Politics = Retarded

November 4th cannot come fast enough. Will everyone shut their mouth by then? Probably not, but maybe it will slow down some.

I realize now whenever politics are discussed, why I vote Republican. That is, for the simple fact, that a large majority of Democrats make these outlandish connections and conclusions (i.e. blanket statements) about anything you can imagine, when in reality, the true Democrat agenda should, I think, eliminate bias and grouping everyone into one category. Isn't that taking things by a "case by case" example that Democrats tout so proudly?

What sparked this? A blog I read, and the blog was talking about abortion. The author was pro-choice, very much so, but she went as far as to say that if a person votes for McCain, they don't care about women's health, or women at all for that matter. Stupid. Just because I vote for one candidate does NOT hands down make me an insensitive person who doesn't care about women's health.

What have I learned in the past 24 years of my life about politics? Mostly to go Republican, for the simple fact that it pisses Democrats off and that's good enough for me. I think Paul used the term DemoBRATS and that is clearly becoming the truth.

If someone can logically tell me that having a pro-life attitude makes you uncaring toward women, then maybe I'll change my mind. The simple fact is you can't make that connection.

Sources:

I'm quickly starting to dislike this woman

A little pregnant

Saturday Night Post

I haven't updated the Pokemon of the week in a very long time, so I fixed that tonight.

The leaves are starting to change here. For some reason, the tree in front of my neighbor's house turned a bright vibrant yellow, and all the leaves fell off this past week. The tree in front of my house is still green and hasn't even started to change yet.

Church was really amazing tonight. I feel like I'm growing a lot spiritually lately, or have been for the past few months. Doing the study through Matthew with Dan is really helping me a lot. I'm learning a lot about Jesus as a person, and really examining his life and his teaching style is helping me to learn about who he really was, and what his intentions were. It's pretty amazing, because you learn new things about him that you weren't always taught. One of the biggest suprises is that he had quite an attitude, and didn't put up with BS from anyone. Church tonight was amazing because at the end of the service, they played a choir version of Amazing Grace, and had actual people walk out on stage, one by one, with black posters. One one side was a problem, and the other side had what was happening now because of it. Some examples that stuck out to me were:

Side 1: "Our son was born deaf"
Side 2: "What a beautiful boy God blessed us with!"

Side 1: "Because of promiscuity I had two abortions"
Side 2: "God has forgiven and healed me - I now have twins"

Side 1: "I became a Christian at 59 years old"
Side 2: "Life is just beggining!"

Side 1: "We are barren"
Side 2: "We have adopted 5 amazing children"

Side 1: "My husband a three children were murdered on Christmas Eve"
Side 2: "I will see them again in Heaven!"

It was pretty powerful to see how God works in others. Those were just a few of the ones that stuck out to me.

I think this week at work will be pretty busy. I will be leaving for training in Germany October 25th, so I have a lot of things to do before I leave. This past week at work kicked my butt...to the point I was ready to just quit. Pretty much everything that could get messed up did, and the work kept piling on and on. E-mails flodding in with "I need" or "I'm requesting". I'm just going to take it one day at a time and keep doing the best I can. Wish me luck

Apathy and a Jacket

Apathy isn't really that great, but it's creeping in me pretty quickly. I can pinpoint a few reasons...but, that's neither here nor there.

Instead I want to talk about a new jacket I'm getting. I have a really nice, L.L. Bean jacket I use in the winter. I also have a fleece zip up that's good to use when it's chilly. I wanted an "intermediate" jacket that is good for the October / November weather. Actually, since I'm hot natured I can use it a long time. In California I found a really nice Northface jacket I wanted. It was the windwall 2, and it was $129. No thank you.

I decided to wait until I got back to Michigan, and saw it here. $129. No thank you. Ebay, yes please. Ebay had the jacket I wanted (it was a Windwall 1, not a Windwall 2) for $56 brand new. So I bought it and it shipped yesterday. So in about 3 more days I should have my new jacket.

I'm reading a book of short stories called "Pieces" right now edited by Steven Chbosky. That reminds me, I need to check on internet/cable options. I only want the internet. I've decided I can do away with cable TV. I don't think I've watched TV...in...weeks really. I watch more movies.

We'll see when this apathy thing goes away...it's a weird feeling to me.

A Bad Day Post

I used to care about politics. I used to think it mattered, and that it made a difference. This election year I am apathetic, and it's sad to say. I will vote, only so I can complain in 3 years if I feel like it, but not because I think it matters. I just don't care. I think things are screwed up right now, and I think any change will be a good one.

On that note, what makes me more apathetic is someone who sends political e-mails at work. These aren't the "joke" e-mails either, it's bashing one party or the other trying to push your own view. Work lately sucks enough as it is, and I don't really want political trash making it any worse.

On another note, please don't ask me to discuss politics with you, only to have you attack my view on certain issues, or give me the "you're ignorant" face if I don't share your point of view.

On one more not, today sucked if you can't tell already. It was just one of those days where you want to crawl under the covers and not come out until tomorrow.

On The Way To California...

I’m sitting here right now on an airplane, so I decided it’s a good time to do a blog post. The only catch is the lady in front of me decided she needed her seat reclined, so my arms are in a very uncomfortable position right now, so we will see how long I last. Alright, airports to me are one of the best places to observe. You can observe people, trends, and my personal favorite thing is to pick up on things you don’t normally question. So, for you now, my list of observations about airports in general.
• A luggage store in an airport. First of all, WHY? Why would a person buy luggage in an airport? I’m not talking about handbags or carryons either, I’m talking about I’m going to China for a month type luggage. The hardshell kind with wheels and locks. Call me crazy, but shouldn’t you have that sort of stuff before you travel? I would think so. The only reason I could come up with to have a luggaage store in an airport is it’s a good way to advertise, and it’s the store’s chance to have a showroom of sorts. I would imagine the stores themselves don’t have very much sales, but probably have a lot of online and catalague sales. I guess this gives them a good opportunity to show off their luggage, and they probably can sell it easier by showing people what’s wrong with their current luggage, and why they need new luggage. As for me, I like to travel as light as possible. This usually means an Adidas duffle bag for a long weekend trip, which is not checked, so my shoulder is in severe pain while walking from gate A23 to C16. That was an observation I made early this morning.
• Is it necssary to have a used needle disposal bin in the bathroom? I have never seen this before, and it was a little disturbing. Is this for herion addicts or diabetics? I know certain people have to take insulin shots, I have just never in my life seen a used needle disposal bin in a public restroom, let alone an airport restroom. If you’re a diabetic, do you worry about stuff like this, like where to dispose of your used needles? Do you buy a new needle all the time to shoot up with, or do you keep one nice “velvet touch” needle you clean off and use repeatedly? I hope I never get to be a diabetic.
• People’s faces in airports sometimes…just irk me. It’s not like a face you’d see in Meijer, or at work, but there’s this face people give you in an airport that bothers me. That’s vague, so let me explain. Before the plane boards, you always have the brillaint person who decides they’ll get up and go stand at the counter so they can be the first one on the plane. They stand up there for a good 20 minutes before boarding even begins. They stand there with a look on their face that says “I’m first…and you’re not…I’m on top of things”. Well, they’re really not on top of things because that’s stupid, and I’ll tell you why that’s stupid. Those people, the ones you HAVE to be first on the plane 90% of the time have an aisle seat. So, congratulations, you get your seat first but you have to get up to let the middle person, and the window seat person in. That’s dumb. I enjoy being the window seat person so they have to get up again.
• Smells. This trip so far, has been full of smells, bad ones. The lady right next to me now smells horrid. It’s a smell that comes, and goes. I can’t tell if she’s farting, or if it’s a random smell the comes out every now and then, but it stinks and I don’t like it. My other plane smelled like old cologne.
My arms are starting to cramp now. Actually it’s my wrists. I will end this for now. I bet there will be more observations to make note of, but that’s all for now. I see mountains below, maybe we’re over Colorado?

I'm Out

I'm leaving to go to California tomorrow for 4 days, so I will be on hiatus until Wednesday!

Good Start

Today was a good day for a few key reasons:

1) I jumped a pay grade at work (a raise!)
2) I went to the dentist, and had no cavities
3) I got a free Starbucks coffee and coconut chocolate chip cookie at the dentist
4) I saw the Transformers movie

I was greeted by someone this morning having a panic attack about what happened to the stock market last night. That is probably THE dumbest thing to worry about, in my opinion. Worrying, while not a good way to fix anything, will certainly not fix Wall Street. So I don't let it bother me. I think I pissed someone off by saying "It's not affecting my day to day routine, so it doesn't concern me". That might sound immature and brash, but honestly...does it? If what happens on Wall Street doesn't stop you from getting a paycheck and buying groceries or paying for shelter...what's the difference? All I know is I live happier not concerning myself with it, so I'm good.

While at the dentist, I saw Sarah Palin on TV. I like her. She expressed her view on a key issue, and said she was "unapologetic" about it. That was a nice way of telling people too bad if they didn't like it. I also like her because people seem to be picking on her for the dumbest things...and that gives her more credit in my book.

PS...why don't I see any dirt on Barak Obama on the magazines in the stores? So far all I see is McCain and Palin bashed for *gasp* having a pregnant teenage daughter!

Picture Post

Picture post! Ready, let's go.

This first set is of a Saturn I bought this past week. For $50. It runs, it drives, it looks ugly, it has 245,000 miles, and it's a piece of junk. It will have parts taken off that are worth money, and then sent to a car crusher. Yes, that is tape on the driver's seat.








Here's a picture of my chimney. It's damaged, and I want to fix it before winter. It looks simple enough actually. I climbed on the roof today and took a look, then made a trip to Home Depot and bought my supplies (after speaking with a worker about concrete patching). This should be do-able


I wore this shirt today, and it reminded me of this picture. This is Paul and I from 2005 doing Thermodynamics homework.

Yuck

You know those times when you are just in a disgusted attitude, about something you can't really pinpoint? I'm in one of those right now, and it's not just one thing I can point to, but a lot of little things. I'm really tired too, this week took it out of me.

I'll have something better to post tomorrow, it's actually a suprise so stay tuned!

Babysitting

You know what's really fun to wake up to at 5 AM on a Monday morning? A crate full of dog poop. First of all, this has nothing to do with Walter. Walter sleeps beside my bed in his tiny little bed, like a well behaved dog deserves to do. These dogs that were in crates, in my basement, are spawns of Satan. One really is, the other one is probably a deamon spawn. That's all I really want to say about them. I never knew I could despise an animal so much. Ok, I'll stop now.

I want to talk about movies. I was thinking today that there is not just ONE movie I like. I think I have a top 6 or 7, so I'm going to list them here. They're in no particular order, just movies that I would consider my favorite.

1) Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
2) American Beauty
3) Elizabethtown
4) The Fountain
5) The Rules of Attraction
6) Maria Full of Grace
7) Requiem For A Dream

If you're reading this, even if you're some random person from Latvia, take a second to add a comment and list your top movies.

My small group/Bible study has been going really well. There's only about 5 us each week, even though there's technically 8 of us in the group, but we're all in the same age group give or take 2-3 years and have a lot in common.

I'm certain now I'll be back in South Carolina for the Clemson vs. Duke Homecoming game on November 5th. Myself and two other people from work will be driving down for a short weekend, but it should be a lot of fun.

I have to go before I rip this dog's vocal chords out.

I Love Naomi

This is Naomi, and no matter how mad you get, you can't top her. I love it.

Grass

I have grass growing now! This is a momentous time for me. Since I've owned my house I've dealt with looking at dirt and weeds and random grass sprouts. Raking the lawn cleaned up a lot of dead grass. The front yard is finally growing. There are teeny tiny little sprouts coming up. I'm excited.

I did the back yard tonight. I finished raking it, then seeded it and fertilized it. Hopefully the resutls in the back will go well. I think we only have a few more weeks left until leaves start to fall so I'd like to get some grass before then.

Tonight I'm going to do research on grad schools. It is something I am considering, an MBA. I feel like I want to further myself and keep moving. I do NOT want to become stagnant and common place. I know now, if I'm not challenged my mind will rot. I need something to stimulate it, pretty much at all times. I hate not being productive with my mind.

Speaking of being productive, I think laughter is a good thing. Especially when you're on the edge of using language you normally wouldn't because a program is being retarded. For example, this afternoon I had a headache, and I was dimensioning a drawing. At times, the dimensions did not want to cooperate and it was getting rather frustrating. This went on and on, and I would simply recite to myself (maybe my lips even moved, I'm not sure) "NOOO stupid, that's NOT what I meant". Stupid refers to the computer by the way. This went on and on for a while, then one of those friendly little warning boxes with a red "x" popped up, and said:

"At this time, it is impossible to dimension the selected element"

Right. At this time it's impossible. First of all, nothing is impossible. Second of all, how is it impossilbe at this time? Will it be possible 5 minutes from now? Maybe. Yes, it will be possible. I know it's possible because I did it. But not before I did a print screen and taped the warning sign to my computer so I can remember how a little warning box can sound so stupid, but make you laugh.

What I Did This Weekend

- Ate deep dish pizza at Buddy's, one of the country's 10 best pizza places, according to Food Network
- Finished the 5th Harry Potter movie, now I anticipate #6 this November
- Helped Dan clean/organize his basement
- Helped Dan list a huge amount of stuff on eBay from his basement reorganization
- Went to church
- Went out with Gina to a Thai restaurant

I like that list format. It's easier to see what I actually DID do. It rained about 5 inches here this weekend, nonstop Saturday and Sunday so this was a perfect weekend for that work that makes you stay inside.

The Pokemon of the Week finally got updated! Suprise.

I Missed You

I heard someone talking about a blog today, and I realized I haven't posted on mine in such a long time, and that I missed it. So here I am.

Some interesting things have happened, like I thatched my lawn. Thatching is a technical term (I guess) for raking up dead grass clippings on the ground. The idea is that by raking up that dead grass, you expose the soil allowing new grass seed to be planted. So I planted grass seed as well, and fertilizer. I have such a tiny yard but it took up a good portion of the weekend.

Another interesting thing. I met a nice girl. A guy I work with who in a contractor for us pulled me aside last Monday and basically asked me if I would be interested in meeting his younger daughter. He said he doesn't play matchmaker, but he thought we'd be really good together. I went out with her this past Sunday and had a very good time. Her name is Gina, and she's very Italian. Very Italian. Almost like Marissa Tomei Italian, but not quite. My favorite thing about her was that she was very open and active and lively. There was no stupid dead silence or shyness. That is my biggest turn off - is shyness. I know the guy is supposed to "lead" but nothing annoys me more to than to hear "well whatever you feel like is fine" or "whatever you want to do is fine with me". You have an opinion, use it please.

Something else I did not realize, is that I am a good singer in Rock Band. I actually scored 98% and 99% on two songs. I originally did that as a joke, because let's face it, I DO like to annoy people and a good way to do that is speak, or sing. Singing works really well, especially to "Crush Crush Crush" by Paramore. That's a good one. When I say I'm a "good" singer though, I mean I can hit the key right, but the voice is awful. I don't think that's whats important for rock band though.

Yesterday was Grandma Hazel's birthday. Happy Birthday (late) Nana. I got to call her from work, but I didn't sing. As much as the Chinese people who sit behind me annoy me, I didn't want to sing out loud.

That's a good point, let's talk about those Chinese people that sit behind me. They annoy me. BADLY. In China, for some reason, they must teach people to eat in the most non-ettiquette way possible. This means slurping all your food as loud as you can, almost like sucking in a spaghetti noodle, but with rice and beef. Then (yes it's worse) they can't drink like a normal person. They have to slurp and sip very loudly. I bet you're thinking I'm prejudice or rude. Well I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Watch one of them eat and then come tell me you're not disgusted. So, what annoys me is having to sit behind them. Because they drink tea constantly, and sip loudly constantly, followed by "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" cough cough! I can't STAND it. Even with headphones in, I can still hear it. I called Jamie, our admin over to listen today. She heard it too and agreed it is horrible. She went as far as to say they need to be corrected, because while that behavior may be acceptable in China it's not here, and they need to stop. I think I agree. I think I will say something soon.

Back to Gina now. We're going to be going out again this weekend. I'm not sure which day yet, but I will call her tomorrow.

I'm going to California October 4 - October 7. I decided I wanted a vacation so I'm taking one. I'm going to Mountain View, south of San Fransisco to visit Jay. Hopefully I'll get to see Kiki while there too (I think so). I haven't been to California since 2001 so it will be nice to go back. The airfare was super cheap too so that's a plus. AND I get to change planes in Minneapolis. I've never been to Minnesota before, so that's another good thing. Now all I have left is Wisconsin, North Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii to complete.

I heard the book "The Catcher In The Rye" is supposed to change your life. It's a classic, and most people read it in High School or college, but I didn't so I felt cheated. Did I mention I have been doing a LOT of reading? I have. I really enjoy it a lot too. Catcher just didn't do much for me. It was about a kid named Holden who is being kicked out of a private prep school, and what he does in the 4 days between being kicked out and going back home to face his parents. He doesn't really do anything Earth shattering though, and it happens in the 1940's so it didn't do much for me. The book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" however did, and I recommend that book to anyone. It was amazing and I read it in 2 days because I couldn't put it down.

Walter is falling asleep and I'm ready to go to sleep now. Now that I'm all caught up I will be back more often, and not let the dirty habbit of not posting rear its ugly head again. Night!

1 Week and I'm Back

I haven't updated this in forever. I guess the last time I posted, I was about to go to South Carolina.

South Carolina was a lot of fun. This time it was a little more relaxed than last time, but it was still busy. I think I could always use one more day. Overall it was a lot of fun visiting family, seeing my dad turn 50, and going to Clemson with friends.

When I was leaving work Tuesday I was heading out and a guy I work with stopped me, and was asking me about one of my projects. Then, when I was about to leave he asked me if he could talk to me, about something personal. He said he wanted to go into a conference room. I got a little nervous, because I didn't think there was anything personal we would need to discuss. When he shut the door he was stuttering a little and said he didn't really know how to ask this, but he wanted to know if I had a girlfriend. I said no, and he asked me if I might be interested in meeting his daughter. He had talked to me about her before, but basically just told me about her. He gave me her phone number and told me to give her a call. I talked to her last night and she actually seemed really nice and friendly over the phone. We decided to go out on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's good if someone's dad recommends you...it's like you get the hard part out of the way first. So we'll see how it goes.

Dan went back to South Carolina with me, and he took back 3 tires for his Saturn since his were in bad shape. When we took the rear tire off we found this:

In case you didn't know, that's a stabilizer link. That's what I design at work. It looks pretty simple, doesn't it? It's pretty complex actually. Do you notice anything wrong with it? I'll give you a hint, the ballstud isn't supposed to be pulled out of the housing. That's bad. It's not safety critical, but you could tell a difference when you turn. Your car would roll more. So, that needs to be replaced. And to think...I write 14 pages thinking of every possible failure for a part like this...

Vacation

I'll be on vacation starting tomorrow until September 2nd. That means no posting during that time, unless I get bored while in South Carolina. I don't think that will happen though, because I never seem to have enough time there.

Bye!

Mail to ME Please

I'm declaring this week "send David mail week". I've been getting an awful lot of store advertisements and decided instead of that and bills, I'd like REAL hand written addressed letters and/or postcards from people. With real, peel and stick stamps (the lickable ones are OK too). So, can you make it happen?

If you're a complete stranger from some random place that reads this blog, I will be happy to give you my address in exchange for mail.

Thank you.

Good Sunday

I met a girl names Anna today, in the best way you can meet someone. More on that later.

I had a really nice weekend in general. Maybe the weekend was so good because last week at work was a bad start, but either way I'm very thankful for the past 2 days.

Yesterday I went to Lake St. Clair with some people from work. I haven't been on a boat in years. It was fun to go out into the lake and see what Michigan water was like. I got to swim, and I got some sun.

Today I slept a little later than planned. I was exhausted, so I missed church today. I went outside and did a little yardwork, and then went to the grocery store to get some things. After I got back and made something to eat, I laid down on the couch to read. I'm reading "The Catcher In The Rye" right now before we start the next bookclub book. I read for a little, then shut my eyes for about 15 minutes.

I decided I should take Walter to downtown Plymouth (about 1.5 miles from me). I walked there because it was nice out today and Walter needed to be worn out. I walked around the town square and got Walter some water from the Dairy King. I walked back to the square and thought this would be a perfect environment to meet someone in, just randomly in a park. Like a movie.

I sat on a bench and started to read my book. Walter laid down on the ground. I looked up and noticed a girl sitting on a blanket with a dog. She had a notebook and looked like she might have been sketching, or maybe writing. I glanced up every now and then, to see what she was doing. She looked like a beatnick, with bracelets and shorter hair. She had a nice smile. After watching her for a while, I decided she looked approachable so I walked over to her blanket and asked if it was ok for Walter to visit with her dog. She said sure, but her dog was old and sort of shy. So I just talked to her for a little bit, I think we started talking about dog stuff, like how old Walter was. She was nice, and could hold a conversation. Good. So, I decided I would go ahead and walk back. When I turned to leave she said "what book are you reading?". Interest! I turned back and told her, and then we started to talk about it, because she had read it. I sat down on the grass beside her blanket and we just started talking about everything. She had a Bible on her blanket, and somehow we started to talk about religion and she goes to the church I do sometimes. We talked for a long time, about all sorts of things. She was as inquisitive as I am, if not more. I love that. She's a vegetarian. She goes to U of M Dearborn. She's the youngest of 4 children. She grew up in Canton. She loves to travel. Her birthday is September 1st. She's going to Nebraska with family for her birthday. She has a dream to randomly take food from a stranger's plate, eat it, and run away. She's 3 years younger than me. I like her. She seems spontaneous and lively.

She perked up after a while and said she could really use some ice cream. I asked her if she wanted to walk and get some. We walked back to the Dairy King and got ice cream, and sat outside with our dogs talking more. I think our conversation mostly consisted of religion, about what we do in different situations. We walked more and more around downtown. She asked me what time it was and we realized we had been walking around for 3.5 hours. We decided to part ways. We exchanged e-mail addresses and said we'd go eat Indian food together sometime. It was really, really nice to meet someone like that. It's pretty easy to know right off the bat, or with a few sentences if you'll get along with someone.

So, I will e-mail her sometime this week and see if we can get together. But, just knowing there's someone out there like that is re-assuring. Being able to just talk to a stranger and hit it off like that is amazing.

It was a nice feeling.

Case of Mondays

I lost my temper at work today. I'll be honest, the "newness" has worn off after a little over a year now. I still like the job a lot, but the politics are a little clearer now. I'd say ignorance is bliss is a true saying, because once you learn more...you start to form an opinion on certain things. I felt like a ping pong ball today, being bounced between our manufacturing plant and the design center. Over something superficial and downright petty.

When I had enough, I raised my voice and told a few people I was pretty sure there are 3rd graders out there with more maturity, and I'm done dealing with petty garbage. I'm just ready for a vacation - or get away for a while because I want a break from some of this.

Anyway, I'm done with that for now. The weekend was really nice having mom and dad visit. I think we got a lot of great work done. They were also nice enough to get me a grill, a patio table with chairs, an area rug, and some yard tools for the garage. They were all very much appreciated. We landscaped the front and side of the house, and mom painted the living room and dining room. Saturday dad and I went to the Woodward Cruise, which is an event with around 1 million people (seriously) driving classic cars up and down Woodward Avenue from Detroit to Birmingham. It was really interesting to see all the people and all the cars.

I go to Subaru in Indiana Wednesday and Thursday this week. I'm looking forward to it actually. Getting out of the office for 1.5 days is what I'm looking forward to and dealing with a good customer is nice.

Oh, and another thing I just remembered. Tomorrow night I start going to a small group through church. I'm looking forward to doing that. It's a group of 6 guys, ages 21-28 who meet once a week to do a Bible study and hang out. I'm really hoping it will be a good opportunity and praying that it's a good group for me to fit into. I suppose I'll have more on that later.

This video is a good rendition of what my day was like.

Me

I was wondering how other people would describe me. You know when you hear someone talk about another person, and they describe them, or their personalities...what they like or dislike about them, etc. Tonight I went rock climbing with Paul from work and the phrase he used to describe me was "puppies and sunshine" and then his wife chimed in and said "and you fart rainbows". I thought that was interesting. I think people think I'm much more innocent than I really am.