It might be a little optimistic of me to claim this week a success when it's still only Thursday, but I don't foresee anything really happening tomorrow so I'm gonna go ahead and do it now.
If we say that the week starts on Saturday, then that means I have already had three good things happen this week, (maybe three and a half).
First, on Sunday, I finished my bus-driver training and passed my CDL test, so I will be ready to start work ASAP after school ends.
Second, on Tuesday, I turned in a small project for my Spanish linguistics class. This wasn't a big deal though, so that's why it's just the "and a half" thing.
Third, yesterday on Wednesday, I gave the presentation that I've been dreading for my International Affairs senior seminar class (a.k.a. the class from hell). Judging by the lack of stinging/attacking questions from the teacher, I think I did a good job. I felt like I knew what I was talking about and that I had arranged my presentation in a clear manner and gave some good evidence (graphs) and stuff... so that's good to have behind me.
Finally, today I turned in my computer for the transcribing job that I quit last week. I haven't really done any work for them for several weeks now, so in my heart I guess I already quit awhile ago, but now it's official. Now I can use that extra time to focus on the myriad of final papers/projects/presentations that I have in the next two weeks.
Yup, time is running out as far as school goes, and on that note here is called "Time is Running Out" by Muse. I know I've already put up some Muse videos before, but not for awhile now. And besides, you can never really have too much Muse in my opinion.
11.30.2006
11.28.2006
When the Weather Outside is Frightful
I've had a pretty hectic day today (haha, I say that as if it's in the past tense... *sigh*), but then the snow came and it seems to have made everything better because in weather like this you just can't rush things no matter how badly they need to be rushed.
Most of my day was spent rushing though. I rushed to school to skip my first class to work on a project that I turned in at the beginning of my second class and then skipped the rest of that class to work on the homework for my third class and to work on the presentation that I have to give tomorrow but that I was supposed to turn in to my teacher on Sunday. Naturally, I also forgot something at home this morning, so between finishing the project that I skipped my first class for and the time that the project was due, I had to rush home to get the thing I forgot. Of course I decided not to take my bike to school today because it was cold and I felt lazy and I had an unusually large backpack load today, so I took the bus instead even though the bike is ALWAYS faster (ALWAYS). So coming home to retrieve the forgotten item took almost an hour on the bus as opposed to maybe half an hour on the bike. I could continue, but the point is that it was one of those rush-rush-rush sort of days.
But then this evening when I decided I had had my fill of being in the library for one day, I went out to catch the bus either home or to Basemar to get some dinner and some coffee. But when I got there, it seemed that the busses weren't really running because the roads were so bad and I guess they were probably getting stuck and stuff, so I decided to walk even though I didn't really have that much time to spare. But that's where the beauty of the snow comes in. On a normal day I just don't have the time to take a nice leisurely stroll home like that, but on day's like this it's actually the fastest way home for me, so I like to take advantage of it.
As I walked down the hill towards Basemar, all the traffic was struggling with the ice and the gravity. Once bus was stuck diagonal across the road. It made me feel a little bit more nervous about when I start driving a bus in Vail where I will probably have to drive in the snow quite often. I hope I don't get stuck...
When I got to Basemar, I decided to go to Whole Foods and agonize over how expensive their food is. After much agonizing, I settled upon an over-priced but delicious chocolate cookie, and an over-priced but slightly less delicious Odwalla Super Protein bar. Then I continued walking down Moorhead towards home.
I considered hitchhiking down Moorhead to Graham Ct., but then I thought that it would be weird. I wonder if I would pick up a hitchhiker on Moorhead... probably not, but I would be more likely to pick one up there than on the side of the highway. So with my hands in my pockets I continued walking and actually it was a pretty nice walk. Just as I was getting to my normal bus stop, the bus went by. So it took me just as long to walk home and take a pit stop at whole foods as it would have taken me to stand there and wait to take the bus home. I'm just glad I live close enough to school that I CAN walk home. The whole way home I was hoping to witness a car accident due to the ice, but no luck. I'm not asking for any major carnage here, but even just a little fender-bender would have been appreciated.
Something like this would have been perfect. I don't really understand why these people think that it's a good idea to bail out of their cars before making impact though:
Most of my day was spent rushing though. I rushed to school to skip my first class to work on a project that I turned in at the beginning of my second class and then skipped the rest of that class to work on the homework for my third class and to work on the presentation that I have to give tomorrow but that I was supposed to turn in to my teacher on Sunday. Naturally, I also forgot something at home this morning, so between finishing the project that I skipped my first class for and the time that the project was due, I had to rush home to get the thing I forgot. Of course I decided not to take my bike to school today because it was cold and I felt lazy and I had an unusually large backpack load today, so I took the bus instead even though the bike is ALWAYS faster (ALWAYS). So coming home to retrieve the forgotten item took almost an hour on the bus as opposed to maybe half an hour on the bike. I could continue, but the point is that it was one of those rush-rush-rush sort of days.
But then this evening when I decided I had had my fill of being in the library for one day, I went out to catch the bus either home or to Basemar to get some dinner and some coffee. But when I got there, it seemed that the busses weren't really running because the roads were so bad and I guess they were probably getting stuck and stuff, so I decided to walk even though I didn't really have that much time to spare. But that's where the beauty of the snow comes in. On a normal day I just don't have the time to take a nice leisurely stroll home like that, but on day's like this it's actually the fastest way home for me, so I like to take advantage of it.
As I walked down the hill towards Basemar, all the traffic was struggling with the ice and the gravity. Once bus was stuck diagonal across the road. It made me feel a little bit more nervous about when I start driving a bus in Vail where I will probably have to drive in the snow quite often. I hope I don't get stuck...
When I got to Basemar, I decided to go to Whole Foods and agonize over how expensive their food is. After much agonizing, I settled upon an over-priced but delicious chocolate cookie, and an over-priced but slightly less delicious Odwalla Super Protein bar. Then I continued walking down Moorhead towards home.
I considered hitchhiking down Moorhead to Graham Ct., but then I thought that it would be weird. I wonder if I would pick up a hitchhiker on Moorhead... probably not, but I would be more likely to pick one up there than on the side of the highway. So with my hands in my pockets I continued walking and actually it was a pretty nice walk. Just as I was getting to my normal bus stop, the bus went by. So it took me just as long to walk home and take a pit stop at whole foods as it would have taken me to stand there and wait to take the bus home. I'm just glad I live close enough to school that I CAN walk home. The whole way home I was hoping to witness a car accident due to the ice, but no luck. I'm not asking for any major carnage here, but even just a little fender-bender would have been appreciated.
Something like this would have been perfect. I don't really understand why these people think that it's a good idea to bail out of their cars before making impact though:
11.25.2006
Dreamtime
Ok, here comes yet another post about some strange dreams I've had recently:
I wish I could remember more of them because there were some other stranger ones. Man, dreams are weird. Speaking of weird dreams, remember that dumb girl pop band named Dream that was almost cool a few years ago? Yeah, I don't either. Man, I'm glad they didn't really make it, they're annoying. Here's their main hit single, He Loves U Not.
- Jennifer Aniston was driving around the ranch with some dead possum in the back of her truck. She made me pick it up and throw it in the trash and it was hard and crunchy and gross. After I put it in the trash she was off on her merry way.
- I was driving a bus rally-style to East Vail, but because I was late anyway nobody seemed too upset about it.
- I was running and leaping very high over a bunch of benches in a train station with some unknown friends. I think one person is in my Russian class. We took pictures and 3D Videos of each other using her humongous digital camera the size of a poster board.
- I bit into an apple that was really an orange, and then I went to the store for some spaghetti instead.
- There was a moth that kept flying past me and I kept telling it to go bother a butterfly or something, but it wouldn't listen and got angry and spit some moth dust at me.
- Someone told me to get on a pogo stick and I did, but with every bounce I went higher and higher but I didn't know how to stop it and eventually I was bouncing really high.
I wish I could remember more of them because there were some other stranger ones. Man, dreams are weird. Speaking of weird dreams, remember that dumb girl pop band named Dream that was almost cool a few years ago? Yeah, I don't either. Man, I'm glad they didn't really make it, they're annoying. Here's their main hit single, He Loves U Not.
11.23.2006
The Uniglutton
Because my entire Thanksgiving "break" has been devoted to bus-driver training, I haven't had time to catch up on any of the school work or transcribing work that I would have liked to have done during this week away from school. Therefore I decided that instead of spending my one day off of training today going down to Boulder to have Thanksgiving dinner, that I should instead stay here in Edwards and work on my various homework assignments. Mom was able to go down to Boulder for dinner though, so it was just me, myself, and I here celebrating Thanksgiving. It sounds kind of sad, but it isn't really that sad because I don't really care that much about Thanksgiving anyway. Also, in the spirit of this gluttonous holiday I did consume an inordinately large amount of calories during the course of the day, so I didn't miss out completely.
I did manage to get some things done today, but not as much as I was hoping. These last three weeks are going to be tough; I have lots of things to get done and it's going to take lots of discipline and good time management to get it all done. This is one reason that I finally decided today to send an email to my transcribing supervisor telling her that I intend to terminate my employment there. I really just don't have time for that job anymore and I don't really need it anyway since I'll be starting the bus driving job the day after school ends. So, even though I will miss the money I made at that job, I will be looking forward to leaving that job behind me.
Speaking of that homework, I need to get back to it.
I usually try to pick a video that is at least a little bit related to my post, but I can't today, so here is a completely unrelated catchy Taiwanese pop song with some silly dancing. I doubt anyone will like this song, but that's okay because I like it. It's called something like "Open one eye, Shut one eye" by Jolin Tsai （睁一只眼闭一只眼）.
I did manage to get some things done today, but not as much as I was hoping. These last three weeks are going to be tough; I have lots of things to get done and it's going to take lots of discipline and good time management to get it all done. This is one reason that I finally decided today to send an email to my transcribing supervisor telling her that I intend to terminate my employment there. I really just don't have time for that job anymore and I don't really need it anyway since I'll be starting the bus driving job the day after school ends. So, even though I will miss the money I made at that job, I will be looking forward to leaving that job behind me.
Speaking of that homework, I need to get back to it.
I usually try to pick a video that is at least a little bit related to my post, but I can't today, so here is a completely unrelated catchy Taiwanese pop song with some silly dancing. I doubt anyone will like this song, but that's okay because I like it. It's called something like "Open one eye, Shut one eye" by Jolin Tsai （睁一只眼闭一只眼）.
11.22.2006
Television
First off, bus-driver training has been going fantastically and actually I am almost done. My trainer said I was a quick learner. I have three more days of route training and then I will take my CDL test on sunday and then I will be good to go and won't have to come back until I start work the day after school ends.
I have been looking forward to today ever since last week when I learned that MTV's Real World Denver season premiere was going to air tonight at 6:00. While I enjoyed seeing familiar parts of Denver and DIA and such, overall the season premiere episode left a bad taste in my mouth... The roomates haven't even been in the house for a full day yet and I already can't keep track of who likes who and who has made out with who. Then there's the homophobic religious guy... It's probably a good thing that this first episode sucked though because now I'll be less tempted to waste time watching future episodes.
Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I won't be doing bus training, but instead I'll be doing my transcribing job which I haven't done for like two weeks now... and I also need to make a powerpoint for a 30-minute presentation that I have to do next week...
There will be no video today because I couldn't find one that struck my fancy.
I have been looking forward to today ever since last week when I learned that MTV's Real World Denver season premiere was going to air tonight at 6:00. While I enjoyed seeing familiar parts of Denver and DIA and such, overall the season premiere episode left a bad taste in my mouth... The roomates haven't even been in the house for a full day yet and I already can't keep track of who likes who and who has made out with who. Then there's the homophobic religious guy... It's probably a good thing that this first episode sucked though because now I'll be less tempted to waste time watching future episodes.
Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I won't be doing bus training, but instead I'll be doing my transcribing job which I haven't done for like two weeks now... and I also need to make a powerpoint for a 30-minute presentation that I have to do next week...
There will be no video today because I couldn't find one that struck my fancy.
11.19.2006
Curbcheck
So I've finished two days of bus-driver training and basically it's pretty freaking sweet. The first few hours yesterday were kind of boring, but then after lunch I finally got to get behind the wheel of a real-life bus and do some maneuvers through several different road-cone obstacle courses. I pretty much aced every single maneuver on my first try and my supervisor was pretty surprised at how well I did on them. He was like, "are you sure you have never done this before?" As a result I am progressing rather quickly through the training which is good news because I don't have a lot of time to devote to it. Actually I wish we were going even faster. Over the past two days we have probably lost at least 3 hours to sitting around while my supervisor drinks coffee, bullshits with other drivers, or tells/repeats various irrelevant stories.
Today I actually got to drive on a route and pick up real live people and it was kind of scary. Driving on the road and stopping at stops and picking up and dropping off people is pretty different from backing through cones at the bus barn. Luckily I only closed the door on one lady, and I only ran over one curb and luckily I didn't have any passengers at that point. Also, I haven't hit anything, I didn't even knock over any cones!
Learning how to physically maneuver the bus is kind of a small portion of the training though. A lot of time is spent to learning about various procedural kinds of things. I have to learn virtually word-for-word the extensive pre-trip vehicle inspection and brake test procedure that I will have to do for my big CDL test. There are also lots of check-in/out procedures to remember; learning what forms I need to fill out when and where I need to sign and when I need to take odometer readings and such. I haven't even started to learn how to use the radios or the satellite bus-tracking system yet. I also still have to learn all of the routes and the stop names and stuff.
So overal the training is going excellently and I am really loving it. Driving a bus is a little bit harder than I had always imagined it would be, but it's also just as much fun as I thought it would be. Try not to be too jealous of me, ok?
Also, I haven't made any big mistakes like this guy did:
Today I actually got to drive on a route and pick up real live people and it was kind of scary. Driving on the road and stopping at stops and picking up and dropping off people is pretty different from backing through cones at the bus barn. Luckily I only closed the door on one lady, and I only ran over one curb and luckily I didn't have any passengers at that point. Also, I haven't hit anything, I didn't even knock over any cones!
Learning how to physically maneuver the bus is kind of a small portion of the training though. A lot of time is spent to learning about various procedural kinds of things. I have to learn virtually word-for-word the extensive pre-trip vehicle inspection and brake test procedure that I will have to do for my big CDL test. There are also lots of check-in/out procedures to remember; learning what forms I need to fill out when and where I need to sign and when I need to take odometer readings and such. I haven't even started to learn how to use the radios or the satellite bus-tracking system yet. I also still have to learn all of the routes and the stop names and stuff.
So overal the training is going excellently and I am really loving it. Driving a bus is a little bit harder than I had always imagined it would be, but it's also just as much fun as I thought it would be. Try not to be too jealous of me, ok?
Also, I haven't made any big mistakes like this guy did:
11.15.2006
High Point
The high point of my day today occurred as I was walking out the door of the library the girl in front of me with a few books in her hand set off the detectors. She stopped and looked around all confused and then walked back through to talk to the security personnel and said to them, "Oh, do I have to check these out?" Oh man, it was priceless.
Today's video is pretty neat. It's a song "Comme Elle Vient" by a french group called Noir Desir. It makes me want to learn sign language.
Today's video is pretty neat. It's a song "Comme Elle Vient" by a french group called Noir Desir. It makes me want to learn sign language.
11.14.2006
Yet More Insomnia
I'm at it again, not sleeping. Again the culprit is a myriad of thoughts racing through my head. There are so many things racing around up there that I can't even stay focused on being distracted from sleep. Here are just most of the things that are occupying my thoughts. Sorry if it reads like a long, boring to-do list. Feel free to skip it if you want, my feelings won't be hurt:
Today's video is a pretty song in Portuguese that I don't understand and a video about a stick-figure who really uses his disproportionately-large noggin.
- I am giving a presentation in my Spanish linguistics class tomorrow. I am feeling so confident and ready and excited for it for some reason. I am thinking about all the clever and insightful things I hope I remember to say during the presentation. I'm thinking about how it will be such a good presentation that it will just blow everybody's socks off (I hope their feet aren't too stinky).
- As soon as I'm done with that I have to go to Longmont to take the written test to get my CDL permit. Have I studied enough? Will the test be hard? Mostly though I'm just excited to be another step closer to realizing my dream of driving a bus. Why am I so freaking excited about driving a bus? Who knows... it's a mystery. Kind of related to the CDL test tomorrow is that while I am headed in that direction I should probably drive up to Dad's house and take my summer tires up there for winter storage. I definitely don't have time to go up there, but as long as I am halfway there already it would probably be most efficient to do both things in one trip.
- Speaking of taking steps towards driving a bus, before I can get the permit I had to get a physical exam today. I think I am pretty healthy, and mostly I am, but the doctor said I had a slightly abnormal urine sample. I had trace levels of blood and protein in it (sorry, TMI?). The doctor didn't seem REALLY concerned about it, but he said it could be indicative of anything from a benign urinary tract infection (although those are rare in men), to bladder cancer (scary). But he said I should just be aware of it and come back in a few months for another urine sample. Kind of scary though, what could it mean? Should I be worried? Should I not be worried? I guess I'll just forget about it for a few months and hope it turns out to be nothing.
- My bus-driving training starts bright and early on Saturday morning. I'm so excited!!! I wonder if they'll get me behind the wheel on the very first day... I hope so. I hope I love it as much as I think I will. But on the flip side, how the hell am I going to balance a steadily increasing course load as deadlines for final papers/projects/tests near, PLUS do 80 hours of bus-driving training before I can start work the day after school ends, PLUS keep up with the transcribing job with which I have already been failing to get all the hours I'm supposed to? It sounds impossible to me... I will be really amazed if I manage to pull it all off.
- Then there's the presentation for the International Affairs class from hell that is due only a few days after Thanksgiving "break." But I'm trying not to think about that very much.
- The application for the JET program teaching English in Japan is due at the beginning of December, I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull that together in time. Then what?
- Oh dang, my car insurance bill is almost due. I don't want to pay it. Maybe I should just sell that car and make my sister chauffeur me around instead.
- How on earth am I going to work enough hours at my transcribing job so that they won't fire me? I've never been fired from a job before and I would like to keep it that way for a little longer at least.
- I still have to find time to finish that one last online assignment for my online International Economics class...
- I really need to clean my room. It's so bad that even I am bothered by it. That's pretty bad.
- Oh, how could I have forgotten about the Portuguese presentation that I've also been thinking about. It isn't for a few weeks still, and I only have a vague idea of what I'm going to talk about (China - Brazil relations), but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna blow the socks off of that one too. I can picture me speaking pretty fluent sounding Portuguese, but when it comes time to actually do it, the words still don't come out that smoothly for me, but it'll just take some practice. Portuguese sounds pretty sweet, by the way.
- I have a couple of ideas that I think would make for really interesting thesis papers in linguistics. Too bad I don't have time to write a senior honors thesis paper. Maybe I'll try to remember them for grad school or something though...
- What will be the next dumb/annoying and time-consuming task that my grandmother will require of me?
- So, that's most of what has been racing through my head keeping me awake tonight. Of course there's also the normal background noise of VTEC Mini Coopers, fixed-gear bikes, random linguistic crap, needing a girlfriend, etc...
Today's video is a pretty song in Portuguese that I don't understand and a video about a stick-figure who really uses his disproportionately-large noggin.
11.11.2006
Useful Degree
After toiling away at school for the past 4.5 years learning Chinese and studying everything from Linguistics to International Affairs to Physics to History, I am now just weeks away from earning my bachelors degree. I will finally have an opportunity to put my education to good use, but first I will be taking a pit-stop to realize my life-long dream of being a bus driver.
A few weeks ago I applied to be a bus driver for Town of Vail, and yesterday I had a very easy "interview" and was quickly offered the position. In many aspects this bus-driving job will be a step backward from my current part-time job doing transcription for purposes of linguistic research. First of all, whereas that job looks pretty good on my résumé, this bus driving job won't really help my résumé out at all. Second, I will taking about a 30% pay cut from the transcribing job (although I might be able to keep the transcribing job too and do both, but that doesn't sound very appealing). Third, I can do the transcribing job wherever and pretty much whenever I want, but the bus driving will have a set schedule and will require commuting (because I have the least seniority, I will most likely be stuck with the night shifts that nobody else wants which is a double-whammy because not only am I not much of a night owl, but it also means that I can't take the bus to work because I would have no way of getting home).
But the bus driving job also offers lots of really appealing things that the transcribing job does not. For one thing, I don't get to drive a bus at my transcribing job, also the town of Vail is paying for the training for me to get my CDL. Second, the transcribing job is tedious and pretty boring and requires a lot of self-discipline to sit down and make yourself do all the hours you are supposed to do, but being a bus driver is more the kind of job that you come, do your time, and punch out and you're done. There's none of the stress of keeping yourself from getting distracted and keeping track of how many hours you have actually worked, etc. Third, there is less risk of making mistakes and feeling stupid; with transcribing sometimes I code things incorrectly and I feel like an idiot, but with driving a bus I think there are fewer things to mess up. Fourth, being a bus driver is a more social job than transcribing which is best done in a quiet, distraction-free environment with headphones, very anti-social. Fifth, I will have plenty of time to ski this winter.
So I realize that it isn't a very lofty or glorious job or anything, and I also realize that I didn't need to get a college degree to do it, but I am really excited about it! It will only last through April and then I will be off to do grander things. But I thought that if I were ever to realize my life-long dream of being a bus driver, this is about the best time ever to do it because if I don't do it now, then I will probably have to wait until I am old, retired, and senile before I can do it again.
The next logical step in my bus-driving career will probably be Figure-8 Schoolbus Racing like this:
A few weeks ago I applied to be a bus driver for Town of Vail, and yesterday I had a very easy "interview" and was quickly offered the position. In many aspects this bus-driving job will be a step backward from my current part-time job doing transcription for purposes of linguistic research. First of all, whereas that job looks pretty good on my résumé, this bus driving job won't really help my résumé out at all. Second, I will taking about a 30% pay cut from the transcribing job (although I might be able to keep the transcribing job too and do both, but that doesn't sound very appealing). Third, I can do the transcribing job wherever and pretty much whenever I want, but the bus driving will have a set schedule and will require commuting (because I have the least seniority, I will most likely be stuck with the night shifts that nobody else wants which is a double-whammy because not only am I not much of a night owl, but it also means that I can't take the bus to work because I would have no way of getting home).
But the bus driving job also offers lots of really appealing things that the transcribing job does not. For one thing, I don't get to drive a bus at my transcribing job, also the town of Vail is paying for the training for me to get my CDL. Second, the transcribing job is tedious and pretty boring and requires a lot of self-discipline to sit down and make yourself do all the hours you are supposed to do, but being a bus driver is more the kind of job that you come, do your time, and punch out and you're done. There's none of the stress of keeping yourself from getting distracted and keeping track of how many hours you have actually worked, etc. Third, there is less risk of making mistakes and feeling stupid; with transcribing sometimes I code things incorrectly and I feel like an idiot, but with driving a bus I think there are fewer things to mess up. Fourth, being a bus driver is a more social job than transcribing which is best done in a quiet, distraction-free environment with headphones, very anti-social. Fifth, I will have plenty of time to ski this winter.
So I realize that it isn't a very lofty or glorious job or anything, and I also realize that I didn't need to get a college degree to do it, but I am really excited about it! It will only last through April and then I will be off to do grander things. But I thought that if I were ever to realize my life-long dream of being a bus driver, this is about the best time ever to do it because if I don't do it now, then I will probably have to wait until I am old, retired, and senile before I can do it again.
The next logical step in my bus-driving career will probably be Figure-8 Schoolbus Racing like this:
Saturday Morning
Here is one reason why living in my grandma's basement is not so otimo:
The Scene: It's saturday morning, I got home a little bit late last night, the noisy furnace woke me up around 3am and I couldn't fall back asleep until around 5:00 AM. Now I'm sleeping like a log, or perhaps like a rock; I'm sleeping like the dead; I'm sleeping like a baby; heck, maybe I'm sleeping like a dead baby on a log under a rock... I'm sleeping really well.
8:00 AM rolls around and Grandma yells down to me, "DUSTIN!" startling me awake and out of my lovely well-earned slumber.
Dazed and confused, I yell back, "YEAH?!"
Grandma replies, "ARE YOU AWAKE?!" In my head I'm thinking two things; 1) "No, I'm asleep, I yelled back to you unconsciously just then." and 2) "Well, I wasn't a few seconds ago, but thanks to you I am now!"
I am thinking these things, but all I say back is, "... KIND OF!"
She then goes on muttering something like, "Oh, I wasn't sure if you were home or not... yadda yadda yadda."
Now I'm thinking, "well, one clue that I'm home is that my car is back in front of the house... and my bicycle is also still here... and you probably would have heard me get up and take a shower if I were awake already..." And then I lie there in bed awake and annoyed for a few minutes until I realize that going back to sleep will no longer be a possibility for me, so I get out of bed.
This is only a few minutes after she asked me if I am awake, she then yells, "ARE YOU IN THE SHOWER?!"
Now I'm thinking, "do you hear the shower running? The answer is no." I say, "NO!" She then calls me upstairs because she has to tell me something important before she has to go to wherever she's going. The important news is: "Here is my brother's email address. Please email him today to ask about wedding pictures because he says that the pictures they took turned out well." She then proceeds to try to explain to me that I can print them out, and how she can't get the pictures because she doesn't have email and how her brother already sent them to her other sister and so on and so forth... Grandma, I understand.
That's what my saturday mornings are like these days. I guess it's just as well though because I have sooo much to do today I probably didn't have time to sleep in anyway...
Speaking of working on the weekends, here's a fun little french song by Pink Martini called Sympathique which I think means something like "nice." One of the lines in the song goes, "je ne veux pas travailler" which I think means, "I don't want to work." I agree!
The Scene: It's saturday morning, I got home a little bit late last night, the noisy furnace woke me up around 3am and I couldn't fall back asleep until around 5:00 AM. Now I'm sleeping like a log, or perhaps like a rock; I'm sleeping like the dead; I'm sleeping like a baby; heck, maybe I'm sleeping like a dead baby on a log under a rock... I'm sleeping really well.
8:00 AM rolls around and Grandma yells down to me, "DUSTIN!" startling me awake and out of my lovely well-earned slumber.
Dazed and confused, I yell back, "YEAH?!"
Grandma replies, "ARE YOU AWAKE?!" In my head I'm thinking two things; 1) "No, I'm asleep, I yelled back to you unconsciously just then." and 2) "Well, I wasn't a few seconds ago, but thanks to you I am now!"
I am thinking these things, but all I say back is, "... KIND OF!"
She then goes on muttering something like, "Oh, I wasn't sure if you were home or not... yadda yadda yadda."
Now I'm thinking, "well, one clue that I'm home is that my car is back in front of the house... and my bicycle is also still here... and you probably would have heard me get up and take a shower if I were awake already..." And then I lie there in bed awake and annoyed for a few minutes until I realize that going back to sleep will no longer be a possibility for me, so I get out of bed.
This is only a few minutes after she asked me if I am awake, she then yells, "ARE YOU IN THE SHOWER?!"
Now I'm thinking, "do you hear the shower running? The answer is no." I say, "NO!" She then calls me upstairs because she has to tell me something important before she has to go to wherever she's going. The important news is: "Here is my brother's email address. Please email him today to ask about wedding pictures because he says that the pictures they took turned out well." She then proceeds to try to explain to me that I can print them out, and how she can't get the pictures because she doesn't have email and how her brother already sent them to her other sister and so on and so forth... Grandma, I understand.
That's what my saturday mornings are like these days. I guess it's just as well though because I have sooo much to do today I probably didn't have time to sleep in anyway...
Speaking of working on the weekends, here's a fun little french song by Pink Martini called Sympathique which I think means something like "nice." One of the lines in the song goes, "je ne veux pas travailler" which I think means, "I don't want to work." I agree!
11.09.2006
Elections
After I took my absentee ballot to the county clerk yesterday I suddenly became much more interested in the election. On a scale of 1 to 10, my interest in the election prior to yesterday was probably only a 4.8, but after handing in my ballot it jumped to probably a 7.3. I was not very passionate about any of the issues, or even any of the candidates, but rather had a broader interest in arresting control of the government away from the GOP and seeing the advancement of progressive social issues. So far it looks like the elections have been satisfying in some areas, and not so satisfying in others.
First, the good news.
And now for the less-good news
I guess that's it. Overall I think it was a pretty successful election even if Colorado was still a little to conservative for my taste. I also wish people were as concerned about climate change and what to do about it as they are about Iraq. I'm also still a little bit jaded about the American political system in general and think that a two-party system is simply not adequate and that we would be much better off with a multi-party system, but that's a rant for another day...
Today's video is of Marilyn Musgrave:
First, the good news.
- The biggest news is that the Democrats took over control of congress by a large margin in the House and by the skin of their teeth in the Senate. There are lots of reasons why this is good news.
- Bill Ritter (D) won the governor's seat, soundly beating Bob Beauprez (R), ending 8 years with republican governor Bill Owens who I have not been a fan of (I guess we like to have governors named Bill here in Colorado). For the first time in 12 years there are more Democratic governors than republican ones.
- Ed Perlmutter (D) won Colorado's 7th congressional district, adding a democrat to the House.
- Democratic incumbents Mark Udall, Diana DeGette, and Ken Salazar all won their districts.
- Minnesota elected a Muslim to the House. I really like that.
- Boulder showed support for doing something about global warming and climate change by voting yes on Question 202 which will allow for an additional tax on energy bills with the money going towards funding programs meant to help Boulder meet Kyoto Protocol pollution emissions standards. While this is a step in the right direction, I think that this should be a much bigger issue. I'm glad that issues like Iraq and corruption got people out to vote for the Democrats, but in my opinion global warming is a far, far more important issue than either of these things and it should be a major issue at all levels of government, not just at the municipal level here in Boulder. Iraq, same-sex marriage, abortion, marijuana, immigration, corruption, minimum wage... none of them are as important as global warming in my opinion.
And now for the less-good news
- In Colorado, Referendum I ensuring equal rights for same-sex couples appears to have failed while Amendment 43 defining marriage as that between only a man and a woman seems to have passed. I'm not very passionate about this issue, but I would have liked to see it pass just because Colorado is usually so conservative and it would have been good to see us pass something progressive like this.
- Amendment 44 which would have legalized possession of Marijuana for people over 21 also failed. Again, I don't really care about this issue, but it would have been neat to see Colorado pass progressive legislation like this.
- While Colorado did add one democrat to the house, it failed to add three more. Democrats lost to republicans in 3 of the 7 congressional districts. This was to be expected though as those districts are heavily republican, and really that we even added one is good news, but still I would have liked to see more. Of those losses, I am most bothered by Marilyn Musgrave (R) winning her district because she is wacko.
- Denver had huge problems with their new electronic voting systems, but on the other side of the coin these problems were partially due to unexpectedly high voter turn-out.
I guess that's it. Overall I think it was a pretty successful election even if Colorado was still a little to conservative for my taste. I also wish people were as concerned about climate change and what to do about it as they are about Iraq. I'm also still a little bit jaded about the American political system in general and think that a two-party system is simply not adequate and that we would be much better off with a multi-party system, but that's a rant for another day...
Today's video is of Marilyn Musgrave:
11.07.2006
Baltimore Wedding
I flew to Baltimore this past weekend for my uncle's wedding. It was a pretty good wedding, definitely the best wedding I've been to in at least the last ten years. The ceremony was in a Catholic church not far from the hotel that everyone was staying in. I'm not much of a church-goer, so that wasn't really my favorite part, but the reception that followed was really great. It was held in an old warehouse which has been converted into someone's home that they rent out for events like this. There was an eclectic mix of people in attendance and the DJ was playing some good music. The toast was accompanied not by champagne, but rather by a strong Scandanavian alcohol similar to Vodka called Aquavit. Everyone was warned that this particular beverage should be gulped, not sipped, because if you take just a sip you won't take a second. It was funny to see my grandma slamming back a shot of hard alcohol and then to hear half the people there coughing and hacking after they took their shot. Apparently this is now going to be a Swanson family tradition, unfortunately I don't think there will be any more Swanson weddings for some time still (I guess that since I am the oldest of the next generation of Swansons that I would be expected to get married next, but I'm pretty sure either my sister or one of my cousins will beat me to it).
At the reception there was an official photographer who must have taken about a million pictures, most of which I think were actually shot in 3-D, so that will be cool to see how those turn out. There was also someone taking Polaroid pictures for the guest book. My mother and my sister and I were wearing nearly-matching colors and we were quite a handsome trio if I do say so myself. Our first Polaroid didn't turn out very well though, so we stole it and had them take another which turned out much better. Here's the first botched one though. I didn't like it because I look drunk, but I think I might have just been mid-blink. Anyway, you can see how good we looked.
After the reception we could have gone to a local bar to listen to some music, but I was too exhausted and I fell asleep for 12 hours instead. The next day everyone went to the American Visionary Art Museum, a museum exhibiting works of art by untrained or self-taught artists, many of whom created their art while they were living in mental institutions, for example. It was pretty interesting and there were some pretty neat things there. But after that, it was time for several of us to go to the airport to catch our planes back to Denver, so we walked back to where the rental car was parked only to find that it had been towed. Apparently there was some sort of sporting event going on in Baltimore that day and the parking rules are different for game days. So with some teamwork we found out where it had been towed to, drove there even though none of us really knew our way around Baltimore that well, payed the $278 + $15 credit-card-fee, and sped to the airport to catch our planes. It was a stressful time to say the least.
Overall it was a pretty good weekend though, despite the towing incident. I am finding that the older I get the more I enjoy hanging out with my extended family for some reason. Really I have a pretty fun/cool/funny family. It was good to see everyone and weddings are almost always fun anyway. Also, Baltimore seems pretty neat, although it's hard to really get a good impression of a city when you are there for little more than a day and a half and don't really go to many places. On our trip to the museum we did spend some time driving around both because we took a big wrong turn and also because we couldn't find a parking spot. While many people would find this frustrating, I enjoyed it because I got to see a bit more of the city that way. Baltimore has lots of cute row houses and old neighborhoods with narrow little streets that make for lots of character. I loved them! I think Seattle is still safely in the #1 position as my favorite US city though.
So yeah, that was my trip to Baltimore. It was fun.
Today's video is a song by Lilly Allen that the DJ played at the reception. I'm not going to describe it because she spends the first 30 seconds of the video doing just that. She is a year younger than me and is from about the same part of London as Lady Sovereign. If you despise Lady Sovereign, you might actually like Lilly Allen, but then again, you might not; no promises. And if you get halfway through the video and still don't like it, go ahead and stop watching it because there aren't going to be any surprises later on, I can tell you that much.
At the reception there was an official photographer who must have taken about a million pictures, most of which I think were actually shot in 3-D, so that will be cool to see how those turn out. There was also someone taking Polaroid pictures for the guest book. My mother and my sister and I were wearing nearly-matching colors and we were quite a handsome trio if I do say so myself. Our first Polaroid didn't turn out very well though, so we stole it and had them take another which turned out much better. Here's the first botched one though. I didn't like it because I look drunk, but I think I might have just been mid-blink. Anyway, you can see how good we looked.
After the reception we could have gone to a local bar to listen to some music, but I was too exhausted and I fell asleep for 12 hours instead. The next day everyone went to the American Visionary Art Museum, a museum exhibiting works of art by untrained or self-taught artists, many of whom created their art while they were living in mental institutions, for example. It was pretty interesting and there were some pretty neat things there. But after that, it was time for several of us to go to the airport to catch our planes back to Denver, so we walked back to where the rental car was parked only to find that it had been towed. Apparently there was some sort of sporting event going on in Baltimore that day and the parking rules are different for game days. So with some teamwork we found out where it had been towed to, drove there even though none of us really knew our way around Baltimore that well, payed the $278 + $15 credit-card-fee, and sped to the airport to catch our planes. It was a stressful time to say the least.
Overall it was a pretty good weekend though, despite the towing incident. I am finding that the older I get the more I enjoy hanging out with my extended family for some reason. Really I have a pretty fun/cool/funny family. It was good to see everyone and weddings are almost always fun anyway. Also, Baltimore seems pretty neat, although it's hard to really get a good impression of a city when you are there for little more than a day and a half and don't really go to many places. On our trip to the museum we did spend some time driving around both because we took a big wrong turn and also because we couldn't find a parking spot. While many people would find this frustrating, I enjoyed it because I got to see a bit more of the city that way. Baltimore has lots of cute row houses and old neighborhoods with narrow little streets that make for lots of character. I loved them! I think Seattle is still safely in the #1 position as my favorite US city though.
So yeah, that was my trip to Baltimore. It was fun.
Today's video is a song by Lilly Allen that the DJ played at the reception. I'm not going to describe it because she spends the first 30 seconds of the video doing just that. She is a year younger than me and is from about the same part of London as Lady Sovereign. If you despise Lady Sovereign, you might actually like Lilly Allen, but then again, you might not; no promises. And if you get halfway through the video and still don't like it, go ahead and stop watching it because there aren't going to be any surprises later on, I can tell you that much.
11.02.2006
You did WHAT?!
I don't really understand the American public. First they elect Bush the first time 'round back in 2000. Then for some reason they re-elected him in 2004. And now, since gas prices have receded a few dimes per gallon over the past month or so, Americans have rushed to car dealers in droves to snatch up their big, lumbering, gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, with their sales in the month of October "doubling from the year before in some cases (Fortune Magazine, "American car buyers get a case of amnesia")." According to the article, not only did sales of large trucks and SUVs increase dramatically this past month, but sales of hybrid vehicles actually declined. This is kind of disturbing news for me
Firstly, from most of the things I have read about gas prices, higher gas prices are likely to become the norm rather than the exception. As oil field reserves around the world peak, oil production (and consequently gasoline production) is stretched to its limits, and as global demand continues to rise, prices will naturally continue to rise. And so any recent drop in gas prices is probably temporary and we will probably see $3 gas again soon enough. Interestingly, by buying these fuel-inefficient vehicles consumers will help to drive demand back up which will probably help to send prices back up to where they were, and higher.
Secondly, Bush is right when he says that American dependence on foreign oil is bad. The combination of our voracious appetite for oil and relatively high international oil prices contributes to volatility in the international system. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, for example, would not be in the position of power and influence that he is if it weren't for all the money Venezuela is making from high-priced oil exports to the US. I don't think Hugo Chavez is really very dangerous for the United States, but he is certainly one of the most vocal and charismatic champions of the anti-American sentiment around the world.
Along this same point, but perhaps more crucial, is the relationship between US demand for oil, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. When I first heard the argument, "we are in Iraq because of oil," I thought it sounded like conspiracy theory. But in my political geography class last semester my teacher spent several class periods giving us a pretty sound explanation of why Iraq and our demand for oil are related. I am not capable of eloquently reproducing that argument here, but the basic jist of it is that Iraq and Iran have the fourth and third largest conventional oil reserves, respectively. By invading Afghanistan which has no real interest for the US other than a strategic location, and by invading Iraq which has large oil reserves but low production due to depleted infrastructure from international sanctions, the US is surrounding Iran.
I know, it sounds like total conspiracy theory, but I think it makes sense. Sure, the US rhetoric regarding all three of these countries has been mostly about security, humanitarian aid, terrorism, and those elusive weapons of mass destruction, but then you have to ask yourself, if it were really just about these things, then why did we go first to Iraq which appears to have been telling the truth when they said they didn't have WMDs (and it appears they didn't have any ties to Al Qaeda either), when North Korea on the other hand has been very clear about its intentions to build WMDs? Well, one possible factor is that North Korea doesn't have any oil. Or why don't we go into Sudan, a hotbed for international terrorists as well as the site of perhaps the worst current humanitarian disaster in the world (with the exception of Iraq, perhaps)? Well, Sudan doesn't have much oil either.
So why would the United States go to such great lengths to invade Iraq and surround Iran? Well, probably to help ensure cheap oil for the US so that Americans can drive their big trucks and SUVs. Until recently it was enough for the US to simply maintain their cozy relationship with Saudi Arabia, but in the face of rapidly increasing demand from countries like China and India, in combination with declining oil reserves, it's going to take a much more hands-on approach by the US to keep oil prices low. Of course, if we didn't USE so much of the stuff then this wouldn't be such a big problem for the US. But don't tell the US public this; instead let them keep driving their land yachts because they like to sit high off the road and have a commanding view of the vast American landscape...
Speaking of the landscape, that's the third reason why this news is so disturbing. You don't have to be a climatologist to be able to understand that global warming is real, is coming fast, is our fault, and will probably have disastrous consequences. In fact, you probably don't even need a high school diploma to be able to understand it. Sure, the movie The Day After Tomorrow had a lot of hyperbolic Hollywood entertainment packed into it, and global warming probably won't have quite such dramatic effects, but it still should have made people think. And then there was Al Gore's great movie An Inconvenient Truth, which I still think everyone in the world should see, that spelled it out clearly and accurately. Unfortunately that movie lacked the Hollywood action necessary to lure most American movie-goers. So if simple economics aren't enough, and international security isn't enough either, and not even saving the planet from an unprecedented climatic disaster is enough to make Americans drive more efficient cars, then I don't know what is.
Actually, it seems like simple economics is the most powerful tool here, it's just that as this article claims, Americans have amnesia, and they probably lack foresight too. If we could keep gas prices high enough long enough, maybe Americans would finally start to think differently. Or perhaps if they went high enough then alternative energy sources would become economically viable. So as much as I loved getting change back from my $20 on a full tank of gas a few years ago, I think that in the long run high gasoline prices are actually a great thing, but dang it America, why do you keep buying those gas-guzzlers?
I've heard all the reasons for why people claim to like these behemoths:
I love a rumblin' tumblin' gas-guzzlin' V8 engine as much as the next red-blooded American, but it's just irresponsible to drive those things all the time as a primary mode of transportation. I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Hopefully technology like that shown in this video can become mainstream:
At the bottom of that Fortune article, there is a link to another article about how obesity also increases fuel consumption. That's a rant for another day though...
Firstly, from most of the things I have read about gas prices, higher gas prices are likely to become the norm rather than the exception. As oil field reserves around the world peak, oil production (and consequently gasoline production) is stretched to its limits, and as global demand continues to rise, prices will naturally continue to rise. And so any recent drop in gas prices is probably temporary and we will probably see $3 gas again soon enough. Interestingly, by buying these fuel-inefficient vehicles consumers will help to drive demand back up which will probably help to send prices back up to where they were, and higher.
Secondly, Bush is right when he says that American dependence on foreign oil is bad. The combination of our voracious appetite for oil and relatively high international oil prices contributes to volatility in the international system. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, for example, would not be in the position of power and influence that he is if it weren't for all the money Venezuela is making from high-priced oil exports to the US. I don't think Hugo Chavez is really very dangerous for the United States, but he is certainly one of the most vocal and charismatic champions of the anti-American sentiment around the world.
Along this same point, but perhaps more crucial, is the relationship between US demand for oil, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. When I first heard the argument, "we are in Iraq because of oil," I thought it sounded like conspiracy theory. But in my political geography class last semester my teacher spent several class periods giving us a pretty sound explanation of why Iraq and our demand for oil are related. I am not capable of eloquently reproducing that argument here, but the basic jist of it is that Iraq and Iran have the fourth and third largest conventional oil reserves, respectively. By invading Afghanistan which has no real interest for the US other than a strategic location, and by invading Iraq which has large oil reserves but low production due to depleted infrastructure from international sanctions, the US is surrounding Iran.
I know, it sounds like total conspiracy theory, but I think it makes sense. Sure, the US rhetoric regarding all three of these countries has been mostly about security, humanitarian aid, terrorism, and those elusive weapons of mass destruction, but then you have to ask yourself, if it were really just about these things, then why did we go first to Iraq which appears to have been telling the truth when they said they didn't have WMDs (and it appears they didn't have any ties to Al Qaeda either), when North Korea on the other hand has been very clear about its intentions to build WMDs? Well, one possible factor is that North Korea doesn't have any oil. Or why don't we go into Sudan, a hotbed for international terrorists as well as the site of perhaps the worst current humanitarian disaster in the world (with the exception of Iraq, perhaps)? Well, Sudan doesn't have much oil either.
So why would the United States go to such great lengths to invade Iraq and surround Iran? Well, probably to help ensure cheap oil for the US so that Americans can drive their big trucks and SUVs. Until recently it was enough for the US to simply maintain their cozy relationship with Saudi Arabia, but in the face of rapidly increasing demand from countries like China and India, in combination with declining oil reserves, it's going to take a much more hands-on approach by the US to keep oil prices low. Of course, if we didn't USE so much of the stuff then this wouldn't be such a big problem for the US. But don't tell the US public this; instead let them keep driving their land yachts because they like to sit high off the road and have a commanding view of the vast American landscape...
Speaking of the landscape, that's the third reason why this news is so disturbing. You don't have to be a climatologist to be able to understand that global warming is real, is coming fast, is our fault, and will probably have disastrous consequences. In fact, you probably don't even need a high school diploma to be able to understand it. Sure, the movie The Day After Tomorrow had a lot of hyperbolic Hollywood entertainment packed into it, and global warming probably won't have quite such dramatic effects, but it still should have made people think. And then there was Al Gore's great movie An Inconvenient Truth, which I still think everyone in the world should see, that spelled it out clearly and accurately. Unfortunately that movie lacked the Hollywood action necessary to lure most American movie-goers. So if simple economics aren't enough, and international security isn't enough either, and not even saving the planet from an unprecedented climatic disaster is enough to make Americans drive more efficient cars, then I don't know what is.
Actually, it seems like simple economics is the most powerful tool here, it's just that as this article claims, Americans have amnesia, and they probably lack foresight too. If we could keep gas prices high enough long enough, maybe Americans would finally start to think differently. Or perhaps if they went high enough then alternative energy sources would become economically viable. So as much as I loved getting change back from my $20 on a full tank of gas a few years ago, I think that in the long run high gasoline prices are actually a great thing, but dang it America, why do you keep buying those gas-guzzlers?
I've heard all the reasons for why people claim to like these behemoths:
- "I like to sit high so I can see over everyone" -- You wouldn't have to sit so high if everyone else didn't drive them too.
- "I like how safe I feel in a big vehicle" -- Big vehicles are more dangerous to other drivers, and most small cars these days are just as safe. Actually, because small cars handle better and are more maneuverable, in a way they are actually safer!
- "I need to be able to haul lots of _______" -- This is only true in a few cases, most of the time you just end up driving yourself and perhaps a passenger or two around town looking for a Starbucks and a gas station. When you do need to haul lots of passengers and their gear, just take two cars! And if you need it to haul around your large family, then that's a different problem because the world population is also getting too big and so you shouldn't even be having that many kids anyway, unless they're adopted I suppose. Also, while you are busy hauling all your stuff around in your big truck, I'll be hauling ass right past you in my speedy little Mini and I'll be getting over twice or perhaps even three times the fuel economy as you too.
- "I like how powerful they are" -- Whatever, trucks and SUVs are slow. Even the fastest ones are still not that fast by fast-car standards.
- "I like they way the drive" -- Again, you are wrong. They handle like mush.
I love a rumblin' tumblin' gas-guzzlin' V8 engine as much as the next red-blooded American, but it's just irresponsible to drive those things all the time as a primary mode of transportation. I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Hopefully technology like that shown in this video can become mainstream:
At the bottom of that Fortune article, there is a link to another article about how obesity also increases fuel consumption. That's a rant for another day though...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)