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It is Christmas Eve tonight. The night before Christmas. The night through which few children sleep; the night during which most parents try to get as much sleep as possible; the night of that famous flight of that mysterious big man.
Here’s to wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, and a safe New Years. Hopefully we can all keep track of all the numbers flying around the dinner table. Sorry I haven’t written yet during break; I have gotten quite a few “phantom shifts” (getting called in to work when I’m not on the schedule), and have not had much time to myself to settle down and write something worthwhile.
Merry Christmas, and happy New Years, everyone.
_Tom.
It is the infamous finals week. My first one was last wednesday (12/12, how fitting), which I believe I aced slash got the best grade in the class. I don’t know why, but Systems Analysis has always been an easy class. Doesn’t really explain why I had a B in it at midterms though. Oh well. Most of the hard work is past (a Systems project —> group projects are stupid). Now all that stands between me and home (and Christmas, fires, hot chocolate… and a lot of working) is an existentialism paper, a modern history essay final, a programming final, and a psychology 101 final. Oh boy.
So that is my excuse for not posting anything as of late, and for not posting anything relevant at this point in time. Once finals are over, I will be sure to write an intellectual post for all to read. :-)
Thanks,
_Tom.
Just a short post tonight. Buried in work and such. A friend sent me this link, and I think it is awesome. Check it out here. Never thought I’d see the day where my two biggest worlds (gaming and the betes) would collide. :-)
It amazes me how quickly one can become dependent on something that is with them every hour of every day of their lives. Today I made a very stupid mistake. I left my pump sitting on my bed as I ran out the door for classes. I didn’t realize my mistake until I had sat down to drink some coffee and eat a muffin for breakfast.
“Hmm. Wonder how many units of insulin I’ve got le—wha? Where’s Zander? What? S@#% F@*#IN ISH!”
<Sidenote: you ever notice how you can use any numbered symbol(on the keyboard) to mask profanity, except for one, nine, and zero? They just look so… wrong!>
So I forgot my pump. Honestly, first thought: “I’m going to die.” Second thought: “I survived for months with blood sugars in the 800+’s, I can survive two classes, as long as I don’t eat the muffin.” So I got rid of most of the muffin, downed most of the coffee to get some caffeine in my system, and went to class. It just amazes me how dependent I have become on that stupid pump, thinking that without it for even a few hours I could die.
Sort of struck me as funny. Being dependent on a timer, a screw, and an expensive LCD screen. Hmmm…
This post is going to be very random, as a lot of things have happened in the past day or so that I feel are worthy of putting out there.
<blurb blurb1 = new blurb(americanDream);>
I’ve been thinking a lot today about “The American Dream”. As a kid I remember learning about the American Dream and thinking “Hey, I have that. Daddy makes the money, and mommy makes dinner. And that’s how most of my friends’ families are too. We must have done it!” I look back at those memories and realize just how naive children can be. I don’t wish I had fully understood the world, not that I’m anywhere close to understanding nowadays, but it’s odd to look back and realize it. I had no idea how real war could be, never really made the connection between graveyards and people being gone forever. Such naiveness truly is a shield from reality; a shield that is often broken too soon in the world today.
Back to that whole American Dream idea… it started as just that, a dream. A goal that made each day bearable. Over the years, though, this dream was mutated. It became so unreachable that not even the hardest working, nor the richest, could obtain it. The American Dream was bastardized to the point that it became a forgotten memory.
<//end blurb1>
<blurb blurb2 = new blurb(freeKnowledge);>
We are told from an early age that no one can ever bar us from learning. Many of us have also heard, at one point or another, our parents say that “money is no object”. We are taught that money does not grow on trees, and that there is more to life than money; life is supposedly about happiness (whether money can buy it, no one really knows).
If money is such a null object, and knowledge is free, why do most of the questions asked by parents when it comes to universities and colleges involve tuition and financial aid? While we are paying for housing and meals and medical support, we are paying mostly for books and instruction from people who paid good money for three letters, a comma, and two periods after their name. What happened to there being regional universities with city-supported sages? Or grand libraries where sages spent time instructing those who cared to become enlightened? No, now we pay exorbitant amounts of money to learn things we will never again use in our lives (read: Calculus II). Once again, I don’t get it.
<//end blurb2>
<blurb blurb3 = new blurb(wrongCentury);>
Going off the sages idea… has anyone reading this ever read something in a book, or seen a movie, or even played a video game, and came out thinking “Damn. I was totally born in the wrong century.”? I have. Part of me thinks I was born something like a thousand years too late. Or even only 80 years too late. It is the strangest feeling watching a movie and knowing exactly what the characters are talking about when they discuss swords or areas that you have never even heard of before (or so you thought). Crazy stuff. Even crazier is having a lucid dream that you were in the Knights Templar, and feeling completely at home in the body of a Templar. Okay, I’ll admit that that dream was probably inspired by the video game “Assassin’s Creed” almost 100%. But still. Who knows. It could be possible. But then again, if I were born a thousand years ago, or even 80… I’d be either dead, or severely messed up (unsure about the 80 years). Craziness.
<//end blurb3>
That’s all I’ve got to throw out there right now. Crazy stuff has gone through my head in the past thirty or so hours. Also, does anyone know of any studies that have been done with diabetes in regards to the Placebo Effect? I’m sort of curious about that idea. :-p
Thanks,
_Tom.
