Smiles' Crazy Blog

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Looking for x-ray technician training?

It seems as though Duke is looking for a coach. Does anyone think I should apply?

Here is the link to apply for the coaching position.

Ok, so the picture is kind of squished, but I think I am having the worst year ever in fantasy football. Maybe it is because I am actually good at sports.

I have a really bad habit of waiting until the last minute to do things, like my assignments. Anyways it is done, I just waited forever to do it.

Sorry the past few weeks of my life have been really crazy. I started both work and going back to school. Also, I have been just not motivated to blog.

Alright, I know you are all wildly interested in what is going on in my life so here it goes.

First off, work. I am working at UPS. Believe it or not I kind of enjoy it. It has decent pay and the hours work good for me with school. I work from 3 am to about 8-8:30 am. So it is part-time work. It is not difficult work, but the bulk amount of work that needs to be done can be difficult. The best part about the job is the benefits. I get full medical, dental, vision and prescription with no premiums. My favorite benefit is the money for school. I get up to $1500 a term with a cap of $3000 a year. This works quite nicely for me. However it is a union job so if I fail to vote correctly I will have to look over my shoulder a lot and sleep with one eye open.

Next is school. I started about a week ago. I am working on an associates in education which and I am hoping will transfer well to a four year university. As of right now I am planning on a degree in Elementary Education and a focus that would allow me to teach anywhere from third to tenth grade. I think that is what will work best for me. I am also enjoying this because I feel as though I am really accomplishing something long term.

Sleeping is good. I try to get to bed most nights by 8 pm. I am slowly turning into either a really old person or a really young person.

I have decided that I need to write more. I need to get my ideas onto paper or on the internet. That means either doing more free writing on paper, more serious writing, or even silly little blog posts.

Lastly, can you name 535 people with a lower approval rating than George W.? The answer, Congress.

Not really self promotion, but some proof that I was actually in Africa.

Just a fair warning, this may disturb you.

In The Know: Is Our Wealth Hurting Africa�s Feelings?

I heart The Onion

So, as you saw on my last post I have been on a missions trip to Nairobi, Kenya for about the last three weeks. It was quite possibly one of the best experiences I have had in my whole life. It was just amazing.

Anyways now on to the trip itself.

We left on Monday June 18th, however with some flight problems we got there a day later than planned, and our actual first day of working was Thursday the 21st. That day we started out in a slum around Nairobi known as Mathare. Just go here and check out what has been happening in Mathare recently, as well as the type of place it is all the time.

The team and I worked at the Mathare Family Hope Center. Our first day there we were welcomed by each class. Most just sang a couple of songs and recited a Bible verse. They had great enthusiasm for what they were doing and seemed incredibly happy to see us there at the school with them. The most intriguing thing that I heard was a poem that was recited by the oldest class. It was a poem. Not a poem about flowers or trees or fields, but a poem on how to stay clean, healthy, and avoiding AIDS. I can't imagine anyone in the US saying or reciting this poem. However I thought it was a great tool to help the children there learn, and hopefully the poem will stick.

Of course the event which made me feel the most comfortable and the most accepted nothing that happened in a classroom, yet it was with a young boy who was probably about 2 years old, that I met outside the classrooms. He was named Bashir. He was the grandson of a 19 year old grandmother. His grandmother would take people in and take care of them and help out people who really needed help. I believe that she had 19 people that she had taken in to live with her. Bashir was one of them. I saw him outside and was introduced to him by Kathy, one of the missionaries my team was there to help, and I picked him up and carried him around to each of the classrooms we went to. I tried setting him down a few times, he didn't really like that, he really enjoyed being carried around by me. He was also very interested in the hair on my arms. However walking around with him allowed me to realize that despite many of my differences between the people there, that I could still be effective.

After going to the classes we took time and walked around the slum of Mathare. That was a humbling experience. I was walking through some of the poorest streets in the world. If of course you could call them streets, they were more like alleys. After getting off the "main road", which was nothing more than packed dirt, the allies were usually just wide enough between tin houses to fit one or two people through. We went through Mathare with social workers from the center, who find the family's with the greatest need, a very difficult task, and prayed for and with people in their houses. There I walked through the streets and being a mouth breather found it difficult to breath and felt sick. There was sewage everywhere and even at the Mathare "River" it was basically a river of sewage. Once again I realized I was in extreme poverty.

After visiting the classes and walking through the slum we prepared for our next day of work. We put the finishing touches on VBS for the next day, and we went back to where we were staying.

Vacation Bible school went well. While I only taught one lesson, I found my role to be very interesting. I was mainly in the Bible memorization part of the rotation. So I was in the one that was no fun at all. Yet the older children in the school memorized very fast. Which led to probably the most fun time of all. That being question time with Andy. The thing that the children seemed most fascinated with was the amount of hair I had on my arm. I answered why I had so much hair pretty often. Then again I was also surprised with the questions that they had about American politics. So I answered those as well. It was quite strange to see that the most famous candidate in Kenya was Barack Obama. Apparently his dad is Kenyan.

However the most interesting thing that happened during VBS was on the first day. I was working on a difficult craft with 4 year olds, and while we were doing the craft, the kids kept saying to me "Cha, Cha, Cha," and I was wondering what this word meant. I heard it for over and hour and a half directed at me. I was so confused and I was also wondering if I had been the only one who had heard this strange new word. So I asked the other members of my team what this strange Swahili word could be. They said they didn't know. So we tried looking it up in a dictionary, but to no avail. So we asked one of the workers at the school what it meant. We were told what it meant. It was short for teacher. Oh well.

Our time in Mathare ended when the Children did a farewell performance for us. It involved them painting their faces white and stuffing sweaters under their shirts to look like old me. It was funny, and we also danced.

After working in Mathare we moved onto the second part of our trip, in which we worked with New Life Homes. New Life Homes is an orphanage. It has several different homes in Kenya, however we were working in the main one in Nairobi. This was the most difficult part of the trip for me. Well at least the introduction to the Orphanage was difficult for me.

It is an odd thing about Kenyan Hospitals. They do not take care of babies. They are not equipped to take care of babies, they don't even have formula. They leave it up to the mother to take care of the baby. While that is a good idea in principle, it leaves much to be desired. For whatever reason, HIV/AIDS, poverty or any other reason, Mothers abandon there children in Kenya, which is against the law. New Life Homes brings abandoned children in. They are taken care of and given a home. Its pretty cool. New Life has space for about 50 children in Nairobi and they do whatever they can to keep all their beds full.

However my team had a few different goals with New Life. The first was to paint the inside of a house which is called "The Ark". The Ark is for children above the age of two who are "not adoptable". Their reasons for this can be anywhere from being HIV positive to blindness or autism. However they were still really cute kids and they were all really excited about us painting their house. Of course there were a few problems, but we fixed them. We made the mistake of thinking there was only one color of paint to paint the walls with. However we were given paint to paint walls with and enamel and a latex which were soft white and a brilliant white for the ceiling. This eluded us, and thus we ended up painting a room brilliant white in our first 3 hours of working. It was alright though, we called it primer and redid the room the next day. The other problem we ran into after painting the walls. We told the children no to touch the walls. Of course this in its self was not a problem, but a problem was created by our command. One child said "Jaleena," who is blind, "uses the walls to walk around." Well I think she survived.

Nevertheless the children and their mother, the lady who is in charge of the house is their mother even though it is not recognized legally, were incredibly pleased with the house.

The last little bit we had at New Life, we spent just spending time with the Children at the orphanage. I tell you what, if you have never volunteered for working with kids age 0-2, you should. It was truly great to do so.

Lastly on our trip, we did go on a Safari. That was cool.

Links

Mathare Pictures
New Life Pictures
Safari Pictures

So I got back from Africa yesterday from a missions trip that I never bothered to write about. I will write more later. Also I will have picture goodness.

Wow, I am still alive for those of you who may be wondering.

So to start today I will want to point everybody's attention to what took place last night in Detroit. Complete domination of a basketball game by Lebron James. I will say this, I am not a huge fan of James, yet I was mystified by his play last night. Did anyone else out there think there was any way one player could score all his teams points in two overtimes, against a team as good as the Pistons, and still win the game. That is the type of performance every kid dreams about. Leading his team to victory.

The most amazing part to me was the way Lebron handled his victory. He handled it with a lot of grace and seemed to understand that they had to win one more game. When he was interviewed after the game he gave the pistons absolutely no bulletin board material. If you didn't know the score you might have even thought that Cleveland had lost. His interview was filled with grace, humility and maturity. Pretty good for a 22 year old who had just put together one of the greatest playoff performances ever.

Now of course I will move from Lebron, something I enjoy, to Boston fans, something by which I am annoyed.

Please shut up Celtics fans. I know, you completely tanked your season. You did whatever you could to end up with one of the top two picks, but that wasn't good enough was it. You waited all draft day to see which pick you could get. You dreamed all day of Oden and Durant. Oh, the places you could have gone with them. You were thinking you may get another Russel or Bird. However the lottery balls did not go your way. Instead they went to my team, Portland. Of course all you hear now is how the Celtics and the Grizzlies, who had the best chance of getting the first pick and slipped to fourth, say how horrible the lottery is and that it needs to be changed. Of course those teams are quick to forget who had the worst record last year and still managed to slip out of the top three. Of course what team was that? Portland.

So while Boston fans, because really I don't hear much from the Grizz, talk about how the lottery may have been the worst day in sports . . . ever, it really wasn't. So Celtics fans need to chill out. I suggest maybe you jump off a bridge to do so. I mean you were planning on doing that anyway, right? Well the Red Sox are first in the division.

Next, does Stephen A. Smith annoy anyone else. While he was talking about Kobe Bryant asking to be traded and then not be traded or desiring to be traded or then not wanting to be, Mr. Smith decided that the best way to make his weak point was to yell louder. This has got to be the worst method of arguing ever. Michael Wilbon, who I love, made a good point that Kobe needed to stick with the Lakers because the Lakers stuck with him when he was charged with Rape. The Lakers made every accomodation they could for him even though they could have easily told him he was on his own. Now, Kobe sees things getting difficult in L.A. and he wants out. Kobe is selfish and doesn't want to have to be in a tough situation. So he wants to get everything his way like the spoiled child he is. Of course Mr. Smith wanted to make his point that Kobe should bolt, because he could yell louder than Wilbon. So please learn how to argue Stephen A., and don't make your point by yelling louder.

Lastly, is anyone else excited for college football? I sure as heck am.

I am sorry guys, I have been so incredibly negative recently and I can't believe that I am starting to talk politics. I hate it when I do that.

Sorry Dave, I have been such a hoser.

Anyways, I want to become much more positive again. For some reason I have it in my brain that being negative is a good thing. In fact I think that negativity surrounds us so much that when we see it, we view it as a good thing. Instead of trying to find what works and what will make things better we become so focused on what is wrong and we decided that we are going to dig and burrow our niche into what is wrong in life instead of holding on to what is good and cling to it.

So I am sorry that I haven't been here much. I feel as though I need to be here more and write more and be myself more and well just about be anything that is beneficial more. I guess what I am saying is more more more.

On that note, you shall soon learn the truth of that which is all matter.

Think of all the benefits.

Wow, I do not blog nearly as much as I use to. I think I need to go out and be more creative. I need to read more to stimulate my mind and I need to get outside more to stimulate my body. That would be exercise stupid. I realize that I may just be at my best then.

So Easter is coming up and I really feel like I need to make a good Easter lesson for church. I think that I may just have that lesson this weekend and get my "regulars" in on the teaching. That could be fun. Maybe I will give them an outline and what to read to get ready for the week. Anyways, perhaps one of these days, I will. Of course sooner rather than later would be much better.

So I ate fried fish last night. It was at a Mexican restaurant. When you get fried fish at a Mexican restaurant, they fry the fish whole and serve the whole fish. I was surprised. Fortunately it tasted pretty good and the person I ate with wasn't grossed out by it.

I have an annoucement coming up, I just need to make sure I contact the right people first, but you will all know about it soon.

So, tonight I was playing basketball. I play intramural basketball. It is fun and is supposed to be fun. I hate it when people think that they know exactly how physical a game should be played. Of course by that I mean, that whatever they do that is physical is ok, and whatever you do it bad.

So here is my situation. It was late in my game tonight, which we lost. Of course what I did has nothing to do with the outcome I just wish it to be noted. I was posting up on a guy, and I know how to post up fairly well. I was not doing anything that you would not see another good post player do anywhere. I would bring my arms up at my side so that a defender can not reach around me easily. Of course at this point in the game the player defending me feels as though I am using my elbows in an illegal manner. Which of course I don't believe anyone who watched the game would think I was throwing anything, just playing good offense. I think this guy had enough of me being a better basketball player than him, so he does what any horrible player would do. Assume I am cheating.

Unfortunately he decided that I was cheating. Of course what do you do when you think someone is cheating. You in turn cheat back. This guy is so inferior to my skills that instead of trying to play better defense, he decides that he has to cheat. He decides to push me with both of his hands and push me in the back, and tell me I need to quit using me elbows.

Seriously people. How dare I have an advantage. How dare I be better than you at anything. I mean aren't we all the same. What gives me the right to be better than you anything. Skill? Talent? Size? Strength? How dare I be better than you at these things? Oh wait, yeah, some people are just better.

Anyways, with that being said, I cannot say that I behaved much better than this guy. In my great knowledge of how to handle these situations, instead of posting up correctly, I bring my elbows up to his head level, and I jab him in the face with my right elbow. Which of course is wrong. He wasn't to happy about that. He was immediately subbed in for, and I saw him walk out of the gym like his mouth was bleeding.

I guess I was just mad that he decided that it was ok for him to push me when I was not doing anything illegal, just being better than him. So I showed him how to properly do what he thought I was doing wrong. He got a bloody mouth, and I still got position on him. I guess I don't like it when people just can't believe they are getting owned.

Anyways, should I feel bad about this?

I spend way too much time playing this game. Yet of course I have much fun in doing so. It is kind of the reason that I have not been keeping up on my blog, and that I have really nothing to write about except this game. So I will write about it now.

First off, this game is different from any other FF game that I have ever seen or played. It is no longer turn based, it is real time. I like how you can customize your characters, and while I am not finished with the game, I am genuinely involved in the games story. I am interested to see what I do with my characters and how I choose to save the world in this game.

I am interested to see what happens with the empire, Larsa, Vayne, and Gabbranth. At the same time I am wondering how much of a role the Occurians will play in the end of the game. Or how Ashe will handle the commission she has from them.

One thing I cannot stand though, is the Techniks and the Magics. First off there is only one water spell, and it is completely weak sauce. Why no Watera or Waterga? Sorry if that spoils the game for anyone. And the techniks, besides steal and libra, are useless. Even libra is kind of useless unless you are determining which enemy to attack first.

Then there are the Mist powers. Espers and Quickenings. I like the Quickenings. It is fun to string as many as I possibly can together and see how much damage I can do to my foes. On the other hand, I have not really harnessed their power. They don't seem able to do much of anything but die and confuse you. I don't understand how their abilities work, and then they use an ability and they just disappear? It kind of sucks, unless of course I am not using them correctly.

Anyways, I really enjoy this game. I have wasted three days of my life on it so far, and I plan on finishing the game so that I can see what happens.

Overall, this game gets Wo0 out of a Wo0t. It may go up if the last battle isn't as dissappointing as FFX.

So I have almost gone completely wireless with my computer. Excuse me, almost is actually about halfway, but it is a start. Last Friday I moved my computer into a different room in my house. The reason for this is that I need a better place to study that is outside of the living room, and where the rest of the computers are. So what does this luxurious and semi wireless study look like, well here it is in all of its glorious splendor

Beautiful. Basically I have a wireless internet connection for my desktop, and a wireless mouse now. Its pretty friggin sweet.

Anyways my first day of class was cancelled due to snow. I didn't notice much snow on the ground at my house and campus is only about 60 blocks away. Yet class was cancelled. So tommorrow I will have my first day of class.

I will end this with a random picture of my little sister on Christmas morning.

So I start school tomorrow. I will only be taking two classes this semester because the program in which I wish to take part in does not start until next year. So I am planning on easing back into the college life. Not really. I quit my job and I am wanting to take on more responsibility in general. I really want to do some things that impress people this year instead of just trying to get things done. I think I am tired of settling for what every one else is doing and maybe advance myself beyond what I need to in order to acheive what I should.

How am I going to do this? Well a lot of effort. I know I have said things like this before, but I really need to do it this time.

So, I will cut the crap this year and just get things done.

Anyways....Did anyone else out there really enjoy the college bowl games this year? The things I enjoyed the most are this:

1. Oregon State beating Missouri.
2. The Boise State, Oklahoma game was a classic.
3. The Big 10 looking like it didn't really belong in Bowl games.

That is all for now.

My title lacks creativity.

Anyways here are the things that I am looking forward to doing or what I want to do this coming year.

1. Go to Africa.
2. Get a 4.0 my first semester back at school.
3. Either get a Children's ministry position or take great steps forward to get my teaching certificate.
4. Play intramural Basketball.
5. Dominate in 5 games.
6. Go on a date.
7. Blow something up on a date.
8. Make sure I wanted that thing to blow up.
9. Get my two man refereeing crew mechanics correct.
10. Not have the defining attribute of myself be my sleeping.
11. Figure out how to use chopsticks.
12. Work on my lessons at least one hour a week.
13. Do something goofy every day.
14. Get my ear fixed.
15. Change the oil in my truck 3 times.
16. Be more assertive.
17. Get some dress shoes that match my khaki pants.
18. Be more social.
19. Eat cheese.
20. Just be more awesome in general.

I think I can do these things.

So as I was writing this title I noticed that the title changed in the top bar of Firefox.

Anyways, I have been so tired recently and never remember to blog. I have an hour commute to and from work. Plus I have been working some overtime and I have officiated up to five games in a week. That makes me tired.

I lose all motivation when I am tired. Some days people really annoy me. I am afraid to say that I am annoyed by some people, because of who they are and what they may think of what I say. Does that make me a coward?

I drive way too much.

I really hope the school I am accepted into didn't take my admissions check and make it a donation. I would be ticked.

My passport photo is funny. I am almost not smiling.

I should talk about what I am planning on doing with my passport. Alas that shall be another post. It is really important.

I never want to work another day in my life, but I will.

If there is freezing rain tomorrow, then I will not have to work, because the bridges will be covered with ice and I don't want to die.

I should pursue something that will make me uncomfortable, but I think I am too chicken to do it.

I should ask out a supermodel. I am taller than them.

I need to keep my chin up more when I officiate.

It is amazing how much of life is dependant on doing things the right way and communication. If you have those two things, you tend to succeed.

One of these days.

I prefer coffee to Mountain Dew.

I bought Final Fantasy XII. It is good fun. The gameplay is completely different than I through X-2. It makes things a little more difficult.

Pwn No0bz. That is the only way to go.

Anyways I think I am done reppin' the 503. Peace.

So somedays I wonder.

Why are volleyball players so hot?

Why do chick dig Muse?

Why is KFC so tasty?

How many roads must a man walk down before he decides to purchase an automobile or take the bus?

Who took my CD player?

Why when faced with the evidence provided by history, people still think communism is a good idea?

Why do people think that Churches have to be political?

Do Churches have to be political?

Should I really buy gas?

Can I punch you?

Does coffee really stunt your growth?

How tall would I be if it does?

Why girls will never ever say anything? Excuse me, why I can never understand why girls never say anything to me?

That because we live in a world where we allow people to make their own definitions for everything that we cannot accomplish anything because there is no standard for right and wrong behavior, only what the masses believe.

Who ever thought up the idea of pwn1ng no0bs?

Are you for real?

How good looking I really am.

Why I like to sing so much when I have absolutely no talent?

Why I forget easy things but remember the craziest things?

Why is it that feminists are fighting to have to sign up for selective services? I mean that want equality right? Not just all the benefits of being a man and a woman with none of the negatives?

Why don't people understand the different roles does not mean inequality.

Will I be remembered for being more than huge?

Do you want to fight?

Why was I broken up with?

Why some things are better not to know?

What do I know that no one else does?

Why Mormons think they believe the exact same thing as me?

Can I dance?

Would you take Darth Vader seriously if he was dressed like he was above?

So I took a vacation day today. It is really going to be nice not having to work today. Of course I do have a lot to do today.

First I need to go get my birth certificate, then I need to fill out all the stupid forms so that I can get my passport. Then turn in all the stuff for my passport. Then I need to drive down to work and pick up my paycheck. Then I will come back home and relax for a little bit. Then I will drive to Knappa, Oregon to watch my little brothers play football. Where is Knappa you might ask. Well it is between Portland and where The Goonies was filmed.

So today I realized that I spend 100 more minutes in the car a day now that I am living with my parents again than I did when I lived alone. My average time a day in the car was 25 minutes. Now I spend about 2 hours in the car going to and from work. It sucks. I think the worst part about it though is that I get tired on my way home. Not the sleepy kind of tired, but the kind of tired that completely destroys your motivation to do anything.

Anyways on that note, things are good for me right now. I need to hear from school if I am accepted.

Sometimes I just want to pwn no0bs.

Seriously, The Killers are good.

My little brother thinks Linkin Park is the greatest band ever. I contested that Led Zeppelin was much better.

I am installling Diablo 2 for like the 100th time.

I really needed a Mtn. Dew today, and I got it. It was so awesome.

There was a time I use to like driving to Oregon City, but now it makes my commute suck.

So I will have a long weekend. I don't know what I am going to do, well actually I do, so I will tell you.

Friday, work then I go watch my little brothers' play football. Also at this time I hope to move several things from my apartment to my parents house. Hopefully I have no problems with traffic, but it could be interesting going 30 miles with stuff. I think it will be alright, but it may be crazy all at the same time.

Saturday, I will attempt to move all of my stuff from my apartment to my parents house all by myself. Maybe I should start packing stuff up for transport tonight.

Sunday I teach, twice. I also have a leadership meeting at 8 am Sunday. Hooray for me. I then will spend the afternoon at my parents house before I have to drive across town and teach at church and then load the trailer which will last until 8:30 pm. To which I must then drive 40 minutes back across town and go to bed to wake up to leave for work earlier than I have been waking up to get to work at my current residence.

Monday, I must wake up earlier than usual, fight traffic which I am not use to, and then afterwards go to a meeting.

Man, I use to think I did nothing, now I realize, I do a lot.

Anyways I am working on my future wife application/test. I hope people find it as funny as I do. Then again they probably won't.