Category Archives: Personal Life

Magnetic Dogs

So I’m zooming down I-93 heading back from work and my wheel starts to vibrate. It’s noticable, so I slow down, roll up the windows and turn off the radio. I go a little further and then hear thum thum thum thum thum from the back of the car… damn. So I get off at the next exit and the thum thum thum is even louder, finding myself in the middle of nowhere, I look for the first public parking lot. When I finaly find it and get out, sure enough, my right rear tire is as flat as can be. The particularly annoying thing is that I had this tire repared (it was leaking slowly) just a month ago. So, out comes the spare, up goes the car, and I change the tire.

So, back on the highway, with my dinky little spare, I decide to stick to the right lane all the way home. And you know what? It was one of the most relaxing rides home I’ve had in a while. I’m sure the spacey music from Gyroscope on WERS helped, but, going at a slower pace was definitely a part of it. This all got me thinking about how I’m always rushing around. In terms of driving, I can understand rushing to work so as to not be late. But in coming home, I have no family to take care of, so what’s the rush?

But it’s about more than driving. I’m realizing that I’m rushing in all aspects of what I do…. eating, reading, walking, odds and ends. I think it is a part of my desire to be productive and accheive great things… sure that sounds corny, but I’ve come to realize that if I need / want to get something done, I have to do it. But perhaps I’ve taken this too far. Perhaps I’ve forgotten to slow down and enjoy getting it done, i.e. the means as well as the end.

Considering I’m going to have to wait X amount of months before receiving my Peace Corps assignment (up to 9 officially,) perhaps this is the time where I should start practicing my skills at slowing down a little (without losing my drive to be effective.) I’m not sure exactaly how to do this, and wondered if anyone has any little suggestions of things that keep them from rushing through something that could be great to savor. I’m reminded of a good relationship I had that took it’s good time to develop. Although I was a little younger and wanted things to move faster, the gradual development came to mean much more than any quick hookup could have. So, I’d like to translate my new effort to all aspects of my life.

And all this brought about by a flat tire.

He’s Back! Yeah

Hey, remember me?

It’s been a while and no good reason for it! I’ve been working on a project recently which was to build a computer. My mom’s laptop was really at the end of it’s rope, and it was time to find her a desktop replacement. I found this very cool little system called the ZPCgx by iWill, a Taiwanese company. It’s a desktop that is designed for laptop parts. That is, a laptop size hard drive and cd rom. The processor and memory are regular size, and graphics and audio is built into the motherboard.

On the front there are two USB ports and two Firewire ports. Also, there is audio in and out. The little notch you see in the front is the opening for the CD drive. On the back there are more USB ports, the monitor out, serial cable, etc. There is a small fan right below the circular opening at the top. The CPU is right below the fan. Then, there are small vents at each corner of the case so that air circulates throughout the whole case. The great part is that this thing is tiny: 7″ x 11″ x 3″ !

So I did some thrifty ebay shopping and now we’ve got a fully running system with: 2.4 GHz Pentium IV Processor – 40 GB 7200 RPM HD – 512 MB DDR SDRAM. Needless to say, coming from my old (but reliable!) Pentium II 400 with 256 MB of RAM, I’m jealous. But it was extremely fun, and at times a little frustrating, to piece together a system. I think that once I settle I’ll throw something together in a similar fashion.

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My job…. hey I have one. Actually it is perfect, if a little dull. I’m doing data entry (don’t vomit yet,) for a small sports photography company. Basically these are the people who photograph kids doing sports in grammar and middle school. I’m sure all of you have at least one plaque of yourself grinning foolishly with some type of ball or bat!! What I have to do is match up the handwritten orders with the proper photo. It’s not thinking work, but I have to be very accurate – wouldn’t want little Johnny to get his pictures back and wonder when the sex change happened.

It’s in Andover, MA, a cool town. Andover is home to the prestigious (in the Hersh sort of way) Philips Andover Academy – the kinda place many Trinity kids went to. It’s pretty classy. Nice main street with stores and beautiful public parks. So I take an hour for lunch every day and sample the food and enjoy sitting outside while I still can. Although I hope such activities do not represent the zenith of my working career, as do many others (i.e. those who paid for my education,) it’s good honest work and it’s satisfying to get a paycheck every week.

I’m loving it now although it gets dark too early. In the days it’s summery hot, and then in the night decidedly autumnal. The crickets still chirp outside my window, though perhaps a bit less loud, and the breezes can waft through open windows while I sleep. I saw a house today with halloween decorations up… seems like someone was eager to decorate, maybe they’ve been watching too much Bravo.

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Speaking of TV, I have a few new favorites. The Daily Show continues to be good, Stephen Colbert still obviously the king of the correspondents. A tall lanky guy did a segment about Kerry choking last night and was very un-funny. Another treat is on weeknights on the Sundance channel. For about an hour and twenty minutes there is a “best of” the day’s Al Franken Show from Air America Radio.

Air America, if you don’t know, is a steadily growing liberal talk radio network. Al Franken kinda started it, and has a show in the afternoon. I really enjoy, though, Mike Malloy. He’s a firebrand for the left – sensible and vocal! You’ve got to love his liberal usage of the term, “Bush crime family…” If you haven’t given it a shot, check out http://www.airamericaradio.com/ today! Be forewarned though, the commercials are cheesy to the max factor – a blend of the usual awful radio spots and little plugs by interest groups. I’m very glad that this exists. One last good show that I’m into is Real Time with Bill Maher. Fridays on HBO – one hour of political discussion with smart guests from both the left and the right (but with a heavy left bent if you haven’t guessed…)

So I’m starting to feel that it’s fun to be political and well versed in what’s up in this country and world. I think that feeling has really spread recently. I wonder though how much of it will remain after election day. The indignation by members of the left is loud and clear, but maybe we’ve learned that we’ve got to prevent so as to avoid backtracking in the future. In that vein, I’ve volunteered to join the Kerry campaign and go canvass in New Hampshire this Saturday. I really can’t believe I’m doing this, because I’ve never officially done any political stuff, but NH is close and I’d like to see Kerry do as well as he can.

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I’ve had lots of random thoughts come and go, such as: “What is/was the longest pneumatic tube ever built?” – “You know those people who try to hard to act as if they are not trying to hard to be cool in an alternative sort of way?” – “I’m not a perfect perrrrrrrrrrrrrson.” – “Why not just take the bag off the little air freshener tree? Because you are a compulsive/neurotic freak, that’s why!” – and many others.

For now.

Sad, Shocking News

Those of you who live in the Boston area may have heard the story on the news about a teacher striking and killing a student who was walking to school. Well, I don’t watch the local news, and since I have been out of town for a few days, haven’t been reading the paper either. It turns out that the teacher is someone I know. In fact, I had her for a class in middle school. I found out about this after receiving a bulk email from a former high school classmate, who I wasn’t particularly close to. She was upset because she thought that our local news station, WBZ (CBS) 4 had really demonized the teacher unfairly.

I remember clearly the circumstances of me having this teacher. After a few hard unsuccessful weeks in Spanish class, I decided to quit (unlike me, I know,) and instead take a general reading/writing class. So I entered this class late, which, in middle school, is perhaps the greatest mortification. But it all turned out well, and this teacher came to be one of my favorites. Not only was she fun, but she was engaged with her students and always caring. In sum, a first rate teacher.

However, as I’ve done more digging, it turns out there is more to the story. When this accident occurred a few days ago, this teacher was driving to a school in Canton. I wondered why she was no longer in ***ton. Anyway, it turns out that she was asked to leave at the end of last year because of allegations made by a former student of hers. Although it’s nearly impossible to get any details on this, it seems that she took this troubled kid under her wing for counseling. When all was said and done, he was supposedly suicidal and she supposedly had sent him sexually inappropriate emails.

This revelation was, of course, shocking. Although I don’t have the facts, my first guess is that this teacher wanted to help a particularly disturbed kid, he didn’t improve, and ended up blaming her. The parents got involved, the story changed, things were made up, the kid got attention, and the teacher was fired.

So, at this point, my former classmate is asking that we write to WBZ4 giving testimonials about this teacher. I am willing to help in any way, however, I must have some more information before I proceed. I do know that this teacher would never maliciously run over a kid, but I’d like to know a little more about the circumstances surrounding her departure from my middle school.

Regardless, though, this is a shame. First there is this questionable action at one school and she’s forced to leave, then this. This was a quality teacher who perhaps got too involved (non-sexually) with a student. I wonder if this event has caused other teachers at my school to be more wary of acting as counselors to their students, even though we are always told that we can confide in our teachers.

So I’m going to try to get some more information, and if I feel she was innocent and that this accident was just that, then I will certainly write and speak in her favor.

Greek Wedding

Back from a great time in New Jersey. A cousin of mine got married yesterday so I got to see the whole of that side of the family. Interesting thing is that my cousin had to convert to the Greek Orthodox church in order to marry this guy! Normally I’d be wary of that, but her husband is a really worthy guy.

So the ceremony was at a Greek Orthodox church and was, in my opinion, very regimental and not so warm. Also my whole family picked up on the strong patriarchical overtones present in the service. The one thing that really annoyed me, though, was when the bride and groom were introduced later that night at the function place, they were introduced as “Mr. and Mrs. [Guy’s First Name] [Last Name] That struck me as rather old fashioned.

Nonetheless the party was great – and I got to dance with all three of my cousins, my aunt, sister, and anyone else willing. Plus there was an open bar and a guy who would circulate taking drink orders. All in all a great party. I guess I get some of my party genes from this side of the family!

In other news, I begin a temporary job I’ve secured for myself tomorrow. It seems pretty straightforward, based on the interview. I’ll be entering handwritten photograph order information into a software system used by the company. It’s certainly not brain surgery, but it’ll help me get out of the house for a few days each week. Hopefully there are no giant curve balls here. It’s in Andover, so I’ll also have the opportunity to explore a new town.

If I do get accepted by the PC I’m def going to need an MP3 player… else I’d go crazy. So, does anyone have some firsthand experiences with these. I’ve been holding out for a while, and I know there are tons of products on the market. I’m especially interested in the Creative Zen – which I think is a relatively new player. Any help would be appreciated! Anyway, wish me luck tomorrow so that I don’t crash their entire computer network or anything else bad like that…

For now.

Discover Your True Self!

Take this quiz!

eXpressive: 6/10
Practical: 4/10
Physical: 5/10
Giver: 4/10

You are a XSYT–Expressive Sentimental Physical Taker. This makes you a Firebrand.

You are volatile, sexy and sexually driven. You’re magnetic and fascinating, but you don’t really enjoy playing the field — it makes you nervous and preys on your insecurites. But when you fall for someone you fall hard.

You tend to over-analyze things, so the slightest comment or action from your significant other can send you into a tailspin. You crave attention and validation from your loved ones, so if your friends don’t like your partner or your partner doesn’t like your friends it makes you suffer. Unfortunately the two are often in conflict — you have excellent insight with your friends, but in a relationship you are blind. Trust your friends!

You blow hot and cold, with big highs and big lows. This makes the bad times very bad but the good times very good, so you tend to stay in a problem relationship much longer than you should. But when a relationship fails, you hold a grudge. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but make sure your grudge doesn’t cloud your vision the other way!

What would help you most in your relationships is confidence. You need someone who can help you feel good about yourself and not worse.

You can be needy and jealous. Fortunately you are cute as hell.

Of the 47538 people who have taken this quiz, 6 % are this type.