Update from NY

So about every 16 weeks i get a little tired of school and travel home or to some other random part of the country. Every time I am reminded of why I am going to school, so i don't end up like the people I used to hang out with. Despite what their rap sheets might say about them they're really not bad guys, just made some bad life decisions, and now they live in their parents basements.

Other than that Christmas went well, im just chilling out until new years and then enjoying a few more days of sweet nothingness before headed back to stillwater.

a sad day

so throughout my experience in the fire service there has been one guy that was always willing to take the new guys under his wing. he knew that even if we weren't supposed to be doing something because we were too young that we could get away with it because we were under his supervision. at the age of 14 that puts you in hero status.

there are some guys that always saw the younger firefighters as a pain in the ass but this guy always saw us as an opportunity to teach the next generation and always brought a smile to everyones face while doing it.

this fall he was diagnosed with cancer. everyone was saying that he would like to hear from me while i was out at school. between finals and all the other stuff i got caught up in i never got a chance to call. next thing i know i am flying home for break. i survive my first day home, monday rolls around and all i had to do was stop by his house and do some christmas shopping. after shopping all day i just go home to catch dinner.

Ray Shultes Died This Morning. i never got to say Good By to one of the reasons i'm in the field i am today.

Internet at the speed of SMELL

Its rather nostalgic coming home for vacation, all of the places and things that bring up such fond memories of my youth. Makes me realize how blessed I really am... that every where else I have high speed internet. This is internet is just obnoxious, I mean is so slow i can actually feel the world revolving as i wait for my homepage to open.




Other than that its good to be home, i am going to go play in the snow and maybe by time i get done my email will have finished loading

'cause Im Comming Home Again

I survived my 7th Semester in college and all the finals that came along with it. Stillwater has been slowly dieing all week and tomorrow I am going to contribute to the exodus by flying home from Tulsa.

The best thing about Tulsa, everyone knows what it spells backwards.

F.I.N.A.L.S

Fuck I Never Actual Learned Shit!


I am down to one last final Friday, one last night of drinking with the guys and then its back to the great 518. I don't know what happened to this semester but it flew by. It seems like yesterday I was in DC enjoying the summer. I am ready to see the family and some old friends. We're all finally 21 so this is going to be an interesting break, real beer! no more 3.2!


Anyway, i'll be in the great Empire State from the 15th until January 6th, if you want to hang out shoot me a email/txt/facebook/call.

New Toy

There are a few perks about living in Oklahoma, one of which is the lack of legislation pertaining to firearms. I bought a new toy over the weekend, a gun that is considered an Assault Rifle in NY but took me 15 minutes to purchase on a Saturday afternoon here.

I may not be able to pass the exam but atleast i can have fun doing it

3. Coal is carried from a mine in West Virgina to a power plant in New York in hopper cars on a long train. The Automatic loader is set to dump 36 tons of coal in each car. The actual weights of coal loaded into each car are normally distributed with a mean of 36 and a standard deviation of 0.8 tons

(a) what is the probability that one randomly selected car will have a weight of less than 35.5 tons (include a sketch as part of your answer)?



apparently that wasn't the sketch she was looking for, who knew?

Finally Getting a Diploma

After 3 1/2 years I am finally getting the application for graduation from Corning, It turns out that I have had my classes completed since the summer of 2006 but if you don't pry it out of them they don't hand out diplomas.

It really wont mean anything once I get out of OSU but still at least that year at CCC will not have been a complete waste.

Theory on Life

"How you live is more important than that you live."

The Simple Words that Made My Day

Today, two exams in two hours, in the two hardest classes. I've been stressing all week, actually put in some hard core hours in the library. Needless to say I wanted to start crying even before I woke up this morning.

All that changed when I went to my Statics Class with the crazy Southern/Dutch Professor. From no where, while trying to find out the sum of the moments about x interior this comes out....


"It has been determined by the front of the class, without the knowledge of the back, that the Physics and Math departments are possibly Al-Qaeda Training Camps"

Random... Yes
Politically Correct... Absolutely Not
Hysterical... OMG there is a 4 minute gap in my notes from me trying to wipe the tears from my eyes


FINALLY a professor that realizes that the Physics and Math departments are full of shit, and taught by that don't speak English. Completely made going to class today worth it...

A Strange Day

For a Monday today started off strong but somewhere around the 4th hour of class my mood changed to a WTF attitude. No idea why, normally i enjoy philosophy class but it just wasn't doing it for me today.


Anyway, the Washington Post had an interesting article that was worth reading.

Clicky

Fire Service + U.S. Govt = Slippery Downhill Slope

I came across this article on Firehouse.com today.

Firefighters Trained as Govt Anti-Terrorist Eyes

Looking at this from both sides I really have no idea where I stand on the subject. On one hand it is an amazing resource considering Fire and EMS do not need search warrants to enter homes. But we're not there to search, there is a job to be done. There is a fear that people will be more reluctant to call for help if they know it might get them in trouble. At the same time, if someone has something that bad to hide, i don't know if I feel safe going into that house. Its when this liberty gets abused and ordinary people are scared to call, thats what worries me.

Thanksgiving

I survived another Thanksgiving away from home. Over the past 4 years I've had thanksgiving in 3 different states. Its starting to get kinda lame but at least I've yet to spend one alone so thats something to be thankful for. This year I went with a friend to Tulsa.

The Alaska internship came out last week so I'm going to apply for that. It would be pretty cool to spend the summer up there. It would be a change from last summer.

Dopping off the face of the earth

I realized today that i have dropped of the face of the earth during the past two weeks. If i did not return any of your phone calls or emails don't take it personal... i just got tired of always answering my phone and reading emails.


Don't Worry, I'll catch back up this weekend

Phi Beta Sigma Blue Light Stroll off

Tonight was the 2nd annual Phi Beta Sigma Blue light stroll off. I have to give it to them, it was an amazing show. It was cool to see what our counterparts in the NPHC put together for their philanthropy's. Here is the highlights from last years event.

---2006 Blue Light Stroll off ---


In other news, our Student Government Association has once again proven that they are the future leaders and government officials. Last Wednesday hoops were jumped through and bull shit was flying everywhere as the voice of the student body held a 5 hour meeting and impeached our SGA President.

This is the break down from my eyes... The SGA says that they make changes in the university on the student bodies behalf. I don't see the need. The school is a business, no ones got a gun our heads, no one told me I had to move 1500 miles from home to go to school in the middle of no where. OSU had a product that I felt was worth the investment. If you don't like the products that are sold at wal-mart then shop at target, you don't waste your time trying to change wal-mart.

The time and effort that is put into that yields such insignificant changes i honestly do question its purpose. And to top it off, when they waste even more time bickering within the organization it really makes me laugh.

Back to the Real World
its been a good few weeks, a few heart to hearts, a few new friends and my bike is still running so i can't complain. It feels good to have a few stress free days before the final stretch.

my my my how the time does fly when you know you're gonna die by the end of the night

The title is completely irrelevant to just about just about anything but good music should be appreciated.

Nothing really new, Just a lot of work.

The Man and the thousands that work for him and make him The Man

mor·al /ˈmɔrəl, ˈmɒr-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mawr-uhl, mor-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –adjective

1.

of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes. The sad thing is that I actually had to look up the definition before starting. I, in no way, claim to be perfect. I have many character flaws and seem to be mastering the fine art of destructive decision making. I, in no way, claim to be made out of money. Mommy and Daddy have helped out alot, they pay for school and plane tickets home. One thing that really sets me off is when people do not uphold their financial end of the system. A consumer purchases goods or services from a supplier. Shit, i'm a fire protection major and know that. The reason why 'The Man' is 'The Man' is because he knows something or posses a skill, or is from a lineage (*sp?) that puts him in a higher tax bracket. I don't care if he is corrupt or takes advantage of people. The odds are that he is doing it legally, its how the system works, he just knows how to work the system. I don't care if he can buy another without even blinking twice, the main bullet point is that what he owns, BELONGS TO HIM. If you can't deal with that, get over it, he is better than you. I don't care what it takes, if you have to get you're Phd, start a business, shit, sell your own blood (personally it funded my spring break trip to Costa Rica in '06). I guess what I am trying to say is that what accomplishment have you achieved if all the material goods you have you did not earn. Personally i would rather have very little and know that what I have, I earned (as much or as little as that may be).

Life is more fun on 2 wheels

After a 2 months of mechanical illness McKenzie is finally working again. It was amazing to be able to get back on the road, granted it was 11:03 and 45 degrees once i finally got all of her plastic back on.
Curtis and I went for a short ride around town. AMAZING. A new K&N air filter and some carb syncing later the beast lives again

A Good Time For A Good Cause

Today was probably one of the best experiences that I have had come out of my experience in greek life that was not derived from a 'Character Building' mistake.

We kicked off our first annual Pi Kappa Phi War of the Roses. We stood outside the Student Union at Chi O clock and sold Hugs and High Fives for $1 each. We raised $150 for our national philanthropy Push America. Tomorrow we are going to have a dunk tank in an attempt to raise a little more $$$.

Definately proud of my guys for rolling out.

ENGR1412

If an adviser ever tells you its a "Bargain Class" and that "You get 4 credits worth of knowledge for the cost of 2 credits" it translates to "you are going to do 4 credits worth of work for a 2 credit class". You will spend countless hours reading VBA code trying to figure out what character you forgot to capitalize.

A Formal Intro

After realizing that my roommates are probably getting tired of my random rants I figured I would enlighten the entire world so they don't start to think they are the only ones taking blunt force of all that is me.

I'm a student at Oklahoma State University in the Fire Protection Safety Technology program. Upstate New York (Born and Raised), I have been going to school here in stillwater for 3 years now. I find myself at home about 14 days a year but I have gotten used to it and its really not that bad. I enjoy the outdoors, Motorcycles, Skiing and just about everything that happens around firetrucks.

I'm the kind of person that you either love or hate, there is not much middle ground. I will speak my mind, even if those thoughts are not well received. A better part of the time I find myself playing the devils advocate. Not to be an ass, but rather to try to get people to see the other side of a topic. I am a firm believer that people should not live with regret, rather just learn from experiences and try to better yourself.

I'm finishing a year of being the President of the Gamma Upsilon chapter of Pi Kappa Phi here at OSU. The Greek system is a messed up one, both internally and the perceptions from individuals not involved. I love the fact that I am given the opportunity to change that from the inside. Greek Life has an extremely steep learning curve but the leadership experience gained is priceless.

Anyway, i'll try to see if i can keep this updated.

Dear Fellow Students

Dear Fellow Student,

TURN DOWN YOUR iPOD! YOU'RE IN A CLASS ROOM, THERE IS ONE PERSON TALKING, ITS NOT THAT LOUD!


Thank You,

The guy thats tired of people like you.