Quote of the Day:

“Richard is an ass, and he has a little assling.” —

I overheard this quote today. It apparently has to do with a man and his son. That’s a great nickname for someone’s offspring. Not exactly an affectionate name. I can see it now… “awww.. such a cute assling.” or “this is my little assling, Richard, Jr.”

ok… enough asslings.

I haven’t written enough lately. I’ve been a little busy. As several people call it, my “scam” of getting free stuff keeps me busy.

Christmas is a fun time of year, but this year it’s kept me stressed. So much family drama and present problems. Everything I wanted to get people is out of stock. I actually found what I wanted to get Deedee… most of it, that is.

Going to texas soon. We have a house, now. and new cell phones. and stuff. and a cat. the cat is not a product of texas, but to be honest, I’m not really sure what it’s a product of. I don’t know how I got a cat. I hate cats. but maybe not this one (don’t tell deedee). it’s cute. It will make a wonderful chew toy for my airdale dog

ok. must run and wrap presents.

before I write anything meaningful, let’s see if this actually works.

nifty… my blog is back up…

a lot to write, but no time to write it. At work… working 3 or 4 jobs nowadays. Only for a couple more months, then I can work one real job.

Looking for a home in Houston, so if any of you non-existant Houstonians-who-read-this-blog would like to recommend a place, feel free. Will have to email, cause my comments are broken for now. Will try to get that fixed.

Must run. More later… maybe.

edit: maybe not. server is up, but ftp is not. I guess my thoughts will continue to remain hidden from the world.

Why is no one online when I feel like chatting?

Had some fairly interesting news today. For those of you who don’t know, I got a job offer last month from the United Space Alliance in Houston, TX. They flew me down to interview with them, and then sent me a job offer a few weeks ago. The catch was, I had to start immediately. Well, I had to email them back and say I couldn’t because I couldn’t leave Deedee here for 4 or 5 months, alone. I got an email back from them today saying that they’d hold the job for me if I started as soon as possible in December.

Oh, I also should add that I no longer have a nice, coushy assistantship at the university, anymore. My research took a turn I didn’t want to take, and as a result, I’m no longer a real RA. I lost my assistantship and my huge paycheck.

It’s also worth mentioning that I decided to drop the research I was doing before I got the email about the job.

So, as things go, some would say this is a Sign (TM). I tend to agree. I’ve asked for a direction in my life for so long, and then I lose my PhD topic, lose my research, and get a job offer working for NASA in Houston… It’s not quite the meteor crashing down through my ceiling with a note that starts “Dear Chad” and ends “Signed, God”, but it’s not exactly something I can dismiss, either.

As it stands, I have to change schools. I’ve burned some bridges here at State, and I have to leave by next fall, anyway. Change schools, start over on a PhD… 4 years, then a job hunt, etc, etc…

Or, Take this job, and in 3 years move into a flight controller position… possibly even a job training astronauts. Ya know… that whole space thing I’ve wanted to do for how long now??

ok… I gotta run… more later…

sad, sad, sad……. but true:

Quote of the Day:

“[There are] two seasons in the state of texas… HOT and february…” – Kris

Yeah, I guess it has been a month and a couple of days, huh? I have a reason (not an excuse… a reason)… see, I’ve been preoccupied (not hyperfocused… preoccupied) with a couple of things, and I didn’t want to write about them, but at the same time, whenever I sat down to write, that’s all I could think about. So, here ya go… my thoughts.

I’ve been involved in an internet investing opportunity for 4 1/2 months now. I didn’t mention this to many people at all because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a scam first. Well… it’s not. I’ve tripled my investment. I actually have made enough to cash out a part of it to cover my intial investment plus $1000. The rest is still invested, and will continue to earn incredible interest for me every month. The site is StudioTraffic. It’s not something I found randomly… Deedee’s parents showed it to us. they’ve been doing it for a long time now. Turns out this site has been up for over two years now…

Don’t get me wrong… It’s risky. but it’s paid off for us. If anyone is interested in it, read the site and give me a call. I don’t get anything for you signing up, so I’ll give you an unbiased opinion of the system and the risks involved.

so there’s that, and there’s my free ipod kick. I recently discovered Gratis Network. They give away free stuff. At least very very cheap. And this site works, too, apparently, as I know several people who have gotten their iPod from them, for like $1. (If you’re interested in this, talk to me… I can show you how to get your free stuff faster and cheaper than doing it alone.)

Ok… so that’s all good and fine. So what’s bugging me? Well, I apparently have been dubbed pyramid-scheme man, or something. Do I have a pyramid tattooed on my head or something? NONE of these are pyramid schemes! You work for them, and either it works or it doesn’t… You don’t get money from people below you or anything.

ya know, when I see something like this that works, I get excited… But in this case, I didn’t want to bother people with it, since it was risky (studiotraffic). So I go out, take a risk, and keep my mouth shut for 4 months. And I make $1,000 profit! So I start telling people about it, and it’s dismissed as a scam and a get rich quick scheme. Ok… fine. I’m just trying to show people how to make a few extra thousand a month… but it’s risky… so sure. I completely understand. Actually, I would advise against it if you can’t afford to lose money. But at least let me finish telling you about it before you decide. Don’t just stamp “pryamid scheme” on my forehead and send me on my way.

But that doesn’t bug me nearly as much as the freeipod thing does. With studiotraffic, there are risks. the free ipod thing… We’re talking $0.99. A whole, entire, complete, grand, whopping dollar. Now, if this was a new thing, and you weren’t sure if people were going to try to screw you over, then ok… But this site has been around for a while. They’ve been on CNN and TechTV. Everyone says they work, and I’ve seen proof. I will soon have proof, actually, as I have completed the work for a free ipod shuffle. that’s $130 ipod shuffle for about $10 total, after I paid people back for their time, and such.

The ipod shuffle thing does require referrals, which is why I’ve been bugging people around here about this one. For example, you and 3 friends much each spend that whopping dollar so that one of you can have a free ipod. Now… I thought I had a pretty good working relationship with 3 people. (ya know… at least 3). I thought I could get 3 friends to join me in my quest for a free ipod. Then, I thought I could at least convince 3 friends to spend $1 for me with no problem. Then, I thought i could give them $5 for their $1, and that would work. Then I tried $10, and I tried $20. Ya know what? there’s no way that I can get people to spend $1 for me.

I got Deedee, Richard, and my mother to spend $1. That’s it. I didn’t ask a single person to do anything I wasn’t doing. And the risk was too much. Ya know, the risk of taking my $20 and spending $1 on my behalf. too risky.

Now, some people have said that they don’t like free stuff. I have been told by more than one person (as one person put it best), they hate people who “drudge the internet looking for freebies and handouts.” I don’t spend all day, everyday doing nothing but looking for freebies or handouts. I work for a living. But when someone shows me a viable opportunity to take part in something that results in my saving a couple hundred dollars, then sure… I’ll listen to what they have to say. Apparently this makes me dispicable and annoying.

Now, I have to say here that I can identify with Brian’s opinion, and so he’s kinda exempted from this… But everyone else who said they hated free stuff… I only asked people like me who like techie toys. And most of those people, like me, do not have the extra cash to buy all the new toys they want. Especially when all we do, as college students, is complain about how broke we are… Here’s a way to get stuff for FREE! what’s bad about that??? I don’t get it!!! Extremely small amount of risk ($1), for a potentially very good reward (ipod, psp, digital camera…).

Especially considering I know, inevitably, people will go out and spend 2 or 3 hundred dollars on these things, and then complain how broke they are, again. Now, I do the same thing. Complain I’m broke… then go buy a new toy (say… a media center)… and then complain I don’t have money. Know the difference? No one offered me a way to get a media center for free.

Ok… let’s for a second say that you hate free stuff. When, what is so wrong about spending $1 for me so I can have free stuff? Especially when I’m willing to pay you for it! Free, indeed. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent trying to convince people that this is not a scam. There’s your hard work and effort.

I dunno… I don’t get it… but I’m sure there’s something I’m missing. If I can’t get close friends to do this, then there must be something wrong with me. I wish I knew what it was.

Peanut butter and watermelon sammiches.

Want to know what’s annoying? People who turn their cell phones all the way up on some loud, annoying, high-pitched ring that vibrates at exactly the same frequency as your last nerve, and then put on headphones and turn them up so loud they can’t hear their phone ringing. Couple that with people who are as popular as stupidity, and voila. Instant annoyance.

I haven’t forgotten about blogging, but my computer broke. That, and the whole being forced to move thing. I wish I could say my new place was better, but I can’t. It might be, if it weren’t for all the stuff that’s bad about it. Like, doors falling off hinges, no hot water, broken fridges, roaches, ants, and spiders, an immortal foul smell, sticky cabinets, dining room ceilings that leak, neighbors who use my door as an ashtray, a maintence man who is extremely confident in his stupidity and a landlord who blames everything that’s wrong with my apartment on the Indians who live upstairs.

At least we have a brand new washer and dryer. They work because we bought them ourselves. If they ever fix the hot water, we can wash clothes on something other than cold, too.

I really don’t mind the place. I really like the location. The carpets are the kind of carpets that you are scared to lay down on and that make you want to walk around barefoot. The over all size is bigger, and I’m sure it’ll clean up nice once we unpack everything. I’m just greatly annoyed by what has happened so far.

On that note, I gotta go. I could stay here and type all day, but I have work to do.

p.s. Halo 2 is eVil…. and addictive.

So, after telling my landlords that this guy had threatened me, and telling them that I felt uncomfortable with him still around, and having them tell me that they didn’t have to move for another 45 days, and after having them say, “if you leave this guy alone, he won’t come looking for you”… yeah…

Went to my car tonight at 7pm. Footprints all up my hood, windshield, and roof. The guy got on my truck, danced around, and left some nice dents… luckily, he also left some footprints… guess now I wait to see who laughs last.

Police suck. No two ways about it.

I went in to the court today to press charges on the kid who came into my house. The prosecutor and the judge were very nice. They listened to our stories, and looked at the pictures. They told me there were additional charges that needed to be filed. Another misdemeanor, malicious mischief, and felony burglary, which was breaking the plane of my residence with intent to commit a crime, assault. They told me to stop by the police station and write up these charges and I could sign the paperwork tomorrow.

So I hop on over to the police station, thankful that someone was helping me out a bit… What do I get? “A. Bennett”… that’s who I get. Starkville Police officer. He doesn’t listen to my story, doesn’t care about the pictures. He immediately starts telling me that I should not file these charges since they will never stick. Tells me there’s no way a jury would ever convict anyone of this felony since I yelled at the guy outside. I insist on doing the paperwork, and he then switches to saying, even if I do press these charges, and even if by the remotest chance this guy does get convicted, then three or four years down the line, he might do some jail time. When I still insisted, he said, and I quote, “I can see you’re never going to understand what I’m saying.” I told him not to call me stupid. He got all loud and told me that I was never to put words in his mouth, that he neither said nor implied anything. Yeah right. I can’t say what I really think about this guy, but I am amazed at his ability to put victims on trial. I total feel like I have done something wrong. I know I haven’t, but the police just keep pounding away at me. It’s worse than the actually beating I did receive.