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fifty years have ridden off into the sunset
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I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of
the right words to say
I know they don't sound the way
I planned them to be
But if you wait around a while
I'll make you fall for me
I promise, I promise you I will
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| fsw mods |
| 2:02 AM, Monday, March 29, 2004 |
I'm actually really touched tonight.
There's going to be an examination of the fsw moderators starting Friday. LFL will be examining whether we're still needed.
The outpouring of support and decrying the lack of moderation for that week was incredible.
Forum Feedback thread
The Cantina thread
It's a little bit humbling to realize that you've served people well enough for them to care this much.
-David
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Yeah ... stinkage. *shrug* Nothing really to report.
-David
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Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are saying, "Send in the marines to secure the area," 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there getting shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pulling a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie taking shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from and the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price, and of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're taking their sweet time bringing the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is giving him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starving 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're serving is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holding out for something better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.
-David
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The equation above is the power dissipation in a circuit element. Power dissipated is equal to the current through that element multiplied by the voltage drop across that element. Why am I telling you this? Because my building is one. BIG. circuit element.
I got back to the dorm about 6:30 Sunday. I'm looking at it and wondering why it's dark. "Did we have another power outage?"
Ask a stupid question.
The power had gone out about 5am Sunday morning. The dorm wasn't *completely* dark, since there are battery backups to maintain hall lights and emergency lighting, but there was no heat, no hot water, and no lights in the rooms. I had to go over to my cousin's house and stay there that night. More than that, I was stuck without my math book to do my homework.
Well, not that I'm really complaining.
Anyway, so they brought in about ten billion emergency generators from somewhere or other and by about 6pm Monday we had power back. Monday night I stayed in the dorm. Tuesday night I stayed in the dorm ...
... and the internet went down about 11:45. By 12:30 it was back ...
... and the power went out again. One of the generators went down or something. Only this time, it was even better: we'd drained the batteries while the power was out, and the generators weren't used to recharge them due to finite power, so we had no hall lights or emergency lights!
It didn't come back until about 1:30, by which time I was getting kind of blahed out about the day. Worse -- I have a laptop, but it was useless because my USB hub is powered and each building has its own server, so the servers were all down!
Wahoo.
-David
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I'm kind of amused. Someone who I locked for cursing, flaming, and outright insults managed to post a gem in Forum Feedback that called into question not only my walk with Christ, but my attitude - "why are you so hateful", my music - "perhaps it's because you listen to headbangers for the Lord", and my choice of words - "bloody is a term used to blaspheme the sacrifice of Christ and should not be used to describe ANYTHING, much less your Christian life."
Without even knowing me for more than a single "You're banned" post, he managed to pretty much insult the core of who I am. I might be offended if it didn't simply amuse me to no end.
Ah, forums.starwars.com, how I love thee. Let me count the ways ...
...
... oh yeah, huh.
-David
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I updated my laptop to OS X 10.3 tonight.
After this laborious two-hour process, it promptly refused to allow software updates via the control panel. It also did something to Safari where the application now force-quits whenever it's about to finish loading a web page.
I have come to the conclusion that Panther is simply panthertic.
Exposé IS kinda cool though. But I want Safari back, dangit.
Oh yeah, and I'm at home.
-David
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| Well ... |
| 2:10 AM, Tuesday, March 09, 2004 |
So my days have been pretty great, honestly ... nothing out of the ordinary, but just the usual good stuff that comes with life. ;-) I've almost finished a post for Four Seven, probably have it done by the end of this week ... what else?
Oh yeah.
I got a new AIM screen name. However, I can't decide between that one and my current one.
If you have my current AIM screen name, you can drop me a line there with comments. Otherwise, you get to pick between TheDogbert0 and Lvl9LightSpell.
Very few of you will get the reference, but I'm getting bored with my old screen name.
So ... thoughts?
Explanation: You'd have to be a D&D-type player to really understand this, but a level 9 spell is the most powerful achievable spell in the game. Check out this comic and a level 9 light spell should be explained pretty well ...
-David
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Got up around 2 today ... was up late last night. ;-) At any rate, it was a very chill day ... about 10:30 or so the power went out in my building, so it was kinda dark ... like everyone else had just disappeared, except for our room. Got ready to see The Passion again ... found out about 3:30 that everyone else had cancelled, so told Ladi it wasn't worth him driving out from Coram.
Instead got together with Jason K. and Hector and played ball for a couple hours, then went to Taco Bell and ate. Came back and spent four and a half hours studying out Hebrews 6, Hebrews 13, tongues, gifts of the Holy Spirit, John staying alive until Jesus' return, and a whole lot of great stuff. It was actually a lot of fun ... Jason has great insights and is a joy to study with.
Anyway, went back to the courts around 1:15 and played a few rounds of 21 ... that was hilarious. Was very physical because we were all tired ... lots of pushing and shoving and smacking going on. All in fun though, and we were honestly laughing too hard to really take the games very seriously.
Great day, all in all ... have to do this again sometime.
-David
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| Wow ... |
| 2:19 AM, Friday, March 05, 2004 |
I got up around 10am and spent a long time just chilling quietly and reading. I actually really enjoyed it, even if I did miss class for it. O:-)
Then went out for lunch about 2:40 and had some more solo time, which I've sort of been looking forward to. I'm a bit ashamed to admit it =P but there it is. I'm always with people ... not something I'm really used to. I've grown into it in the last year and a half.
Predictably as soon as I got back from lunch I got a call from Hector who wanted to grab food ... anyway, went off to the SAC to meet up with him, Rachel, BJ, Sam, and Steve ... ran into someone else there as well so had a good time. Then went downstairs and ran into Melissa, Zuleen, and Kendra ... had a short talk with them and got the notes for last night's class from Melissa.
Went out to talk to people about Life Talks for 45 minutes or so and it was okay, not great but not horrible either. Am not worried, is God who makes things grow. Anyway, after that went our separate ways ... went to see if Hector left his Bible in G's car, which he didn't. Took a long walk back to room but ended up going to the Union instead to grab a Coke ... serendipity caused me to run into Keysha, Melissa, and Rachel, and ended up eating with them at EOB. So got done with that, and as soon as finished eating Hector called and wanted to grab something to eat. =P So went over to Taco Bell with him and chilled for a bit, then headed back to the room to chill for a bit ... got back at 10 and realized hadn't set an away message so had like 50 IMs waiting for me. Yay.
Anyway, about 10:45 headed out to the hoop courts with Nick to play some ball ... ended up going a couple games of 3v3. Wasn't great ... our shooting percentage was probably in single digits. Haven't played for a bit, lighting was tricky, and they have these quadruple-depth rims so everything that should drop doesn't. Did hit an under-the-basket reverse that I couldn't do again if I tried a hundred times.
Went over to Kelly around 12:30 and chilled for 15 or so, then headed back via the hoop courts ... got into a couple games with 3 other guys. =P First game was close ... they were up 11-8 and game was 16 but then we went on a 6-0 run that broke it wide open. Outside jump shot still off, have to work on that. Was doing well on the fadeaways though. Second game though wasn't even close, as we'd score 2 or 3 points, they'd get 1, then we'd get another couple, they'd get 1 ... etc. 11-4 final. So that was cool.
Only annoying part was that I took some shots from outside after the game and hit them. =P
So ... busy day but very good.
-David
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| Oye ... |
| 9:31 PM, Monday, March 01, 2004 |
Why is it that when I feel most unworthy, God decides to use that time to shower blessings upon me? I can't quite figure it out ... I think it has something to do with beating me over the head with not doing stupid things like getting annoyed at Hector ... of course, I'm pretty sure he's here to develop patience in me. =P
But anyway ... last night and today have been just brilliant. After staying up until 5:45 on the phone, I got about two hours of sleep -- woke up at 7:30, shut off my alarm, looked at the clock, and decided to skip DifEq today. Then went in about 9:30 to meet up with Mike and Adam and found that Adam hadn't been there, though Mike was ... at any rate, met them in South P and went off to Best Buy. After spending about an hour there and getting gas, went exploring through eastern Long Island looking for Port Jefferson off 347 instead of 25A. Found it after a bit of searching, got that $42 money order cashed that's been hanging fire since like August, and went off to chill at the Steamroom. Had a delicious bowl of New England clam chowder in a bread bowl ... mmm.
It was an absolutely beautiful day, moreover -- 60°, bright, and sunny. Spent time there and at Starbucks, drinking the first Frappuchino™ of the season and doing homework, then went off and finished hw at the professor's office hours. Bad news: he's starting to recognize us. =P
Anyway, finished that, went to class, voted to have it due Wednesday instead of today, then decided that we were going to start doing homework on Wednesdays instead of Mondays so we'd actually have time to go over it, fix things, etc. Then went home and played JK: JA for a while, then went off to ministry and to talk to people about Life Talks. Proved very fruitful today which is just one more reason why God gives me so much I don't deserve ... I wish I could be worthy of it, I really do, but I do so many stupid things that it's not even funny.
*sigh*
Anyway. Finished all that, had a lovely day. Am feeling quite fulfilled right now. Unworthy, but fulfilled.
-David
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Weekend. Over. Already.
Oi.
Friday: woke up at 12 and had a nice long QT, then went out and preached with Gerard and Melissa to invite people to Life Talks. Key verse: Jeremiah 31:16. About 2:30, got something to eat with them, then sat and talked for an hour or so about some pretty good stuff ... is good to get to know people other than Bryan, Hector, Rachel, and Keysha. =P
Got back to the room about 4:30 and chilled for half an hour when BJ decided to call me and ask if I could pick up Valerie so he could get some sleep. Not a problem, but it meant I had to shift some things around in my schedule, including scooping up Steven to walk over to Schomburg. Did so, grabbed drinks, then went back and picked up plates so Hector could arrive an hour and a half late for the day we chose to celebrate his birthday. =P
Had a whole lot of fun there ... Roger came and gave a nice lesson on Isaiah 2:2-5, and the visitors seemed to enjoy it. Had some fun watching everyone play Cranium ... was amusing to look at some of the sketches people were trying.
Got back to the room about 12, stayed up until 1, because I'm an idiot ... duh. Got up at 4am to go off to Pennsylvania to go snow tubing ... adrenaline and Coke time! "Bought" a free Coke from Hess with a "Free 20 oz" cap ... odd that, I haven't won one of those games in years. Got to PA about 8:30 and had a blast with the fam ... actually I split off from Bryan, Hector, and Rachel, and ended up spending the day with Heather, Steve, and Jason P. instead, which was good -- have wanted to spend more time with them, esp. Heather and Steve, for a while now, but haven't ever had the chance to, since they're not at the Brook ... is very difficult to do so without a car, etc. Anyway, got to learn a little more about them ... laughed at Danny, who runs the same way he bowls: quite awkwardly. The woman who was watching laughed at Danny. Worse, she remembered him. It's always bad when the attendant remembers you. Pined about not being able to ski. Found that Heather and Rachel have never been skiing ... deprived children. =P Cindy on the other hand apparently used to ski quite a bit ... will have to talk to people about organizing a ski trip sometime. Not this year.
Went back ... fell asleep as did Diane and Hector ... heh. 3 hours of sleep. Which I'd end up needing by the end of the day. Got back to my room and chilled for a little while, talking to Jason K. on IM for a bit and went off to Kelly Quad to eat with Jia for a bit before heading off to Gerard's to prepare for The Passion of the Christ. 23 people from the SB ministry showed up. I would call that a success. Got to the theater and a couple of us ran inside quickly to grab seats ... managed to snag three rows of eight, so that was very cool. Watched. Was blown away. Very simply. Have studied the crucifixion, knew what was going to happen, and still ... as humans we are very visual creatures. I have a very vivid imagination, but seeing it still hammered it home. Am a bit ... er ... put off by the ... shall we say "interesting interpolations" inserted by Mr. Gibson and company but will not go into detail for fear of inciting the anger of ... never mind. At any rate, it was good and worth seeing.
Stayed up until 4am talking to Beth on IM. Bad idea. Barely got up in time for services today. Did make it however, and just in time. Arthur was preaching today ... actually I rather enjoy his style. Very straight and to the point, which fits me very well. Honestly, I think the way I give lessons is rather similar to his. Key passage: Luke 6:46-49. Afterwards, went to Wendy's with Jason K., Hector, Keysha, and Bryan. Spent a while there and somehow got onto the subject of M.C. Hammer, which led to Vanilla Ice, which led to Bryan belting out "Go ninja go ninja go", which led to me coming out with "Turtles!" and the five of us agreeing to watch TNMT2.
Haha ... who'd have thought it, right? Well ... it amused us, so it was worth it. I'm not sure it was the most brilliant movie cinematically, but after two solid days of non-stop action it was kinda nice to disengage the brain for a couple hours. Reminiscing over how much we loved these things as kids was fun, too. It was a good look back into time.
Weekend not over yet however. After splitting up Keysha and I went to Kelly to grab some dessert, or at least I did. That girl never eats, so is able to eat a lot when she actually decides to. =P Anyway, we ran into Connie there, and sat down and had a good talk with her while watching the Oscars ... kinda nuts that LotR: RotK won 11 of them. Greatest sentence of the night comes from the winner for best short documentary: "I'd like to thank the Lord of the Rings crew for not making a documentary ..."
Yeah, that basically sums it up. Anyway, worked with Jia for a while on his English papers when he dropped by, and then talked to a couple people who were talking about The Passion and the Bible and some other stuff. Have just now gotten back to the room.
So it's been a long weekend, but a very, very good one. *sighs contentedly*
-David
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