel Prize-winning physicist that discusses his opinion on the issue…and I whole-heartedly agree… It tells us how ID does nothing really to forward scientific thinking and really hampers it by placing all of current knowledge in a box (with everything outside this box being in “God’s realm”).
You all know my opinion(s) on the matter, so I won’t rehash them… Actually, that last link is probably the best descriptor of my views on the subject that I’ve read yet, so if anything, check that one out… And if you go to school in Kansas, my apologies…start voting so that you don’t remain the laughing stock of the world, yo…
More on this later, I’m sure…this issue isn’t going away anytime soon…
Bank Error In Your Favor
So, I got paid today…and got an extra $600 ’cause they’ve been taking money out when they shouldn’t have been…
…now…what kind of amp should I buy? 😉
P.S. To make an already perfect day even more spectactular…I saw a 1993 Nissan Altima with a duck-shaped hood ornament…it was rather amusing…hehehehe…
Just like old times…
Yeah, went to Kirksville…had a great time, needless to say. I met Brett and Syd at P.F. Chang’s here in St. Louis for dinner Friday night (good stuff…highly recommend it…the first Chinese non-buffet I’ve ever had…). I drove them to Columbia and then visited with Mom and Dad for a bit, so that was good. Anyway, I left Saturday morning with Stu and Angela for Homecoming activities at Truman…got to see little cousin Hans while watching the parade. We saw the ribbon cutting and dedication for the new Magruder Hall…and it looks pretty tight… Then we went to the football game (my first one at Truman ever…figures, eh?)…and left after they were down 31-7 at the half (hehehehe…still figures…).
Anyway, Stu, Angela and I went by a few restaurants in town (where they hadn’t been before, for the most part…) and met up with Steve and Jeremy…then Stu and Angela left and Jeremy, Steve and I started to play some poker before Steve’s ABC Party shenanigans were set to begin. Got to see Amy, Paige, and their respective friends (who were all visiting the same weekend), so that was lovely…Nathan showed up later in the night…and Matt and Josh finally showed up as Jeremy and I were leaving for the party…oh well…
So yeah, this ABC Party…which stands for “anything but clothes”…was really, really crazy… I saw more homemade thongs on guys than I ever wish to see again…not that I wanted to in the first place… Regardless, Steve wore a shirt (for most of the night…) and a blow-up doll. And that was mostly it. There was another guy with a phone book covering his ass. It was pretty disgusting. But… Relatively amusing, all the same…
There are pictures of the weekend in the Photos section of the website…you may want to check them out, if anything, to witness some crazy ABC party go-ers…
Anyway, it was great to make it up to K-town again and I had a great time. It really was just like I got to go back and pick up where I left off, and that’s always a welcome feeling.
I’ll be back again on November 18th…let’s hope for a repeat…but not of the ABC part… 😉
Of Cardinals and Random Ladies on the MetroLink…
Brooke and I went to a Cardinals game last night via the MetroLink (the above-ground “subway system” in St. Louis) since it’s way easier to right that into the downtown area rather than driving and parking down there… Brooke’s parents had 2 extra tickets to this game and decided to take us along (thanks!!). Anyway, we’re riding the thing and this lady gets on…maybe in her 40s, thin, brunette…and we’re in a huge crowd of people, most of which are heading to the game… Well, this random lady leans across 3 other people and says “you’re a very pretty girl.” Brooke, of course, replies, “thank you!”
So yeah, my wife was hit on by an older woman in a train car full of Cardinals fan…guess I should be flattered… 😛
The game itself was pretty good…hadn’t been to a game there since 1998 (maybe 2000…can’t remember), so it was good to go to “one of the last games at Busch Stadium” (even though this stadium is less than 40 years old and the new stadium will also be known as Busch Stadium…). The game went pretty well for the Cards throughout, since the Reds kept dropping the ball all over the place…literally… We left in the 8th inning after Pujols belted a grand slam out at the end of the 7th, so that was cool to see… That, and at the beginning of the game, they paraded around the 1985 Cardinals team in brand-new convertible Mustangs (w00t!)…so I got to see Ozzie Smith… They also had Mark McGuire stop by for another special appearance…
Regardless, it was a good time. I kinda wish I was more in to baseball as I used to be…not that I was ever really in to it, but I kinda kept track back when I collected baseball cards… Of course, I’m sure I would have been a bigger fan if my team, the Royals, ever WON A FRIGGIN’ GAME!!! 😛
That is all.