Saturday, July 5, 2014

People Wanting to Remove Google Search Results?







     An article in Brussels came out stating that there has been an increase of requests for Google to have certain search results removed. As of July 3, 2014 over 70,000 requests have been made for the removal of these results, according to Google.


     Each request asks for the removal of almost four links, meaning Google has to evaluate more than a quarter million requests.


     Since Google must adhere to strict privacy rulings made in May, we may see the search giant having to comply with some, if not all, of these demands.


     What search results may Google have to remove from the internet? Embarrassing personal information of individuals when their names are searched.


     So don't worry, people can still search for cute kitty pics or what stage prop Miley Cyrus is dry humping this week. But I wonder if this would even be fair to Google. 





     When someone does a search on Google, or any search engine, key words from the search field are matched with words found in articles, photos, videos, etc., and are then displayed as search results. So it's not like Google is trying to show the world "embarrassing information" about these people. If anything, it is the fault of the people for posting their information on the internet. 





     Sure, sometimes a company may post some information about you on their website as far as what your role is in the company, or someone can find your Facebook page just by searching for your name. But we all know that whatever we post on social media sites can be easily found in a Google search. With that in mind, why would anyone post something embarrassing anywhere on the internet, and then get pissed when it shows up in a Google search?


     It's like putting your hand in fire and then getting mad at the fire for burning your hand. 


     I suppose there is one thing to consider: angry exes. No one can really control what someone else does, but it can still be argued that it is the fault of the individuals and Google shouldn't have to remove anything from their database of search results..





     I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter.


     

Thursday, July 3, 2014



China's Leaders Begin to Notice Pollution...or do They?





     Well, it's about damn time. According to a report on my News Republic app, on Thursday,  "China's Supreme Court has set up a special tribunal to deal with environmental cases..."


     Over the last three decades China has seen a rapid industrial expansion that has taken a heavy toll on the environment, and the Communist leaders  are becoming  "concerned by an increasing number of angry protests over the issue."

     That last bit is what got me. They're concerned about the protests but don't mention any concern about the general well being of the populace? Do China's leaders not know that no matter how high ranking they become, they remain human? What's hazardous to the peasant is hazardous to the king.

     They, China's leaders, make no mention of being concerned about health, but only about the "angry protests" that are becoming more and more frequent. 







     According to recent studies, approximately two-thirds of China's soil is polluted, and 60 percent of underground water is too contaminated to drink. Studies have also show that people in cities such as Beijing are regularly exposed to hazardous levels of air pollution. 

     These levels of contamination don't happen over night and China's pollution levels have been an issue for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until March that Premier Li Keqiang "declared war" on pollution. 

     My question is, what the hell took so long for these people to wake the fuck up?


     China has made an amendment to its environmental protection laws, "imposing tougher penalties and pledging that violators will be 'named and shamed'." The report goes on to explain that enforcing these new laws will be more difficult in practice, especially for a country focused on driving growth. 



     "Fewer than 30,000 environment cases a year were accepted by Chinese courts from 2011 to 2013, said Zheng, out of an average 11 million total cases annually."

     I'm not sure why so few cases on this monumentally important matter have been addressed by the courts. My only guess is that the pollution levels are indicative of growth, and the most effective way to lower pollution levels would be to slow growth, at least until a cleaner for of energy can be used. But as stated in the report, China is bent on growth.

     Eventually, it's going to boil down to money, and if the world knows anything about China (or any other super power, for that matter), they love their money. China will have to make less money by slowing down production, while at the same time spending their beloved currency on cleaning up their country. 





     We'll see if this is just rhetoric, or if China is really going to step up and take care of the important things in life.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Twitter-Incited Rant About "Theory"




     "Evolution is just a theory, it's not a fact." 








*Unless otherwise specified, I will be using 'theory' in the scientific sense for the remainder of this post*

     I cannot tell you how many times I've addressed this statement. The only way I've been able to get through to some people is by telling them to replace the word "theory" with "explanation". Evolution is a fact. No matter how much you want to believe it's not true, it is. It's been proven through genetics and supported by the fossil record. Micro-evolution, which leads to macro-evolution, has been observed in numerous species. Evolution is a FACT.

     The Theory of Evolution is different from the fact of evolution. The Theory explains how and why evolution occurs. 

     Think about the Law of Gravity vice the Theory of Gravity. The Law states that objects with mass attract each other. The Theory explains WHY the attraction exists. 





   

  A theory is an explanation of facts. Key word: EXPLANATION. Even if the theory of evolution was proven to be wrong, the facts of evolution would remain! The theory would just have to change.

     You can also think of theory as the plot to a story. As you read about events and characters' actions in a story, you can then formulate a plot. You can use what you've learned so far in the story to make predictions about what may happen later in the book. If you get a new piece of information that goes against what you thought the plot was, then the plot changes. But everything else remains! The past events and actions of the characters will have not gone away, but new information can change the plot.

     A theory and a fact are two different things. A theory does not become a fact, and a fact is not the next step up from theory. A theory is the highest graduated level an idea can achieve. 





Tuesday, March 4, 2014



See-Through Skirts and Panties



     If you had a booger on your face or food in your teeth, would you want someone to tell you, especially if you were in a public setting? I know I would want to know. There are few things worse than the post-embarrassment of realizing that you've spent all day conversing with people while you had a piece of lettuce stuck in your teeth. With that said, I was confronted with a dilemma the other day while I was at work, and it's been troubling me ever since.

     While I was at work (I work at a grocery store) a rather attractive girl wearing a pale yellow skirt walked into my department. Let me clear the air for the ladies here, if you're attractive, you will be checked out by nearly every straight man who sees you, and you will be judged and measured by every other girl. So yes, I checked her out. I'm not a pervert, I'm just man, get over it. Anyway, I quickly noticed that her skirt was somewhat see-through and I was able to deduce in less than a second that she was wearing dark blue booty panties with white stripes. My first thought was that this girl just got way hotter, my second thought was whether I should tell her or not. I don't mean to tell her in a way that was creepy or anything, but to just inform her that it was possible for everyone to see through her clothing.

     Does she know? Would she even care? If she didn't know, I would end up making her feel extremely self-conscious in a very public setting. If she didn't care that her panties were visible through her skirt, then there would be no reason for me to tell her. What if I did tell her and she accused me of being a pervert and made a complaint to my manager?

     These were the questions that plagued me for the rest of the day, and I wish I had answers to them which is why I'm writing it here and hoping someone will have an answer for me. I asked a buddy of mine what I should have done and if it would have been out of line for me to tell her, and he told me that it was good I didn't say anything and that I would have just come off as a pervert. He was probably right, but I would still like a woman's perspective on this. Again, I wouldn't have told her because I'm a pervert, but rather because I saw the situation to be similar to someone having a booger on their face.



     The above picture is an example of what I am talking about. Clearly this woman's undergarments are visible through her clothing. There seems to be less of a stigma on bras being visible, but the panties in the photo above are pretty obvious. She seems a little older and so probably doesn't give two squirts of piss about whether her underwear is visible or not, but try to imagine a younger woman, early to mid twenties in this picture. Would it be out of line to let her know about the "booger on her face"? Or just let it go?

     I'm not some panties-should-not-be-visible-in-public activist or anything, it's simply a situation that seems to have many questions that I don't think I can answer on my own and would like some feedback.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Only Religious People go to Prison!

Only Religious People Go To Prison




     Yes, I know the title presents an obviously outrageous claim and you may feel compelled to argue against it, but let me explain.

     While perusing the Twitterverse this morning, I came across a post claiming to be a factual account of the religiosity of prison inmates: 





     The validity of this information didn't matter to me, what mattered to me was that atheists were counted as having a religious affiliation; not having a religious affiliation is not the same thing as having one (duh!). You're either religious or you're not (atheist), but since both demographics are included in this table as belonging to a religious group, only religious people go to prison. And since everyone on the planet is either religious or non-religious, this table can also say that everyone goes to prison. Clearly, this isn't the case. Here's why:

     Atheism isn't a religion and doesn't maintain a set of beliefs, it is a lack of belief in a divine power. It is a point of view on a particular topic and is not a world-view. For instance, if you were to interview a dozen Catholics individually about topics such as, abortion, birth control, euthanasia, Noah's fucking arc, or the origins of the universe, chances are you would get very similar response because they all share the same set of beliefs. On the other hand, if you were to present the same questions to a group of atheists under the same conditions as you did the Catholics, you may get very different responses. You can be an atheist and be against abortion. You can be an atheist and reject the theories of evolution and the big bang. Again, atheism is not a religion, and therefore not a world view (a framework of ideas and beliefs forming a global description through which an individual, group or culture watches and interprets the world and interacts with it). It is a single position on a single issue.
     
     I'm not offended or upset in any way, I just wanted something to write about this morning.

“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”


― Richard DawkinsThe God Delusion

Monday, January 13, 2014

Car Insurance Companies Discriminate!

My Car Insurance Company is Guilty of Discrimination



     Ever since I moved to Georgia, I've noticed a steep incline to the rate of my car insurance premium. I'm not sure why it took me so long to look into it, but I was amazed as to why my rates were so high.

     Some insurance companies, if not all, will raise your rates if you've been in an accident. Well, I've been in four, none of which were my fault, but I figured that was why my rates may have increased. But why now? I haven't been in an accident since I lived in Washington, so why are my rates so high? It turns out, that in Georgia, they charge you more for car insurance if you're not married. No joke. When I learned this tidbit of information, I thought to myself, "self, that's borderline discrimination, isn't it? It's like charging me for wearing grey t-shirts." 

     Sure, not much of an argument there, but then I thought, "what if I'm not married because I'm gay (I'm not, but just stay with me here) since Georgia doesn't recognize same-sex marriages?" Hmm, does that not sound like discrimination to you? It certainly does to me. The only thing that would make it worse would be if they charged me more for being a guy...oh, wait. THEY DO! But I've known since I first drove a car that my rates were higher because I had a penis, it just never clicked that it qualified as discrimination.

     I'm not sure why my marital status affects my rates, but at least I know why they have higher rates for men than women, since men "have a tendency to be more aggressive drivers", which is just like saying that every black baby should be on parole, both statements insinuate that because of how we were born we are prone to screwing up. While they're at it, why not take voting rights away from women, or at least charge them for casting a vote?

     I'm not sure who does the statistical analysis for these people, but every bad driver I've ever encountered has been either an elderly person, or some chick putting on her make-up and/or talking on her phone. I don't know any guy who is as glued to their phone as the chicks I know, and I know even fewer guys that insist on wearing make-up.

My Thoughts on Gun Control



     The debate over the public's right to own firearms is nothing new. It seems that every time some chucklehead loses his mind and gets a little trigger happy that people the world over begin, or at least revisit, heated arguments about how to mitigate the abuse of firearms. Some people feel that if guns were wiped from existence then mass murders wouldn't occur (but obviously, history tells us a different story). Others feel that there should be greater or more restrictions on who owns a gun and what guns can be owned by the public. And then, there are some people who just don't give a shit about talking about it because if someone is intent on killing someone, then there's nothing third parties can do about it. In any case, in this post I will briefly explain my position on the issue and address a few popular counter arguments, and I'll do my best not to cite the Constitution here and use that as a scapegoat. 


     Currently, I am in favor of the public's right to own certain firearms for recreational and sporting purposes, and for self and home defense. I say 'certain firearms' because I personally feel that there is no reason to privately own a fully automatic firearm. Of course, in the off chance a home invader, being the criminal and law breaker that he is, decides to ignore the law and get his hands on an illegal automatic rifle and decides to target your home, how will you defend yourself if he has superior fire power? Well, I don't have a good answer for that and the point is made, but I still think legally owning a fully automatic weapon is lacking justification.

     So there ya go, I support gun rights. I do feel not everyone should own a gun because I am aware that there are some unstable mofos out there. With that said, not only should a background check be administered, but also a character test be performed on potential gun-buyers (I don't have the details worked out for that one yet, so feel free to poke holes in that argument and why it wouldn't work). Ok, that's the gist of my position, let's explore some arguments against the public's rights to own firearms, in no particular order.


"You are more likely to get injured by your own gun than you are of getting robbed."
  • My response: You are also more likely to get hit by lightning than winning the lottery. However, that doesn't mean you have to be struck by lightning before you can win the lottery. You are also more likely to be in a traffic accident in your own car than in your neighbor's. I may be wrong on the statistics here, but that doesn't matter. The point is that the above argument is a strawman argument and doesn't appeal to the issue at hand.

"NASCAR is a recreational sport. However, those who own race cars aren't allowed to drive around town at 200 mph. Gun owners and hunters shouldn't be allowed to walk around with their sporting equipment."
  • My response: A NASCAR driver driving around at 200 mph is using his equipment, carrying a gun is not using a gun. This is another argument meant to distract from the issue at hand and appeals to nothing. And besides, there are different types of firearms and I see nothing wrong with someone who has a concealed carry permit and carries a hand gun. But I will allow that it would seem a little inappropriate for someone to walk around town with a Mossberg 500.

"Country X instituted such and such gun laws and reduced the amount of guns owned by the public by Y amount, which resulted in a Z% drop in gun-related crimes."
  • My response: When someone starts throwing numbers and shit at you, challenge them on their source and make sure it's not outdated information. More often than not it will be one or both of those. But let's run with it and assume the information checks out. Obviously, the less guns there are in a country, the less gun crimes are going to be committed by its citizens, at least there will be a drop in reported gun-related crimes. Remember that not all crimes are reported; people get away with shit all the time. And obviously if you take my bed away from me, I will sleep on it less. But that doesn't mean I won't sleep. Additionally, it's mildly frustrating for me when someone starts spewing stats about a country other than America, because other countries have a more structured social and cultural order about them. In other words, they think a lot more alike and the populace will respond more as a whole than we do in 'murica. The next step is to ask the person to define "gun-related crime". Does that mean someone was killed out of cold-blood? Does it include people who defended themselves more aggressively than they should have? Or was a gun simply present and not used in any way during the crime? For instance, for a crime to become alcohol-related, alcohol simply has to be present at the crime scene, regardless of anyone's BAC. And just to make your point, flip the argument and show them that in 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

"13 Children are killed by handguns everyday."
  • My response: Define "child". According to most polls, a child is defined as anyone 19 years of age or younger. Ok, got it. That number also includes "children" who participate in gang and drug activity. Deaths related to gang activity didn't start when guns came into the mix, and gangs have existed since the dawn of time. Before guns, gangs targeted people with sticks, clubs, rocks, spears, anything that could hurt someone. But let's not get off topic here. Next argument.
"Too many criminals purchase guns legally and use them to commit crimes. Background checks and mandatory waiting periods help to deter criminals."
  • My response: 


I'll stop it here. I'm open to discussion so if you agree or disagree with me, feel free to comment. If you will argue against my points, please be respectful and avoid jumping straight to ad hominem. Laters!






Friday, January 10, 2014

Interesting, Though Troubling, Phone Call...




     I received an interesting, though troubling, phone call a few days ago. Here's what happened...



     I was at home minding my own business, doing my whole try-to-be-as-productive-as-possible routine when my phone rang. Normally, if I don't recognize the number I let it go to voicemail, but knowing that I was waiting for potential employers to call me back, I felt it was worth the risk.

     A bored sounding gentleman was on the other end and identified himself with his name and that he worked for the Secret Service out of Atlanta and he called to inform me that my personal information had been compromised. I didn't know what to think. When I hear secret service, I think about the White House, the president and his staff, congressmen and women, things of that nature. So I couldn't fathom why he would be calling me for any reason, other then to tell me I was in trouble for something.

     He went on to explain that my credit card number, address (my old one, not the one I am currently at), social security number, and date of birth were all in the hands of someone else, and apparently they've had my information for two months now. He continued to explain the steps I should take after we got off the phone, including calling my bank and responding to his email that he was going to send me.

     After I got off the phone, the first thing I did was try to process what had just taken place. We all see those commercials about how to protect your identity and we sometimes hear about friends of friends having their identities allegedly stolen, and we always naively say to ourselves, "that will never happen to me". But the one thing that had me pondering the most was that I was contacted by the Secret Service. Not the local police, not my bank, not the FBI (though that would still be a stretch, but would make more sense to me), but rather the Secret fucking Service!

     Perplexed, I looked at the number this guy called me from, and it was a 555 number. Like one of those numbers used in movies that aren't supposed to exist. So I thought, "is this a scam of some sort?" It didn't seem that way to me. After all, he never asked me for any information, he already KNEW my information. I know this because he read it to me. Still unsure whether he was legit or not, I looked up the number for the Atlanta Secret Service field office and called the main line. Turns out, the guy who contacted me is real.

     So being less confused and a little more clear headed, I called Navy Fed and explained what happened and that I would need a new card. Some of the stars must have lined up that day because they already had one in the mail for me. I then asked them to look at my statement, as I can only look at the last month or so online, and see if they can find any card activity in the area Mr. Secret Service Man had specified was the area my information was active in. The bank saw nothing and I trusted them as I check my statements a lot anyway.

     One question still remained: why would the Secret Service contact me about this? That question may never be answered. I suppose I could call the agent back and ask, but I'm sure he has more pressing matters that require his attention. And I guess this means that I don't have to pay for services like LifeLock, I've got the Secret fucking Service watching my back!

Intro to Me, and About my Blog

Who I Am




     In case the title is in any way unclear, this post will be a brief (at least I'll try to make it brief) rundown of who I am and how I ended up where I am. If you only feel like reading about certain things about me, scroll down to the appropriate subtitle. If you're intent on reading everything in one sitting, I suggest you grab some snacks and get comfy; depending on your reading speed and attention span this could take a while. If you get bored to tears, then you only have yourself to blame as you could easily stop reading at any time and move on to something else more exciting. So, without further adieu, let's get started.




My Early Childhood

California and Texas


     I was born in southern California early one morning in December 1988. I don't remember my parents being in the same room together very often and I only have a few memories of my mother before I reached the age of six, almost all of which involved copious amounts of alcohol consumption (on her part, not mine). The last memory I have of being in California at that age was climbing into the front seat of my grandfather's large Ford truck late at night with a couple of my friends from down the street wishing me farewell and one of them handing me an alligator-foot necklace.

     I don't remember any portion of the trip to Texas, but at some point during his divorce with my mom, my dad decided it would be best for us to live on the campground my grandparents owned on the shore of Toledo Bend lake. I'm not sure if the campground exists today, but it was called Bean's VIP Campground. And no, my last name is not Bean. My dad's mother remarried and that became her last name. This usually confuses a lot of people so I won't get into explaining it, just know that I have three sets of grandparents.

     Anyway, my dad and I lived in an old, spider-infested motor home on the campground. Fortunately, my grandparents were accustomed to having motor homes and RVs stay at the campground, so we were connected to services such as water and electricity. My dad and I ate our meals at my grandparents' house and we took care of our bathroom needs at the bath house provided for the campers. 

     We lived this way for about two and a half years and some of you may be thinking, "dear God! How can anyone live like that?!". Well, the answer is simple, at least for me: I didn't have any choice in the matter, I had to live that way. It wasn't so bad, I love camping and that's essentially what I was doing for those years. I also had three individuals who I would calls friends: Adam, who I in recent years reconnected with on Facebook; B.J., who was one of those fat annoying kids, but I still called him a friend since my dad was friends with his grandparents; Finally, our dog, Target. She was a black lab, german short-hair mix and my absolute best friend. When asked why he named her Target, my dad would always respond with, "Because that's what she's gonna be if she doesn't fetch game!" (my dad was a hunting enthusiast, ducks were the target during our stay in Texas). Good thing she was well trained!




From Texas to Montana


     I'm not sure what prompted our move to Montana, all I know is that my dad wasn't happy in Texas and we had family in Big Sky Country. I remember some of the trip north, most of which are memories of my dad making fun of the flatness of Texas. At one point we passed a mound of dirt on the highway and my dad named it The Texas Mountain.

     I spent most of the time in the front seat passenger seat of my dad's small white Chevy truck. It only had front row seating so Target sat between my dad and me. We were followed by my grandfather in his much bigger Ford with a horse trailer in tow that contained all our stuff. My dad had a small Uhaul trailer hitched to his truck that wouldn't stop fish-tailing.

     I'm not sure what the date was when we left Texas, but it took us three days to complete the trip. Whenever I think about my early years in Montana, one story never fails to come to mind.

Yellow Jackets
     Shortly after our arrival to Montana, could have been days or weeks after, my dad, aunt, cousins, and friends of the family all took a trip to a cabin up in the mountains (I can't bee certain where this cabin was though). In any case, my dad decided to take me fishing with him down the river from the cabin. We had to walk through dense undergrowth to get to our fishing spot. Unfortunately, we never made it.

     As I was following my dad down a very narrow trail, he bumped against a bush, and as I walked past it I felt a sudden sharp pain on my left hand. Having come from Texas my immediate thought was a chigger had bitten me. Well, I was wrong. Moments later I was surrounded by a lot of buzzing and started feeling a lot more stinging all over my body. Once I realized that the source of my pain was coming from a swarm of angry bees, I took off running towards my dad hoping he could save me from the onslaught.

     By this point, I was screaming and crying from the overwhelming pain (I was eight, gimme a break), and as I ran to my dad, I tripped and fell at his feet. I felt him grab my shirt, followed by a sudden jerk, then I was weightless for about two seconds as I watched the world around me spin. The stinging pain I was feeling was replaced by icy daggers as I plunged into the cold water of the rushing river. Thankfully, I landed in a calm pool caused by a downed tree.

     The water wasn't very deep so I was able to stand up, but there was still plenty of movement to the flow so walking was a little difficult. By the time I gained my bearings and was able to look around, my dad was already in the river running towards me. We spent a few minutes flicking the most determined bees off my shirt.

     He hauled me out of the river and we began our trek back to the cabin, with a little more urgency than we had when we left it. The next thing I remember is being fed Benadryl (they didn't know if I was allergic or not, so they were just being safe) as all the grown-ups counted and removed stingers from me.

     All in all, sixteen stingers were removed from my skin that day, and I grew up with a much higher respect for our buzzing friends.


Montana

     Getting back to the main story here, my dad and I lived with my aunt and cousins for a while, then we moved and they, in turn, moved in with us. We lived in a small town called Polson on the southern tip of Flathead lake. After some time, we as a family built a house for my aunt and cousins up on a hill overlooking Polson.

     Everyday during the summer, if my dad hadn't recruited my help on the job site (he was a carpenter), My cousin William would ride down to my house and we would scrounge up all our change we had saved throughout the year, and we would spend it on junk food to eat while we swam or fished at the docks. During the winter time, I would visit my buddy Brandon on the weekends and we would head up to Blacktail or Big Mountain and go snowboarding.

     Long story short, I lived in Polson from third grade through fourth grade. Lived in Great Falls for half of fifth grade and moved back to Polson. After sixth grade we moved to Bigfork, three weeks before the end of seventh grade I moved back to Polson. The summer before eighth grade my dad and I moved to Belt, which is a small town outside Great Falls. My dad and uncle, with a little help from me, built a house for my grandparents next to a canyon about twenty minutes outside Belt. After eighth grade, I decided I wanted to live with my mom who lived in Southern California. I'll omit my reasons for this decision, just know that my dad wasn't the most pleasant person to live with. Unfortunately, my dad wouldn't take kindly to my decision, so that summer, as I did every summer, I flew to California to visit my mom. But instead of getting on the plane a month later to go back to Montana, I called my dad and told him that I wasn't coming back.


Adolescent Years to Current

California

     Now that I was  older and I was getting ready to start high school and a new chapter in my life, living in California seemed to hold a new life for me. I was a little nervous being back in Cali because my dad made certain that I was aware of the gang activity, and my anxiety was compounded by the thought of starting high school. Because of all the moving around I did in Montana, I was used to being the new kid at school, but I still dreaded the possibility that my dad wasn't exaggerating the violence of gangs in school.

     I completed all four years of high school at Orange Glen in Escondido, which was the longest I ever attended school at one time. I did have a few run in with claimed gang members, but no fights. I was actually able to make friends with a few individuals who were allegedly members of the East Side Diablos, which I think was just a local gang and the three that I met were probably the only members. There was one moment when I could say that I was honestly scared for a moment. I was walking home one day and I heard behind me a very distinct whistle that members of some gang used to communicate with each other. I turned around and saw about twenty to thirty latinos, dressed in blue t-shirts, black shorts, and knee-high socks. All of them had a golf club in one hand, and they were all running in my direction, but they were on the opposite side of the street. I got ready to run, but they eventually just ran past me and around the corner.


Navy, Washington

     After high school I joined the Navy with a paygrade of E3 because I completed four years of JROTC. I enlisted as an Intelligence Specialist and was stationed on the USS Nimitz out of Coronado, CA. After the '09-'10 deployment, my ship changed homeports to Bremerton, WA where it was in the dry-dock for about a year. Afterwards, my ship switched homeports again to Everett, WA. Let me tell you, if you've never been to northwest Washington, then trust me when I say that it is arguably the worst place in the continental US.

     While in the navy, I visited numerous countries, including: Japan, Singapore, Bahrain, UAE, Thailand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. I also visited Guam for about a day when I first flew out to the Nimitz, and if you ask me, I think Guam is way more beautiful than Hawaii, but it's much more humid.

     After about a year and a half in the navy, I decided that it wasn't for me. Unfortunately, the military is a job that you can't just quit, so I had to finish my six year contract. That's not to say that I didn't learn a lot or that there weren't any perks to being in the military, because there definitely were. I just fell victim to the propaganda on television and posters. Not once did I come up out of the water with a knife in my mouth while Metallica played in the background. But I did my job and did it well, even advanced to E5 before I hit my two year mark. My supervisors all wanted me to stay in, but I didn't feel that my full potential was being brought forth, nor did my personal goals ever sync with the goals the navy set for me. Some people love the military, and some, like myself, didn't.


Back to Cali

     I'm already getting bored of writing this and I can only imagine you as the reader must feel. With that said, I'll wrap it up, but there are a few more things to cover.

     I separated from the navy in March 2013 under honorable conditions. Despite the decent pay I received in the military, I wasn't very frugal with my finances. I also managed to accumulate some debt that I was having trouble paying off. I realized that with a little planning I wouldn't be in the financial situation that I'm in now. In any case, I moved back in with my mom in Socal and planned on going to college at Palomar community college to get my general studies out of the way and then using my GI Bill once I transferred to a four year university. I have a buddy who left the navy before I did and was attending school and collecting unemployment insurance benefits. With his UI benefits and the GI Bill, he was able to bring home four grand a month, which was more than I brought home after taxes in the navy. So that became my plan.

     After I certified for unemployment and was granted eighteen hundred dollars a month, I started looking into college.Of course, I did give myself a few weeks of being lazy before I set out for school. Since I only had the Montgomery GI Bill, which only pays for thirty-six months of school, I thought it best to pay for my tuition at Palomar with my own money. I went to the college and met with a counselor and got everything set up for the fall semester. I also decided to apply for grants and loans through FAFSA (google it, because I can't remember what that stands for). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend as my mom and I decided it would be best to move to Georgia.


Georgia - Now

     It's a long story about why we came here, just know that it had to do with family. My mom and I moved in with my sister and husband and their four kids in Flowery Branch, GA at the end of September 2013. Shortly after our arrival, I decided to pick up where I left off in California with college.

     I visited a counselor and told her what my plans were and she informed me that I needed to take either the ASSET test or the COMPASS exam since I didn't have SAT or ACT scores. Shortly before I left the navy, I took an English course with Central Texas but I had to get a high enough score on the ASSET test since I didn't have the prerequisite for the class. Fortunately, I passed the English portion of the test, but I looked like hot garbage on the math portion. With that in mind, I made up my mind that before I take that test again, I was gonna study my ass off.

     For many many weeks I studied math, from books I bought at Barnes and Noble to sites on the internet. By the time I felt ready to take the test and register for classes, the deadline for spring semester had passed. It wasn't a big deal, just meant more time to prepare.

     As time passed, my financial situation began a slow descent and I have recently made up my mind that I can't pay for college at this point in my life. Sure, I could use the GI Bill, but that will only pay for three years of study and I  will spend about two at a community college to get enough credits to transfer.

     My main focus now is finding work. It is currently January 2014 and my UI benefits run out in May and finding work has been tough. Not only is it hard for me to go from an Intelligence Specialist in the navy to bagging groceries at the store, its hard to find a job that pays enough. I was recently offered a part time seasonal job for eight bucks an hour. Yeah, not happening.


     So now, I am unemployed and I live in my sister's basement. I have no money and I have debt. I continue to remain optimistic, but sometimes it's just overwhelming how close I am to failing at life. Do I regret leaving the navy? No. Am I considering going back in? Absolutely not. I may be poor and white, but I am happier now than the military could ever hope to make me.


     That's the end of that, now that you're all caught up on my life, please continue to read my blog. I promise it won't be some pity me bullshit; writing makes me happy and I don't like doing it if I'm in a depressed mood.


My Blog
     So, about my blog. First off, I have a passion for writing. I'm afraid to do it as a career since I don't want what I enjoy to become a chore. Second, I like talking about stuff and hearing other people's views on it. It seems that I can't seem to find anyone to have an intelligent conversation with. I may even put up some youtube videos on days that I don't feel like writing much, but we'll see.

     You may have also noticed a blog of mine titled: "A Year and a Day..." with no posts. Let me explain. There was a time in my life, quite recently actually, where I wanted to find out what wicca was all about. I have a very active imagination and I somehow convinced my self that magic is real. I blogged about my experienced here, but after a while, I lost interest and realized that magic only existed in my imagination, not reality. So I gave it up and deleted my posts (I don't actually know how to delete the blog off my profile).

     My blog posts may be about a myriad of things, such as my opinions on noteworthy news, religion, stupid things politicians do, or just any random thoughts I may have. Writing is a hobby of mine and I find it fun. I'm not being paid to write about certain things, and since this is my blog, I will write whatever the hell I want. Hopefully, my other posts won't be as boring as this one and I am hoping to engage some readers and potentially discuss and debate things with them.


   Okay, I can feel my attention span waning so I will clip the ending of this post here. I wish you all good luck on your current and future endeavors, and I hope you enjoy what I write. Laters!


P.S. I didn't bother proofreading, so if you see any errors feel free to let me know!