Graduating

D O N E. That was the full text of one of many of my recent gchat statuses. What it means is moving forward. Assuming I pass all my classes this semester (failing doesnt seem even remotely possible) I am now a University of Illinois Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate and alumni I guess. Thanks to some good guidance by my father to take a few college classes during my Senior year of high school I was able to graduate college in 3.5 years which is no small feat for being in the third best ECE college in the nation. I don't think I'll be receiving any awards or have my name in bronze in the main library on campus like my mom but it matters not. I believe I was on the deans list for engineering every semester by my first and think the same will be true for this my last semester. Regardless, I feel I performed respectably.

Overall I had a decently good time. I have a pretty good work ethic and because of such I may have spent a little more time studying than I should have and my fun time was decreased as such. That would be the largest part of the reason I'm so glad it's over. This semester was much better only having 13 hours and having all my lectures done by noon but throughout my college career I've been wanting my evenings back. That's why I'm so glad to be moving on to my enjoyable Qualcomm position.

Qualcomm has a great benefits package and great work environment. I had a great time over the summer at my internship with them mostly thanks to the team with whom I was working. In addition to a great working environment Qualcomm support active social lives too. They have Qgroups which are part of their Qlife program, promoting social interactivity, that are groups of employees that share common interests. Qualcomm provides these groups a bit of money to pursue their interest together as long as they show the company the relevance to their interest. I'm sure QCOM isn't the only company that does this but it definitely is a perk of working for them. After all of that the best thing is that I pick my own hours and have plenty of vacation time. I'll finally get my evenings free and once my wife and I find a house to be our own I can start working on projects again like I loved to do when at my parents.

I'm happy to have it done. It feels good to have the weight of working to position myself in a good career removed. I'm happy about where I've been but even happier about where I'm going.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1, WOW

I went to see this movie after having not gone opening night even though I tried but discovered that it was all sold out. Should have known that it would have been. However it wasn't tonight now that it's getting near to its end in theaters.

WOW. So I've read all the later series of the books and the 7th is definitely the best fiction book I've ever read. The whole book is amazing but the first half does seem to drag on a while even though it's extremely interesting, relevant to the books before the last, and extremely important to the end of the book. Well this movie being the movie of the first half indeed has its slow parts. It's probably the most interesting movie I've ever seen in how it's put together. It's almost a series of short glimpses into the story instead of scenes as often the current scene fades completely to black then the next shines into view. All this is fitting of course in the context of the dark time the book and the movies portray.
The emotion this movie pulls is just as strong and even stronger than the book which is amazing! I sound completely geekish and perhaps girlish but the movie puts you in the despair, joy, and danger that the characters experience leaving me astonished. Even now I'm still processing the sorrow, pain, and despair I feel along with the characters. I just cant seem to pull enough emotion to match what they would be feeling if it were real, and I'm left trying.

This movie was a triumph and if the last one can accomplish the same thing this one did and match the emotion stirred by the second half of the book, it will be the greatest movie I will probably ever see. Let's hope such is the case and I know for sure that I will be getting my tickets as soon as I possibly can for the last movie. I know they'll go fast. I only hope by that time I've fully absorbed part 1, for this series is epic.

Awesomeness. Short and Sweet

"The Rally"

My favorite sign from the Rally to Restore Sanity yet.

And a good analysis of what sanity means:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-reardon/a-few-extra-thoughts-abou_b_776515.html

A Couple Pulls from my website

These are a couple of posts I had on my website, gbergsc2.zapto.org, when I was doing development on it and was going to abandon Blogger. I've decided a dedicated blog is better than posting on my website though I'll probably try to pull the posts off here to my home. We'll see how that goes but for now here are those posts (without dates which is an influencing factor in using blogger).

Uh Oh

Well I've moved in, set up a server, and fried my xbox and have discovered that I'm now kinda out of project ideas which leaves me with research to do on things to fill my time. Tomorrow I'll have hw to do, and really will probably be busy with hw all weekend but I really want something fun to stick in random places in between to release stress. Email the webmaster if you have any ideas! For now I think I'll play with xp system.

Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers Continuation

I'm very happy to say that I was able to purchase a set at a reasonable price refurbished from egagroupusa.com. I was so happy when my wife let me know that they had come, but woefully upset when I opened the box and did not find the set complete. All the speakers were there but it was missing both the user manual and the game console adaptor which neither are necessary but the game console adaptor is useful if I ever get a different set and want to use these on a system that doesn't provide 5.1 output as it provides an interface to rca stereo plugs. So I called them quite a few times and sent them an email and was still upset when they hadnt replied all day and being Friday would mean that I had to wait till Monday to find out if I should set up the speakers completely in case I had to send them back. Well I went to their front page at some point and realized I had forgotten about their announcement that they would be out on holiday until Monday. Well that had me feeling a bit more accepting about their non-responsiveness. What topped off the deal was receiving a voicemail from them on Monday during class saying that they would send the adaptor and manual to me! I've yet to get it but I went ahead and set up my speaker system and they indeed provide the awesome sound I had so long been desiring (and below the price I set as limit :) ).

Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers

I'm very interested in obtaining a set of these speakers. I had a set of X-530's 3 years ago but I sold them to my brother who was making more use of them than I could have in the small dorm room I was stuck in, but now that I have an apartment and my current speakers don't have a proper plug resulting in horrible quality I'm looking to find some X-540's for around $60 new/refurbished shipped. Logitech or Newegg occasionally has them on sale for this much but it's such a test of willpower to make myself wait until they're on sale. I've been checking ebay too but the sellers aren't responding to questions.

Gopher Gopher

Well my church search was quick and easy. I've found a church in CO that I like. The church is Bethel Presbyterian and they, like my church in Champaign, meet in a high school except that the high school Bethel meets in has an auditorium with nice seats that don't need picked up every week. I've gone for two weeks and have very much enjoyed the people and the preaching. The preacher is quite a guy. Always smiling and is so animated.

The people are also very good at fellowship and a few families each week invite others over to their house for lunch and more fellowship until their evening service. Yesterday one family had an open invite to anyone who wanted to come. They served pb&j and lunchmeat sandwiches and chips and the rest of the stuff you associate with that kind of meal.

While we were eating I believe it was the family's little girl Caroline that spotted a gopher that had gotten into this family's yard. Because they had a garden in their yard they wanted to get the gopher out fearing that it might mess the garden up. Oh was it hilarious to see 4 little boys around 8-10 years old (I believe) chasing a gopher that can run really fast around a 100 foot fence encompassing the yard. The goal was to get the gopher out a gate since it couldn't seem to find a hole to duck out of quickly. They managed to get it close to the gate but then it ran off the other way obviously not knowing how to get out. After chasing it around the yard a couple times they scared it toward a window well (hole in the ground around a basement window to let light in) unintentionally and it fell down through the grate that was over it. The father didn't know what to do then. He didn't want to kill it and didn't know how to get it out.

Enter the hero...!

He thought I was crazy and obviously wasn't real sure about me risking the animal getting into the house. He said he didn't think I would be able to do it, but I told him that all I needed was a box. We went down to the basement and the window well was quite deep (4 feet or so) so that the window was at waist height on the bottom. The gopher was scared stiff and wasnt moving so it was really easy to take one of the two windows out (Couldnt have been easier, it was at least a 3'X3' opening in the wall) to be able to move the box into the window well. I pushed the box out and slid it under the gopher. Coerced him toward the other window still in place to trap him in the corner and be able to see him. He tried to jump up the window but the box was big enough to keep him within the confines and eventually he fell into the box itself at which point I closed the lid. It was screaming quite a bit as I walked up the stairs and out the door with him. This whole time the father has been video taping me and just "wowing" in amazement that I was able to get him in. Walking down the street with a "screaming box" and the father walking backwards in front of me I carried the gopher to a large ditch that collected all the runoff from the subdivision and let the gopher out down a culvert. Really wasn't that big of a deal but everyone including a vet that was also there, was amazed. What a time.

So I guess I'll be somewhat of a celebrity over the summer and if I come back after my fall semester I'll be able to have a story to tell to remind everyone who I am.

--Gregory

SummerTime

Seems like I'm living a completely new life right now. Other than my infinite commitment to my fiancée everything seems to have changed. I'm interning at Qualcomm in Boulder Colorado for 11 more weeks after having worked one away this last week. I've been having a great time this week. I drove all night last Saturday to get out here, 1000 mile trip. Got to my amazing apartment provided by Qualcomm at 7 in the morning last Sunday and settled it pretty fast. Started work on Monday and loved the "integration", lol. Took a couple days to get stuff together and then got rolling but all along my group has been pretty awesome. I realize I have many more days to evaluate but I'm in love with my job (Not in an obsessive manner or whatever but I didn't want to leave work yesterday...) and hope I can pick it back up after I finish my last semester back at U of I.
Colorado is beautiful in the Spring. Pretty sure most places have beautiful Springs. It's the nature of the season I guess. lol. Gonna have to actually get into shape to go out and enjoy it. It's so wonderful out and I love riding my bike. However, riding my bike out here takes a little more endurance then flat Illinois. I actually put my bike back together so I can shift gears to get up hills that just don't exist in Chambana.

Yeah, random thoughts, cant put enough together to finish this sensibly.

-Gregory Michael

Way t00 busy

For those wondering, I'm way too busy for posting new blogs. This is all you get!

Life

Back for a moment in my free time which has worn thin lately. For those who read this but not other statuses elsewhere, I'm engaged! My fiancee's name is Jessica Dowds and she lives in New Berlin Il at the moment. Our wedding date is set for August 14th and though we know we'll be scraping money together during my last semester I'm confident in the job market in my field. Hopefully with a good summer internship at Qualcomm, an excellent company, I'll have a solid foundation for finding employment in December. The wedding is going to be pretty basic with my family and a few close friends and any of Jessica's family (who are geographically farther away) and her/her family's close friends. Jess is all ramped up about it and I know she wants me to be too but I've never been a big planner. If I need to put something together I can but I dont fuss over details. Guess that's the way of the male. lol. Jess and I have been together for 3 years a month and a half and we'll soon be committing to a lifetime. Hope she can deal with me lol. I ask for your prayers for her strength as I'm away at school this semester and in Colorado over the summer. It'll be a difficult time for her. Pray for minimal stress for both of us when planning everything. I probably wont be soothing for Jess with my tendency to not choose for her. Also pray for our faith. Jessica and I will hopefully be coming into membership at our home church and give praise for God's work in our lives. Also pray that Jessica's almost full time employment continues so that she is able to save up funds for when we are married and out on our own.

God Bless
-Gregory Michael

Weekend

Well, Friday was the University of Illinois Students' party day. I don't really know but I don't think that Unofficial St. Patrick's Day (Unofficial as it's referred to most often) has been around very long. I know it has been for as long as I have been here at the university but I believe it wasn't much before that. One thing I had thought about, that corresponds pretty closely to the time frame for the removal of the Chief as our beloved mascot. Again, I really don't know the real time frames of either of these events but I could see a correlation if they do happen to align.

Anyway, I didn't do anything, just sat in my dorm room and did hw. I attempted to go for a bike ride but turns out my tire had blown off of it's seat after I aired up the tires on Thursday and it put a pretty big hole in my tube. I tried to fix it but couldn't get the patch to stick right. Luckily I had another tube meant to replace my back tire tube sometime in the future. I put it in the front tire but decided it was too late by that point to go for a ride on that beautiful day.

But that was ok, I finished my assignment and Saturday was just as beautiful. I went out on a bike ride and had to turn back once because of a bike issue. Quickly fixed I headed out again and rode out to the mall area. Unfortunately for me the traffic was very busy and this dual city has horrible roads filled with potholes. Well when trying to avoid being hit by a car I looked back and when I did my bike going probably about 15 mph found it's front tire in a pothole as big a round as the tire and about 3 inches deep. Well once in the tire didnt come out and being my front tire the rest of the bike kept it's inertia, as did I and both went over the handlebars. I would have been fine with a bit faster reaction rate or a curbless road but instead my chin found direct contact with the curb and split a 1.25 inch gash in my chin. I got to the side of the road pretty fast dragging my bike with me and a woman and her children stopped and helped me out. Thank You though I don't remember your name. Well if I had thought it through I would have rather called a cab but the woman called 911 after looking at me. The standard response around here is typically 2 police cars, a firetruck and an ambulance. I guess off campus it's only the later 2 because I didn't see any police but the firetruck arrived first and then the ambulance. Again, really wish I hadn't ridden in the ambulance. I have no idea what it's going to cost but it really shouldn't be much seeing as all I got was increased speed of checkin at the emergency room and another gauze pad. :(
At the emergency room I got 2 internal stitches and about 13 stitches to keep my wound closed. It originally looked like a hole the size of a quarter in my chin. I have a couple other scuffs but I'm fine with those. I really wish I hadn't hit my chin. Anything other than that I would have just brushed off. Even a gash in my arm I probably would have just bought peroxide and rubbing alcohol at the mall and patched it up myself, and would have rode my bike back, but my face, darn, couldn't see how bad it was until I washed myself off in the emergency room. Life lesson: Extend arms more, they don't Require stitches or a mirror to see! Oh, and if you can get up immediately after the crash, call a cab, not 911.

Oh well, if my parents let me I'll pay for the ambulance ride. I really hate that I didnt think of a taxi on the spot. The idea actually didn't come to me until Sunday. Oh well. Life goes on.

-Gregory Michael

Being a Teaching Assistant

So tired. It's the kids! Lol, no not my kids, or even kids at all really. I'm referring to the 391 students that I help as a TA work on their projects. The room that we have all to ourselves is so nice to have but when it comes the night of turning the assignments in, what ALWAYS happens. The students have waited far too long and have found themselves with questions, with answers that should have been discovered a week before. So I spent 5 hours tonight in a 75 degree room with kids that haven't slept(or showered) in 32 hours. It really wore me out tonight. Hopefully the project that is due Wed night doesn't keep me worn until then. Especially with a different assignment and exam the day after.

Short one this time, need rest.

Good Night and God Bless,
-Gregory Michael

This weekend I spent an abundant amount of time doing somewhat worthless work. I spent alot of time setting up a bunch of server stuff on my LAPTOP. And after all that I've done, I'm pretty sure it's not getting out. It's alright doing the loopback connections, but because I'm inside a dorm, housing managed network, I dont have access to the routers to do my port forwarding. It was all a foolish idea but I liked setting it all up. Even more foolish was the fact that my laptop runs Windows 7 and I'm using utilities that have been contorted to be ported to Windows. By this fall I'll have a small form factor desktop to bring to my apartment and set up for my final semester of school!

It's fun thinking that this semester is already a quarter over. Which means I have only 7 more class months left to complete my education. It really doesn't seem like I should be as far as I am but it's true what they say, "These days go by so fast." I'm anxious to get out of school so I can start my life. I really do love having my evenings free to do what I pleased. Last summer was great during my internship. This summer I'm working for Qualcomm and hopefully it will be even better because I'll be doing something I enjoy more. I know I'll be homesick though. Or maybe just missing my Jessica. I realize now that I don't really have many plans for my life. Sure the next year of my life is just about set. But I sometimes wonder what I'm going to do with myself after a few years in the workforce and coming home to projects. I love projects. My first couple posts explained that pretty well. The other day I thought of something while walking past some office construction here on campus. I really miss my construction jobs. This computer engineering stuff is the place to be. I enjoy it a lot, but I miss building physical things. I know I'll have plenty of time to do that around the house but the idea of working for habitat for humanity came to mind. I think it would be the perfect thing for me to do.

Well, I'll leave it at that thought.

-Gregory Michael

Jon Stewart, Genius Above Fox News by miles

This, is genius. I may not agree with the language or other programs on Comedy Central, but Jon Stewart, is SO much smarter than the entire Fox news collection together. Watch this,

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4001020/oreilly-vs-stewart#/v/4003531/entire-jon-stewart-interview/?playlist_id=87485 and compare the attitude and analysis of Jon Stewart, compared to Bill O'Reilly. Jon is hilarious at least, BUT he makes so many valid points, expands upon them, doesn't seek to change the subject like BillO to avoid the topic. It's not like BillO was limited on times. They cut 3/4 of the interview anyway. Jon tries to make points and BillO attacks him out of context without addressing the points Jon brings up.

Jon is soooo cool headed. He laughs off so much and brings BillO somehow back down to earth.

I've long hated Fox news for their direct attacks toward people. Not just opinions, but attempts to slander many people. Jon makes fun of people on his show, but they are <5 min jokes, that are clearly jokes.

I can't keep talking. I would go on for days. Jon communicates my opinions very well, check it out please. If you're really interested in my thoughts, compare the full interview to the parts that BillO shows and see what Fox really wants to communicate.

Check it out, humor me and leave me a comment, I want to know what you think.

-Gregory Michael

Get Me Out of Here

It's the people...I can't stand the evils that exist in people. Attitudes and behaviors are unchecked and when called out aren't even apologized for.

Earlier today someone dropped their entire tray on the ground. One, the amount of glass from the glasses we have to drink out looked to sum up to like 5 of them. It's ridiculous and probably part of why they're dirty hands couldn't hold up the tray. 1 glass is all anyone should need, if you run out of drink, go get more! It will speed up how long it takes to get a drink in the dining hall and maybe, just maybe, cause you to do a little more activity. And after dropping the tray the person just walked out of the cafeteria leaving the pile of glass shards, the broken plate, dirty napkins, and even the tray right were it fell, not telling anyone. Not that anyone needed to be told that it was dropped. It made plenty enough of an announcement itself with all the breaking stuff. It just annoyed me that no attempt was made to even help clean.

After my tray had been put on the conveyor and I had removed the silverware into the tub for them and my napkins thrown away (two steps other people are too lazy to do like requested) I walk out the cafe doors and start down the hall where this girl is obviously too busy or important to recognize me walking towards her in the only space I have to walk and move over. She walks right into me and the other two taking up the rest of the hallway just laugh and the three walk away without an apology after my sincere apology. The hallway is 5 feet wide, and three girls and countless other groups don't find it necessary to allow others the convenience of walking down the hall as freely as they feel they're entitled to everywhere.

Smokers, nearly every time I walk out an exterior door at this university I have to smell some idiot who thinks it's their right to ruin the day of everyone else. I could ramble about this for hours in hateful language but, I'll summarize my opinion in one sentence. Go smoke somewhere else so that the rest of us don't have to smell the stink of you dying.

Tonight a couple companies had some food tastings to the students in the dinning hall. Greed and theft disgust me. Apparently one guy couldn't get enough of the 2 bite portions under the heat lamp to fill his fat gut so he ingeniously thought to just take one of the whole pieces that had been sitting on a Styrofoam plate out of the heat lamp. Others decided that a mouthful of candy wasn't enough so took like 3 (of the same candy, not different ones to test all) of those servings.

I just wanted to vent. I want to be away from it all. Don't like complaining but with so many people just indifferent about their disgraceful behavior, beyond that of a normal person I just don't care about complaining.

Can't Sleep

Well I think it happens to all of us at some point. Something we did in the day or something with the conditions we're trying to sleep in makes it impossible to get to sleep. Normally I would simply lay there until I eventually fall asleep but I know what is causing this situation so I won't bother. I drank a bit too much caffeine this evening after having a 3 hour nap today. Both were really good ideas at the time but I know tomorrow I'm going to regret them when I'm groggy. Oh well, it's happened before and fortunately I don't have any reason not to take a nap tomorrow afternoon anyway (a shorter one as to not continue the cycle).

Random Fact:
I bought a reciprocating saw earlier tonight. It was a really good deal and I (hopefully) helped out the couple that was selling it to get themselves out of a hard place after the husband had been laid off. I gave them a couple extra dollars on top of what he wanted for it but I'm not sure if I gave him enough. I probably should have given more but it did feel good to be generous, especially since they drove it to my dorm so that I didn't have to find transportation and navigate my way to his house. His name is Doug and I'm going to pray that he and many more that have been laid off will be able to find a job and eventually job security.

Random Observances

SO, food, some things are meant to be hot. The food here is lukewarm. How disgusting. i would microwave it but then it just doesn't taste right. Besides, shouldn't food that is supposed to be warm, indeed be warm.

The cooks here also need to know, something referred to meat sauce shouldn't be 75% water, and should definitely contain more meat than tomatoes.

Swearing makes the swearer sound ignorant. Completely honestly, I hate swearing, cussing, bad talk or whatever you wanna call it. Using cuss words says to me that you don't have the intelligence to find a better word.

Sleep

So I just slept three hours in the middle of the day and I didn't know that sleep could hurt like this. I dont have body aches or anything but it seems that my brain is seriously slowed down. My body is like whoa, what happened. Yeah, just thought I would throw that out there.

More about Me

So one defining thing about me is my pet peeves. Not that I speak out about them much or make a huge deal about them but they define many of my thoughts. One of the things that bugs me the most is wastefulness which my girlfriend will testify is the truth. Waste of almost anything bothers me and I guess here at a college campus it's easy to find. Mornings when I'm getting ready in the floor bathroom I'm annoyed by others who turn on the sink faucets full blast and let it sit for minutes at a time without using it. I know they're not waiting for the water to warm up or anything because the hot water is hot within 5 seconds of turning it on slow stream. And almost everyone leaves the water dripping. I make it a point to turn the faucets all the way off if I see any on. In the toilets, I hear people pulling feet and feet of toilet paper (the rolls squeak on the holder). Maybe it's them getting tissue paper with which to blow their nose later, but that can be every time. Granted the toilet paper is pretty thin but the amount I can tell they're taking is ridiculous! Wiping should take like 2 gos at most, like a couple feet of our thin stuff will cover that, except for extreme occasions when 3 wipes may be necessary and the lengths adjusted accordingly. And those people who feel it necessary to put paper on the seats, get over it! It's your backside touching it. That part of your body shouldn't come in contact with anything but your clothes and hands which will be easily washed not long later, as will your body. Even if you do come into contact with a few germs, they'll help you! What an astounding idea lost by our nation and doctors and everyone it seems, immunity via your own body. You don't need antibacterial unless you know you're coming into contact with bio-hazards, which are usually marked. And even if you find that you DO for some reason have to put toilet paper down on the seat, have the decency to flush it down the toilet so others don't have to pick it up after you let it fall half into the toilet then soak up water onto the seat or on the floor. You took the time to put it there, you don't even have to touch it with your hands if you're that afraid to touch something that has touched your own body. Use your feet. The fear of germs has created a sickly country infected by more and more things. I won't deny the danger of things like H1N1. Some people are weakened naturally, but other weaknesses are self inflicted. I leave my comments there. Other wastes bother me too. There is a limit to the amount of stuff I like to save. I save useful stuff that can be fixed and/or donated, but unlike a packrat I will throw out and recycle those things that can be and need to be. I like space, and if too much isn't put back into cycles of use, it piles up and causes unneeded clutter.
I'm not a super "green" enthusiast. I agree that it is great if we do what we can, but if we all use our brains (hard/impossible for some, like those who run the water and use a roll of toilet paper to wipe) acknowledgment of actions would lead to an automatically self sustaining life style for us all. I do love being outside though. Doing all I can outdoors is refreshing. I love to exercise chopping wood and clearing of fallen trees with a good ole fashion axe and bow saw. Growing up in a small town has given me an appreciation for the small things like being able to go out into the small wooded area behind our country home, as well as the ability to slow down and take in my surroundings. The world moves too fast, based on hours of meetings, television, video games, and cell phones. Speaking of which, a "free upgrade" as offered by many cellular phone companies does not indeed mean, your phone is useless come spend more. Save your money people. Another pet peeve: Waster's of money. I'll hit a nerve of everyone by saying it wasn't the bank or wall street that made this financial crisis, it was stupid people. The last generation lived within their means because they had to and knew to because of their fathers and mothers. Banks wouldn't loan them thousands. They couldn't get 1t0 credit cards because the company knew it was going to be a loss for them. Then as the world moved forward and my generation came around, everyone seemed to lose their sense of limits. Banks and credit card companies started wanting to make more money, perhaps a moral lapse but no more a different philosophy than any of us have. We would all like a little more income if possible. So banks and credit institutions of other sorts started being more giving in hope of getting a little more back. In so doing they welcomed the most ignorant of people. People that felt that living out of their means would be ok in the end. Well, it wasn't, and as I've heard too many people say (too many because I don't like foul mouths) "assuming makes an ass out of you and me". Well, "you" was the mass populations who borrowed more than they could ever hope to pay off. "Me" was the banks. It's true, they've been made into asses, for the failure of people to use their brain. Yes, the banks should be loaning out the money they've been loaned. Yes, American taxpayers with a brain should not be paying the bonuses of those bank executives. But No, the banks are not the evil ones. They got back the money they gambled using a BUSINESS tactic. They are business people after all, and they made the money back with interest as we all should. But somehow, the people who borrowed all the money, and couldn't pay back what they owed and agreed to under law, just get written off and forgot about. If taxpayers want the money back, I know just where to go to get it. Previous owners of homes paid for with money borrowed that they lost because they were trying to live out of their means.
People reading this will say, but they have no money to pay it back to the taxpayers. I know. They shouldn't. The next generation is going to continue this trend of bad spending as long as any of us fail to appreciate smart handling of our money. So, I say instead of blaming and going after those (credit institutions) who earned the money they are entitled to, we go after those who spent money they had no right to. Keep those who are in debt, in debt. Period.

All will tell me, whether they agree or not, I will be sorry if it ever happened to me. Indeed, I will be, but not sorry for the values I hold now, but sorry that sometime along the way I lost those values. Keep me in debt if I've ever worked myself into debt. I'll deserve it. Period.

God bless those charities that do help those in need, and may we all see it to, within our means, give to charities in a free (not bitter) way so that those who need it may find a way to work out of their poverty.

More ranting later.

Jesus is my Lord and Savior.
-Gregory Michael

About Me - how inadequate of an analysis, More later.

I'm just a (ab)normal college Senior, without a desire to go out and do the "crazy" things that really make a college experience. My free time is mostly spent working on schoolwork. It's not that I don't have other things that I would like to do. I have many hobbies that focus on my uncanny ability to fix things. My major is Computer Engineering for which I do a lot of coding composing many programs and systems to accomplish those somewhat behind the scenes actions that we don't thing about regularly. I found out yesterday that one of my teachers' assistants owned a company that built the software for controlling the orders at McDonalds. That's something I had never thought about, that's how Mcd is so much faster (not than other fast food restaurants, they are equally enabled, just poorly managed). I enjoy my major, immensely, but it's not what I do as a hobby. I don't seem to have the ingenuity or need to think of my own problems to be solved using my skills. So, I put my effort into the problems posed by others. I like solving others' problems and helping people out. Instead I spend my free time when I have the opportunity into fixing and improving things of mine. Over winter break (a whole month, good or bad in terms of accomplishments) I was able work on my first vehicle (a beautiful 1993 Chevy C1500 stick-shift short-bed pickup) including sticking the rear view mirror back up -- i know, not that hard -- pulling the fabric off the ceiling piece -- equally easy but needed, I'll replace it when I get back to it -- and replacing 75% of the steel brake line --painfully long process without a proper shop (I had to move the gas tank, and with all the rust I couldn't take it all the way down so I had to work in a 5 inch gap. Slightly convenient was the fact that the old line was so rusty it just snapped and came out without me needing to disassemble it. Unfortunately I found that out after I had done 90% of the disassembling, lol.). Oh, I should mention, I live in Central Illinois, where we have a decently mild winter. It was only around 20 degrees Fahrenheit on average for the entire time I was working on the truck. I was in a garage so I didn't have the beautiful snow to contend with, or the wind, but the only thing keeping me warmer was an electric space heater placed right next to the two layers of pants and shirts I was wearing! It was really fun, I think the part that kept me going was listening to the Christian music station (WIBI) as well as my desire to keep that old truck running. I don't think my dad wants to keep putting money into it, but with me doing most the work to keep it running, it's really not that expensive of an investment (except the gas). It gets similar mileage to most pickups even though it has the weaker 6 cylinder in it, which is part of the problem. Burns less gas with a smaller block, but still has to pull the full size truck. It's no S10. I do love to play in it, especially in the snow.
Other accomplishments over my break include a very entertaining 5-day trip to Kansas City, Kansas to see some friends, looking through and reducing the amount of stuff I have stored away to move out with me when the time comes, helping my mother do some "spring cleaning" type stuff, finding some pictures my mother had lost a year ago and making her day with the discovery, finding and purchasing my second beautiful vehicle, an indigo blue 2006 Toyota Corolla (also manual, I love manual), and lastly getting my wisdom teeth pulled out.
Not sure if it's my high tolerance for various things (like those wonderful 20 degree days or body pains of various sorts) or if I'm just lucky or whatever but I had little pain at all from the tooth pulling experience. My beautiful lovely girlfriend Jessica was disappointed when I wasn't loopy at all after coming out of anesthesia. She wasn't there, my mom drove me home, but she would have heard about any from my mom if there had been any. My mother hit the target when she said that she thought I was gonna go off on the orthodontist's assistant. I didn't actually but the lady was talking to me like a 5th grader before the procedure and was treating my no differently afterward when I was at practically full capacity except for my tiredness. The lady had told me to be a couch potato once I was home but after my sleep on the drive home I really didn't feel like sitting around doing nothing. I rarely do. Instead I went about my business going through stuff of mine weeding out and pitching (the part forgotten by my mother the packrat) that which I didn't need.
I love helping people like I mentioned before. I'm good at fixing things but at some point all my stuff is, well, fixed, at which point there's nothing left for me to have fun doing. I'm pretty sure I get the handyman trait from my mom's dad. He has always been good at fixing things including things his friends bring to him to have fixed, things given to him that he fixes from broken, or things he finds "dumpster diving" though in a small town there is rarely the requirement of getting into any dumpsters to find these treasures. I can't really say that the trait all comes from that side though because my dad is pretty good at the same and his male relatives are similarly enabled. I suppose it comes from the small town roots. There isn't always someone around to fix everything, and why pay for it when you can do it yourself?! I don't like to. I have somewhat of a trust issue with strangers fixing my things. I rarely thing other people can do any better of a job than I can. The only reason I really ever do it is the fact that they have the proper tools to do so. I'm working on a remedy though. I know I'll never get the specialty tools required for every job but I am building up a tool base with which I can perform most repair tasks.
Anyway, I'm pretty good at fixing things, and if I have the materials and tools to do the job I don't turn down the opportunity to have fun fixing or building/making in the first place.

Bored now, stuck at school without anything to fix. I started this blog and have run out of flowing ideas for the moment. Check back later.

Jesus is my Savior.
God Bless.
-Gregory Michael