The Mushroom Theory of Life

2006-02-16T23:47:00.000-05:00

2006-02-16T13:15:00.000-05:00

Yup. It's me again. Thanks to the anonymous poster that got me to dump what's in my head out here.

I'm at the office, just finished some work and now I have to wait for a student to come by so I can go over a paper with him. I actually think that being a TA is fun. I LIKE grading papers, I LIKE helping people out. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

Well, my dad had his operation. Triple bypass. The day before my birthday. He's doing alright, but he's better today because he had a pacemaker put in this morning. I talked to my mom and she said he is just glad all that business is done with. He might get out of the hospital Saturday or Sunday.

One real good thing about having that surgery right before my birthday was that I got to see my brother on my birthday for the first time in 17 years. He's 10 years older than me and went to college when I was 8. That's life. But it was really cool to see him.

Okay, so I think I have a new favorite food (sorry to change the subject). Gnocchi. It's potato pasta in little balls. Laura made it last night with a red wine reduction. It ROCKED. Ladies, the way to a man's heart is through little balls of potatoes.

The end.

2006-01-14T13:38:00.000-05:00

After looking at Chris Atkinson's (a buddy of mine from Texas)blog and seeing that he had me perma-linked on there I decided I should update my own blog (you should check his out, it's more up to date than mine and it's interesting to see what VW driving-Computer nerd-Right-wing-Texan has to say about the world).

SO what's new in my world? School is about to start again. School started the last time I blogged so I have about 4 months of catching up to do. Big things, christmas was fun, went to DC, Raleigh, and Snowmass, Colorado. Highlights included getting a DV Camcorder, and did lots of Skiing.

My dad had a heart attack at the end of thanksgiving, he's gonna have surgery sometime in the next couple of weeks. He keeps on having all kinds of different stuff done to get him ready. Next tuesday he is going to get an MRI on his heart and then prolly surgery about a week after that. I thought when you had a heart attack and needed open-heart surgery they pretty much did it right away, but apparently not -- seeing how it's been like two months. It's all kinda scary, but the upside it that I've been spending a lot more time in Raleigh.

Okay, so I really don't feel like finishing updating this right now. So if in three days I haven't gotten back to me, someone comment to me and tell me to get back at it because you are all SOOO interested in my life :).

2005-08-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

So, school started today. Yay. I'm a doctoral student now. HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But seriously. HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Okay, I'm done now. What's happened since june 21st? I got married, went honeymooning, moved into my new townhome worked (drank too much red bull) and partied WAY too much in blacksburg. And now it's OVER. I'm going to be on campus from 9-5 pretty much every day --- except on wednesday when I have to go to lab and DIG HOLES.

Yeah, so that's a good segue into this class that I'm taking. Soils and Hydrology. It's a senior level forestry class (yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm doctoring in foresty) and I have never taken anything like this in my LIFE! Yeah, so now I know another definition for horizon, it's the part of a cross section of soil where one layer ends and another begins. I now know that trees cannot absorb nitrogen from the air. I now know that water is it's most dense at 4 degrees celsius.

Yeah, I am in WAY over my head.

On top of all this I have this lab where we go out in the department's forest and dig holes... and I mean HOLES. Holes you can stand in, so you can see all the layers of dirt. Yeah.

But I can do it... I mean I am prepared. I have a degree in public administration. WTF!!!! I am in trouble!

Anyways. I'll stop this madness now. My neice's birthday is thursday :). She'll be five. She had a princess party on sunday, my brother said it was interesting, but bearable because they had beer and wine. I asked him if they really had beer and wine, kinda incredulously, and he said yeah and quickly told me that they went to one for another kid and they had vodka drinks. I guess drinking is the only way to survive kids birthday parties. Steve over at The Sneeze had a pretty good story about going to random kids birthday parties. Check it out.

I'll be blogging more now that I'll be on campus for 9 hours a day. Comment, I want to see if anyone is still reading me

2005-06-13T20:54:00.000-04:00

You can always depend on the kindness of strangers.....

"You can always depend on the kindness of strangers to hike up your spirits and shield you from danger" -The Simpsons A Streetcar Named Desire

That really held true for me last wednesday. I had quite a few car problems with Boris (that's what's I've decided to call any old car I ever own.... Boris the Voyage Puppy). All of the problems stemmed from the radiator, because the morons at lube time filled my overflow resevoir, which you're not supposed to do on my car. The second time my car messed up, the hose from the radiator to the overflow burst and caused one of the battery clamps to literally explode. Right after this happened, a Tyson (I will always buy their chicken now) feed truck pulled up behind me and the nice driver pushed my truck into the empty parking lot right off the ramp (Stranger 1). I walked to the nearest gas station... about 200 yards away and went looking for car repair stuff. Unfortunately, I had stumbled into the smallest gas station on earth and the lady in there asked me what I was looking for and I said "Car stuff" and she said "Well, if you've got a problem, I hope you can fixit with duck tape" (yes, she said "fixit" and "duck"). I grabbed a roll of "duck" tape and a new battery clamp, which they had one of and started wondering how I was going to get that clamp on the wire, seeing as how I had left blacksburg with no tools. Fortunately, the lady in the gas station was being hit on by a guy with a toolbox and he helped me out and got me on my way (Stranger 2).

Along I went and I slowed down to keep from overheating again... to about 50 mph and by this time I was on I-66. I decided to turn my flashers on (because it was dark) to alert other drivers to my speed. Then I got pulled over. APPARENTLY in VA it is illegal to ride with your flashers on (who'd know???). The cop informed me that my tags were expired and asked why I was driving with my "four-ways" on. I told him the whole story about the car problems and not getting the vehicle titled to me yet, I think he felt bad for me... driving the B2000... and told me that I had to park the car in burke and take the tags off of it until I could get the title and registration work done on it. And then he let me on my way (Stranger #3).

So, I made it to Burke okay... after 6 hours of driving from bburg. The next day, I decide that the first thing we should do is go get my title and registration thing taken care of. We go to the Fair Oaks DMV and since we went early, we only waited about 15 mins. We get up to the window and I start explaining that I need to get my title and registration done and whatnot and give her the form for the title and she asks to see my drivers license. So I hand her my debit card... and she looks at me funny. I laugh and look for my drivers license... my drivers license.... my driver's license?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Yeah, I had left it in the pocket of my pants from getting pulled over last night. But she told me that it was okay and went ahead and did my title AND registration right there (she wasn't supposed to do my registration then). I told her she was the coolest lady I had met all day (Stranger #4).

All in all it was a good weekend.. and Remember: "A stranger's just a friend you haven't met!!!!!"

Okay.......... so all that happened almost two weeks ago..... I started this post a week and a half ago.... and now, here I am, finishing it on June 21st at 10:18PM.... I am such a slacker!!! and by the way... HAPPY SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm in raleigh right now, leaving tomorrow morning at 8am to go up to Burke again... in the truck again.... to get married again........ errrrr I mean, wait.. for the first time. I've spent most of my time here either working on the truck or cleaning my room. But I did have a great time hanging out with Tim K and Matt Hawkins in Chapel Hill the other night. I have decided that I am going to go to chapel hill to drink from now on when I am around here. It is wayyyyy too much fun.

Cleaning my room was interesting. It took about 10 hours to clean the whole thing and throw out 5 bags of stuff. I had to decide what was really valuable to me. 3rd grade spelling test... not important.... third grade picture.... important. A lot of it was like that. And taking the time to look at everything... some of which I had forgotten I still had.... some of which I had kept and chose to forget I had.... some of which I probably should have gotten rid of a long time ago. It was very emotional for me. I probably spent about 5 of the 10 hours reminiscing. It was sort of a roller coaster of emotions, most of which I decided that I needed to move on from. It was a huge event for me.

The other thing was my car. My car has a lot of problems... but it is a good car... and I love my car (trying to build up some good "car-ma" get it.... kar ma.... huh?.... *sigh* my humor is wasted on you). I changed the spark plugs and wires (Cause I accidentally pulled one of the wires apart), cleaned the carbourator and found out why there was oil in the air filter.... the hose that goes from the engine to the carbourator was off and clogged... so the only place for the pressure to go from the engine was back to the air filter. So, problem solved there. But I'm still having oil pressure problems.... and I'm burning more oil than ever.... so anyone with any suggestions of what is wrong... let me know.

But... that's about it. I really need to go pack. I am packing for three different things at once, the wedding weekend, the cruise, and camping after the cruise. It should be interesting. :) Anyways, think of me at 4:30 Saturday if you're not there. (BTW.... I REALLY wish that more of you could have been invited or could have made it, We had a relatively small invite list and unfortunately we couldn't invite everyone we wanted to. But you'll all be in our thoughts and we hope that we are in yours!) Give us a call when we're back in blacksburg on the 7th of July. We'll be having a moving in/housewarming party REAL soon ;-).

Later

2005-06-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

June 1st. 24 Days until the wedding!

Increasingly, I have been having wedding-related dreams, but I guess that is to be expected.

So, I'm not working today because I'm sick. My throat hurts real bad and now my stomach hurts because I took some medicine on an empty tummy :(.

This two days unexpected off from work has afforded me lots of video game playing time, which is kinda good, because I want to finish doom 3 sometime soon. BTW, Doom 3 is the scariest game ever.

Not much to report here. The place is kinda a mess because of new roommates and wedding presents and stuff like that. So yeah, that's all.

Oh, check out this link. I think it's kinda a funny story about Red Bull... and you could prolly waste hours on that site reading all that funny stuff.

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000374.php

2005-05-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

Wow, now I'm the typical blogger. It's been sooooo long since I've posted. I took April off, get over it.

I'm sick today. I have some sorts of gastrointestinal thing going wrong. Needless to say, it's gross.

We were supposed to close on our house today, but something got messed up with the mortgage. They classified our townhome as something it's not, like a condo or something when they appraised it. So hopefully, things will get worked out, so we can close tomorrow or Thursday.

I'm graduating again. My parents are coming down thursday, but they might not stay for graduation because a friend of the family passed away today. I think they should go to the funeral, but I think they're going to come up for part of this weekend anyways.

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks, because I'm going to be staying in Blacksburg. It's so nice being here over breaks and summers because it's like you own the place. When people come back I alway feel like people are invading my territory.

I ordered groomsman gifts and I'm really excited about them. They shipped today and I think they should be here by Thursday. I got everyone the same thing, including Jenny. I really think that she'll like what I got her. I was reading her blog and I really hope that she (or you, if you're reading Jenny) doesn't feel like I think of her as one of the guys because I wanted her to be a groomsperson. I wanted her to be a groomsperson because she has meant and means so much to me in my life and I didn't think that an occasion like this would be the same without her. :) I'm getting all misty eyed.

Okie, I should go, we're watching Hudson Hawk. I've never seen it, but it's really wierd. I don't get it. :)

2005-03-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

So we've decided to stay in Blacksburg. So you can start calling me Dr. Freeman now.

But I didn't decide to post to tell you that, I decided to post to show you this And I really like Wendy's chili, too. Now I can ask for it with "extra fingers." Oooh oooh, or you can order it by the finger, like bourbon.

-Jimbo out

2005-03-23T09:55:00.000-05:00

Here's a neat little thing I found in Lindsay's blog. It looks like I'm almost done.

create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

2005-03-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

I hate little punk kids.

Over the past two days I have had as many encounters with kids who think they can do what they want and mouth off to whoever they want with no consequence. Why don't they realize that they're just trying to make them feel better about themselves by being smart to other people? And this doesn't get anyone anywhere?

Sometimes I fear having children.

2005-03-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

Wow, I have no idea what day it is today. I only slept for 4.5 hours because I ended up playing poker til 6:30 am... we played for 10 hours. Wow.

I'm so confuddled right now.

2005-03-08T17:13:00.000-05:00

This has been a great break. I had a great time in DC and got to see a friend that I hadn't seen in a couple of years (Hi Charlotte!). And yesterday was the most uber-productive day ever. I washed my car and cleaned the inside, mopped, cleaned the fridge, did my taxes and ran a couple other errands. Good day.

BTW.... I'm selling my car. So if you know of anyone that wants to buy a 2000 Mazda 626... let me know! I haven't decided a price yet, but it will prolly be between $6500 and $7500.

Oh! The best news of the week. I got into grad school! Again! At Virginia Tech! Again! In forestry! Not again. The sweet thing is the assistantship, good money + tuition and the academic fee.

Life is good :)

2005-02-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

Almost a month later, I post again.

I'm really just putting off doing work. I have checked out (not quit, just mentally checked out) of school because I HATE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. This is the most worthless major I have ever seen. I have not learned a single thing in this program that is applicable in the real world. My policy design class is going to be close... but other than that, this program has been pure theory, which I see as pointless. So my goal now is to just scrape by and graduate in may.

Laura heard from VT about grad school, she got in with a full ride. So now all we have to do is hear about maryland and then we'll know what is going on next year. Finally.

Check this website out make sure you have speakers on or headphones or something.

http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm

That's all for now, Jimbo out.

2005-01-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

I hate these medical bills. I curently have about $7000 in them dangled over my head and I got a new one today. Who knew this would be this hard. I coulda cut myself open and stuffed myself full of gauze for this much money.

The latest development is that to apply for the Montgomery County hospital charity thing, you have to first be denied for medicaid. So now I have to apply for medicaid just so I can be denied.

Lame.

2005-01-22T13:48:00.000-05:00

Wow, you people are sick! I've got Carly... whose IM name I don't even have... but she has mine and stalks me (stalker!) and Niki... who probably should really be working... both telling me that I need to update my blog....... SO HERE IT GOES... you sickos... :)

What's happening in the world of James...

Christmas came and went... it was a good time except for I didn't get to go home except for christmas eve through the day after christmas. I got an Ipod and an Albino Bowler Action Figure... don't ask. I got other stuff, including one of those bazillion-in-one nintendo things... that's all for christmas

I worked. A lot. I can't decide if it's been worth it to stay here and work over break. I spent a lot of money and don't know if I made that much. I think I did, but we'll see. Today we went to galax to peddle red bull to SAT takers, but Galax was a sheet of ice... so we just called it a day... grand total of people sampled: zero

It's snowing. End of story.

I saw a web photo album of one of the dudes in my scout troops' eagle ceremony. Congrats to him. He was like 12 when I left for college... I'm old. It was neat to see some of the people in the pictures.. especially Joey Cranford and Andrew Roe. I think Joey beat andrew up and stole all his hair and put it on his face. Joey looked like capitian caveman and andrew kinda looked like... well, my dad.

Petey hooked his x-box up to the internet... now he won't get sexed for at least another year. End of story.

I'm thinking of going to Raleigh to ask someone a question. I'd talk about it more, but then it prolly wouldn't be a suprise to them.

Dry skin sucks. I can't remember to put Cetaphil on it enough so it won't go away. This is the only real drawback to living in the mountians. I need moisture... I have soft, sensitive skin... now it looks like I have a peperroni farm on my arms and calves.

I need something to do for spring break. Taking suggestions.

Laura and I registered at hecht's. I think we're going to register more or move some of the stuff to amazon.com. We'd better do that soon.

Petey and I are now roommate-less. We're bored lots of the time, but we have a new favorite game... RBI baseball for nintendo. Challenge us... I dare you.

Okay, I think that's enough for now. I hear breakfast is ready... yes, it's 2pm. Let me know if I missed anything that you wanted to hear about... it's been too long since I've posted.

Thanks for reminding me carly and niki.

2004-11-17T11:38:00.000-05:00

I have ONE Virginia Tech vs. UVA student ticket for sale. Bidding Starts at $8. Please place bids in the comments section, along with some way for me to get in touch with you. Bidding will close at 5pm on Thanksgiving day.

I hope this works!

2004-11-07T22:59:00.000-05:00

Wow. I saw Team America today (ya know, the political satire from Trey Parker/Matt Stone) and it was funny as hell. It's kinda weird, but there's puppet sex, lots of gore, and one of the best soundtracks EVER (or at least a close second to the South Park soundtrack). All I can say now is.... AMERICA!!! FUCK YEAH!!!...

Fuck Yeah! By: Trey Parker
Ameri-caaaah... Ameri-caaaah....
America! (FUCK YEAH!) Comin' again to save the motherfuckin day, yeah!
America! (FUCK YEAH!) Freedom is the only way, yeah!
Terrorists, your game is through, `cause now you got to answer to...
America! (FUCK YEAH!) So lick my butt and suck on my balls!
America! (FUCK YEAH!) What-choo gonna do when we come for you, yeah?!
It's the dream that we all share... it's the home for tomorrow! (FUCK YEAH!)
McDonalds! (FUCK YEAH!)
Wal-Mart! (FUCK YEAH!)
The GAP! (FUCK YEAH!)
Base-ball! (FUCK YEAH!)
N-F-L! (FUCK YEAH!)
Rock and Roll! (FUCK YEAH!)
The In-ter-net! (FUCK YEAH!)
Sla-ver-y! (FUCK YEAH!)
Fuck yeah!
Star-bucks! (FUCK YEAH!)
Disney World! (FUCK YEAH!)
Porn-o! (FUCK YEAH!)
Val-i-um! (FUCK YEAH!)
Ree-boks! (FUCK YEAH!)
Fake Tits! (FUCK YEAH!)
Su-shi! (FUCK YEAH!)
Ta-co Bell! (FUCK YEAH!)
Ro-de-os! (FUCK YEAH!)
Bed Bath and Beyond (muffled, Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah?)
Lib-er-ty! (FUCK YEAH!)
White Slips! (FUCK YEAH!)
The Al-a-mo! (FUCK YEAH!)
Band-aids! (FUCK YEAH!)
Las Vegas! (FUCK YEAH!)
Christ-mas! (FUCK YEAH!)
Imm-i-grants! (FUCK YEAH!)
Pop-eye! (FUCK YEAH!)
Dem-o-crats! (FUCK YEAH!)
Re-pub-li-cans! (muffled, Fuck yeah. Yeah)
Sports-man-ship!
Books!

2004-11-03T14:04:00.000-05:00

Two extra tickets for this weekend's UNC/VT game available... get back to me if you want them.

2004-11-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

A pre-election article for you.... The only thing I hope for this election is that we know who our next President is on Wednesday. I don't think that our system or our nation can stand for a repeat of 2000

Charlie Reese writes for the Orlando Sentinel. He's a Conservative Republican who is anti-abortion, anti-tax-and-spend, loudly critical of legislation by the judiciary, doesn't think much of ulticulturalism or secularism, has suggested Clinton "turned the Oval Office into a whorehouse," thinks Ronald Reagan is the greatest thing to come down the pike since canned beer, and voted for Bush in the last election. So, take a look at his article which follows.

************

Vote For A Man, Not A Puppet
Orlando Sentinel
Charlie Reese

************

Americans should realize that if they vote for President Bush's re-election, they are really voting for the architects of war - Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and the rest of that cabal of neoconservative ideologues and their corporate backers. I have sadly come to the conclusion that President Bush is merely a front man, an empty suit, who is manipulated by the people in his administration. Bush has the most dangerously simplistic view of the world of any president in my memory.

It's no wonder the president avoids press conferences like the plague. Take away his cue cards and he can barely talk. Americans should be embarrassed that an Arab King (Abdullah of Jordan) spoke more fluently and articulately in English than our own President at their joint press conference recently.

John Kerry is at least an educated man, well-read, who knows how to think and who knows that the world is a great deal more complex than Bush's comic-book world of American heroes and foreign evildoers. It's unfortunate that in our poorly educated country, Kerry's very intelligence and refusal to adopt simplistic slogans might doom his presidential election efforts.

But Thomas Jefferson said it well, as he did so often, when he observed that people who expect to be ignorant and free expect what never was and never will be.

People who think of themselves as conservatives will really display their stupidity, as I did in the last election, by voting for Bush. Bush is as far from being a conservative as you can get. Well, he fooled me once, but he won't fool me twice.

It is not at all conservative to balloon government spending, to vastly increase the power of government, to show contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law, or to tell people that foreign outsourcing of American jobs is good for them, that giant fiscal and trade deficits don't matter, and that people should not know what their government is doing. Bush is the most prone-to-classify, the most secretive president in the 20th century. His administration leans dangerously toward the authoritarian.

It's no wonder that the Justice Department has convicted a few Arab-Americans of supporting terrorism. What would you do if you found yourself arrested and a federal prosecutor whispers in your ear that either you can plea-bargain this or the President will designate you an enemy combatant and you'll be held incommunicado for the duration ?

This election really is important, not only for domestic reasons, but because Bush's foreign policy has been a dangerous disaster. He's almost restarted the Cold War with Russia and the nuclear arms race. America is not only hated in the Middle East, but it has few friends anywhere in the world thanks to the arrogance and ineptness of the Bush administration.

Don't forget, a scientific poll of Europeans found us, Israel, North Korea and Iran as the greatest threats to world peace.

I will swallow a lot of petty policy differences with Kerry to get a man in the White House with brains enough not to blow up the world and us with it.

Go to Kerry's Web site (http://johnkerry.com) and read some of the magazine profiles on him. You'll find that there is a great deal more to Kerry than the GOP attack dogs would have you believe.

Besides, it would be fun to have a president who plays hockey, windsurfs, ride motorcycles, plays the guitar, writes poetry and speaks French. And . . it would be good to have a man in the White House who has killed people face to face. Killing people has a sobering effect on a man and dispels all illusions about war.

----------------------------------------------------------------

C 2004 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

2004-10-15T11:30:00.000-04:00

Who's blog has the coolest scroll bar in the world??? Mine does! Try scrolling!

2004-10-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

I've got nothin. So the best thing I could do for today is change one of the links on the right over there ------> to the sneeze. It's this dude steve's totally cool blog. Read today's entry.

2004-10-10T20:27:00.000-04:00

Come on tell me
Who loves the chocolate??

2004-10-10T20:09:00.000-04:00

Good Weekend

Friday night a few of us got together to watch the debate and do a little debate drinking. It was kinda rough because they started off by talking about weapons of mass destruction, which was 5 drinks for us a lot. I was very entertained when Bush stated that he, in fact, came up with the idea for the hydrogen automobile.

Saturday morning Laura and I ran down to Raleigh to say hello to the rents because I hadn't seen them since May (even though my mother would like to tell you that it's since easter). It was a good time just chillin with them. My parents had rented the two oddest movies -- walking tall, with the Rock and Johnny Knoxville and Mean Girls (which we watched), with the girl from Freaky Friday. Mean Girls was suprisingly good, but I'm still wondering why my parents got it.

Sunday we came back and poor Laura sounded like she was crying the whole time because she has a cold :-( .... that she got from the evil Lisa monster. It was a nice ride back, I got especially excited when a radio station was playing an entire spot devoted to the best of Dexy's Midnight Runners -- which, incedentally is one song -- Come on Eileen. Really good song, but I can never get it out of my head for some reason.

Woo... now it's time to lie down for a bit and chill. Hope everyone had a really good weekend too! Hope to hear about them!

2004-10-06T18:03:00.000-04:00

So, I'm not dead. Sorry to dissappoint the few of you who would rather have me done with.

The surgery went well, but I'm still not doing good sitting up for prolonged periods of time. So this will be short.

The one really cool thing is that I got glued back together instead of stitches.... kinda gross looking and kinda cool at the same time.

And thanks to all you well-wishers out there.... back to the couch.

2004-10-01T13:36:00.000-04:00

The ticket went to Matt Wade. Beat him up if you really want it.

Sorry!

2004-10-01T10:03:00.000-04:00

I have.... drumroll please....

ONE (1) Student ticket for the WVU game that I am going to sell for the face value, $7. The first person to comment will get it. Leave your phone number and I'll call you sometime later this morning.

Good luck.

2004-09-29T08:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, thanks for all of your input yesterday! Especially Renee, Dayne, and Josh (in the order they spoke to me). Your insights were helpful, but I have to admit that my decision was made based on this video that scared the crap out of me.

Watch it. You'll probably get why I want to be knocked out cold.

2004-09-28T18:28:00.000-04:00

A long forgotten site.... AIRTOONS!

"If you are seated next to a dwarf you may have to help him with his oxygen mask"

2004-09-28T08:14:00.000-04:00

Hernia surgery in 5 days. I've got a decision that I need help making.

General Anesthesia OR Local Anesthesia

Here are the pros and cons that I can think of for each.

Local

Pros:
- Cheaper
- Don't get knocked out, more lucid the rest of the day
- Zero Risk of Death

Cons:
-Might have to hear/see the surgery
-Might be able to feel them tugging on my insides
-Big Needle in my back (or so Jason says)

General

Pros:
-Don't feel a thing
-Don't have to hear/see surgery
-Extra Sleep
-Cool muscle relaxers before hand

Cons:
-Slight Risk of Death
-A lot more expensive
-Lucidity for the rest of the day is questionable

So, that's what I can think of. If you can think of any more pros or cons -- please let me know. At the least, let me hear a couple of your comments.

Thanks. Here's more info on the kind of repair I'm having -- the Plug and Patch Repair.

2004-09-26T17:29:00.000-04:00

So, the weekend was a pretty good one. I had to work during the game, but I hear it was a little frustrating, so I'm glad I missed this one. I don't know when the next football game I'll get to see is... probably FAMU.

The weekend was exhausting. Working yesterday wore me out and I only got 6 hours of sleep because it was an early shift... again. Went to Abby's for dinner (the restaurant on north main st.) and then Josh and I headed to TOTS, but didn't end up going because they were charging a cover (who wants to pay to drink overpried drinks? TOTS really isn't that special). We ended up going to Hokie House and saw a buncha people before leaving at 10:30 to go to the party out at buckshot. Nice party guys. I had a really good time out there. I hope that the pledges turn out to be as good as I think they are. Josh and I ended up staying up til about 5:30 because we were all kinds of wired. I wanted to go out and run around but we just ended up sitting up talking and playing video games.

I was up at 10:30 today and have been lying around ever since. I've got to rest up because I'm working at 5:30 in the friggin morning AGAIN!

So, back to resting now. Oh, and btw... thanks for all the comments. Keep em coming, it keeps me into posting and keeps you entertained (Right Zach?).

I promise more thought-provoking content next time.

7 Days to hernia surgery....yay!

2004-09-24T20:10:00.000-04:00

Josh is coming into town tonight... and that rocks!

If you don't know why that rocks... then ask me in the comments!

That's all for now.

BTW... I'm tired of working early in the morning shifts...pmo... also comment if you actually know what 'pmo' means... or if you have a guess.

2004-09-21T16:18:00.000-04:00

I'm soooo excited. I got my hernia repair scheduled for October 4th. I would have gotten it scheduled sooner but I have to friggin work all of the other days he had open!!! BLAH!

So, yeah, that's all for now. I'm gonna go eat an apple with peanut butter. Yum. :)

2004-09-20T16:46:00.000-04:00

So. Thanks to everyone for posting comments! I've gotten one from Carly, Hey Carly! I've gotten one from Yenny (Jenny), Hey Yenny! I got a IM from Rob (Diddy) for talking about him in my blog, Hey Rob! And I've gotten two anonymous comments. I think one of them is Laura so, Hi Laura! But I have no clue who the other one is from so, thanks for your support! Whoever you are!

And as you can see by this post -- my grasp of comma usage is currently waaaaaaay out of control.

This weekend was tons of fun! Nardi came to town! Hey nardi! Had a good ol' time getting hurricanes at Boudreaux's to celebrate the hurricane coming through. Then on saturday we crushed Dook in our first ACC game. They were giving away free t-shirts and wooden nickels to commemorate the event. Awesome! Then yesterday was another football day that was interrupted by the brothers deciding to have chapter at my apartment, so matt and I went to champs. FYI: The medium wings at champs are really hot and the hot wings are really really hot.

Today I went to schiffert and got my business sorted out for my referral to the general surgeon. Tomorrow at 3:30 I get to see him. Neat. Not. I'm kinda scared, but I'd actually say that having surgery on my wrist was kinda neat, so it might be kinda neat again.

And now... for your moment of zen... The Newest inductees into the cheap-ass cereal hall of fame!

And come on... comment... it keeps me entertained.

2004-09-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

House for sale! Complete with
humping dogs in the backyard!

2004-09-07T14:39:00.000-04:00

So, I'm reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. My old roommate, Rob, told me that it would make me not ever want to eat fast food again. I haven't gotten that far, so I don't hate fast food yet. They're just giving history, this part is speaking of Walt Disney who, like McDonalds, also started his empire in Anaheim, California.

"The animators' strike had left the Disney Studio in a precarious financial condition. Disney began to seek government contracts -- and those contracts were soon responsible for 90 percent of his studio's output. During World War II, Walt Disney produced scores of military training and propaganda films, including Food Will Win the War, High-Level Precision Bombing, and A Few Quick Facts About Venereal Disease."

I can only imagine....

"Look kids! Minnie's got a rash!"

2004-09-06T17:48:00.000-04:00

Another gloomy day in Blacksburg

I went to the doctor today to get a referral to a general surgeon so that I can get my hernia repaired. I'll find out tomorrow when that appointment happens, I just really hope my insurance will cover this.

Also today, I've watched two movies (American History X and Sum of All Fears), read a legal case and printed some stuff. Exciting, right?

Today is also Petey's birthday, so we're goin to Macadont's at 7, fun times. I hope I'm feeling better by then.

The only other thing I've done today is clean up some more from the party on saturday (it was celebrating petey's b-day). The place it still a mess, but it's getting there.

It's kinda depressing that nobody ever comments on my posts (hint hint) I wonder if anyone is reading this stuff. Thats all for now. Sorry, no links or anything this time.

2004-08-31T12:32:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged. So, I'll just give a summary of what's gone on in the last 3 months.

Over the summer I interned at the Government Accountability Office which was a good experience. I really loved the people I worked with (especially the interns, who felt the need to start calling me Jimmy) and had a great time living in Alexandria. I'm kinda iffy on whether or not I want to go back there, but it is an option I suppose.

I moved into my new place for my final(?) year in Blacksburg. It's a townhome in Pheasant Run Crossing (not the place with the parking problem). So far it's been pretty fun, but I'm here by myself a lot... so that could get old fast. Maybe I need to find something else to do.

And on a related note... I think that not having enough to do is... ONCE AGAIN... giving me too much time to think. I'm depressed again. I can only think of a few things that can get me out of this slump, but unfortunately... most of them have too much potential for more depression or blowing up in my face. Maybe I'm just scared. Maybe I've been listening to too much Dido.

2004-05-27T09:29:00.000-04:00

Today... is a scary day...

I'm leaving blacksburg... just for the summer to start my summer job in Washington. Now, given, I've had other summer jobs before where I've worked much longer hours under more stressful conditions -- this is the first REAL job I've ever had... salary, 40 hour work weeks, flourescent lighting, coffee with a little mug to donate money in, cubicles, etc. It's pretty scary. In addition to all of that, I'm moving in with some dude who I totally don't know. Hopefully he'll be cool.

But before all of that I'm gonna run down to raleigh for the night to see the rents before a hot summer in the city riding metros and whatnot.

Some good things about all this are 1) Sarah magically volunteered to come get my matress from here for me!!!! 2) I get to see Laura tomorrow (who, btw, says she's picked out a dress) 3) Uhm, I guess that's it.

And now, before we leave.... your moment of zen.

2004-05-26T21:24:00.000-04:00

src="http://members.aol.com/chrispyk16/shake.gif">

I am Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force!!

Which Aqua Teen Hunger Force character are you??

Also, Radiostorm rules for at work.

2004-05-23T17:45:00.000-04:00

Ok... I should hope that this would peeve everyone off a little... it sure does to me.

2004-05-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

This weekend thus far has really rocked!!! I spent friday and saturday working, which for most people would be a burden, but for me it was not because I spent it at the WERA Cycle Jam Nationals at Virginia International Raceway!!!! It was the coolest event ever! I got to watch my first motorcycle race, go in the pits, go in the tower where they wave the flag for the start/finish, met some really cool people, saw more motorcycles than I ever thought existed, and got paid to do it all!!! The drawback to being at the track was that because of the asphalt and lack of cloud cover.... it was 95 degrees there. I, honestly, drank 2 gallons of water and sweated it all out. It was brutal.

Friday night was also fun. My coworker, Jennifer, and I walked to this place called Ham's down the road to get some grub because the only other options were some barbeque shack and the NEW Family Restaurant. Ham's was awesome too! The food was cheap (even though that doesn't matter cause we get $40 in per diem), the food was GOOD, and the people were cool. We went to the bar and played trivia and met some other people that were playing... and we got Ham's Restaurant up to number 8 on the national NTN scoreboard... Viva La Ham's!

2004-05-20T09:38:00.000-04:00

That Really miffs me off.... I just spent an hour writing a post... and it's gone... let me try this again... the abbreviated version.....

Summer Sux because it leaves me bored with too much time to think. (and that is dangerous with me.

I moved but I'm still in town so I can work and make some bread (figuratively).

I got good grades this semester, but I sometimes still wish that I had gone to Monkey College because at least there, I wouln't be so worried about what I eat.

Man.... it was a really good post too :-/

2004-05-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

There is a new post on the new John Kerry Website. Not anything I didn't really know already, but interesting anyways (I really like the part about the ninja turtles).

The weekend was good. I went on an overnight trip to Winchester for work. We were working the Apple Blossom Festival, which, I would have thought to be lame, but wasn't at all (save, all the drunk rednecks). There was all kinds of stuff going on, it was kinda like the state fair, but just for a weekend, and having to do solely with apples. I would highly reccomend going if you get a chance, hopefully I can go someday without having to work.

This is the last week of school for the first year of my masters degree. I've learned a lot, including things on the Mushroom Theory and Mating Elelphants, but I can't say that I'm 100% happy with where I'm heading with this.... we'll see if it comes together this summer. And BTW, trying to find a place to live in dc for the summer is retardedly hard.

2004-04-28T21:24:00.000-04:00

Ok, one more thing before the (generic Kroger brand) ny-quil kicks in. I figured out why I started this thing. It's because I've kinda deep-down always wanted to have a journal to get my thoughts straight in, but have never been able to keep one going. This is nerdy enough to keep me interested and updating it.

We'll see how it goes......night all

2004-04-28T20:47:00.000-04:00

Today has been a pretty good day. I'm feeling better, I got some work done, I watched Fargo, and I ate some really good chili thanks to Melissa.

But, alas, not too much cool can happen when you only leave the house for 2 hours a day.

So, I leave you all with this. I think it may turn out to be a pretty interesting editorial or maybe not only time will tell. I'm just looking forward to the next installment of it to make my final judgement.

2004-04-27T21:24:00.002-04:00

So, I've finally decided to get me one of these online journal things.

Why?

Well, I'm not exactly sure yet, but it will come to me eventually.

Today hasn't really been a good one, I've been pretty sick. Laura brought me a philly cheese sub from sycamore deli and that was neat. The only good things about being sick are the getting pampered part and the getting better part. Hopefully tomorrow I can move from phase one to phase two.

On another note, there was a new Making Fiends today. Though, it was not the best, who doesn't love a cartoon where the only school lunch they serve is Clams, Beef Jerky, and Grape Punch?