Snap show

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

"What a day," Jason said. "Jamie should be here soon." Jason is my elementary linear algebra teacher and he is hilarious. I always think I'm going to fall asleep in his class (well sometimes I do), but then he says something totally random like that, or "Do any of you guys have cable? I was thinking of getting cable." Midterm for that class is Monday next week.

This has been such a random year so far it seems. I started out with a very bad attitude: wanting everything to be the same as last year. When I found out that it wouldn't be, I was kind of disappointed. Just now I was reading some of my old blog posts and it almost seems like a different person was writing them. I had to look up some of the words I used which is kind of scary. Am I losing intelligence? :

My economics prof insists that all human actions can be described by the principles of economics and so far he has been able to explain multiple things that I do, and I never understood why I did them. We live our life at the margin. I think part of what spurred me to write this post was my English Writing class. It seems like the best way to get better at writing is to just do it a lot. Of course, this isn't the kind of writing I need to get better at, but w/e.

I haven't exactly been writing many songs, but I've been jamming around a lot and learning a few new songs with the hope that i'll get better at guitar. Tonight I think I'm going to take it easy and just hang out with my uncle and grandma

The Economy

It pisses me off how all of the money in the economy is concentrated in the older generation. It is so stupid and everyone is afraid to spend their money cuz they know someone else will hog it. Why do people out of university only get paid $15/hour starting out. That should be a wage for people who work at a grocery store. Young people spend their money and, hence, it goes back into the economy. Old people save their money for retirement and won't buy a new flashlight for $3.99 at sears cuz its not on sale and we don't sell replacement bulbs.

Young people would go out to eat every night and buy a car if they could afford it. Why would you pay a 19 year old minimum wage to wash cars at your dealership when, if you paid them more, they would BUY A CAR FROM YOUR DEALERSHIP, and, over the years, probably pay the value in the car again in tuneups. Why is everything profit oriented. Someone's parent is deciding that my wage is $8.64 to start out. Someone's parent decided to lower sears starting wage to $8.05. That same parent is telling their kid to go out and get a job and not ask for money.

IS that a little hypocritical. They are skimming 50 cents from all of these other kids wages, and then tell their kid to go out and work for money. Why doesn't the parent work for money? What a novel idea: lower wages. Why are earnings down? Because you have all the frikkin money already in your bank account. Your customers don't have any money to spend cuz you have it. How did one man end up with 32 billion dollars? I have no problem with a person who has 30 billion dollars in material assetts, because that means they injected that money all back into the economy.

I'll mow your lawn for $20/hour. But you can't afford that, because your time is only worth $16/hour yourself. I thought specialization is the way of the future. If everyone specializes, they are better at their jobs. How then, is massive turnover of jobs good for business? Why is it good to pay people so little that $1 /hour more at another job will make them jump up and leave? Then you have to pay to train all of these new employees. If I got paid $15 or $16/hour full time at sears, I'd work there for like 2 years and save up some money to travel and maybe buy a car before going to university. Instead, I'm quitting in the fall and they are going to be left with only one floor employee.

Sure, stocking shelves at zellers is easy, but if you paid those people more, they would spend more money AT ZELLERS. or they would buy groceries, and the grocers would invest in some cheap clothes at zellers. It would come back around to you eventually. I just want to say, that it is cheap people who have screwed up the economy. If you are someone who wouldn't pay a little extra for some customer service or some quality or to pay someone elses wage, then you have driven your own wage down. If you need to save a few extra bucks, then work a little harder or sacrifice some of the things you don't need.

There's no free lunch. If you are getting some really awesome deal, then someone is taking a cut on their wage, someone is exporting the labour on your product costing someone a job, someone is sacrificing quality in manufacturing that product. I like quality products; I like knowing an honest, hardworking person made it; I like knowing that person earned a fair wage for it. I don't like that some rich guy at the top is making a 24 million dollar salary and is planning on quitting the company and getting a severence pay larger than some people earn in their entire lives.

Parents, give your kids more of your money that you are hogging. They will spend it and enjoy it probably more than you ever will.

July

Well this is my first post in a long time. I've been listening to a ton more of old school rap, cuz I find its quite awesome to drive to. Yesterday, Kevin and I drove down to Victoria to visit some people down there. It is rare that we ever get two of the same days off in a row.

Since last post, I've quit working at Zellers and only work at Sears now selling hardware. That has basically been my summer except for venturing over to Vancouver last week for a random party, where I was basically the only guy who didn't go to VC. Course selection was a couple days ago where I got almost everything I wanted. The system was messed up and didn't register my prerequisites.... blah blah blah
.

Its been a pretty bland summer and I can't wait to get back to university. I don't like being on my feet so much. I use so much energy up at work that I don't have any left to work out. also, the chances of me waking up early enough in the morning to work out is extremely slim. There is nothing better than getting paid, I've discovered. I should have got a job way sooner; I can finally buy things when I want them and not have to wait for my birthday or anything like that.

As many other ppl my age are thinking, I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. I want to do so many things, but there are so many things that I just don't feel that passionate about. I want to get a job and just save some money and do fun things like travelling for a while, but there aren't any jobs where you can even make enough money to do something like that. I want to learn applicable skills like some carpentry, mechanics or computer programming, but I don't want to do any of those jobs for a living. I just feel obligated to continue pushing on through university until I have a degree so I don't lose my scholarship. By the end of it, I don't think I'll have any better of an idea of what I want to do with my life. I'll just have some random degree and will end up with some job I'll be tied down to.

Sellers

I guess I got my first real job. After a few very short interviews I was hired at Zeller's to work the same job that Kevin is doing, this ridiculous overnight shelf-stocking shift. We went around last week to about 21 businesses dropping off resumes and filling out job applications and Zeller's is the only place that actually called me :S

The last week has been decently exciting, besides that. I went over to Vancouver and saw a couple friends from SFU and went to a friend's cousin's wedding just past Pitt Meadows. I swear the wedding cost at least $50,000 and the ceremony was only like 20 minutes. It was all reception. There was a harpist, an open bar, 200 guests, and even tea bags with the couple's name on them. Over the top, probably. They could have put a down payment on a house or started a small business. :S Instead they paid for 200 people to drink a bunch.

I picked up a pair of steel-toed boots for Zeller's today. After that I did some more odd jobs for some friends of my mom's from church. I used to say that it was landscaping cuz I was digging gardens, moving dirt and putting in fence posts; however, today I was digging up sprinkler plumbing and jackhammering the sidewalk going up to their front door. It is good experience to learn how to do this stuff, but the real lesson I'm learning is how glad I am that I'm getting an education so I don't have to work labour to make a living.

Kevin and I had a plan to explore various gyms in Nanaimo, but they are all geared towards women. There are only 3 co-ed private gyms and then Beban Park and the NAC. Even the co-ed gyms have a "Women Only" area. So we only have tried out 4 gyms which isn't much selection. VI Fitness has a great atmosphere so I am drawn to it, but Lifestyle has a pool and steam room which is always nice after a workout. They are equidistant from my house so that isn't an issue.

I tried to buy my RHCP ticket like right at 10 am when they went on sale on the internet, but noooooo and got shut down until 10:07 so I'm like 26 rows back. Now the whole floor and plaza is sold out already for this concert which is in September :S. Now I have something to look forward to when I go back to school. There is another concert that I want to go to on Canada Day, and the tickets are only $20. They go on sale tomorrow, but I need to get the time off and probably find someone to go with.

I really don't know what to do to get my sleeping schedule to work with work. My hours are 9-3. wtf. Should I stay up now until 3 or 4 and sleep tomorrow until 2 or should I go to bed now, get up early and nap at like 5 so I can wake up for work. In any case, it'll be wonky.

TV Night

Well I guess it's time for an update on the blog. 1st year of university is over and it wasn't too bad at all. Now I'm on a quest for a job that I'll hate enough by the end of the summer that I'll be begging to go back to SFU to learn. It is great to be back home and I'm occupying myself with endless movies and TV shows interspersed with periods of sleep and time at this little landscaping job I'm doing for someone from our church.

Inspiration to write a song has not hit me recently which is kind of disappointing, but I have written a little chord progression. Jamming with Kevin for the first time in 8 months was pretty sweet. Ted's been bugging me endlessly to install Half-life and Counterstrike on my computer so we can play multiplayer; I just might have to do that after finishing this blog.

If you are wondering why tonight is TV night, it is because both Smallville and the OC have "fresh" episodes. Somehow I still am watching both of those shows. Speaking of good shows, at SFU I downloaded all of the first and only season of Fox show called Fastlane. Every episode is like watching Fast and the Furious, so the special effects and action are awesome. There are only 3 main characters and there interaction is quite amusing. The show isn't incredibly deep or anything, but it is very entertaining. Unfortunately, it got cancelled after one season and the last episode is a cliffhanger. :S

I've thought about applying at 8 Future Shop 8, but so far I only have an application for Staples.

This weekend my family is going down to Seattle for some sort of track and field reunion for my dad. f

Brad

The Bog

The last couple days have rocked pretty hard. I went with Mike down to the bog weight room on Wednesday and it is such a more chill atmosphere down there. It is also more serious, so I think I'm going to look into getting a membership for it. I don't have one at the moment, so technically I'm not supposed to go down there. :S I think you just have to write a workout that you are going to follow and submit it to the head of the gym for approval.

I also went through two midterms, math and physics, the start of an onslaught that doesn't end until after finals. I have to say the exams space themselves quite evenly, but that means I constantly have an exam for which to prepare. It turns out there was really considerate marking on my math midterm, so I lost few marks. I was dreading physics on friday, but it turned out to be simpler than I thought.

I have the piano room booked for two hours today, so maybe I can clutch up my skillz. Tonight there is something of a Valentine's party planned off the hill. Hopefully that will turn out to be fun. If not, I can always come back and watch Friends episodes :D.

February 8

is the date today and I have no idea why I chose today over any other day around it to post. Today I had my first midterm of the semester in Math 152. It went ok, but I made some silly mistakes.

Socially, university is great and I've made a few friends with whom I often hang and work out. Sometimes it gets a little too social and I find myself choosing to go produce nothing as opposed to working on some homework or studying. Of course, I'd have to say I prefer this than to not having anybody to do anything with. A lot of people think it is ridiculous to enjoy going to the gym so much, but I feel so content after a good work out.

It is difficult to get down to studying when there is no pressure, such as an upcoming exam or homework to do. I've been getting into friends a lot. I've watched the first 4 seasons since the start of the semester and I'm hooked. Unfortunately, my friend's collection ends at season 5. In return I've lent my Smallville to numerous people and it turns out I know someone who was in one of the football episodes. Due to a combination of people I've also gotten into Dream Theater. Incidentally, I went to HMV the other day to buy a DVD of theirs, but when I got it back home it was missing a disc so I have to return it.

Today there were tables set up in the AQ giving information about different majors and the requirements for them. I picked up brochures for majors in actuarial science, molecular biology & biochemistry, chemistry and statistics. It seems weird to be thinking so far ahead, but a lot of the prerequisites, I need to take now. General math, physics, chemistry, biology and economics pretty much leaves my options open to anything I would get a degree in so I'm all good for now; however, the sooner I choose, the fewer crap courses I can take. My only really crappy course now is BISC 102 where we are learning about evolution, taxonomy and ecosystems. Shoot me.

Anyhow, it's a friends birthday today, so I gtg.

When one's soundcard is broken

it is quite depressing I have to say: watching music videos with no sound. But, there is nothing like finding out an alternate place to plug the speakers in to make them work: some random piece of hardware that you have no idea how to work. So, for most, the holiday season is over. For some reason, SFU doesn't go back unti the 9th, which seems sweet, but a lot of people are back to work and school already and unavailable to hang out.

I am looking forward to getting back to the normality of SFU. I'm also looking forward to installing Sonar 5 on my computer, figuring out how to effectively use the MIDI function and then record many songs in succession. Seeing as I can't play bass and there are no drums at SFU that I can record with, this function may prove to be quite useful. I just hope that the intrument definitions for the bass and drums sound like actual intruments. I don't like relying on soundcard definitions for MIDI, because it always ends up sounding cheesy.

Exchanging gifts that you already have is kind of a crappy thing to have to do. One comes to realise that the person who bought you the gift doesn't really know you that well. Anyhow, go to Mt. Washington. If I had my skis here, I would seriously consider it, seeing the insane amount of snow they have. I am insanely jealous of anyone going to Mt. Washington. They have a 2m base already, and have had 3 snowfalls of 50, 30, 24 cm in the past week: definitely the place to be.

Now, windows explorer isn't working with my cd burner. crap. I guess I'll install Nero. For some retarded reason, mxtabs is shut down. This may put a giant cork in the musical world as we know it. Somehow, I feel that it will be more similar to Napster though. The world seemed to come to a halt when Napster shut down, but spawned were many delocalized music sharing sites: Morpheus, KaZaA.

Canada pretty much owned the Russians. 5-0. :S what were the Russians doing out there.