Last stop 242nd.

August is done. This entry will not get read much.

I dont know what I am doing. I have a good time sometimes, but sometimes I just find myself totally incapable of functioning on the whole social level. Drama isn't fun. I think I am remembering why I don't want another girl friend right now. And that I liked things better when I was shut away.

Fitty.

So. Things haven't been horrid I suppose. I've been trying to do well in class, and I think I am doing a decent job, hopefully. I feel that maybe I'm learning more than before. Or I am just kidding myself, which is distinctly possible. Things elsewhere seem to want to fly apart in every direction. Aparently the computer back home doesn't want to work, which doesn't come as a total surprise to me. I mean, the thing wasn't designed right, it's broken on us a couple times now. I dunno. I don't want to shut myself away to everything else besides what's in front of me, but it may be wise. Too much happening. I haven't read the news in full in a long time. All the normalities in summer seem to have disappeared. I can't do much else besides school work and trying to make/keep friends here.

Soccer is fun though. I've been playing a bit at night. I suppose it'll help get me in shape.

Imagine thee view (oh sweet neglect)

Yeah. This. So I've been busy, I suppose, to say the least. A lot of preparation for school, saying goodbye to those back home, and moving in. It's been a couple days. A long couple days. Classes have started. I'm trying hard to try. Things on most fronts are going along as best I can hope. Roommates are odd. The two next door keep fox news on all day for entertainment, I suppose. (IMa liberal guy who doesn't like that sort of thing, cantcha tell?) Other kid keeps to himself most of the time, only occasionally breaking out an arnold accent. I am battling with myself on the whole social thing again. Gotta try not to be paranoid.

I also have to get a poster or something. Make things look nicer. Less bland. ALthough, it is me we speak of.

So long as you keep a straight face...

... I will be there when you die.

Departing from my probably good regiment of posting blogs only related toward world affairs, I guess I'll make this one personal again.

I feel horrible sometimes. I don't know weather to hold hope in people or if I should just resign myself to the fact that some people are just the way they are. That corporate America will never laugh along with jokes. That maybe one day people will realize life's not about being messed up.

I went to work the other day, and I pass by and ask the dishwasher how he's doing. He grogily responds "hungover". Sucks. I don't think much of it. We've talked, er, maybe I should say he's bragged to me before about he's ability to drink and get women etc etc. But then he goes to the shift manager "I feel like I'm going to puke, I gotta go home." Hmm. No other dishwasher around. Me. It took two minutes for me to be assigned to washing dishes the rest of the night. I was there almost an hour later than I was supposed to. The waitresses were stuck making their own ice cream, something that made them unhappy and probably slowed down service.

So, what's this have to do anything? Well, the dishwasher is a twenty something college dropout who works full time at the not-so-humble establishment. I don't mean to insult him or anything, but I am kind of disappointed that he isn't more responsible for himself. I do not take kindly to someone people fucking other people over. He fucked us over, plain and simple. Didn't say sorry or anything. Didn't seem to regret it.

But I feel bad for him. He doesn't seem happy. I mean, drinking is probably the first coping mechanism people abuse. So, when do people realize that coping mechanisms make things worse rather than better?

Where does the money go?

"Overseas buyers such as Levis, Gap and Pierre Cardin are now regular buyers of premium jeans from Sri Lanka where they can be made for as little as 12 dollars a pair, and often sell for over 100 dollars." - http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070812/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaeconomygarments_070812080616

Now, that's just baffling. I mean, 12 dollar jeans to make, I assume that includes labor costs for the workers. So maybe it takes another couple of bucks per pair to ship to it's destination. (keep in mind, it's a very very large shipment, so I assume it's not like, UPS rates or anything) And then it's maybe a couple more bucks for local shipping, paying the people who drive trucks, etc, and then it's at the store. Pay the people making barely above min wage for their work, and then where does the money go? I mean, there has to be a good $30-$40 there going in to the pocket of some big wig fucking executive, right? I don't know. I wish maybe the jeans were $15 to make so the factory workers could leave a little more comfortable. That money means something to them. Apparently it doesn't mean much to us if were paying $100 for $12 jeans.

The earth is not a cold dead place

But sometimes I think it may be. Dramatic opening line for a day that wasn't filled with bad-ness. I got to see some of the games club today, for a couple of hours at least I was around people who were smarter than I and kind of laugh at similar things. I am glad I did, because other wise I would have gone ballistic at work. First thing my manager says to me when I walk in the door is "Bad news, other ice cream person called out sick". Fucking great. The dishwasher isn't (or, perhaps, is) himself today, proclaiming to me to be hungover. A little while later he goes to the manager, says he's got to go home, saying he feels like he's going to throw up. Now, I am not saying I've never been hungover and puked, but never at work. So, manager throws me in the back washing dishes. The whole process is not fun. You get to rinse said glassware or plates with steaming hot water, somehow without scalding your hands and arms, and throw it in the machine thing. Then at the end of the night you've got to clean a lot of the grill stuff. I probably did a shitty job, but what else can I do, ya know? I mean, I also feel bad that I couldn't help out up front more. All the waitresses had to do their own ice cream, and not all of them really know what they are doing in that respect. It was a bad night at Friendly's. 4 more days though. Have to look on the bright side, or something.

The box is always open and the bag always rips.

Always remeber that. It's a law now, apparently.

I am not having the best day. I am tired. Apparently everything wanted to make a mess today. I feel like sleeping, but I have to go back to work in an hour so what's the point? I've been reading up on the world, but the more I read the more I think the worlds about to bust apart at the seams. Things don't seem to be going too well right now. Horrid stock market, horrific rate of forclosures, people killing each other. I should really stop reading the news...

A leetle special WalMart fun

This will Destroy you....

So, June hast turned into August. And I've like 2 weeks of work left before I start school again. (yeah, I'm counting) I guess my life kind of fell back into the summer ruts again. Doing nothing but working and sitting around. Although a few things recently made my days a little better:
1) Reading "Chomsky on MisEducation"
2) Finding the Red Alert 2 Soundtrack
3) Finding a whole bunch of books in .pdf format

I guess I'll try to keep myself busy and educated and all that stuff before I go to get educated s'more.

Onto the big news story of recent times: The bridge collapse in Minnesota. Horrific to think about, really. The human in me feels horrid. Not a good way to go. But the engineer in me is wondering what happened. I really hope there's a clear cut answer to all this, but I really think it's just going to end up as a large compilation of factors. I wonder what the consequence of this all is going to be, though, on the view of our aging public works projects. For instance, you can also cite the steam pipe explosion in Manhattan as a public works project that went horrible wrong due to age and antiquated technology. I really hope it spurs a movement for the updating of older structures and utility works before more people get hurt.