What an interesting week it was for me over Thanksgiving break
It all started out with an all-nighter to prepare for a make-up exam that I had to take before I could leave for break. I felt confident in taking and felt confident that I would get good results from it. I would, however, find out that I ended up getting a 56% on it so I had to settle for my original exam grade instead (which really wasn’t that much better). It was quite a bummer which led me to question whether or not I would stay in chemistry any longer. I’m still thinking about it and am leaning towards staying in chemistry as my overall grade isn’t all that bad. All in all, that was the only gut-wrenching thing to occur during the break. The rest neutralized the bitter taste that was left in my mouth.
After taking my make-up exam, I went to a meeting with my University Studies advisor to discuss my dropping of my chemistry lab. I had taken the course because I thought it was a required to take a lab with the science that I chose. It turned out, later on, that I was wrong and did not really have to take the lab with my science; I would have to take a lab if I chose a major that required one but it would not have to be taken with the science. Unfortunately, I learned this after the add/drop deadline had passed and had to use one of my six withdraws. After a lot of confusion and decision making, I decided to take the withdraw and be done with chem. Lab. Afterwards, following the said appointment, I went back to my dorm to pack up for my return to Richmond for the following week. I also unplugged everything as they required me to do so to avoid any sort of fire hazard that might occur while I was gone. I also cleaned out my fridge so that no food would spoil while I was away. I even scrubbed out the bottom of it and defrosted it just to be on the safe side. After following these, as well as other, precautions, I went to take my stuff out to my parents’ van and then pretty much octuple-checked to make sure everything was taken care of before I left Tech. It was and, after a three hour ride, I was back again in Richmond.
My week at home started out with me and my sister going to view a stand up performance of a famous stand-up comedian that I highly respect who goes by the name of Brian Regan; I had received tickets to see one of his performances as a birthday gift from my mom and dad. Brian Regan is a comedian who has appeared on Comedy Central several times and is one of my favorites. His acts are relatively clean but still leave you rolling on the floor feeling like you’re going to bust a gut due to uncontrollable laughter. His brother also performed in the performance as the opening act. There were a few technical difficulties at the start of the show but everything got fixed and the show resumed as would be expected. Mr. Regan’s jokes includes jokes about holiday traditions, playing with kids, and trying to assemble a barbeque grill as well as many other jokes that made me crack up again and again. I thought it was a wonderful performance and found it to be very funny and amusing as comedians usually are.
Other than the stand-up performance, I spent my Thanksgiving break at home with the rest of my family in Richmond, Virginia; The one thing I liked about being off was seeing them again. I even got to see my brother, Sam, who came down to Richmond from New Jersey on Wednesday. Aside for the feast, which I’ll get to in a little while, we all just laid around, watched football and played board games for the most part. I got to play risk for the first time in my life and actually hung around for awhile until I got clobbered in the end.
Obviously, one of the greatest parts of being home for Thanksgiving break was that I got to partake in Thanksgiving Dinner or in my family’s case, Thanksgiving Lunch (we ate pretty early). There was plenty of food to go around throughout the course of that meal: turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, rolls, deviled eggs, custard pie, pumpkin pie, and strawberry pie. Even after twelve of us ate at this wondrous feast, there was still plenty of leftovers; we barely made a dent in that large turkey and my dad took the rest of it and put it, as well as the many side dishes, into a numerous amount of containers that ended up barely fitting into the fridge. Then again, if you look at it, there wasn’t anything uniqueabout the whole Thanksgiving meal. As my other favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, puts it: “Thanksgiving is a holiday where we do what we normally do everyday, overeat, but we do it with other family members.
The weekend following Thanksgiving, we all gathered around the television to watch the VirginiTech Hokies play a football game against their bitter in-state rivals, the Cavaliers from the University of Virginia. After a slow start take would finally take control of the game with freshman running back, Ryan Williams, having a career day with three or four touchdown runs. Tech ended up winning the game by a convincing score of 42 points to Virginia’s 13 points.That turned out to be the Virginia Coach’s last game as we was fired shortly afterwards. That night following the game I packed up and got ready to go back to tech. I ended up staying up until three o’clock in the morning and felt crappy waking up a few hours later.
After my parents drove me to Tech and dropped me off, I got all my belongings in and said hello to friends in my dorm and welcomed them back. Shortly after that, I realized that I had no food as I had emptied out my fridge the previous week. After shopping around at Wal-Mart for a couple of hours, I got the necessary foods that I would need for the remaining weeks of the semester. And here I am now, finishing up the blog, being the great procrastinator that I am, before the ten o’clock deadline. It was a great Thanksgiving break and I look forward to cracking the books one final time before closing out the semester.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
My active weekend
Today, I had one of my most productive, exciting and active weekends during my tenure here as a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Here is how it unfolded.
It all started out on Friday morning. I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and had to think quickly as my first class that day, General Chemistry, started at 8:00 in the morning. I needed to get dressed and have breakfast in the next five minutes so I could get to class early and, in the extra time, do my math homework that I forgot to the previous night. I managed to finish it right before the professor started his lecture (lucky me). I then went to my math class and it was from there where things got pretty hectic. I found myself in a bit of a time crunch after I left McBryde Hall where my previous two classes were held. I then had to move to Shanks Hall where I had an appointment with my English professor where we would discuss the rough draft of my English paper where we discussed how I should tweak it to make it better for my final copy. After than was said and done, I then had to make the long journey of to the medical clinic where I had another appointment, this time with a psychologist. We talked about my learning disabilities and how to cope with them as well as how school and college life was going for me. After that, the stressful part was over. From then on, what I did with my weekend was up to me. I chilled out for the time being and had lunch and chilled out some more. Later on in the afternoon, I went to the ATM to get some cash and then I took a bus the Wal-Mart in Christiansburg where I did my grocery shopping for the week. I got to read a very peculiar book during the trip on the bus; it was called, “Tales from the Virginia Tech Sideline”, a book filled with stories about the lives about Tech players and members of the coaching staff. After I got off, I took a cart and looked around the store for a while. I then got a bite to eat at the Subway and read more of my book for about half an hour. I then resumed my shopping and got the stuff I needed for the week. I then went back to my dorm and watched a little bit of television while I reorganized my room a little bit.
On Saturday, I woke up a little later than usual but that did not matter to me. I woke up with a blueprint of how I would spend my day. I went and took my laundry and took my dirty laundry with me as well as my detergent and some quarters and put my laundry in the washing machine in the Slusher Wing laundry room. There was a lot of it as well, I almost had to stuff it into the machine but, nonetheless, managed to get it all in. I went back into my room to watch some football on television and then I went back to the laundry room with some more quarters and a dryer sheet. I went and took my laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer. I took it out about an hour later; some pieces were still damp because I had put in so much into the dryer. I then watched some more football. I was not able to watch the Virginia Tech game against Maryland as it was not being broadcast on television. Instead, I listened to it on the radio and the Hokies did not disappoint; they won by a score of 36 points to 9 points scored by Maryland. That was okay and all but the real treat came two or three hours later. As the Virginia Tech game was wrapping up, I could not help but notice on the ESPN sports ticker that Stanford’s team was winning against the University of Southern California in dominating fashion. In the end, Stanford would go on to crush USC by a score of 55 points to USC’s 21 points. I posted a comment about it on facebook to which a friend of mine who is a student at USC replied with a rather nasty word. After hours of smashmouth football and reorganizing my room, I went and did my math homework (I usually do my homework on Sundays which made me feel even more well accomplished). I then went to reorganize my room a little bit and went to bed and got a good night’s rest.
I woke up Sunday morning even later than I did on Saturday morning. I had to do a little bit of work in preparation for the wing program class in which I was enrolled in but not before looking to ESPN to see the rankings and see how far Virginia Tech would rise and how far USC had fallen. The Hokies had risen to 16th in the AP poll while USC had fallen to 22nd; that was an ultra-gratifying sight for me to see. I then went to D2 to get a bite to eat. I then went to the Tech Bookstore to start looking at Books for next semester’s classes. I then thought about going to the other side of the drillfield to look around campus and become more familiar with my surroundings but I saw the sun was starting to set and decided to head on back to Slusher and make the trip later. I had dinner and then I started work on this blog assignment. In the middle, I stopped and attended a meeting that focused on steps and instructions for leaving the residence halls for Thanksgiving Break. Shortly after that, I went back to finish my blog post. While finishing, I was interrupted by one of the classmates in my seminar class who wanted me to write a page for the introduction of the wing program paper. So I did the page and sent it to him via E-mail. So here I am finishing up this blog which I can now say is finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
It all started out on Friday morning. I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and had to think quickly as my first class that day, General Chemistry, started at 8:00 in the morning. I needed to get dressed and have breakfast in the next five minutes so I could get to class early and, in the extra time, do my math homework that I forgot to the previous night. I managed to finish it right before the professor started his lecture (lucky me). I then went to my math class and it was from there where things got pretty hectic. I found myself in a bit of a time crunch after I left McBryde Hall where my previous two classes were held. I then had to move to Shanks Hall where I had an appointment with my English professor where we would discuss the rough draft of my English paper where we discussed how I should tweak it to make it better for my final copy. After than was said and done, I then had to make the long journey of to the medical clinic where I had another appointment, this time with a psychologist. We talked about my learning disabilities and how to cope with them as well as how school and college life was going for me. After that, the stressful part was over. From then on, what I did with my weekend was up to me. I chilled out for the time being and had lunch and chilled out some more. Later on in the afternoon, I went to the ATM to get some cash and then I took a bus the Wal-Mart in Christiansburg where I did my grocery shopping for the week. I got to read a very peculiar book during the trip on the bus; it was called, “Tales from the Virginia Tech Sideline”, a book filled with stories about the lives about Tech players and members of the coaching staff. After I got off, I took a cart and looked around the store for a while. I then got a bite to eat at the Subway and read more of my book for about half an hour. I then resumed my shopping and got the stuff I needed for the week. I then went back to my dorm and watched a little bit of television while I reorganized my room a little bit.
On Saturday, I woke up a little later than usual but that did not matter to me. I woke up with a blueprint of how I would spend my day. I went and took my laundry and took my dirty laundry with me as well as my detergent and some quarters and put my laundry in the washing machine in the Slusher Wing laundry room. There was a lot of it as well, I almost had to stuff it into the machine but, nonetheless, managed to get it all in. I went back into my room to watch some football on television and then I went back to the laundry room with some more quarters and a dryer sheet. I went and took my laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer. I took it out about an hour later; some pieces were still damp because I had put in so much into the dryer. I then watched some more football. I was not able to watch the Virginia Tech game against Maryland as it was not being broadcast on television. Instead, I listened to it on the radio and the Hokies did not disappoint; they won by a score of 36 points to 9 points scored by Maryland. That was okay and all but the real treat came two or three hours later. As the Virginia Tech game was wrapping up, I could not help but notice on the ESPN sports ticker that Stanford’s team was winning against the University of Southern California in dominating fashion. In the end, Stanford would go on to crush USC by a score of 55 points to USC’s 21 points. I posted a comment about it on facebook to which a friend of mine who is a student at USC replied with a rather nasty word. After hours of smashmouth football and reorganizing my room, I went and did my math homework (I usually do my homework on Sundays which made me feel even more well accomplished). I then went to reorganize my room a little bit and went to bed and got a good night’s rest.
I woke up Sunday morning even later than I did on Saturday morning. I had to do a little bit of work in preparation for the wing program class in which I was enrolled in but not before looking to ESPN to see the rankings and see how far Virginia Tech would rise and how far USC had fallen. The Hokies had risen to 16th in the AP poll while USC had fallen to 22nd; that was an ultra-gratifying sight for me to see. I then went to D2 to get a bite to eat. I then went to the Tech Bookstore to start looking at Books for next semester’s classes. I then thought about going to the other side of the drillfield to look around campus and become more familiar with my surroundings but I saw the sun was starting to set and decided to head on back to Slusher and make the trip later. I had dinner and then I started work on this blog assignment. In the middle, I stopped and attended a meeting that focused on steps and instructions for leaving the residence halls for Thanksgiving Break. Shortly after that, I went back to finish my blog post. While finishing, I was interrupted by one of the classmates in my seminar class who wanted me to write a page for the introduction of the wing program paper. So I did the page and sent it to him via E-mail. So here I am finishing up this blog which I can now say is finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Is 2009 another 2003?
Virginia Tech’s football team has now lost two contests in a row against Georgia Tech University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. These two losses have eliminated Virginia Tech not only from the national championship but also from the championship race in the Atlantic Coast Conference as well. From being ranked as high as fourth in the polls to being ranked twenty-second in the polls today after their most recent loss to North Carolina. This makes three losses on the season for Virginia Tech to go along with the five victories that they accumulated, the first loss was against the University of Alabama in early September. That makes them one loss short of last year’s record when they suffered four losses. One has to wonder where the Hokies go from here. More importantly, are they doomed to suffer the same fate as that of the 2003 Virginia Tech team where they were flying high but then suddenly came down to earth with a thud?
In the 2003 College Football Season, the Hokies had a fairly talented team and were ranked in the top ten in all of the pre-season polls. In their first six games of the season, the Hokies appeared to be one of the elite teams in the country. They demolished all their competition and were never considerably challenged throughout that said span; one of those victories included a fifty-one to seven rout of Syracuse University, a team that had defeated them in the two previous years. Their next opponent after that six game span was West Virginia University, a bitter inter-conference rival of Virginia Tech at the time (Virginia Tech was in the Big East Conference along with West Virginia until they [VT] moved into the ACC a year later). West Virginia’s record at the time was a dismal one with two wins and four losses; they did, however, push the University of Miami (ranked second in the country at the time) to its limits in one of their previous games, thus showing that they could be a nuisance for any team. Tech did not view West Virginia as a threat, they believed it was going to be an easy win. The game between Tech and West Virginia took place on Mountaineer Field in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. Throughout the duration of the game, tech played sloppily and gave West Virginia ample opportunities to do whatever they pleased whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams; in the end, West Virginia defeated Virginia Tech soundly by a decisive score of twenty-eight to 7. The Hokies would rebound a little over a week later with a rout of the second ranked Miami Hurricanes by a score of 31 to 7 and would rise in the rankings all the way up to number five and back in the chase for the national title. This reprieve would be short-lived, however, as the Hokies played and lost to a fairly talented team from the University of Pittsburgh in the game’s final minute. That loss would officially end both Tech’s national title and Big East title hopes as that was their second conference loss of the season. The miseries would not stop there, the struggles for Virginia Tech would continue for the rest of the season. The following week against Temple University, a team with a record of one loss and eight defeats, went down to the wire in what should have been a relatively easy game for Tech. In that game, the two teams could not settle the decision in the original sixty second duration, the game would have to go into overtime. Even then, Tech would be lucky to get out alive as they won on a missed field goal attempt on Temple’s behalf in a final score of twenty-four to twenty-three; that would be the last victory that Tech would enjoy, it would all be downhill from there. The Hokies, ranked twelfth, faced Boston College in their final home game of the season. After going back and forth throughout the game, Boston College scored the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, setting Tech back yet another loss in the season. Tech capped their overly disappointing season with a loss at the hands of their heated in-state rival, the University of Virginia. Tech was ahead in this game and had an opportunity to put the game away early in the third quarter with a blocked kick that was returned for a touchdown. That touchdown was called back for a penalty and Virginia ended up getting a first down and would score on that drive. They would score a couple more times to take a twenty-eight to fourteen lead. The Hokies would score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and attempted to stop Virginia on their next possession. That, however, proved to be unsuccessful as Virginia ended up faking their field goal attempt in order to get a first down (which they did); they would score and go up again by two touchdowns, winning by a final decision of thirty-five to twenty-one. Tech’s four losses greatly reduced the quality of their bowl game. Instead of going to an important January bowl, they instead played in the Insight Bowl in late December against the University of California-Berkley. The contest was one that went back and forth with both teams going up by as many as three touchdowns at some point in the game. Tech would return a punt for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, tying the game up at forty-nine points each. Any hopes of victory would be dashed, however, when Cal got the ball back. They would get into field goal range with just a few seconds left in the game. They would kick the field goal and ultimately win the game by a score of fifty-two to forty-nine. The loss dropped Tech to a disappointing record of eight wins and five losses.
The question that I am trying to ask is this: is this Tech’s fate for 2009? Will they get their act together and finish off their now-watered-down season and win the rest of their games and finish strong or will they continue to fall apart at the seam and lose another one or two games? As for me, I would choose the former over the latter for sure. I do not want to see them collapse like I saw them do so in ’03, that’s too painful to watch a second time. If they can go the path of the former and in the rest of their games, then that’s a good thing. If they go the path of the latter, however, then Tech has some things to work out. Honestly, I have noidea of what is going to come of all of this, the future is quite murky.
In the 2003 College Football Season, the Hokies had a fairly talented team and were ranked in the top ten in all of the pre-season polls. In their first six games of the season, the Hokies appeared to be one of the elite teams in the country. They demolished all their competition and were never considerably challenged throughout that said span; one of those victories included a fifty-one to seven rout of Syracuse University, a team that had defeated them in the two previous years. Their next opponent after that six game span was West Virginia University, a bitter inter-conference rival of Virginia Tech at the time (Virginia Tech was in the Big East Conference along with West Virginia until they [VT] moved into the ACC a year later). West Virginia’s record at the time was a dismal one with two wins and four losses; they did, however, push the University of Miami (ranked second in the country at the time) to its limits in one of their previous games, thus showing that they could be a nuisance for any team. Tech did not view West Virginia as a threat, they believed it was going to be an easy win. The game between Tech and West Virginia took place on Mountaineer Field in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. Throughout the duration of the game, tech played sloppily and gave West Virginia ample opportunities to do whatever they pleased whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams; in the end, West Virginia defeated Virginia Tech soundly by a decisive score of twenty-eight to 7. The Hokies would rebound a little over a week later with a rout of the second ranked Miami Hurricanes by a score of 31 to 7 and would rise in the rankings all the way up to number five and back in the chase for the national title. This reprieve would be short-lived, however, as the Hokies played and lost to a fairly talented team from the University of Pittsburgh in the game’s final minute. That loss would officially end both Tech’s national title and Big East title hopes as that was their second conference loss of the season. The miseries would not stop there, the struggles for Virginia Tech would continue for the rest of the season. The following week against Temple University, a team with a record of one loss and eight defeats, went down to the wire in what should have been a relatively easy game for Tech. In that game, the two teams could not settle the decision in the original sixty second duration, the game would have to go into overtime. Even then, Tech would be lucky to get out alive as they won on a missed field goal attempt on Temple’s behalf in a final score of twenty-four to twenty-three; that would be the last victory that Tech would enjoy, it would all be downhill from there. The Hokies, ranked twelfth, faced Boston College in their final home game of the season. After going back and forth throughout the game, Boston College scored the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, setting Tech back yet another loss in the season. Tech capped their overly disappointing season with a loss at the hands of their heated in-state rival, the University of Virginia. Tech was ahead in this game and had an opportunity to put the game away early in the third quarter with a blocked kick that was returned for a touchdown. That touchdown was called back for a penalty and Virginia ended up getting a first down and would score on that drive. They would score a couple more times to take a twenty-eight to fourteen lead. The Hokies would score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and attempted to stop Virginia on their next possession. That, however, proved to be unsuccessful as Virginia ended up faking their field goal attempt in order to get a first down (which they did); they would score and go up again by two touchdowns, winning by a final decision of thirty-five to twenty-one. Tech’s four losses greatly reduced the quality of their bowl game. Instead of going to an important January bowl, they instead played in the Insight Bowl in late December against the University of California-Berkley. The contest was one that went back and forth with both teams going up by as many as three touchdowns at some point in the game. Tech would return a punt for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, tying the game up at forty-nine points each. Any hopes of victory would be dashed, however, when Cal got the ball back. They would get into field goal range with just a few seconds left in the game. They would kick the field goal and ultimately win the game by a score of fifty-two to forty-nine. The loss dropped Tech to a disappointing record of eight wins and five losses.
The question that I am trying to ask is this: is this Tech’s fate for 2009? Will they get their act together and finish off their now-watered-down season and win the rest of their games and finish strong or will they continue to fall apart at the seam and lose another one or two games? As for me, I would choose the former over the latter for sure. I do not want to see them collapse like I saw them do so in ’03, that’s too painful to watch a second time. If they can go the path of the former and in the rest of their games, then that’s a good thing. If they go the path of the latter, however, then Tech has some things to work out. Honestly, I have noidea of what is going to come of all of this, the future is quite murky.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Blog on Blogging
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.
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 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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