Potty Break

I was put into an awkward situation today. I was at my desk at work and decided I needed to use the restroom. My office is in a small group of offices so our bathroom is not very large. Just one stander, and one sitter. As I was approaching the bathroom I heard a man's voice coming from the bathroom. That is not uncommon that people will ask how their days are going while washing hands etc.

I opened the door and walked in and there was only one person in the bathroom, making use of the sitter. He was on his cell phone. Lucky for me I only needed to use the stander. I finished my business but decided against flushing because I wasn't sure if this person wanted the person on the other line (possibly a customer!!! this guy is in sales) to know what he was doing while having the conversation. I sneaked over and quietly washed my hands before leaving the room.

Now, my belief is that it is extremely rude to use the phone while in the restroom. And I usually feel uncomfortable even talking to anyone else in the bathroom while business is being taken care of. Anyone that knows me knows that this is one of my pet peeves. If I realize that somebody is in the bathroom while talking to me on the phone, I will hang up on them. Also if I receive a phone call while in the bathroom, I'll let it ring and then call the person back after I'm finished. Most modern phones have a missed call history so you can easily just call the person right back.

Maybe this is not a big deal to most people, but keep in mind there are people out there like me so please be considerate and leave the phone at your desk when you need a potty break!

Sorrows rides again

It's that time of year. I just put insurance back on my '02 Ford Mustang GT. Silver with black leather interior. The license plate says 'Sorrows'. A lot of people ask me what that is for. I tell them that I got the name from the Metallica song "Harvester of Sorrow". But what most people don't know is that it is also an alternate name that I have gone by in some of my web activities.

Just before parking it for the winter I had blown out my 600 watt 4 channel amp that all my speakers run through (except for my subs, which don't work at the moment). So no music....at all. I just received in the mail the new replacement that I bought from ebay so the system will be up and bumpin again in no time. I hope to revisit my sub/secondary amp situation this summer and see if I can come up with a nice system that is mid-range and adds just enough extra oomph. Right now it has a Kenwood 800 watt amp pushing 2 Kicker CompVR's. You would think it would sound okay, but the amp is OLD and the kickers are somewhat questionable.

Hopefully the weather stays nice!!! I'm looking forward to some awesome cruising this summer!

Best ride so far

I got a new mountain bike back in January. The weather was nice for a couple weeks then it turned crappy so I haven't ridden in a while.

On Saturday I rode out to Findley State Park with my room mate. We covered just about every inch of pavement they had + a little bit of off road (the trails are still very wet!) It is about 2.2 miles from our place. We rode about 11.4 miles in the park. 2.2 Miles back to our place and then another 2 miles to go to the car wash and back so we could hose down our rides!

Grand total of 17.8 miles in just around 2 hours. 9MPH average may not seem very fast, but factor in hills, wind, muddy terrain, and some novice bikers and I think we did pretty well. I know I was whooped, but it was a lot of fun.

School Update

Thanks to anyone who wished me well on my Web/Database Integration Mid-Term. I scored 240 out of a possible 250 for a 96%. That puts me at a ~97.6% for the course so far!

My Cisco2 class started this past Saturday and is going to turn out to be an awesome class. The first day of class and we already got to do a simple configure for 2 routers in the lab portion of class.

Also...on Saturday I saw a flyer for the Lorain County Community College Network Gaming Association (LC3NGA) and read that they had sessions (Lan Party) the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month so I stopped in and had a good time for a bit. Hopefully I'll take my box up there next time they have a session. If you want to check out their website for more info it's here LC3NGA

Why Metallica Rocks

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a BIG fan of music. I listen to it in the car, at work, and at home. I like nearly any type of music except for country. I grew up listening to country, and transitioned to my 'darker side' with Def Leopard showing me the path to the slippery slope. I think of them as my gateway band. Then the best thing in the world happend to me. I was browsing through the wares at my grandmother's garage sale and I saw a tape that simply said "Metallica". It was their self titled album. I had heard the name before and it sounded interesting so I asked if I could have it. Yoink! Of course she let me take it. Thanks Uncle Jeff!!!

I listend to half of that tape every night for about the next 3 years. Each night I'd flip the tape over and listen to the other side, falling asleep to the best music in the world every night. Then Metallica came out with a new album, Load wow, I was blown. What a great album. After that of course they came out with Reload. It just makes perfect sense.

What a great bunch of 3 albums...but wait! The had made 4 others before their self titled album that I'd never heard. Kill 'Em All, Master of Puppets, Ride the Ligntning, And Justice for All How could this not be my favorite band of all time. Each album I listened to got better and better each time I heard it. I started picking up on the subtle harmonies that were hidden behind the headbanging 100 MPH guitar playing. It still gets better each time I hear it.

The 7 CD's I've already mentioned are far and away my favorite albums from Metallica. But they have also come out recently with albums such as Garage, Inc., S&M (symphony), and Saint Anger. These are the products of the gang expanding their musical horizons.

Some Metallica Fanatics will tell you that their self titled album was the beginning of them selling out. I say just the oposite. Once they figured out the recipe for a great metal tune they could have repeated indefinately to make all the cash they wanted. Intead, their music was influenced by the culture around them, other's music, and aspects of personal life. That is what music should be all about. They were taking on the risk of losing fans in order to be true to themselves. It was their love of music that got them into the game and got them were they are as true legends of Rock & Roll.

If you don't believe me, just look at all of the tribute albums that are available. The Blackest Album is up to volume 3 I believe. There is the Metallic-Era. There is the Tribute to Four Horsemen. There is even an album of Metallica songs done by the Four Cellos.

Metallica, I salute you.

Busy little bee

It's been a while since my last post. I've been a busy little bee. I've just signed the lease on my new apartment in Wellington. It's been quite a task of figuring out what all I have, and what else I still need to furnish the place. I got the electric into my name, and the cable installers coming out tomorrow (gotta have the necessities). My room mate and I went shopping this past weekend to fill in the gaps of what we couldn't get free (thanks to Kasey for the kitchen stuff, and Gail & Justin for the couch and chair)! Right now my two worries are a bed, and a TV. I think i'm going to spring for a nice high-def set, but as of yet, I can't decide which one I like the best.

On Saturday my good friend Karl got married! I rode to Howard, Ohio with my good friend Geoff and his wife Sara. Before the wedding my good friend Mike, the best man, asked me if I could throw him the ring box when he gave me a signal. Of course this sounded fun and I agreed. Sara suggested we take the ring out of the box so it didn't fall out and get lost so Mike kept the ring on him. During the ceremony when the pastor asked for the ring Karl turned to Mike. Mike had the 'Uh oh, I lost the ring' look on his face then he looked to the other groomsmen. They then all turned to look at me which was the signal. I stood up, stepped into the isle, and heaved the box and hit Mike right in the numbers. Perfect Strike! He handed the box to Karl, and Karl handed it to the pastor. Then the pastor opend the box and said "There's no ring here!" So Mike pulled the ring out from his sock? (ewww) and handed it to Karl! Good times all around. I had a blast.

I have a mid-term Thursday in my Web/Database Integration class. Wish me Luck!!!

I wish I could have been there!

After talking with Aaron about my post he reminded me that I left out the best part...The part that I apparently don't remember too well. We didn't just go to Kent for a nightcap. We went to 2 bars and hung out for quite some time. After some time I did manage to vaguely remember some of one of the bars. There were peanut shells all over the floor. From what Aaron was telling me it sounds like we had a blast. I wish I could have been there!!! I guess that's what I get for starting at lunchtime.