busy + thoughts + apples

first of all, i ate a delicious apple today.  it was crisp and full of sweet juices.  i didn’t want it to end.

last night, i got the spoils from my first ebay auction: a powerbook G4, which i am typing this post on currently.   leslie told me that i can’t become an apple snob.  i’m going to try my hardest, but this machine tells me it loves me even when it’s powered down.

today, leslie had a conversation with some co-workers about the idea of raising the minimum wage.  i never know what to think about this subject, but let me share a story with you that i processed through tonight:

my family didn’t have alot of money growing up.  i guess i never realized it, but one thing i did know was that my family couldn’t afford to pay for any of my college.  i worked hard and got good grades in high school, and ended up getting some scholarships (nothing great, but anything helps) and i got a nice sized pell grant, which is basically a low interest student loan.

i worked all through college, not really thinking about the loans or having to repay them.  when i graduated, the bank kindly informed me that it was time to pay back their generous gift.  leslie and i started dating, and her parents really wanted me to be debt free before we got married, but i was about $15k in debt from the loans, and it could have been much more if i hadn’t worked during that time.  (i know that many of you have much larger debts from schooling, but that was a good chunk to me at the time).

i got a crappy job out of college as a bill collector, and then as a customer service rep for a cell phone company.   it was during this time that i decided to learn the art of web design.  i worked really hard at this as well, picking up several new skills that lead to the job i have today.

point: i worked really hard to get where i am today.  i know that i had some opportunities that many others don’t have, but i also didn’t come from a rich family or anything of that sort.  i worked hard.  i’m still working hard.

is raising the minimum wage the answer?  i don’t know.   i know that if you’re around people who don’t want to work hard that it’s more difficult to work hard yourself.  and if you have a motivated team, you become more motivated.  for those people who are trapped in a community of underachievers or who are stuck in a situation that they don’t even realize they are stuck in, is the answer raising the minimum wage, or helping them find ways out of their situation?  how do you even do that?  living so close to Gallatin Rd, i ask myself this often.  i admire the teachers who inspire the children to go beyond what is around them.

i ask many more questions than i have answers.  thanks for your time.  carry on.

a series of things, mostly unlike other things

one.  i love Gears of War.  the visuals are stunning, and the game play is intense.  one of my favorite games of all time.  i’m also enjoying Marvel Ultimate Alliance.  the heroes that you get to play are different enough that you don’t feel like you are just playing variations of the same character.

two.  that being said, my xbox 360 crashed on me in september, and it took 3 weeks for them to send me a new one.  the one they sent me was the wrong region, so it won’t play dvd’s.  this angered me, and i called 360 support, and they told me they would overnight a box for me to ship it back, and then they would overnight a new unit to me.  several days later, after the promised box still hadn’t arrived, i called back and was told that the supervisor that had promised that to me had told me misinformation and that it would again take 3 weeks to have a new unit shipped to me.  most disappointing.

three.  leslie passed the CPA exam.  she is very happy.  i am very proud of her.

four.  i have photos of our england trip, but it’s very difficult to find time to sort through 600 photos to choose the best ones to show to the world.  i will get to it, though.

five.  Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a great movie.  it’s a touch racey, but the performances and the editing, along with the script are very good.

six.  i watched Brick recently, and it was pretty well done, although a bit hard to follow at times.  one thing i will say about it is that it was very edgy and had no “bad” language in it, which goes to show that you can make a very edgy movie with heavy content and not use cuss words, without it feeling forced.

seven.  i’m reading The Worthing Saga currently, by Orsen Scott Card (thanks chris).  he’s the guy who wrote Ender’s Game.  very different and engaging, for those who like sci-fi that isn’t overly sci.

zombie

this past halloween, i was a zombie.