What's going on with me?

7-31-05 - I'm not getting all preachy here, so don't think I am: In my last post (referring to the story about the deaf janitor), how many of you pictured a white guy because I didn't specify that he's black? A few years ago, I took a sociology class as an elective and our teacher made a point about that and it stuck with me. I'm not sure I agree with this, really, but he says that when telling a story, if you specify a certain color of people but not others, it's racism in a mild form. Since his statement, though, I've been careful about telling stories in which I say "some black chick..." This isn't to say I don't still do it, but I also say "this white guy" or something of that nature, when it would be understood to most of my audience. This was just a random thought.

I worked out on Friday and I benched 220 lbs, which is more than my weight. I told this to a few people and some of them turned around and asked if I only did it once. No, I did it three times in succession. I could've probably done it a time or two more. Maybe I could've gone 10 more lbs. Either way, I didn't wanna test it because I enjoy functioning arms.

At the World's Fair Park here in Knoxville (where the freakin' Sunsphere is!), there's a series of water jets arranged in concentric circles that you can play in. Last night, me and a big group of friends went to that park and I talked Juliana into running through it with me. This was after I milked a 20'-or-so tall Mayfield cow. Despite running between the jets, I got soaked. She got a bit wet too, but not as bad as me. D'oh! It was fun, though!

The 4/10s work schedule starts tomorrow. I'll be working 6:30-5, Monday through Thursday. I've got Friday's off! Woo-hoo!

I'm heading back to Columbia this weekend. I was going to head back on Thursday, but Jasmine said something about hanging out that night (I suspect we'll be watching some Family Guy, woo-hoo!), so I'll leave some time Friday morning. People, give me a call! I know for a fact I'm gonna see Will and Kate. I'm still kinda peeved at Skittle for not calling me about going to his uncle's last time I was in town *shakes fist*

Alright, people. some of you may not have seen it, but there's a new section on my home page called "Surveys." Hop on in there and check it out. There's only one question on there right now, but I'm trying to think of some good ones to put on there. I don't want common questions, so that's why it's taking a while. If anyone has a suggestion for a question to put on there, let me know.

Well, it's time to go pay rent and work out. August, here we come!

7-25-05 - Something happened at work this morning that made me smile for a good 5 minutes. A couple days a week a man and a woman come around to all the cubicles in my room to empty trashcans. Every day that they're around, I tend to get in their way at some point and I say hi, usually to the man, since I'm usually in his way. Well, the hallways in our room are shaped like an "E". I'll number the short halls 1, 2, and 3. My cubicle is close to hall 3. To get to my supervisor's office, I usually walk the length of the long one and then go down 1. Well, this morning I did that and the man had to pull the trashcan cart out of the way so I could pass through. I just smiled and said "Good morning," like I normally do. Well, I wasn't in his office for very long, so I retraced my steps to get back to my cubicle, like a good little boy. As I was at the intersection of the long one and 2, I looked down 2 and saw the trach cart flying toward me and that man was pushing it and he pulled it to a stop really quickly and I said "Whoa! Sorry!" and I scuttled off to my chair.

When the man came into my office to get my trashcan (it's usually him and not the woman), I said "I can't help but get in your way every time you guys come by, huh?" and then I laughed. Halfway through that question, the guy kinda smiled and pointed to his ear and shrugged his shoulders. He then took my trashcan and walked into the long hallway to dump it. When he came back in, he was holding a pen and he made a writing motion. I quickly grabbed a piece of paper, anxious to know what he wanted to tell me. He quickly jotted down "I have a good brake." I laughed and he just smiled and left. I'm actually smiling now as I type it. I don't know why it made my day, but it did.

This may or may not have anything to do with it, but I like when people that have a handicap just grin and bear it and are able to still have a sense of humor. I know that my asthma is nothing compared to his issue, especially now that I've been working out and exercising, but I still poked fun at myself for it by using my inhaler as a "Can't breathe in helmet" joke when I played Darth Vader in the Drama Troupe show this past semester. I'm not saying that people's needs should be ignored, but I absolutely hate it when disabled, fat, etc people demand you to feel sorry for them or are mean to everyone like it's their fault. It just tickles me to run into nice people randomly like this. It's such a great feeling to have someone just pop into your life for five seconds, they make your day, and then leave as quickly as they appeared. Funny thing is, he has no idea. I'm sure we all have that effect on people at some point or another. I think I had that effect on some girl named Jennilee yesterday while I was doing my secret shopping. I could tell by the smile on her face when I told her that she did everything I was looking for.

To briefly go back to the topic of working out, I benched 170 yesterday while I was worn out. I did 6 reps on it (my normal set). I might try to actually do my weight tomorrow while I'm fresh.

Of course I couldn't just have a good day without something bad happening, right? I was doing some online training at work and today I had my first training that required a test. I read all the material and started on the 25-question test. They said you had to get an 80 to pass. I was quite comfortable with the material as 1.) it wasn't difficult and 2.) I answered all but 2 questions correctly during the reading part. I answered all the questions and clicked grade and it said "You missed 6 with a score of 76. You did not pass." "No biggie," I thought. "I'll just take it again." That's what the people were able to do at Weyerhaeuser. Well, here it's a bit different. At the bottom of the page, it said "An e-mail has been sent to your supervisor, blah blah blah." That kinda irritated me, especially since you have to go through all kinds of junk to get it set up so you can take it again. It turns out that I can't just take it online again, I have to go to training. Yay, what a great use of money and time. So what tripped me up? Through the years and years of standardized testing I've been subjected to, I've gotten used to the word NOT looking like it does in this sentence in true/false questions. Yeah, it wasn't like that on this test. That caused me to miss one. I just completely misread another. Those two were my fault. The other four were either not explicitly stated in the reading material or were trick questions.

Well, I went ahead and sent my supervisor an e-mail just to openly acknowledge my suckiness. I even used the word "squirrelly" in that e-mail. Like I said, we got the ball rolling on getting me into the actual training. I went back to do more training (as I had absolutely nothing to do today). I did one that required me to watch a 32 minute video and then take a 4-question test. I chose the option to have a captioned video and then I set the speed a bit higher than normal so I wouldn't be bored for as long. After about 20 minutes, I was ready to take the test. I answered all the questions...but only three of them correctly. I got a 75, which resulted in my supervisor getting another e-mail. I sent him another e-mail telling him that I was just gonna give up on tests for the rest of the day. I was completely pissed off for about 5 minutes and then I realized it was no big deal. When I finally saw him right before I left to come to my apartment, he just walked up and kinda laughed at my misfortune. Bah! Haughie!

7-24-05 - On Wednesday, I almost said "Good eye!" to some guy with a glass eye. Whoops!

I did three secret shops at SubWays today and one on Wednesday. Three of the four of them had only one person working in the entire restaurant, and no managers were present at any of them. That's pretty crappy.

I saw my friend Christine on Friday after not having seen her for 2 1/2 years. We had a good time. I suckered her into going to Macaroni Grill. I'm a junky at that place. I guess I will be as long as my favorite waitress is working :-P

I like using the word "thusly," though I doubt I use it correctly.

I reformatted my computer the other day and ran into some troubles, but it was nothing I couldn't overcome without the help of friends, namely Christine and JT. Thanks, kids!

I thought I had more to talk about. I think Family Guy is distracting me...I guess I'll watch that.

7-19-05 (continuation below) - I had a good day on Sunday. On my way back up to Knoxville, I stopped off in Murfreesboro and had lunch with my friend Rachael, where we talked about her invention and she showed me how to brush teeth (I'll try to remember to post the picture). I met her through Liz when we were dating and I only talked to her a couple times during that time, but we've talked a few times since and I wish very much that she lived closer to me, as she's definitely best friend material (not to say that I only have one best friend, she'd just fit in nicely with my other best friends). After that, I stopped in Cookeville and saw JT and Perry and good times were had by all. Woo-hoo!

I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over the weekend and I must say that I was impressed - not with the movie itself, but with the fact that I didn't wholly hate it. I know they're two quite different versions of the same story, but the original is better by far, and I say that while knowingly biased (it is one of my favorite movies, if not my favorite). Depp's Wonka was so bland. Before I get people trying to argue with me, read further: I'm not saying that he did a bad job, but the character left so incredibly much to be desired. Sure, he was goofy, but that means nothing if that's all he is. The first time Depp did that little goofy laugh, I chuckled...but then it happened again...and again...and again, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. It got old. And quickly. I know I'm not the first to make this comparison, but the character is like Michael Jackson, but not for the reason that he invited kids into his home, etc. (Heh, as I typed this I thought of something funny about Jackson's name, but that'll stay up here *points to head*) Jackson didn't really have a childhood because he was so insanely popular. Now that he's old and is a recluse, he can act however he wants. Wonka's dad oppressed his childhood tendencies in this movie, and the same thing is happening to him, right down to the odd clothes, high-pitched voice, and pale skin. But what it boils down to is that Depp's Wonka was so one-dimensional because all his oddities were just that: odd. From what I remember (which is, admittedly, not everything) it all came down to just his being oddly childish, which stemmed from his father. So we find out why he freaked out the first time he tried to say "parents" and we can all speculate why he's so goofy, but that's it.

Wilder, on the other hand, was great. Yes, his Wonka was odd, but he was also jaded, compassionate, lonely, giving, rude, annoyed, annoying, etc. Granted, Depp was rude to each of the kids at one point or another, but he just didn't have the same grace that Wilder did. When Wilder did it, it was believable. It sounded forced and, for that reason, very uncomfortable when Depp tried to say the same or similar lines.

Yes, the visuals were nice, but lordy...can we have any movies where there is no computer animation, please?! I know that for fantastic movies like this, it's almsot a given, but it was done in 1971 for the original - and on a very tight budget, mind you. It can be done again. The problem, of course, is all the big names and their demands. Team America: World Police had no CGI help. When the budget was in danger of being run over, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and someone else (the producer I think) did something very admirable: not only did they cut their pay, they forfeited it completely. I know I'm getting off on a rant here, but if that's what it takes to make great movies that are real, then by all means do it. You don't need to have big-name people to have good actors in a movie. The supporting characters in both Willy Wonka movies are proof of that.

In other news, my apartment is mostly fixed since the flood. The plaster needs to be put on the ceiling and then it just needs to be cleaned, which they'll do, and it'll all be back to normal and I can put everything back in its place.

Well, I was gonna go work out 15 minutes ago, but then I started typing this. I felt I needed to. I've been crappy about updating my site since graduation. For those of you still hanging with me despite the lack of new content, thank you very much. I will now go work out for about 15 minutes, go grab free food from my complex, and then go to Juliana's for a board game and then probably som DDR.

CONTINUATION:

I forgot to even mention the Oompa Loompas! I loved them! Their songs were so catchy. I tell you, if I had a part in a movie, I'd like one just like the one Deep Roy had as the Oompa Loompas (I really don't know if that should be capitalized, but I do know it's spelled like it sounds, and not "umpa lumpa"). His part was so multi-faceted! You have to be versatile to do everything he did in that movie. But I must say, when I noticed they all had the same face, I got a very strong shiver because it creeped me out like crazy. All in all, that guy ruled.

7-10-05 - So yeah, the adventure is still happening. Ceiling tiles and junks have been falling into the tub. I had fun cleaning it all out so I could take a shower this morning.

I went out to eat with my newfound Knoxville friends last night. Much fun was had by all. I'm going to see the Star Wars movie with at least one of them here in a couple hours. Tuesday is shaping up to be a DDR night with at least two people planning on showing up. I've got another I can call and I'll let those people bring friends if they wanna. Hopefully my bathroom with be fixed by then >:-o

Ok. It's time to post all the pictures of my adventure on my site. They will be viewable here, and that page can also be found in the pictures page.

7-7-05 - I had a little adventure today. At around 7:20, water started pouring into my bathroom from my ceiling. Shortly after, it started pouring into my bedroom closet, as well. I'm talking a 5-10 gallons a minute for over an hour. Luckily I was here and awake and prepared, so things didn't get too out of control. Some parts of the carpet got thoroughly soaked and undulated as I walked on them, but nothing of mine got damaged. I'm incredibly lucky, cuz if I'd gone anywhere, I would've been out my computer, other electronics, clothing, and tons of personal items.

The carpet is mostly dry now, just slightly damp, and the ceiling in the bathroom will be fixed in a couple days. I have pictures that I will post some time this weekend. I'm too worn out from all the excitement of my personal lake to do it right now, and it's about bed time anyway.

7-6-05 - I saw the remnants of a 5 lb Hershey's bar today. Wow...

I played DDR with Anna and Juliana for a while today and much fun was had. I might be having some people over on Saturday to play, so if you're in Knoxville and reading this and you wanna play, let me know. Of course, I don't think any Knoxville people read this with the exception of Jasmine, on occasion...but she doesn't play >:-o

Sam and I had a blast yesterday. We explored the mall and played some DDR and then wastched Napoleon Dynamite. She'd never seen it before and she said it was terrible, but she liked it. She's right, though.

Today made one month since I started working at Y-12. My supervisor came into my cubicle and told me "Well, happy anniversary," to which I replied "I guess it has been a month." He said I'm doing a good job so far, which is good. Crystal starts work on Monday, so that'll be fun. Wayne, unfortunately, is gonna be done working there in less than a month :-( I'm gonna miss that crazy cracker.

7-5-05 - I had a great day yesterday! I went on a hike on Roan Mountain (which is right on the border of North Carolina) with some people I've befriended up here. I wore myself out, but it was fun. It was about a four-mile hike round trip. It was my first time hiking. Unfortunately, the mountains were quite foggy for most of the time we were there, so I wasn't able to get a lot of good pictures, but I tried anyway. Some of them turned out alright. On the way there, I realized that I was in the Rockies just a month and a half ago and I was headed to the Appalachians. I thought that was kinda neat. I kinda like seeing things. I'm gonna grow up to be all touristy, I can just see it. Bleh.

Afterwards, some of us went to Macaroni Grill and we were seated in Jasmine's section, so a good time was had by all :-D Of course, I requested to be in her section, so it wasn't a miracle or anything. I wish she'd hurry and get her apartment all fixed and what not so we can start hanging out >:-o

On Friday night, I went to Anna's apartment because her roommate Nicolle had just defended her thesis that day and they were having a little celebration party thingy. Well, I turned out to be the only one that showed up because everyone else was either out of town or busy. We had loads of fun, anyway. Nicolle and Anna said that I was the party, but I don't know about that. I know that the whole deal with propping a mattress up against the wall and running down the hall and throwing ourselves into it was my idea and all that good stuff, but I wasn't the whole party. They're goofy. Nicolle tried to get me to go Latin dancing...yeah right. She'll learn. It kinda sucks that she's moving in a month, cuz we get along fairly well and I could see a decent friendship coming out of that. I know that's not to say we can't still be friends after she moves, but you know... She thinks I'm funny. I think she has brain damage or something. Oh, well.

I'm still on the lookout for a good gal. I'm crossing my fingers in hopes of finding one relatively soon.

My friend Sam is supposed to be coming up here from Cookeville to visit today. I wish she'd call and say she was almost here. For some reason, I expected her to be here this morning, but it's nearly 1 and nothing. Oh, well. I'll live. I just wanna see her is all :-)

But anyway, all this talk of friends has just gotten me thinking that since my last entry, I've become better friends with several people and hopefully they'll stay friends. Between swing dancing, eating, and hiking, I've spent a lot of time with these people (all 2-8 years older than me) and it's turning out to be great. I just hope to find another group I can kinda wedge myself into...this initial networking period is vital to my mental well-being up here :-)