bowdlerized epistemological epiphanies

I don't really know where I'm going to be...

I got invited to 3 places...

But, I was also thinking about going to Times Square again, to watch the ball drop. If you've got broadband, you can now watch it live.

2003 was the most fun year I've had here in Long Island; thanks to the new friends I've made!

I know that 2004-2006 will be different. I'm going to be a full time student and work part time... Meaning... I won't have any disposable income. I will be poorer than my current state of poverty. It's back to being a starving student again for me.

Life isn't as great as I'd want it to be but it wasn't so bad either. However, I think I'd like to stick around for as long as I can for environmental reasons... I pledge my life to help the plant kingdom have a better atmosphere by providing it with all the CO₂ I can naturally produce.

My New Year's Resolution: To be undeniably silly.

I want 1 so bad!!!

But, I can't afford it.
It's way too expensive.

And, too bad, it's not yet officially available in the U.S.

Buy this for me and I'll be nice to you until the warranty expires.

my CDs into my PC for the past 2 days...

And, I just found out about the highest rated DVD ripper freeware!
It's perfect for those who have a laptop w/ a DVD player & a large hard drive or for those who have IEEE 1394 or USB 2 portable/external hard drives.
{I can't wait for TeraByte (even better, PetaByte) hard drives!}

If I had a laptop, I'd rip all my DVDs into it.

Imagine having hundreds of movies in your laptop! You'd never get bored while travelling. (Being able to watch your own movie while in flight, camping, etc.)
Kewl! So Kewl!

December's close to it's end & this is actually going to be the warmest day of this month! The local weather report said it's going to hit 54°F!!! Yeah Baby!!! Kewl!!! Oh, so kewl!!!

ugh!

I had to take another placement test; this time, for Suffolk County Community College.

I did okay for the English Reading & Sentence Completion tests & sucked at the Arithmetic... But, I was surprised after guessing almost every answer for the Algerbra, I practically aced it! I swear, I can't remember any Algebra formulas. And, my scratch paper was practically blank. (ha-ha-ha)

Today, I drove to my closest Micro Center for the 1 Day 'After Christmas' Sale.

Here's what I got:
U.S. Robotics Broadband Router Model: USR8003 for FREE!!! (after 2 mail-in rebates)
Micro Innovations Amplified Multimedia Speakers Model: MM640D for $9.99
(believe it or not, I didn't have any speakers for my newly assembled PC & this is 1st time for me to have a subwoofer)
inland u-Touch™ Multimedia Keyboard Part/Stock# 70133 for only $2.99!
(loving this keyboard; especially because of the top row '19 Easy Hot Keys')
inland 9 in 1 Card Reader for $8.99
(the website says it's a '6 in 1')
KHypermedia CD-R 25 PK Spindel for FREE!!! (after mail-in rebate)

This is my 1st Christmas where I'll be spending it alone! It's one of those things that I've always wanted to do but haven't. So, I'm just going to be watching DVDs, cleaning-up, and hopefully will get caught-up with most of the other things that I've been wanting to do but haven't had the time to do it.

It's the last weekend day before Christmas, which translates to: avoid all shopping meccas (because all the Jones' are trying to do their last minute shopping). I've done mine online last month. I can't stand the crowds.

I'm headed to NYC to choke my closest college buddy, Ed, (who forgot to tell me that he was in town - I found out from his wife, Xochilt).

Happy Hanukkah!!!

(please read my phlog for the prologue)

Because they just closed the dinning area (it was now past 10pm), another employee, in the parking lot, who was leaving told me to speak to the drive-through cashier.

The drive-through cashier was an Asian (probably Korean) lady who was also in her mid 40's. She had an accent and spoke faster. She also tended to agree with herself to her own instruction by saying, "Yes. Yes. Yes." or "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah." after each instruction.
Essentially, this is what she said:
"Make a left when you get out."
"Then after 5-6 lights, before the L.I.E. make a left."
"You can't miss it."

I ended-up in Huntington. Because there was no L.I.E.

What she forgot to tell me was to make a left on Commack Rd.

(please read my phlog for the prologue)

The man I spoke to at Wendy's for directions to Commack Multiplex Cinemas was a Latino in his mid 40's.

Here's how it went:

Me: "Excuse me, do you know where Commack Multiplex Cinemas is?"
Wendy's Employee: "Commack Mumu... Cinemas?"
(he had a very thick south of the border Spanish accent)
"This is 'Commack'."
Me: "Yes. I know that. I'm looking for the cinema here in Commack."
Him: "cinema? cinema? cinema... No. No cinema. This is 'Commack'. You in 'Commack'."
(repeat the last thing I said & his reply for another 2x)
(Don't forget that I'm tired, hungry, & after being lost again; I'm now cranky.)
At this point, my tongue & hands nearly went mutinously schizo on me.
If he said, "This is 'Commack'.", one more time;
my tongue wanted to say, "Shut-up or I'll have the USCIS deport you!",
while my hands were about ready to choke him.

Thankfully, he said, "Djew want to talk to the manager?"

Yippy!!!

It's finally operational!

I've been waiting for this, for almost 3 years!

The inaugural run was yesterday!

Cool!!!

I can now take a train to & from JFK!!!

it's such a beautiful day!!!

it's probably going to be the warmest day of this December.

it's supposed be as warm as 48°F!!!

the weather report says that it might hit 50°F tomorrow with the rain...

Definitely the opposite of Poison Pen Letters™.
(which I posted back in 10-11-3)

It makes me feel warm & fuzzy inside.

You can view & purchase their cards direct from here.

A mother of a friend of mine had to babysit an annoying little boy who would eat his own booger just to gross out everyone for fun. My friend's mother couldn't make him stop until she decided to pick her own booger and offered it to him. He hasn't eaten his own booger since.

The 1st zoo I went to in the U.S. was The L.A. Zoo. I think I was around 12-14yrs. old.

I went with my aunt, uncle, & cousins.

I had a 35mm film camera (they didn't have digital cameras back then). I used 36 exposures KODAK GOLD 100 Film rolls because they were more economical to use than the 24 exposures.

I used 2 rolls of 36 exposures that day.

My aunt had them developed and chose double prints (because it was more economical; and, it saves time, because you don't have to go back to have them printed again).

When she got to photos.
She immediately called for me in an angry tone.
She said, "What is this?"
"There are only less than 20 photos of us in 2 rolls!"
"The rest are photos of only the animals!"
"Why did you do that?"
"What are you going to do with these photos with only animals in them?"
"We can't put that in the family album!"
"I just wasted money on this!"
"They're double prints of animals!"
"Next time, don't waste film!"
"Make sure someone's always in the photo!"

She hasn't seen my phlog.

I haven't seen it.
I'm curious about it.

Too bad, it's not available in any of my local video rental stores.

It's subtitle is “Exterminate all rational thought.”
I know who won't want to watch this.

My grandparents had this gigantic round table with a built-in lazy Susan. What my siblings, cousins, & I would do is play a game with it. We would take turns sitting on the center while the rest would spin it as fast as we could until you can't take it or are flung out by the torque. It was like a home version of the Teacup ride (which I've grown to avoid).

A movie that Brian should never watch; for I fear that he may just go postal.

And, Brian might just lose it, when he sees the roasted chicken walk off the dining table.

Another cult movie that Brian hates. But this time, he can't blame me for watching it.

Brian hasn't learned to let go of his logic and not to reason, "Why?"; while watching cult movies. He's too serious for cult movies.

If it were possible, I'd have him bound to that brainwashing device, where he can't move or shut his eyes; and force him to repeatedly watch: Hudson Hawk, Donnie Darko, & Buckaroo Banzai; until he succumbs to appreciating them.

Thanks to the news last week about the shortage of flu vaccines. All HIDA flu vaccine distributors were sold out of it by Friday, 12-5-3! Basically, the U.S. is out of flu vaccines!

I'm so lucky to get my shot 'in the nick of time' before the shortage!

This new law is helping make cell companies more competitive!

Which is great for us!

So far, here's what's noteworthy:
Sprint's unlimited night now starts at 7pm!
T-Mobil you can send an unlimited number of pictures or video clips for only $4.99 per month!

My truck now smells like I've been sniffing rubber glue.

They told me things I can't do:
1) I can't close my windows. I'm supposed to keep the windows slightly ajar for 24hrs. to prevent any air pressure change that could affect proper setting of the glue.
2) I can't remove the blue bandage on the windshield till next morning.
3) I can't drive over 55MPH till the next day.
4) I can't use any car wash for the next 3 days. (Not that I'd want to, knowing that it's going to rain this Wednesday.)

12-6-3:
I woke up 9am and find out that the snowstorm was upgraded to a blizzard and it's supposed to last till midnight, which is never a good thing.

Brian & I continued to watch The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers Special Extended Edition from where he left-off last night.

Brian asked me to fix his computer so that he can play his Command & Conquer: Generals. I've heard of it but never seen it. I tried all known S.O.P. to me, but none worked. As a last resort, I e-mailed their Tech Support for advice.

Brian made pasta for brunch.

Later, Brian popped-in his Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle Of Life DVD. Since I've already seen it before and I really felt like going home to take a shower; I didn't finish watching the movie, I stayed for the 1st 20min. I left around 11:30am.

The windshield blemish I was supposed to fix before winter got worse! Due to: the cold weather, the defrost set to the hottest, & the pressure of the wipers; the crack spread across the windshield. I had to drive through the blizzard without using the defrost & the wipers, which made it a dangerous back drive home. (I've not used my truck since. It will be repaired on the early morning of 12-8-3. Thankfully, it's covered by it's HMO.)

Keenan picked me up around 7pm. Then we picked-up Mike & Chris (the 3 of us live about 5 min. away from each other). Basically, everyone who was at Brian's place the night before came back for a 2nd night. The only 2 new guys for the evening were: Mindy's (the downstair neighbor, daughter of Lori) boyfriend, James & and Brian's friend, "Brian". Who I'll now refer to as "Brian-2".

Brian-2 is almost like Brian; except he's a little shorter, has a lower voice (Brian's voice is lower than mine. Imagine a voice around 3 octaves lower than mine.) & a better sense of humor. If Brian-2 were less than 4 feet high, I'd call him, "Mini-B".

We brought Papa John's Pizzas.

Brian-2 & I shared 1 bottle of Malibu. He drank his on the rocks, while I had mine with Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi.

A little past 10pm, after asking Brian, I found out that Command & Conquer: Generals' Tech Support replied by 7pm, which was real cool! (However, Brian deleted both e-mail they sent; but, they were fortunately still in the "Trash Can" box.) There was only 1 thing that I wasn't aware of from the 4 that they advised to do and it's something that's unique for their products. And, bingo! That was it!

About an hour past the pizzas, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm glad to know, that they're going to make a sequel to this movie.

Then they played Scattergories, while I watched Buckaroo Banzai.

When they were done with Scattergories, they started to watch Buckaroo Banzai with me. I had to explain that it was a cult movie and it was b-movie humor. Brian hated it, while Brian-2 found it funny because of "Pinky Carruther's Unknown Facts" (at first, we were the only 2 laughing at it). Actually, the movie on it's own (without "Pinky Carruther's Unknown Facts") is funny, if you appreciate cult-humor. Brian (not knowing that the subtitles weren't 'closed captioning') said, "The subtitles aren't even what they're saying."

There are now 3 movies, that I like, which Brian hates: Hudson Hawk, Donnie Darko, & Buckaroo Banzai.

What made the movie really worth while was the cringed look on Brian's face as he repeatedly asked me, "Do you really like this movie?", "Why do you like this movie?" & "How can you like this movie?". And, he kept that cringed look frozen long enough to imprint it on my memory. I'm almost certain that, from now on, whenever Brian hears "Buckaroo Banzai" his Pavlovian reaction would be that cringed look. I wish I had a photo of that look.

I'm glad that Brian-2 found it funny, he was on my side.

Mike also blames me for 2 of the 3 worse movies he's seen in his life: Donnie Darko & Buckaroo Banzai. However, I did catch him laughing every now & then, while he was watching Buckaroo Banzai.

Because he was also laughing, Chris had a hard time admitting that he thought Buckaroo Banzai was funny.

Keenan's repeated comments about the movie was "That's the guy from Memento." (a movie I haven't seen) If you want to know how it went, repeat what he said (the 1st just enough for everyone to hear you immediately followed by a murmur) every 3-5 min. for around 30 min. (I was seating right next to him, so I heard his murmurs.)

We watched Spaceballs after Buckaroo Banzai. Brian owns a DVD of Spaceballs, yet he can't stand Buckaroo Banzai. We didn't finish the movie, it was way past 3am.

12-7-3:
Due to the blizzard (which is now on the record as the worst blizzard of Long Island for the month of December) and being snowed in, it took us almost an hour to move Brian's car out of the driveway. Keenan drove us home by 11am. It's been a very cold but quiet & relaxing day, since.

Today, I learned that in order to get into the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program of Wilson Technological Center I have to have college level: Algebra, Communication, & Physics. And, for the 1st time, I finally got to see my college transcripts and I'm reminded how stupid I really am; my GPA sucks big time. Unless they don't accept my Precalculus & Business Calculus courses to comply for the Algebra; the only thing I need to take is Physics. So, I've enrolled in Suffolk County Community College just to acquiesce the prerequisites. And, I have to pass a 3hrs. entrance exam for Diagnostic Medical Sonography. I found out that they have a test-prep course just for the entrance exam. I will take this test-prep course, since I know I need to study for this test.

There's more hassle to getting to this school but it's worth it. How can you beat the proximity and saving more than half the tuition fee of the other school?

This is my 1st time to blog on a foreign computer.

Brian decided to gather some of his friends over for the night during this snowstorm.

I'm using Brian's computer while everyone else is playing Balderdash.

I'm sleeping over because of the snowstorm & the Bacardi. We were supposed to watch The Lord Of The Rings: Extended Version of The Fellowship of the Ring; but they're all into the game right now.

There are now 10 in the house & they're playing Scene It. True to the cliché, the more the merrier!

(sometime after 11pm) I started watching The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers Special Extended Edition, while everyone else was playing poker. When they were done playing, they eventually joined me to watch it. It became difficult to watch, because Keenan & Mike were like the 2 obnoxious robots on Mystery Science Theatre: "Crow T. Robot" & "Tom Servo". Close to 3am, everyone else fell asleep, as I continued to watch it.

I visited Kleber & Kurt right after the test because they live only 9 miles away from the school.

Kleber cooked again. It's good to know someone who likes to cook because I'm someone who likes to eat.

We watched SOUTH PARK - BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT which I recently got on sale for $9.99 at Best Buys. Kleber was hesitant about watching it but immediately liked after a few minutes of watching.

Brian called around 10pm and asked if I wanted to play Scene It with Keenan & Mike. I went over and we watched Donnie Darko (Brian didn't like it but Keenan did). Then we played Scene It, which was an interesting DVD board game. After which, we played Scattergories. That was my 1st time playing it and I sucked! We finished playing by 3am.

I passed it!

Actually, I aced the Language Usage Test & the Reading Skills Test. It's the Numerical Skills Test where I didn't do too well. I didn't answer 9 of the 25 questions; and, that's not passing.

I used to be better at math than english.

And now, they want my money...

But, someone else who took the test with me told me about Wilson Technological Center and that they were offering Diagnostic Medical Sonography. 2 important things that favor this: it's way closer and it's half the cost!

I just had 3 shots of immunization (hepa-B, tetanus, & tuberculosis) to comply for the school I hope to attend this May '04.

I'm starting to feel the after effects. My arms are hurting.

12-3-3 Update: My left arm that had the tetanus shot is still hurting. I just had another shot for chicken-pox, measles & mumps (on my right arm).

12-5-3 Update: Today, I had an elective immunization of the flu shot. After hearing about the deadly outbreaks, on other states, about the flu; I just had my 1st flu shot. I was told that it takes 2 weeks for it to become effective. Right now, my left arm is just starting to feel better; that tetanus shot really hurt. However, the other anti-viral shots didn't hurt.

you spend money
to save money

I got mine at Best Buy on sale for $14.99, which sells at over $20 at other major retailers!

I bought mine at BJ's for $14.99 (their sale ends on 12-7-3) and it came with a 'Junior Novelization'! Everyone else was selling it a dollar more or over and without the 'Junior Novelization'.

I had to get it for my DVD collection because it's the best fantasy pirate movie, to date!

I just signed-up for a 2 year commitment that starts on May '04. I'll be taking a program to be a cardiovascular technician.

If this pushes through, I'm going to be stuck here for another 2 years.

I passed their 12 min. pop-IQ test. I'm not sure how well I did, but I passed.

This Wednesday, I have to take another test (CPAt) which I should study for. It's going to be 1 hr. long. Right now, I have no clue, what it's about. I'm too tired, it's been a long day. I'll look into it tomorrow and perhaps study...