Today I am having trouble finding a topic. Therefore, I shall blog about blogging itself.
The term “blog” is short for “web log” and it is when other people post comments on the internet based on how they feel about someone or something that they like or dislike. They can be brief statements that are no longer than one or two words or phrases (i.e. lol, wtf) or they can be long and full of details like the one I am writing right now. They can be complimentary and full of compliments that praise others or they can be mean and nasty and can be degrading to a person. They can be any size and shape and can contain any type of word. They could be somewhat simple or they could be be intellectual and very difficult to decipher and comprehend. They could be written by old people that talk about past memories or they could be made by younger people who are just shooting the breeze with their fellow peers.
Blogging is found all over the internet and I will see it all over the many websites. When I read a news article, I will see comments at the bottom and see the initial reactions of others who have read the article. They could either be well supportive of the article and how they enjoyed it and agree with it. They could also, however, be well against it and slime the writer who wrote the article. One person might blog about how they feel about the weather and write about how they are so freaking pissed off due to all the rain and the cold weather; it can be as simple as that. It could be, however, a topic much more complex than something as simple as the weather. It could be about politics and the blogger could write about how well or how badly the politician that they are talking about is doing. We see blogs all over because there are so many topics to write about, there might even be bloggers who blog about those who blog as I had mentioned above about those who respond to articles.
For instance, I have been reading up on the elections for this year and next year and which candidates are expected to do well. From what I see, I can find that these articles can be seen as blogs. They are making their opinion on the subject and post on the web as if it were in a log book; hence, they are blogging. I can see the conservative bloggers will logically write articles supportive and favorable toward conservative views the same way I see liberal bloggers write pieces that are favorable toward liberals. At the bottom below the article I see the aforementioned comments written by those at both sides of the political spectrum who either praise and gush over the author’s work or lambast it and find any fault that they can with it. Some comments can reach far to either side of the political spectrum and there is no limit to the emotion of the commentators of the blog just as there are no limits to the bloggers themselves. They can be as kind or as nasty as they would like to be and they have the write to do so as it is one of the fundamental rights in the constitution.
Some people blog just for fun. They are just speaking their mind on what is going on with their lives and how they feel the way they do. They might be in a good mood and they write to tell the world about the good things that have occurred within their lives and how everybody should feel the way they should feel. However, there are also those who blog when they are in a terrible mood and write about how the world is always against them and how everybody on the planet except them should do him a favor and drop dead. On the other hand, some people blog because it is serious business and affects the future of their lives. They might be businessmen and women who comment on a product that their rival business is putting on the market and how they will plan to counter its release. There could also be agents in the CIA who comment on the secret location of the hidden base. Then again, that probably is not possible as that would be incredibly foolish and dumbfounded to post something like that for the general public to see. It doesn’t have to be limited to jobs; some school kids use blogging to spread news around in order to get the word out. In fact, I am doing that right now. My assignment is to blog about any sort of topic that I want and I have to post it by 10 o’clock tonight (which is coming pretty soon so I’d better hurry up and finish this piece of shit). I must get it to be around one thousand words in order for it to be acceptable to my English professor. She will hopefully get our grades on our blogs back to us by tomorrow so that we can see how we did. She will probably have comments, positive and negative, about our blogging and what we must do in the future. In a way, her grading our work and posting her comments on it on the computer is sort of blogging, itself.
We all will find ourselves blogging about one topic or the other. If one were to stop and think about it, they don’t even need a topic in order to blog. All you have to do is start writing about what ever is on your mind, whether it be sloppy and out of place or extremely neat and well organized. That’s the trick to blogging, it’s all about the writer and not about what they are writing.
I hope you liked my view on blogging and I hope it made you think. If you do not agree with the blog that I have written, go and blog about it and tell me how much you hate it. I don’t really care; like I said before, it’s your opinion and not mine.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
My 2nd Chemistry Exam
Today, I will discuss the massive chemistry exam that I will take tomorrow morning.
The test that I will takes looks to be extremely difficult. It covers a vast number of challenging topics that are tough to master and comprehend. It covers the material that we covered from late September all the way up to today. My professor went all around the subject material in preparing us for this test. Instead of going from chapter two to chapter three in my chemistry text book, he focused on chapters 4 and 7 instead; I’m not sure why he did this but I guess professors have their reasons.
This exam will be the second one that I take for chemistry. I took the first one back in late September. That one, too, was difficult to prepare for. In fact, I stayed up all through the night in order to comprehend the material. Low and behold, I did quite well on that exam despite the fact that I was extremely nervous about it. One thing that I’d like to say regarding test taking is that whoever said that you should get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast in order to do well on a test is full of shit. I did not get any rest whatsoever the night before the exam and ate breakfast after I took it and I still scored 92% on it. True, those methods may help you focus a little more but they don’t guarantee that you will know the material. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you study for the exam just as I am doing for the one tomorrow morning. I’ll study all night again if I have to; if it will help me understand the material better than I’ll do it. I don’t care how much sleep I will lose in preparation for this test but I will do whatever it takes to make a good grade on it.
The first part of this test focuses on the fourth chapter in my chemistry text book; that chapter focuses on chemical reactions as well as solutions. It focuses on the molarity and the titration of chemical solutions. It teaches us how much of one substance we must use to successfully react with a certain amount of another substance. We will also be tested on limiting reactants and theoretical yields. It shows which reactant will yield the lesser amount of product in the end; that is the limiting reactant and its product is the theoretical yield. We divide an actual yield given to us and divide that by the theoretical yield and we will multiply the resulting quotient by 100 to get the percent yield of the product. We also need to know the solubility rules to determine which reactants will remain aqueous and which elements will form an insoluble precipitate. We will also need to know how to perform oxidation-reduction (or redox) reactions. Oxidation and reduction have to do with the gain and loss of elections as well as the use of acids and bases and how they help balance certain reactions. There are approximately ten rules or so to find the Oxidation Number of an element, ion, and a molecule and it is all pretty confusing if you do not go over it frequently. All this and much more will in this chapter will be covered on this exam. There will be a lot of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing as well as the use of many formulas to memorize in order to successfully take this exam. Unfortunately, this is only one of two parts of this test. After I am finished with this part of the test, there will be a second chapter of material that I will need to know.
The second part of the test will be covered on the seventh chapter of my chemistry text book; this chapter focuses on light and how it is studied and measured. It also focuses on energy levels and electron configurations of atoms. My professor gave us many equations and formulas that we must know for this exam, otherwise we would be lost and confused. Many of these formulas use incredibly large and incredible small; scientific notation is used quite frequently when we attempt to handle and comprehend them. We must learn things such as Plank’s Constant which is 6.626e-34 J. We must also know the speed of light which is 3.00e8. These equations are needed to find the frequency of light waves and photons. We must also know the levels and sublevels of energy in atoms such as the level “n” and its sublevels s,p,d, and f. Based on that, we must also know the electron configurations of the elements and the number of opposite spins there are in the energy levels. For instance, Fluorine has a configuration of 1s2,2s2,2p6 and that is just one of the configurations that we must memorize. We must also remember how some elements in the transition metal section have exceptions to some of the rules such as Cobalt and Nickel. All these formulas and configurations will be essential to completing this part of the exam with flying colors. One slip-up would mean imminent doom on this exam and that might mean failure, something I do not wish to experience.
This exam counts for approximately 15-20% of our grade in this chemistry course. If one were to ace this test, their overall grade would be substantially higher. If one were to bomb it, however, then it would mean a freefall for their average. I am hoping that the latter does not happen to me. I want to study hard and get as high a grade as possible. Even though, I do not wish to continue a study in chemistry after this semester, I still want to show others that I knew and understood this material well. That is what I am planning to do after I finish this English blog and submit it for the night. So if you will excuse me, I will now wrap this up and continue studying for this monster exam.
The test that I will takes looks to be extremely difficult. It covers a vast number of challenging topics that are tough to master and comprehend. It covers the material that we covered from late September all the way up to today. My professor went all around the subject material in preparing us for this test. Instead of going from chapter two to chapter three in my chemistry text book, he focused on chapters 4 and 7 instead; I’m not sure why he did this but I guess professors have their reasons.
This exam will be the second one that I take for chemistry. I took the first one back in late September. That one, too, was difficult to prepare for. In fact, I stayed up all through the night in order to comprehend the material. Low and behold, I did quite well on that exam despite the fact that I was extremely nervous about it. One thing that I’d like to say regarding test taking is that whoever said that you should get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast in order to do well on a test is full of shit. I did not get any rest whatsoever the night before the exam and ate breakfast after I took it and I still scored 92% on it. True, those methods may help you focus a little more but they don’t guarantee that you will know the material. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you study for the exam just as I am doing for the one tomorrow morning. I’ll study all night again if I have to; if it will help me understand the material better than I’ll do it. I don’t care how much sleep I will lose in preparation for this test but I will do whatever it takes to make a good grade on it.
The first part of this test focuses on the fourth chapter in my chemistry text book; that chapter focuses on chemical reactions as well as solutions. It focuses on the molarity and the titration of chemical solutions. It teaches us how much of one substance we must use to successfully react with a certain amount of another substance. We will also be tested on limiting reactants and theoretical yields. It shows which reactant will yield the lesser amount of product in the end; that is the limiting reactant and its product is the theoretical yield. We divide an actual yield given to us and divide that by the theoretical yield and we will multiply the resulting quotient by 100 to get the percent yield of the product. We also need to know the solubility rules to determine which reactants will remain aqueous and which elements will form an insoluble precipitate. We will also need to know how to perform oxidation-reduction (or redox) reactions. Oxidation and reduction have to do with the gain and loss of elections as well as the use of acids and bases and how they help balance certain reactions. There are approximately ten rules or so to find the Oxidation Number of an element, ion, and a molecule and it is all pretty confusing if you do not go over it frequently. All this and much more will in this chapter will be covered on this exam. There will be a lot of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing as well as the use of many formulas to memorize in order to successfully take this exam. Unfortunately, this is only one of two parts of this test. After I am finished with this part of the test, there will be a second chapter of material that I will need to know.
The second part of the test will be covered on the seventh chapter of my chemistry text book; this chapter focuses on light and how it is studied and measured. It also focuses on energy levels and electron configurations of atoms. My professor gave us many equations and formulas that we must know for this exam, otherwise we would be lost and confused. Many of these formulas use incredibly large and incredible small; scientific notation is used quite frequently when we attempt to handle and comprehend them. We must learn things such as Plank’s Constant which is 6.626e-34 J. We must also know the speed of light which is 3.00e8. These equations are needed to find the frequency of light waves and photons. We must also know the levels and sublevels of energy in atoms such as the level “n” and its sublevels s,p,d, and f. Based on that, we must also know the electron configurations of the elements and the number of opposite spins there are in the energy levels. For instance, Fluorine has a configuration of 1s2,2s2,2p6 and that is just one of the configurations that we must memorize. We must also remember how some elements in the transition metal section have exceptions to some of the rules such as Cobalt and Nickel. All these formulas and configurations will be essential to completing this part of the exam with flying colors. One slip-up would mean imminent doom on this exam and that might mean failure, something I do not wish to experience.
This exam counts for approximately 15-20% of our grade in this chemistry course. If one were to ace this test, their overall grade would be substantially higher. If one were to bomb it, however, then it would mean a freefall for their average. I am hoping that the latter does not happen to me. I want to study hard and get as high a grade as possible. Even though, I do not wish to continue a study in chemistry after this semester, I still want to show others that I knew and understood this material well. That is what I am planning to do after I finish this English blog and submit it for the night. So if you will excuse me, I will now wrap this up and continue studying for this monster exam.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Rhet an.
I would like to make a rhetorical analysis of a funny clip that satirizes political figures and talks about the 2008 Presidential Election. The creators of this cartoon call themselves Jibjab, a seemingly nonpartisan group that focuses their cartoons mainly around political figures and events. Their audience can be anybody who watches clips but it probably attracts an audience that is essentially younger than most folks or anybody interested in politics. The clip I am talking about is one that shows the craziness of how the election unfolded. The clip is given the title, It’s Time for some Campaignin’”; it is sort of a musical clip sung in the tune of a Bob Dylan song.
The first part of the clip shows the White House all packed away in boxes, showing that the President’s Term is coming to an end. The former President of the United States, George W. Bush, is shown talking about how his Presidency is coming to an in. He talks about all the terrible things that have come about at the end of his second term and how he has become an unpopular president. He tries to draw support for the Republican candidate, John McCain, even though he is a moderate and ran against Bush in the 2000 Republican Primary. Bush and other members of the Republican Party come out at the end singing the title of the song.
The next section of the clip shows Hillary Clinton as she sings about her bitter battle against Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Primary. It shows that her quest for the presidency has come to an end and she is conceding to Obama. It shows Hillary throwing away “dirty tricks” (aka Tactics used against Obama in the primary). The trash can of “dirty tricks” contains a picture of Barack Obama with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, showing that Hillary was trying to associate Obama with a man with extremist views. It also has an alarm clock with the time showing 3:00 a.m symbolizing her argument that she would be better at answering an emergency call at 3 a.m. than Obama. Among other things in the trash can is a picture of Barack Obama with a turban on his head which symbolizes the cruel speculation that he was a muslim. The clip then shows her and her husband, Bill, supporting the Obama campaign but then shows Hillary with a 2012 campaign sign signaling that she is not giving up her presidential aspirations just yet. She and the rest of her campaign staff, some of which campaigned for Clinton in 1992, are seen singing the title of the song at the end of the segment.
The next segment of the clip depicts Senator John McCain as being an expert on foreign policy asking for help from conservatives (him bring a moderate). He warns that Barack Obama would have a very liberal foreign policy as he runs him over with a tank. He is then shown cooped up in a cage showing his P.O.W. stance in the Vietnam War. He asks that everyone forget about his age as well as his physical ailments; this prompts a group of senior citizens from a nursing home to sing the title of the song with him at the end of the segment.
The next segment depicts Barack Obama’s view of the election. It is set in a peaceful, rustic area where Obama is playing with the woodland creatures. It show s then-Senator Obama of having a sensitive side and liberal views on a lot of subjects. In the segment, Obama sings about how his campaign’s theme is based solely around change and only change. He is depicted as being obsessed with change as he prances around and even rides a unicorn over a eainbow. John McCain and Hillary Clinton jump in and sing to bring this point of obsession home but Obama steps in and literally knocks Hillary Clinton out of the picture(symbolizing his victory in the primary over her) as he and McCain sing the title of the song together at the end.
The next clip shows people with campaign signs in the hands marching on. In the background are famous buildings in the U.S. claiming symbolizing the many American voters that vote in every part of the country. They are shown walking behind the two candidates, McCain and Obama, who are each holding up their campaign signs respectively. They show all the positive effects of electing them atop newspapers; it shows things such as universal healthcare, tax cuts, as well as many other things. This, in turn, symbolizes the promises the candidates made during the campaigning process. The segment goes on to show the candidate both throwing around which shows how expensive elections and campaigns can be. It then shows a citizen going to a booth and casting his vote. Uncle Sam then appears spinning him around and knocking him down showing how candidates do not always keep their election promises. The segment, as well as the entire clip, ends with a group of people singing the title of the song together.
This clip, in my opinion depicts a lot of what transpired in the ’08 campaign in humorous fashion. It was directed at an audience of the American People who have seen the election being covered all over the news and other media outlets. The creators of this clip want to show the grueling process of primaries and general elections and what can come out of such competitions. While the election may be over, this clip can show that anything can happen in an election and there is no limit to the possibilities. It could be used as an example for other events such as elections and show what wacky happenings can result from them. The clip such as the one I mentioned and completely dissected and analyzed makes the argument that important events such as presidential elections can be satirized and jokingly expressed through song. That, in my mind, is what the people who made this clip were trying to do.
If you want, you can view this on youtube or any other video website that provides this clip.
The first part of the clip shows the White House all packed away in boxes, showing that the President’s Term is coming to an end. The former President of the United States, George W. Bush, is shown talking about how his Presidency is coming to an in. He talks about all the terrible things that have come about at the end of his second term and how he has become an unpopular president. He tries to draw support for the Republican candidate, John McCain, even though he is a moderate and ran against Bush in the 2000 Republican Primary. Bush and other members of the Republican Party come out at the end singing the title of the song.
The next section of the clip shows Hillary Clinton as she sings about her bitter battle against Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Primary. It shows that her quest for the presidency has come to an end and she is conceding to Obama. It shows Hillary throwing away “dirty tricks” (aka Tactics used against Obama in the primary). The trash can of “dirty tricks” contains a picture of Barack Obama with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, showing that Hillary was trying to associate Obama with a man with extremist views. It also has an alarm clock with the time showing 3:00 a.m symbolizing her argument that she would be better at answering an emergency call at 3 a.m. than Obama. Among other things in the trash can is a picture of Barack Obama with a turban on his head which symbolizes the cruel speculation that he was a muslim. The clip then shows her and her husband, Bill, supporting the Obama campaign but then shows Hillary with a 2012 campaign sign signaling that she is not giving up her presidential aspirations just yet. She and the rest of her campaign staff, some of which campaigned for Clinton in 1992, are seen singing the title of the song at the end of the segment.
The next segment of the clip depicts Senator John McCain as being an expert on foreign policy asking for help from conservatives (him bring a moderate). He warns that Barack Obama would have a very liberal foreign policy as he runs him over with a tank. He is then shown cooped up in a cage showing his P.O.W. stance in the Vietnam War. He asks that everyone forget about his age as well as his physical ailments; this prompts a group of senior citizens from a nursing home to sing the title of the song with him at the end of the segment.
The next segment depicts Barack Obama’s view of the election. It is set in a peaceful, rustic area where Obama is playing with the woodland creatures. It show s then-Senator Obama of having a sensitive side and liberal views on a lot of subjects. In the segment, Obama sings about how his campaign’s theme is based solely around change and only change. He is depicted as being obsessed with change as he prances around and even rides a unicorn over a eainbow. John McCain and Hillary Clinton jump in and sing to bring this point of obsession home but Obama steps in and literally knocks Hillary Clinton out of the picture(symbolizing his victory in the primary over her) as he and McCain sing the title of the song together at the end.
The next clip shows people with campaign signs in the hands marching on. In the background are famous buildings in the U.S. claiming symbolizing the many American voters that vote in every part of the country. They are shown walking behind the two candidates, McCain and Obama, who are each holding up their campaign signs respectively. They show all the positive effects of electing them atop newspapers; it shows things such as universal healthcare, tax cuts, as well as many other things. This, in turn, symbolizes the promises the candidates made during the campaigning process. The segment goes on to show the candidate both throwing around which shows how expensive elections and campaigns can be. It then shows a citizen going to a booth and casting his vote. Uncle Sam then appears spinning him around and knocking him down showing how candidates do not always keep their election promises. The segment, as well as the entire clip, ends with a group of people singing the title of the song together.
This clip, in my opinion depicts a lot of what transpired in the ’08 campaign in humorous fashion. It was directed at an audience of the American People who have seen the election being covered all over the news and other media outlets. The creators of this clip want to show the grueling process of primaries and general elections and what can come out of such competitions. While the election may be over, this clip can show that anything can happen in an election and there is no limit to the possibilities. It could be used as an example for other events such as elections and show what wacky happenings can result from them. The clip such as the one I mentioned and completely dissected and analyzed makes the argument that important events such as presidential elections can be satirized and jokingly expressed through song. That, in my mind, is what the people who made this clip were trying to do.
If you want, you can view this on youtube or any other video website that provides this clip.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Four Drills in Two Weeks
Within a span of two weeks, my dorm has had four fire drills
The first one occurred a little under two weeks ago on a Tuesday night. I was finishing up my math homework when I heard the screeching shriek of the alarm in my room, a sound so loud that it would cause a person to go deaf in a matter of minutes. While I was outside, I saw other residents in my dorm, chatting and waiting for the alarm to shut off so that they could go back inside. I even saw people playing with the Frisbee to kill some time while outside. I joined in on the fun, even though I was horrible when it comes to catching. While I was out there, I thought to myself, “Well, it’s just another drill. There’s nothing unusual about this situation.” One of the more humorous happenings during that drill was when a student came outside a while after the rest of us did in nothing but a towel. He apparently was taking a shower when the alarm went off. Everyone jokingly applauded him as he stepped outside. After about 15 minutes or so, the alarm turned off and we went back inside.
The following Sunday, about a week ago, I was working on my homework when, this time, the alarms in the hallways went off instead of the ones in our rooms. Nonetheless, I knew it was another fire drill and I had to go outside. I asked myself, “Didn’t we do this a few days ago? Weird!” I wasn’t sure if it was another drill, someone left something burning, or if some guy pulled the alarm to cause trouble. Whatever the reason was, I was outside once again with the others, waiting to go back inside. It was a nice day outside; everyone didn’t seem to be agitated by having to go outside again. I am guessing that they were also a little perplexed by going out again just days after the last fire drill. Once again, I found myself playing Frisbee with the others and once again unsuccessful at catching it most of the time. Eventually, the alarm shut off again and we were allowed to go back inside.
I thought that would be it when it came to fire alarms. However, I was mistaken as I would be interrupted later on that day. I got backed to work on my homework and I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I bring my football with me while I was out there? I could have brought it and tossed it around with the guys and make the situation more fun? Oh well, I guess I will bring it with me when the next drill occurs; a drill that came much sooner than I thought. Suddenly, several hours after I came back inside from the first fire drill, the alarms went off yet again. It was then that I said to myself, “You have got to be kidding me!” It was the second drill to occur in a single day, I could not believe it. This time, however, I remembered to bring my football with me. When I got outside, the others were there as well. I could hear some of them talking about what I was thinking, about how strange it was that the fire alarm went off again. I took my football that I had brought and passed it to some of the others. I found that I was not any better catching a football than I was with a Frisbee when they threw the football back to me. I did, on the other hand, find out that my throwing technique had greatly improved since I last spent time throwing the football. After passing it, I started punting the football which I also seemed to have improved on. I kept on passing the ball as well as kicking it; I did not want to go back inside. Ultimately, the alarms turned off and two thoughts entered my mind as I walked back into the dorm. The first one was, “Hmm, maybe this is a sign that I should be a fireman when I graduate. I seemed to be well prepared now as to what to do when the alarm goes off.” The other thought that entered my mind was, “You know, I would not be surprised if the alarm went off again today. It has already gone off twice, why not a third time?” I felt that would have to be the end of the fire alarms for quite some time; they had gone off enough. That theory would be disproven the following Thursday.
It was this past Thursday at about 1:30 in the morning that I was working on my homework when I heard the alarm go off in my room once more. “Here we go again” I thought to myself as I grabbed my football and headed outside. It seemed like this process had been burned into my brain. I looked at some of the others, a couple of them were laughing in disbelief, thinking that this could not possibly be happening again. I went outside and found out that it was extremely cold outside. Everyone else was wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing shorts and T-shirt and was freezing beyond belief; I also was not wearing any shoes or socks. Fortunately for me, I had brought my football. I looked for people to throw to but this time, fewer people were interested in playing ball. Great deals of them had been awoken out of bed by the alarm and were not in the mood. I did find others to throw to, but they were not interested in playing for a long time; that, and someone else had brought a football as well which made it more difficult to find people to throw the ball to. After minutes in the sheer cold, we were called back inside.
It had been an interesting experience going outside time and again. I was thinking, “Alright! Alright! We get it! You don’t have to set off that alarm anymore.” I wonder when the next drill will be; honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dorm had another drill tonight.
The first one occurred a little under two weeks ago on a Tuesday night. I was finishing up my math homework when I heard the screeching shriek of the alarm in my room, a sound so loud that it would cause a person to go deaf in a matter of minutes. While I was outside, I saw other residents in my dorm, chatting and waiting for the alarm to shut off so that they could go back inside. I even saw people playing with the Frisbee to kill some time while outside. I joined in on the fun, even though I was horrible when it comes to catching. While I was out there, I thought to myself, “Well, it’s just another drill. There’s nothing unusual about this situation.” One of the more humorous happenings during that drill was when a student came outside a while after the rest of us did in nothing but a towel. He apparently was taking a shower when the alarm went off. Everyone jokingly applauded him as he stepped outside. After about 15 minutes or so, the alarm turned off and we went back inside.
The following Sunday, about a week ago, I was working on my homework when, this time, the alarms in the hallways went off instead of the ones in our rooms. Nonetheless, I knew it was another fire drill and I had to go outside. I asked myself, “Didn’t we do this a few days ago? Weird!” I wasn’t sure if it was another drill, someone left something burning, or if some guy pulled the alarm to cause trouble. Whatever the reason was, I was outside once again with the others, waiting to go back inside. It was a nice day outside; everyone didn’t seem to be agitated by having to go outside again. I am guessing that they were also a little perplexed by going out again just days after the last fire drill. Once again, I found myself playing Frisbee with the others and once again unsuccessful at catching it most of the time. Eventually, the alarm shut off again and we were allowed to go back inside.
I thought that would be it when it came to fire alarms. However, I was mistaken as I would be interrupted later on that day. I got backed to work on my homework and I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I bring my football with me while I was out there? I could have brought it and tossed it around with the guys and make the situation more fun? Oh well, I guess I will bring it with me when the next drill occurs; a drill that came much sooner than I thought. Suddenly, several hours after I came back inside from the first fire drill, the alarms went off yet again. It was then that I said to myself, “You have got to be kidding me!” It was the second drill to occur in a single day, I could not believe it. This time, however, I remembered to bring my football with me. When I got outside, the others were there as well. I could hear some of them talking about what I was thinking, about how strange it was that the fire alarm went off again. I took my football that I had brought and passed it to some of the others. I found that I was not any better catching a football than I was with a Frisbee when they threw the football back to me. I did, on the other hand, find out that my throwing technique had greatly improved since I last spent time throwing the football. After passing it, I started punting the football which I also seemed to have improved on. I kept on passing the ball as well as kicking it; I did not want to go back inside. Ultimately, the alarms turned off and two thoughts entered my mind as I walked back into the dorm. The first one was, “Hmm, maybe this is a sign that I should be a fireman when I graduate. I seemed to be well prepared now as to what to do when the alarm goes off.” The other thought that entered my mind was, “You know, I would not be surprised if the alarm went off again today. It has already gone off twice, why not a third time?” I felt that would have to be the end of the fire alarms for quite some time; they had gone off enough. That theory would be disproven the following Thursday.
It was this past Thursday at about 1:30 in the morning that I was working on my homework when I heard the alarm go off in my room once more. “Here we go again” I thought to myself as I grabbed my football and headed outside. It seemed like this process had been burned into my brain. I looked at some of the others, a couple of them were laughing in disbelief, thinking that this could not possibly be happening again. I went outside and found out that it was extremely cold outside. Everyone else was wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing shorts and T-shirt and was freezing beyond belief; I also was not wearing any shoes or socks. Fortunately for me, I had brought my football. I looked for people to throw to but this time, fewer people were interested in playing ball. Great deals of them had been awoken out of bed by the alarm and were not in the mood. I did find others to throw to, but they were not interested in playing for a long time; that, and someone else had brought a football as well which made it more difficult to find people to throw the ball to. After minutes in the sheer cold, we were called back inside.
It had been an interesting experience going outside time and again. I was thinking, “Alright! Alright! We get it! You don’t have to set off that alarm anymore.” I wonder when the next drill will be; honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dorm had another drill tonight.
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