the funny side of me

Foundered Aggregation of My Summer

2011-08-22T03:07:00.003+01:00

Its been awhile since I've written a blog, many months in fact. I've been meaning to do it but for some reason between never having the time, and not knowing exactly how to express what I wanted to say it just hasn't happened. I've had this draft sitting on my computer for months with nothing but "Write something here soon." written down. Its odd how time passes so quickly and how many things can happen in just the space of a few months. Honestly when I think about all the things that have changed since I last wrote a blog its overwhelming. I don't really even know where to start so for those of you who haven't forgotten that I actually have a blog after all this time I plan to reward your patience soon. But until then this note will have to suffice, sometimes life is just to big to describe in a few petty words. This semester has a lot riding on it for me, but I'm excited its off to a great start and I feel ready, more ready than I have felt in a long time to tackle whatever gets thrown at me.

Rain

2011-04-16T08:54:00.003+01:00

The cool drops run down my hot face. The roaring sound of the falling drops is overwhelming. I watch as a drop lands on my shirt and is repelled rolling off a brave yet vain attempt to keep me dry. I close my eyes, I can suddenly can hear each tiny drop falling. No longer a roar, now they are tiny little notes falling tinkling as they land. Some silently on my shirt, some thump softly on the asphalt, some even plink as they fall. A symphony of tiny musicians. I can feel each drop slowly gaining speed as it rolls down my scalp and then races down my cheek plummeting towards the ground. I wonder if that particular raindrop ever gets to be again, probably not but sometimes I like to think so. They are like a bucket full of marbles being poured from the sky only temporarily separate, but yet still on thier own tiny missions, perhaps just to wash that bit of dirt off my face. I open my eyes abruptly aware of my drenched shirt, clinging, plastered tightly to my skin, it tugs against me unwilling for me to move. Suddenly I am cold, I shiver and begin a heartfelt dash back to the warmth that becons to me from inside. Splashing recklessly through the once tiny rivulets, now raging muddy streams filled with tiny little drops. I wonder if those little drops will ever fall on me again.

Used Up

2011-01-13T03:38:00.003Z

Its tiring the mental ups and downs of trying to keep up with someone. When someone lets you down repeatedly it seems like after awhile it gets awfully hard to get back up with them. Its sad I think some people have a greater capacity for it than others I feel like there is only so much energy that I know how to put into someone and it just gets used up. I think mine got used up a long time ago its just that its not entirely pleasant to admit it. Today I did I'm used up.

Ostensible Salutations...

2010-04-20T15:39:00.002+01:00

If I told you how I felt I'd be honest. If you asked me how I was I'd be honest. If I said hi to you and greeted you and you said how's your day? I'd be honest. If I smiled at you and you smiled back at me we might be honest. If you waved to me and I waved back to you we might be honest. If you smiled and waved to me and I said how are you? Would you be honest?

My silly thoughts.

2010-01-01T04:11:00.002Z

Hmmm so 2009 is almost over and I'm relieved only an hour and a half left by my clock. I can't wait for it to be over. Its odd really at the beginning of this year I had no idea what would have happened in the course of this year or how I would feel about it. I'm quite sure on the 1st of 2009 I was feeling something quite different than what I'm feeling now but thats ok its just different not bad. 2009 was an ok year it wasn't great and it had probably as many bitter moments as sweet one's. So all I have to say is I'm ready for you 2010 I'm ready for it to be a good year. I'm excited to have a new semester coming up and I'm excited about all of the new things I'm going to get to do. Anyways I shall just have to wait and see what happens and I'm ready or at least as ready as I'll ever be. Here are a couple of pictures from my christmas break enjoy friends and I'll see you in 2010.

Self-fulfillment

2009-10-08T21:24:00.003+01:00

"Of what can we be certain except this-that we are fertilized by mysterious circumstances? Where is man's truth to be found? Truth is not that which can be demonstrated by the air of logic. If orange-trees are hardy and rich in fruit in this bit of soil and not that, then this bit of soil is what is truth for orange-trees. If a particular religion, or culture, or scale of values, if one form of activity rather than another, brings self-fulfillment to a man, releases the prince within him known to himself, then that scale of values, that culture, that form of activity constitute his truth." --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I came across this quote while doing research for my paper on Buddhism. This quote was quoted by a lady who converted from Christianity to Buddhism. I had to read it several times to fully catch the entirety of what is being said here. Essentially what sum's up this quote is to say that anything that brings you happiness or self-fulfillment that is your truth. Key word being your in this sentence. So what is truth for you may be different than what is truth for me. Essentially you can have completely different views than I have and my views can completely contradict your views but we can both be right because as long as we are fulfilled then that is our truth. This quote caused me to reflect on my own spirituality, how often do we in our own lives as christians adapt this in a much more subtle way into our lives and views. Granted we don't state this as outrightly as it is said here but the reality of it is the same. We live in such a live and let live society that this attitude of "Its all good", "You do what you want I'll do what I want", "You do it your way and I'll do it my way", has crept slowly but surely into our attitudes as christians. How often do you in your daily interactions with other christians simply put off our blatant differences as simply their way of doing things. It isn't wrong, its just different. I know they have a good heart. While I'm not condoning the idea that we go around pointing out all the sins in everyone else's life. What I am saying is we need to be wary that we don't let our own moral standards slip simply because we have been immersed in this cesspool of "truth" for so long that our standards begin to look like everyone else's. How different are we really from them?

My First 14'rs

2009-07-16T16:22:00.005+01:00

Gray and Torres :) w. JC Ashley Stephanie and Jared

Awesome Birthday Card

2009-05-19T23:16:00.003+01:00

My mom just sent me the most awesome birthday card ever and I just had to share it.

The Experiment

2009-05-15T10:52:00.005+01:00

I stare listlessly at my blank computer screen, I check Outlook my inbox is empty. In the background I can hear the dull buzz from the servers that are noisily humming along I've gotten so used to it that I don't even hear it unless someone happens to complain about the noise. It is cool in here in this dark office of mine, the lights are off to prevent screen glare. I smile bemusedly to myself and wonder what it is that is so important for me to see on my screen. I scratch my arm I think I may be allergic to something in these wooden desks my forearms always itch where my arms rest on the desk. I take a large gulp from my orange Camelbak waterbottle, I'm glad that I have such nice friends. Kristin gave that bottle to me on my last birthday. Hmmm my birthday is coming up in two days, its odd but I don't really feel older I have a feeling that Sunday will be just like any other day. I think I'm going to do something with some of the other SM's on Sunday for my birthday. Mostly because I think they are just as sick of being stuck in as I am and any excuse to get out is jumped at gladly. The bell rings I wonder what period it is now. I glance at the clock on my computer 10:59 squinting at the schedule on the wall I drive that it is 4th period. I scratch my head and wonder why I didn't bring my laptop today. Ah it was because I was hoping that if I didn't bring my laptop I would have something to do instead of just staring at the internet and not being able to think of anything like I normally do. No luck still nothing to do I'm just staring at the internet on a PC instead ugh Explorer I grimace. I yawn and look outside it seems nice outside today its overcast but it wasn't to cold when I walked over this morning I had to roll up my sleeves anyways. I look around the room everything is in order already and I still have two hours to sit here. Hopefully I'll find something to do after I get off work at 1 well I know I'll have lunch and I need to do my laundry but after that who knows perhaps I'll go for a walk but I'm awful sick of going for walks by myself. I'd ask my roommate but he is to lazy to move from his bed. I miss Joel its nice having a roommate that wants to get out and do things. Also a clean roommate ah I wonder if Joel will read this and wonder what planet I'm from but yes Joel if you do read this your room is at its worst cleaner than the best my roommate has ever achieved. I sigh and think only two more weeks I can't wait to get back I'm tired of wasting my life here. I need something to occupy my time, I need goals, I need purpose, I need friends, I just need to be busy again. I frown and scowl at my calender. The last week is break and I won't have to work anyways perhaps I'll find something to do I say to myself. I look at my water bottle and it is almost empty. I get up to go and refill it.........

A few of my favorite free apps for mac.

2009-05-13T15:55:00.038+01:00

I thought some of my fellow macusers might find this post informative. A few of these applications are quite common but several of them are hidden gems and it is my hope that perhaps you will find them as helpful as I have. Some of this is no brainer stuff if you aren't already using some of these I suggest you have someone next to you smack you and then quickly find your nearest broadband connection to remedy the problem.

1. Adium: This is simply the best instant messaging client out there. it allows you to connect to all chat services at once combining them into one window. If you aren't using this then please download it promptly your life will be forever changed. No longer will you need 6 chat programs open at once. Say goodbye to MSN, Googletalk, Yahoo, AIM, Facebook, and the list goes on. Your life will be in harmony and its freeeeeeee! Download!

2. Seashore: Have you ever been frustrated with the lack of a paint program in OS X? Have a quick little snapshot you need to crop and rotate? Want to do a little doodling? Then Seashore is for you while not an advanced paint program it is quite sufficient and will definitely rival MS Paint. By far it is the best program I have found for mac. Download!

3. Cyberduck: Is pretty much the best application for doing ftp transfers. Yes I know it has a sort of gayish name but it really is a great app. It is very much equal to its paid counterpart transmission and I highly recommend checking it out before forking over the cash for a paid app. Download!

4. Fugu: This application is very similar to Cyberduck however there are some very important differences. Mainly these are in regards to sftp vs ftp for a full rundown of the differences this is an excellent article. Also you can download it here. Download!

5. Flock: Introducing The Social Web Browser! This browser is by far my favorite browser it is fully supported and works just as well as firfox but with a few nice bonuses. What really makes this browser stand out from the crowd is the social part of it. This browser allows you to integrate all of your social networking into one place youtube, myspace, facebook, flickr, gmail, blogger, livejournal, photobucket. You name it and it works. Also searching for photo's in Flock will blow your mind and simply make searching in gmail images look old fashioned. Just try it you won't be disappointed. Download!

6. TextWrangler: Now perhaps your average person doesn't need to use a text editor on a regular basis, but for me its crucial. There are many good paid apps out there that are brilliant text editors. However in the free world TextWrangler is very hard to beat. Coming to use from Bare Bones the same people who gave us BBEdit TextWrangler rules the world of free text editors with poise and finesse. Perhaps you may not use it every day but the application footprint is very small and it never hurts to have a good text editor in your arsenal of apps. If your a programer or someone who does any command line work at all then this app is simply essential for your life. Download!

7. Keyboard Cleaner: Ok so this app is definitely not essential but it is very cool. I use it on a regular basis so I thought I should throw it in here. Have you ever wanted to just give your keyboard a good scrubbing while you were watching something on your laptop or doing something important and didn't want to switch it off? If yes then this application is for you simply pop it up and scrub away while your keys are all locked down and safe. This app isn't something you would search for but something I think we can all appreciate none the less. Download!

8. Magic Number Machine: Forget to bring your TI calculator to class? Need to compute some quick equations in notebook notation? Look no further! While the default OS X calculator has some nice gadgets if you switch between modes it is nothing compared to MNM. If you pull up MNM next to your default calculator it will make you feel like you've been using an abacus all these years. Download!

9. VLC Player: This one should speak for itself if you have a computer any computer mac, microsoft, or linux bassed you need this software. If you haven't heard of it download it anyways you'll need it someday. This program just save you loads and loads of frustration. The only free media player that will literally play anything you throw at it. While it is primarily used for videos and dvd's it is also quite effective for playing music as well. Download!

10. Schoolhouse 2: "With the ability to sort and organize your assignments, exams, and projects quickly and easily Schoolhouse is a must have for any student on-the-go. The power of smart notebooks allow you to interact with your work as simply as your iTunes library.

Classcasts give the ability to publish your assignments to the web automatically for anyone to subscribe to. A newly redesigned grading system allows you to chart your scores over the course of the term to keep an outlook as you go. All of this works to ensure you will never be in the dark at the end of the semester." This is a must for any college student and perhaps even some high school students with macs.

If you tried this under Schoolhouse using Leopard OS X 10.5 and were discouraged because it only ran in Rosetta then it is time to try again! Schoolhouse 2 is out and it is better than ever! With full native support for 10.5 and a host of new features this app is an essential. Download!

11. Transmission: Simply best, and fastest torrent down loader for mac. The end. Download!

12. Think: Now this is one cool app. If you use your computer on a regular basis you know how easy it is when your sitting down for a big project to get distracted. You intend to start that research paper but instead you read digg articles for 3 hours... Think is designed to help specifically with this problem this program blocks out everything but the current application your using enabling you to easily focus on that one task you need to accomplish. Switching between apps is as easy as just holding the command + tab key. This app is a must for all of my fellow procrastinators out there. Perhaps a few less cram sessions are on the way. Well lets not get to ambitious but for now this will certaintly help. Download!

13. Skitch!: I love this application. I have only recently discovered it a few days ago myself and I simply love it I can't say enough about it. However I'm sick of talking so you'll just have to have a look at my expression when I discovered Skitch to see just how awesome it really is. It is an amazing little app that you will find yourself using more and more. My only grievance with Skitch is the terrible them choice of hearts and pink! Ugh. Well we can't win them all and it more than makes up for this minor defect. Download!

Well friends I hope this was at least interesting if not helpful. There were several more apps I wanted to include but I didn't want this to get to long. Also I realized many of them I actually payed for so perhaps I'll do another list sometime with payed apps that are well worth the money. Until then Smile! Your a MacUser!!!!

Brighton

2009-05-11T20:08:00.003+01:00

Some crazy kids I know.Not sure what this is a random kid running by the pier.
Random picture.
Random again.
England in a nutshell.
Although I must say the chips here are pretty good.

London Apple Store

2009-05-11T20:04:00.002+01:00

I was here documented noted and now you can all realize how much cooler than you I am. The End.

hi

2009-01-24T13:33:00.001Z

If you know my family at all please pray for them they are going through some really rough stuff right now. Especially Karlena. Many thanks to all of my supportive friends.

Sharing Time

2009-01-13T22:56:00.001Z

Many of my friends probably wonder why I don't blog often or put up lots of pictures from my SM experience. So in an effort to help you to understand why and to get a load of my chest I'm going to share. We can call this sharing time with Ivan if you like although its rather one sided.

When I decided to go as a Student Missionary I had visions of being stuck in some remote location as a teacher isolated from my friends without access to computers or internet, out there soldiering on through grueling weather and surrounded by pygmies that don't speak a word of English, I imagined having to write long letters and waiting weeks for a reply, cooking vegetables and beetle's over an open fire in the jungle. I think we've all had these kinds of visions that extend over from when we were kids and our parents read missionary books to us from the ABC.

My missions experience however has been quite different from all my expectations in fact I can't say that any of my expectations were met. Quite honestly it is entirely different from anything I ever imagined. I am in England (not a third world country), I have a constant source of electricity, I sleep in a regular bed, I have my own bathroom with a shower (in fact my room here is much the same as my dorm room at SAU), I get three meals a day from the school canteen (most meals I think I would prefer fire roasted jungle beetles however), I have 24/7 access to broadband internet both wireless and through Ethernet, I get to do my laundry in a regular laundry just like in the dorm or at home. All in all I have a pretty cushy position in fact most days I don't even realize I'm not at Southern except for the lack of all my friends, and of course there’s that little part that means I don't have any classes.

I know what your thinking now, "Wow that’s the life" three meals a day, food, internet, and no expenses. My official position that I came for was as an IT assistant, I was expecting to be very busy working as I have been in my previous jobs working IT. However I was very disappointed when I discovered that my real purpose here was as position filler. My boss wanted an assistant so he got one I however have no job! The school is underpaid so the budget for new computers and things is nonexistent. What this means is that I have nothing absolutely nothing to do, everything that is done here is easily handled by my boss. So you ask what do I do all day? I sit in the IT office and browse the net Monday through Thursday from 8 to 5 and from 8 to 1 on Fridays.

When I finally got settled in and discovered that I had no real purpose here I was angry. Actually I think was a little more than angry, but I hide my emotions well. The only thing I know I'll get to do everyday is walk over to the primary school to change the backup tape. This involves putting the tape in my pocket walking over to the school, pushing the eject button, waiting for the tape to come out, putting the new tape in, and of course walking back, about 15min total. Other than that I get an occasional odd job vacuum some keyboards, take out the trash, turn someone's computer on for them, go plug something in, etc. All things that could easily be done by my boss or someone who isn't even an IT person at all. I kept thinking to myself that what he really needed was a part time grunt labor assistant to do odd jobs or when he needs an extra arm. To be honest I didn't really like my boss at all, and I blamed him for my lack of anything to do.

This is the main reason (other than I hate to write) that I haven't written to many blogs. Because my life here is quite ordinary, I'm not out having adventures in the jungle, I'm stuck here doing nothing every single day. For a long time I was seriously depressed, and some days I still am. You try sitting around all week doing nothing, I know everyone thinks they would love it, but it’s not really the party its cracked up to be. Mostly I have been praying simply that God would show me what my purpose here is and to help me be content.

I think God is helping me to be content with my position, it really was a miracle that I was able to come to England and so I know that I am supposed to be here. The sureity (possibly misspelled) with which I know I am in the right place is a huge comfort. Honestly now I am starting to just have fun being here sure I don’t have anything to do at work but I am having fun. I am getting along much better with my boss and I realize to a large extent he just needs a friend to talk to that is also nerdy and understands him. The school here is really unsupportive of the IT department and every improvement is a struggle, because the administration doesn’t understand technology at all so when you ask for 5,000 or 6,000 pounds to buy a piece of software they are really not understanding at all. Also he tends to be the general repairman for anything with electronics in it, everything from washing machines, to light fixtures falls into his lap. Anyways I’m learning to be a supportive friend and if that’s all I’m here for then I think that would be enough. But I don’t think it is I can see that God is working in the boarding school as well but I’ll save that for another time. So while I may still not know my purpose I am having fun with the learning process.

ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-09T09:06:00.000Z

I have moved my SM stuff to my new website www.zippymacs.com it is currently still under development but it its where you will find any new posts about what is going on here. I will still be posting personal items here however. The purpose of the new website is to consolidate everything in one place so that Southern or whoever keeps asking me for my blog doesn't have access to everything else. Anyways just so you know :)

Snow

2008-11-14T09:38:00.001Z

Do you ever feel like life is somehow passing you by, and you might just be a bystander to your own life, and that even if you got hit by life directly in the face you wouldn't feel anything? Thats how I've felt recently, you know out of touch with reality wishing I could really feel life in some way regardless of good or bad, just a feeling, any feeling. I know it sounds crazy, but thats how I've felt. Occasionally there are those rude blasts of feeling that you get when something breaks through and its like a pin suddenly and abruptly popped your balloon. You weren't ready for it it wasn't what you wanted just POP! and all of the sudden you are exposed, feeling again a with an acute sensitivity to everything. You feel raw, unused to these feelings, like a homeless dog might feel about being petted backwards, happy that you are feeling something and yet hurt by the lack of familiarity. These kind of experiences scream at you when your in your bubble, telling you to break out, to take control, to choose to feel something. You keep trying to tell them that you don't care, but deep down you really do care, you need to feel.

You wish that you could be alive and passionate about something, but you are not sure what you would even be passionate about. You are sure that it would take more effort than you have to feel something. You briefly ponder noble causes, things that you think you might feel very strongly about if you were brave enough. You have no idea how to feel passionate about something, sure there are things that you care deeply about, but not enough, it isn't enough, you don't care enough about any of it to be in acute pain if it was destroyed. You have a sick feeling in your stomach that you would just move on with a sense of oh well and a soft sigh. The thought of actually doing something about it however overwhelms you; quickly you start filling a new baloon eager to block out the feelings once again. You do this unconsciously without thinking. It's as if your body is in override mode, it doesn't want you to feel. You tell yourself that next time you will stay out, next time you will continue feeling, that next time you will be wake up and be alive.

You know however, that its the same story you told yourself last time, it didn't work, and you ponder what would it take to actually wake you up. You wonder how big of an explosion it would have to be to jerk you into feeling again, or what kind of terrible thing would have to happen to make you care, it makes you sad, because you think that you might not even care if something horrific did happen, it scares you to think that if something horrific happened you'd just go on not caring, that it might make it impossible to ever wake up because it would be to painful.

The other day it snowed, and it was so beautiful. It hardly ever snows here in England or so I'm told and I don't know if we are going to get anymore while I am here. The snow we did get was only an inch or so and it was almost entirely gone by morning. Anyways I decided to take advantage of the snow while I could and go out for a walk. It was one of those spur of the moment thoughts that you get sometimes. I was sitting quite comfortably in my room not even planning to go out and enjoy the snow. I was disappointed that there wasn't enough to do anything with, however for some reason I just got up and went out, I didn't bring a coat or anything I just went out in my sneakers, jeans, and a T-shirt.

I stepped outside and suddenly I was awake! As the abrupt change in temperature registered my skin tingled from the cold and the air felt sharp, fresh and cold. The snow was falling softly, the flakes just floating down as if they had all the time in the world. The flakes landed on my face gently and melted into cold water drops that ran down my face. I just stood there mesmerized, I felt the snow calling me to go, just to go out, somewhere, anywhere.

I only walked for a couple of hours, but it seemed like days, just enjoying the feeling of being alive. The evening was timeless, no one knew where I was, no one cared where I was, I was just walking thrilled to be out, excited to see what was around the next corner, I was awake, I was alive and I was feeling everything. Every nerve in my body was tense and alert, my senses working in overload as they were suddenly yanked from dormancy, the sounds, ordinary sounds, even of cars whizzing by, were beautiful, and I found myself taking pictures. Pictures of ordinary things, things that in real life aren't even pretty, things we take for granted, a graffiti-ed brick wall, a weed growing in the sidewalk, a clock tower on the top of a building, and even my own footprints seemed magical. It was as if everything was suddenly awake, alive, and I was aware of it all, I was part of it, and I was awake, I was alive!

It was incredible, I wandered around downtown for a long time, just walking in no particular direction, for no particular reason, I was in another world. Abruptly I realized I couldn't feel my hands anymore and started back. Walking back I had lots of time to think, my cheeks were red and cold, my nose was running, I was worried because I couldn't feel feet or hands, I was cold and anxious to get back, but somehow at the same time I was happy. I was happy because I could feel my red face, and that my hands were frozen, I was happy, because I was alive.

A Good Meal

2008-11-12T11:27:00.000Z

I get good meals so rarely here that I just had to take a picture of this particularly delightful Borsch Supper that I had the privilege of partaking in. I persuaded Lyuba (another AV) to cook this meal during our recent break.

The kitchen is very small as you can see and is very crowded to work in but we did manage to produce some delicious food.

International Balderdash

2008-10-29T00:36:00.000Z

This blog has been a draft for quite sometime because I was to lazy to click the post button. I apologize for the sense of very late that is associated with this post.

This past Saturday night my choice of repose from my hectic week as it were was to play games. More specifically the game of Balderdash, which happens to be one of my favorite games, because it is not without the complete lack of a correct answer which is so problematic to the game of Apple's to Apple's. Regardless I had the unique privilege to pass the late evening hours of my Saturday night playing Balderdash. The experience made all the more enjoyable due my being the only participant with English as a first language. All of the six other people playing have very bad English as most of them are still learning. What made it even more interesting was the variety of countries represented, Argentina, France, Romania, Mexico, Spain, Moldova, and Italy respectively. After spending a great deal of time explaining how to play (I was the only one who had played before) we finally were able to begin playing one of the funnest games of Balderdash I have ever played. Perhaps sometime you may have the privilege of this unique experience, I was surprised by the challenge that some of them were able to present in their definitions. Be not fooled they came up with some very interesting definitions, many times quite difficult to distinguish, other times simply hilarious, we had lots of good laughs. You should try it sometime, perhaps put it on your "Bucket List" if you will.

Introducing Picture Stories

2008-09-22T13:39:00.001+01:00

The Hairless Phenomenon

by Ivan Marsh

Once upon a time a guy named Ivan decided that he needed a hair cut drastically!!!! He looked like this....

He decided to perform the operation on evening with his trusty clippers that he brought from home. He knew that the U.K. uses 220 power instead of 110 and was worried that his clippers would not work. Before he used them he looked to see if they were compatible, but alas no information was to be found on the clippers. He decided to plug them in and see and wonder of wonders they worked. He was very happy and promptly set about cutting his hair five minutes later he was alarmed when smoke and a terrible smell started pouring from the clippers and they stopped working. Looking at his hair which was only half finished he panicked and tried to finish it with scissors. Needless to say it was a terrible idea, quite the disaster really and his hair ended up like this...

He was mortified needless to say and resolved to go about like this...

Until he could find some way to fix his hair. His roommate tried to get a look but to no avail it was not to be seen buried safely under his hat was the tale that only he could tell. The next morning he got up at 6 to walk to town in search of clippers to finish the job. Town happened to be a very very very long ways away 3 miles away to be exact a lot of walking for sure especially when you are stressed. He walked desperately from store to store frantically trying to find clippers he found several places that were sold out and some references to stores that might have them that he never found. Finally he found a pair in John Lewis at the Harlequin mall for the magnificent price of 15 pound. Returning to his room four hours later with the clippers, very tired, and very flustered. Having obtained the clippers he set about fixing his haircut having finished he went to the bathroom (or toilet here if you prefer in England a restroom is always referred to as the toilet don't ask me why) mirror to check for missed spots (Ivan's room had no powerplugs in the bathroom or this whole escapade could have been averted but alas he had to cut his hair without a mirror.) noticing a spot he missed he returned to his room to get that spot he missed. He raised the clippers to his head and instantly had a sinking feeling he had forgotten to put the length guard back on. There was nothing else to do a massive swath of his hair was missing he must finish the job and shave his head!!!!! His hair now looked like this...

Ooops sorry I mean like this...

Which he hated so much that he continued to wear his hat like this...Which he did for four days he even slept with it on!!! After which he got on blogger and wrote this story so you could sympathize with him in his tragic loss.

England Border Patrol

2008-08-31T12:29:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone and sorry that its been awhile I'm sure some of your are curious about how things are going over here. Once again sorry for the long wait mainly it has been because as many of you know I hate writing with a passion and truthfully it is Sunday afternoon boredom that has driven me to write this blog. I shall start at the very beginning.

The flight over to the UK was very long and uneventful, when I got to the Heatherow airport I was amazed by how big it is I had to ask someone there directions and then I figured out I should just follow the large blue signs saying arrivals this way. I finally got to border patrol the queue was very very long and so I had to wait for a long time just to get to the desk. That's when the trouble started I gave the very English looking gentleman at the desk my passport and he looked at it and asked me to take my haof at which I gave him a very blank look as he gestured and I finally got that I was supposed to take my hat off which I did very promptly. Then he said do I have any papers to show where I was going to be and who would be financially responsible for me etc. This was my first time traveling and I didn't realize that you should bring papers with you as well as your passport, and no one bothered to tell me this. So I tried to explain to him that I was going to be working at Stanborough Secondary School about an hour from here. He continued to grill me how was I gettting to the school if I didn't know where it was etc etc etc. Needless to say I was detained because I didn't have my papers to show how I had gotten my visa and I didn't have Judy's contact information either lol. To quote the agent in an accent so think I can only begin to imitate it "Ya can jus espec to show up here with a passport an ge in." or something like that. lol They detained me for about 30min after doing some background checking and verifying that the school was indeed about an hour away in Watford the man informed me "The UK is a big place wouln't want you to get lost". (Later I found out that everyone else who was coming simply showed thier passport and got through. Hmmm maybe its my beard? Or perhaps because I am a guy) I finally got out and after that I was so frazzaled that I forgot that Judy said she wasn't going to show up until later and so I was frantically looking for her and thats a whole nother story in itself. I did get picked up though and I did make it to the school lol although it was very harrowing for me because I was very unused to driving on the left side of the road and I felt like we were going to crash constantly. I am pretty much settled in here now and have a pretty good schedule going I know what my job is and where to go for everything and of course I have keys to the school :) I'll post more about daily life later but for now thats it.

Finally In England

2008-08-28T23:34:00.000+01:00

At last I have arrived in England. It is very different and the same all at once. When I first arrived at the airport well firstly I got stuck in custom's but they finally decided to let me into the UK but not without mentioning that they were being very nice to let me in and if it was the other way around me going to the US with a British passport I would never have gotten in. I finally got picked up at the airport after a long wait around the time I got sick of everyone saying I had a foreign accent etc etc. I will say more later but it is very late here and I think I will go to bed now although I will say one more thing and that is that I think I am going to have terrible English when I get back to the US. I'll have to elaborate on that later.

Finally I Have My Own Soldering Station

2008-08-05T18:44:00.000+01:00

Sorry everyone if this bores you to death but I was so excited I couldn't help myself. I finally have my very own hot air rework station!!! And yes that is my desk its sitting on :)!!!!

boB the Helper

2008-08-05T17:50:00.000+01:00

boB's cheesy grin after helping make my biscuit
After he decided it would taste better for me if he just made sure it was good and took as small bite.
Handing it to me after he took a bite and made sure it was safe to eat.

goodbye's stink

2008-08-03T17:31:00.000+01:00

Our eyes met and I hurriedly glanced away wanting to postpone that goodbye til the very end we both nod and a flash of understanding goes between us as I quickly start scanning the room for other people to say goodbye to. Finally I can put it of no longer I walk over and we just look at each other, I feel my eyes start to water, I kick myself mentally for being emotional. Finally we grab each other in a hug and just stand there holding on. I can feel his chest heaving and I know that we are both crying. Finally we stand back and I swallow one of those dry swallows you do when there is nothing in your throat and your trying not to cry. I'll miss you man...

Musing From the Meandering Mind

2008-02-24T17:09:00.000Z

hmmm this computer is kind of nice i'm not really sure what to think of it but i like it
I'd always wanted an orange one it was my dream computer But now i have a blueberry one that works pretty good its crazy how things change over time what we want and what we get and also what happens to the things we always dreamed of and wanted but never got a lot of those things I'd venture to say we don't even really need anymore and never would have been really truly happy having i mean obviously i don't know all there is to know about life but i have figured out some things and it seems that we a lot of times tend to try to fill our lives up with activities and hobbies and anything we can think of we devote all over out time to it and then we still feel empty somehow its like the cycle of life its such a nasty cycle though it just goes around and around we find something new and then we spend all of our time on it and then we get bored because its not what we really wanted so we move on the problem is that we never really figure out what it was we truly wanted so as humans we just keep on doing the same old same old but is that what its really all about? I just want to know i really want to know what it all means why am i here what am i doing why do i have the people and things in my life that I do? what are they there for why do I have this kind of life why do i have the skills that i have or lack of skills? will i ever make a difference in life does anybody really know why they do what they do or do we all just go in circles aimlessly? sometimes life is a conundrum and i just wish that it would work itself out get its thing going on and say hey this is what you were made to do this is what will make you happy this is what you should be doing if you could only know that then it would be easy to devote yourself to and you wouldn't have to worry about anything else. But maybe there isn't any right or wrong maybe thats what having free will and the right to choose whatever we want to do is all about. Maybe it really boils down to us deciding what we want to do and God will bless us in whatever it is that we are working toward if its in his will. But that doesn't seem quite right because what about those people that God talks to and says hey this is what you should be doing, and they feel so strongly about it that they up and quit what they are doing and do something else. Does God only do that for some people? Why would he do that is it my fault is there something I should be doing that i haven't' been? is there something anything but if there was what would it be. what can i do that will make a difference and give me purpose and direction in life? what is it that makes people driven to be what they are do they just take up the closest thing to them that they happen to be mildly interested in? or do they just know and if they just know how do they know? what makes them know? who tells them? why do they know and not me?

boB! The Snowman

2007-12-28T18:46:00.000Z

Hopefully this won't make all of you who didn't have any snow to terribly jealous. However I had a wonderful time building boB snowman. I'm sure most of you will agree that he is quite the snowman possibly the biggest in all of Fairfield NE.

Digital Logic Christmas Tree

2007-12-15T00:11:00.000Z

This is one of my final labs for Digital Logic. I posted it on here because afters spending around 15 hours working on it I felt the need to share my project. I think that it took me so long because I have never done this before so this was my first board. Here it is.

Here it is again in the dark.

A Happy Goodbye

2007-12-14T14:09:00.000Z

i recently realized as many of my friends probably have that school is almost over and when i realized that i was thrilled to my core. however i was also sad that this semester went by so quickly it makes me feel like someday i might actually grow up! lol it has been a good semester long in some ways short in others i think i grew some but even if i didn't i know i at least got older. only four more days and i will leave southern not to return until next year. so this is farewell to the semester and all that went with it, i'm looking forward to being home since i've only been able to spend three days at home all of last year so i'm very excited although i'm to be greeted by a not so very friendly dentist when i arrive lol. so farewell i'll be back after finals but for now adios

from your friendly macuser

Eating Habits

2007-10-22T03:29:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted in awhile but these are pictures of some of the interesting things that Me and Joel have had the pleasure of dining on. lol The large white thing is Mexican string cheese and the sandwich is something me and Joel whipped up. :)

discaimer

2007-09-12T21:21:00.001+01:00

ok so apparently do to the recent complaints i have been receiving about my blog many of you have not read my blog description so i decided to post it so that you could all see it very clearly and hopefully understand and that will be the end of the matter lol

"this is a disclaimer this blog will not have any punctuation and will not be properly formatted this may be reminiscent to some of you of my old emails before i became civilized"

Snake Buddy

2007-08-19T01:40:00.000+01:00

i found this really cool snake this afternoon when i was hiking on the biology trails here at southern so i decided to put up this picture of it to demonstrate how unsafe i am lol my camera is right on the poor thing and its a baby copperhead lol

update on life lol

2007-08-05T13:52:00.000+01:00

hey guys its been a long summer so far but an awesome one i just wanted to give you guys an update on what i'm actually doing so that everybody won't be so confused currently i'm working at southern in the art dept trying to help them get all the new computers up and everything before school starts probly everybody already knows that my boss quit and i wasn't entirely sure what that meant until i got here so basically i'm the only one in the dept working on any of the macs and they are my responsiblity which is a lot but hopefully since they are going to hire a new person to take my old bosses place that means that i will not be required to work this summer since most of the summer activities involve the server stuff and pc's even though the mac labs are bigger :) they did take out one of my labs and that made me sad oh well i suppose it just emphasizes how much better my macs are lol anywho thats pretty much it i'm just working at southern and having fun caving and stuff yeppers thats all folks

boB in Action

2007-08-02T20:36:00.001+01:00

this is a video of the infamous and much talked about boB in action i hope he was everything you expected lol

2007-06-29T06:03:00.000+01:00

hey guys this is just a picture of the people here lol guess who is in front lol anywho hope ya'll are having an awesome summer i'll post more pictures later

bivan

2007-06-03T03:50:00.000+01:00

so i'm not really sure if i'll be able to keep this updated while i'm canvassing this summer perhaps i will perhaps i won't who knows so i figured i'd get on here and say hi or bye or whatever it is when people do stuff like this just so you'd know that i didn't disappear well i guess i sorta will but anywho the point is that i'm going to be gone and so i might not post anything on here for awhile but then again i might so i'm not really sure so i guess thats all i have to say about this matter lol i hope your not mentally spinning in circles after reading this
bivan maylatervin

it is?

2007-05-31T02:47:00.001+01:00

sorry about the two very similar pictures i couldn't figure out how to delete it so i just gave up lol

bye bye friends on a log

2007-05-21T02:24:00.000+01:00

this friday i stayed at the beasley's house i was supposed to go camping but all the camping spots were full so we had to give up and just go back to the house i had tons of fun running around chasing caleb and christian as well as being a very torn and raggedy race horse lol it was all in great fun though then on sabbath we went hiking at great falls it was a lot of fun looking at the waterfalls and hiking around with caleb and christian. its a really special experience to hike with caleb lol he holds your hand tightly the whole time as if something is going to happen to him and asks you questions none stop :) it was great fun helping him climp all the steps and hike around all the rocks and stuff at the last waterfall we stopped and just hung out around the stream for awhile to give them a break and so i made some sailboats out of some bark and leaves that were laying around with my pocket knife and caleb and christian had a lot of fun sailing them down the creek for awhile anywho as we were leaving i was walking back across the swinging bridge with caleb and we stopped to look at the boats going bye underneath the bridge and he said bye bye friends on log lol then he wanted to know why he was sad that the boats were leaving :) lol anywho it was a blast i think its the only time i have ever tired them out and not been exhausted myself lol caleb actually fell asleep on my shoulder when we were hiking back lol anywho it was great fun too bad you were all off in other parts of the continent :) hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well

digital oven's

2007-05-21T02:08:00.000+01:00

ok so i know i forgot to to turn on the flash for this picture causing my birthday pie to look extremely grotesque it was black i had to lighten it as much as i could so you could even see it i almost didn't remember to take one at all as you can see it is already half eaten by the time i remembered to take a photo lol i was rather hungry making this pie was quite an adventure i wanted to cook it at 8 but the dorm oven apparently had other ideas and i was repeatedly thwarted by the digital interface i know how ridiculous this is given who i am but i could not for the life of me figure out how to use it i called at least 12 different people and each time the conversation went something like this hey whats up, oh hi, hey i can't figure out how to use this oven, you can't? they would laugh hilariously and rather cruelly i think and then tell me they had no idea it was 9 before i was able to receive help from marrisa who was very helpful and managed to help me figure out how to use the silly oven and the pie came out splendidly lol i promptly ate half of it and then ate the other half for breakfast oh friday :) by the way i now have a rather large chip on my shoulder against digital oven's its really quite ridiculous when you think about it i mean i of all people i promote technology but goodness gracious why do we need to take something that really only requires one button and a dial and give it twenty buttons and make it completely confusing its totally ridiculous and complicates quite unnecessarily a very simple process and yes the pie was worth the extra hour of wait time

ecstasy

2007-05-17T16:30:00.000+01:00

no i'm not on drugs but i'm happy enough to feel like i was lol actually i just made a major breakthrough at work and i'm very pleased with myself to do printing on the big epson printers at work people are supposed to preflight thier pdf's before they send them to print but a lot of people don't understand how or have a horrible concept of the idea so i usually have to work through a bunch of problems to get them to where they need to be anywho so i saw this thing called a droplet when i was snooping around in acrobat and it said would i like to create one so i said yes and i got to make this cool little application where you drag the pdf onto it and it automatically preflights it correctly well ok thats the very simplified version i actually had to read all this stuff about how to make it and it took me a long time to make it work right but anywho so i'm really happy about it and the picture is just of the cool little application :)

my new camera

2007-05-12T23:44:00.000+01:00

some people are probably wondering how i took the pictures in my previous post since i did not have a camera or any thing to take pictures with. so to satisfy your curiosity i got a camera my very fist digital camera. truthfully i know nothing about photography so i really shouldn't even own a camera this nice but hopefully i'll be able to learn a few things well if my dad has anything to say about it i will be an amateur photographer before the summer is over lol. anywho so i got the camera and i couldn't figure out how to use it fortunately it came with a getting started quick manual you know one of those one page things that says here is all you need to know to take picture look here push that and wala you should have a picture lol. so i did that first and it was great and everything and i managed to take some pictures as you can tell and then i said to myself you know you have this really nice camera you really should learn how to use it so i sat down and read the manual all 91 pages of it and when i finished i realized that i really didn't know anything more than i had before sure the manual explains how to use the camera lol but it explains it like this, This setting modifies _____________ and allows you to take multiple ____ of the subject while maintaining _______. which means absolutely nothing to me. lol so i said phooey and put the camera on auto and continued to take boring old disposable camera quality photo's lol. oh wait thats not entirely true i did learn how to take timed photo's which is how i was able to take the photo's for my last post. :)

haircut

2007-05-12T23:29:00.000+01:00

so this morning when i was at work i got tired of having hair and so as soon as i got off i immediately went and gave myself a nice haircut. :) The pictures are well obviously before and after photo's of my haircut. lol i am not that photogenic but the pictures do serve to illustrate my adventure quite nicely.