Another New Beginning

Sorry for the gap in posts, friends. Unfortunately, I have had some events transpire recently that have taken a great toll on my stress level and have thus dissuaded e from blogging. However, I finally now have the time, patience, and will to explain it all.

I have officially moved into my dorm! Moved BACK into, that is. At 8 am I have my first class of 2010. 8 am sucks. The class is CS140: Intro to Computers. I'll likely die of boredom daily.

In another sense, I find a new beginning in my lack of having a car. On Thursday night, I had a wonderful incident in the snow. Upon sliding slightly to the left, easing on the break and attempting to correct to the right, this happened: http://bit.ly/6ey8VF

My left forward tire decided NOT to turn right, instead staying pointed to the left. In doing so, my left-pointing wheel ripped the axle from the transmission. Essentially, the axle which connects my left forward wheel to a) the half-shaft and transmission (makes the car go vroom) and b) the axle which does the same for the right forward wheel) became disconnected.

This was not a happy experience for me, nor for my buddy Bryce, who was in the car with me. After a two hour wait for a tow truck (in -3 degree weather with a -17 degree wind chill), I was finally able to head home and "relax."

The next day, the car was given a repairs estimate at Sears Auto Center. The total cost of parts and labor would be about $650, but most likely more. There are two issues with this. First, I do not have $650 to throw on my car. Second, the car is maybe worth $500 tops. So, we called U-Pick-It, and they gave me a $220 check to take the car away.

Life, college, and work without my own personal transportation presents a large number of challenges. I just need to remember to be calm, prioritize, and let everything work out.

On another, happier note, I began stretching my ear piercings! This morning I was able to finish sliding in my 12 gauge u-rings. I think they look pretty rad. I don't have a picture and am, unfortunately, too lazy to take one.

I anticipated this post being much longer, whereas the past few days that I've not blogged have been quite eventful, but alas, here I am with nothing to say.

I almost forgot: I need a theme for Sundays! I have a good one. "Suck It Sunday." For Suck It Sunday, I'm going to have a shout-out to a person or group of people, (or any noun or group of nouns, really) that I think can suck it.

Today, I say to the Phelps family from Westboro Baptist Church: SUCK IT!

Proposition 8 was debated today in front of a U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The case is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The main premise here is that Proposition 8 (which, in California bans same-sex marriage) violates the 14th Amendment to equal protection under the law and due process. This is a large milestone in which I am pleased. Should this case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger make it to the Supreme Court, it is possible that the Supreme Court may rule that laws banning same-sex marriage (by states) are unconstitutional, and therein allowing same sex marriage nationwide!

Therefore, SUCK IT, Phelps family, you right-winged, brainwashed crackpots.

Also, I want to keep up with my etymology. Today's word is prioritize.

prioritize

v. to arrange or do in order of priority.

Interestingly enough, the use of the word prioritize was first documented in the 1972 Nixon-McGovern election. To look at the etymology, we must look at the stem: priority.

priority

n. the state or quality of being earlier in time or importance

from Middle Latin prioritas - fact or condition of being prior.

prior

adj. preceding in time or in order

from Latin pri - before.

That wasn't quite as interesting as I thought it'd be, but it was still fun. Etymology ftw!!1!

I'm done nerding out now. Goodnight.

Truly,

David

Wishful Wednesday

W is for wishful. Today, I'm wishful for warm weather. It's currently snowing at 18 degrees with a wind chill of 12. That really doesn't sound so bad, and it really ISN'T so bad. The real horrible part comes in that tomorrow, when I leave for work at 9 am, the temperature will be 4 degrees with a wind chill of -15. That's just not right.

I really hope my car starts in the morning. There's another wishful thought.

I'm really sick of the snow. It's still the first half of January, and since the beginning of December we've had so much snow that I'm sick of it until another year passes.

On another note, President Obama's approval rating was at a clear cut 50 percent, +/- 2 percent with 95 percent confidence. This pleases me. I hope the American public can see, by the time the next election rolls around, that we can't survive war and economic turmoil on "Change," hopes, and dreams.

Don't get me wrong, now. I'm not a right-wing, Bible-thumping ultra-conservative. I'm a Libertarian. Basically, this means that I advocate views from each side of the political spectrum. For most social issues, I am whole-heartedly liberal. For economic issues, I'm conservative. Gay marriage? Sure. Universal healthcare? No thanks.

My real issue with Obama is that he really seems to not have done anything. With one wave of his magic "Yes We Can"/Change wand, he should be able to repeal the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which discourages and prohibits gay men and women from serving in the military. If they do serve in the military, they're not allowed to say it, or they'll be discharged. With full Democratic control of Congress, this should be a breeze. Instead, he's focusing on a $1.2 trillion bailout plan, and a $900 billion healthcare plan.

Certainly I can't explicate all of my political beliefs in a day's blogging, but I do believe that venting is important, and that by venting I can feel better. And I do.

So lastly, I'm wishful that in my lifetime, the United States can elect a Libertarian president. For that matter, any third-party president would be a wonderful sight to see.

Wishful Wednesday should be good. Not sure what Thursday will be, but we'll see.

Truly,

David