I went to church today. It was the first time in about a year. I wasn't really excited, in fact, I was dreading it. It's like that quote from Garden State that Alex has on his page: it doesn't have that good home feeling anymore. My mom and I pick up this lady who has MS. She doesn't try to be a burden on anyone, but in the process she becomes one. It's tough because we can't say no and don't truly want to. Our church has dwindled down from around a hundred people when I was growing up to only about 10 now. It's pretty sad really.
Anyway, we had gone to go pick up that lady and found that she had fallen asleep and was not ready for church. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake, so my mom and I were off to church by ourselves. As we took a corner headed towards our church near downtown LA, I saw this unforgettable sight. A homeless man had his pants down and his back facing the street as he maneuvered to his shopping cart (his home). I instantly felt sorry for him; to have nothing--it was very sad.
As we took the turn and drove closer I saw, to my dismay, his soul!; but it was not without shadowed doubt. For in between the the dirt speckled flesh was the dark abyss of feces. Yes...that's right...there was poop between his cheeks. I responded with utter disbelief. I saw into his soul! Well....sort of. I couldn't quite see through all the poop that was smeared from top to bottom of his crack.
I hope to not have to see the dark abysses again...at least not till I'm back at home in Nampa, haha.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
DAMN those bankers and the government!!!!!
I hate the stupid system and the man.
Day One: I deposited two checks on the 15th at Wells Fargo. (Beware of the teller Noelene! I'll explain below.) I knew I was low on cash and had waited till I had two checks to deposit. I put in about $290 and went about my daily expenditures of eating out and getting coffee and whatnot. (Or so I thought. It turns out I didn't have that money in my account. I was over drawing! What B*#$@ SH*&. Sorry for the language, but I feel a lot better now. Though I didn't know this yet.)
Day Three: I had checked online to see how much money I had. I saw that there were four pending expenses and only 8 bucks in the account. I didn't worry. I thought they computer system was slow to updating the new deposits online or something. I actually trusted them. What I fool I was!
Day Four: I got this e-mail that had the "urgent" stamp, you know, the red markings and whatnot. The title read something about overdraft fees. I didn't even have to open it (but I did), I knew exactly what it was. (I'm grinding my teeth right now I'm so angry.) I went online and saw that I was now $204 under and had no way of buying anything. Too bad if I was hungry and wanted something to eat.
Day Five: By the time I had a chance to call them and make sure the account was read right, things were already in deep water. I placed my call to the Wells Fargo customer support and they took down my information for an "investigation". They asked for some information on my transaction receipt and I got it out. That's when the shit hit the fan. I almost lost it. On the receipt it said, "Cash Received: $296.82" That stupid teller had made the transaction as if I had got all the money back and didn't deposit any! I did ask for twenty back, but not the whole amount. I new it was going to be a mess, but I figured this "investigation" would make things right. But when do the corporations ever really help out the little man?
Day Seven: Now at home, and thinking that I would have all my problems solved, I rested in a semi-state of peace. I was out shopping with my mom, going to Home Depot, when I got the phone call. The lady said she was with Wells Fargo; I figured things were fixed. She proceeded to tell me that there was nothing she could do, that I would have to go into the branch and take it up in person. I was pissed, but what could I do? Here is some of the conversation:
[After she told me there was nothing she could do];
Me: "Okay, but I still need to live and survive...."
Wells Fargo: "Yeah....What do you mean?"
Me: "I need to pay bills, buy food, and all the other stuff. How can I do that with absolutely no money in my account? What if I have an emergency?"
Wells Fargo: "Well I can call the branch for you, sir, and see what I can do. But you will need to take it up in person."
[After some silence and a few menial words.]
Me: "Okay, thank you [in a sarcastic voice]."
Lets take a little detour for a minute. We all know that little law that sits there over our heads when things are going wrong, Murphy's Law. Here is a good picture of what it's about and how I felt.
So I called the bank when I got home and they said the same thing...I have to go in person and they would sit down with me and would "investigate". I WILL get my money back! If I have to threaten their loss of my business and a law suit, I will get it back.
Alex...tell your dad I might be contacting him in the near future.
I've had it! I'm sticking it to the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Viva La Revolution!!!
Day One: I deposited two checks on the 15th at Wells Fargo. (Beware of the teller Noelene! I'll explain below.) I knew I was low on cash and had waited till I had two checks to deposit. I put in about $290 and went about my daily expenditures of eating out and getting coffee and whatnot. (Or so I thought. It turns out I didn't have that money in my account. I was over drawing! What B*#$@ SH*&. Sorry for the language, but I feel a lot better now. Though I didn't know this yet.)
Day Three: I had checked online to see how much money I had. I saw that there were four pending expenses and only 8 bucks in the account. I didn't worry. I thought they computer system was slow to updating the new deposits online or something. I actually trusted them. What I fool I was!
Day Four: I got this e-mail that had the "urgent" stamp, you know, the red markings and whatnot. The title read something about overdraft fees. I didn't even have to open it (but I did), I knew exactly what it was. (I'm grinding my teeth right now I'm so angry.) I went online and saw that I was now $204 under and had no way of buying anything. Too bad if I was hungry and wanted something to eat.
Day Five: By the time I had a chance to call them and make sure the account was read right, things were already in deep water. I placed my call to the Wells Fargo customer support and they took down my information for an "investigation". They asked for some information on my transaction receipt and I got it out. That's when the shit hit the fan. I almost lost it. On the receipt it said, "Cash Received: $296.82" That stupid teller had made the transaction as if I had got all the money back and didn't deposit any! I did ask for twenty back, but not the whole amount. I new it was going to be a mess, but I figured this "investigation" would make things right. But when do the corporations ever really help out the little man?
Day Seven: Now at home, and thinking that I would have all my problems solved, I rested in a semi-state of peace. I was out shopping with my mom, going to Home Depot, when I got the phone call. The lady said she was with Wells Fargo; I figured things were fixed. She proceeded to tell me that there was nothing she could do, that I would have to go into the branch and take it up in person. I was pissed, but what could I do? Here is some of the conversation:
[After she told me there was nothing she could do];
Me: "Okay, but I still need to live and survive...."
Wells Fargo: "Yeah....What do you mean?"
Me: "I need to pay bills, buy food, and all the other stuff. How can I do that with absolutely no money in my account? What if I have an emergency?"
Wells Fargo: "Well I can call the branch for you, sir, and see what I can do. But you will need to take it up in person."
[After some silence and a few menial words.]
Me: "Okay, thank you [in a sarcastic voice]."
Lets take a little detour for a minute. We all know that little law that sits there over our heads when things are going wrong, Murphy's Law. Here is a good picture of what it's about and how I felt.
So I called the bank when I got home and they said the same thing...I have to go in person and they would sit down with me and would "investigate". I WILL get my money back! If I have to threaten their loss of my business and a law suit, I will get it back.
Alex...tell your dad I might be contacting him in the near future.
I've had it! I'm sticking it to the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Viva La Revolution!!!
My sister is not the best driver!
So tonight I went out with my oldest sister. We were going to meet my other sister and her family at a local camp in some nearby mountains. My nieces had a girl scout star sighting thing there. I thought, "What fun! A science related activity that lets me spend some time with my nieces and sisters." Well, the whole night wasn't quite what I expected. It was probably in the upper 30s, a little sprinkling of snow on the ground, and everyone with their heaviest coats and mittens on, complaining that they were freezing. I had a long sleeve shirt and a jacket...I was fine. And to top that all off, there were clouds over most of the sky. How lame! So it goes without saying that there wasn't really any star gazing.
What could make the evening any worse you ask? Well, If you knew my sister's driving you would have a clue. The ride up there was kinda bad, but I had prepared myself and we took it slow. The ride back was a different story. She is INSANE!!!! She never is aware of her surroundings which means she swerves into other lanes, misses exits, and worst of all...she doesn't see the semi trucks barreling into our lane! I press down on the floor board as hard as I could, hoping I might be able to somehow press the break. I feared for my life most of the ride.
When I got home, I went straight to my mom with these words: "Never again, mom. Never again."
So when I said to Alex and Matt as I saw them off at the airport, "I hope I don't get killed in LA", I meant it in more than one way.
What could make the evening any worse you ask? Well, If you knew my sister's driving you would have a clue. The ride up there was kinda bad, but I had prepared myself and we took it slow. The ride back was a different story. She is INSANE!!!! She never is aware of her surroundings which means she swerves into other lanes, misses exits, and worst of all...she doesn't see the semi trucks barreling into our lane! I press down on the floor board as hard as I could, hoping I might be able to somehow press the break. I feared for my life most of the ride.
When I got home, I went straight to my mom with these words: "Never again, mom. Never again."
So when I said to Alex and Matt as I saw them off at the airport, "I hope I don't get killed in LA", I meant it in more than one way.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Final?...We say NO!!
In Analog Electronics we have been slowly progressing until the last few weeks when our teacher rushed through chapter upon chapter until we finished--just in time for the semester's end. He is infamous for this; working at a snail's pace and than demanding multiple assignments at the end of the semester. But who doesn't have a teacher like this.
Well, we get to the final after a full night of studying and some last minute cramming in the morning before. Teach comes to class almost 15 min late; we all knew he was just making up the test, cutting and pasting furiously before we said enough with waiting. The nerve of him!
Right after he passed out the scantron sheets he asked, "Do you have any last minute questions." This is where Stetz stepped in and said, "Can we not take the final." Of course it was a joke, but we were serious in a way. After deliberation with himself and our other offerings instead of the final, we had convinced him to not take the final! He gave us the opportunity to take the final to boost our grade or keep what we had. No one stayed, haha!
So it came down to a simple question with an even more simple. Ironically enough, that is what Eistein was striving for: "Make everything as simple as possible...." What could be more simple than not taking a test!
To top things off, we never had a test at all!! Life is great :)
Well, we get to the final after a full night of studying and some last minute cramming in the morning before. Teach comes to class almost 15 min late; we all knew he was just making up the test, cutting and pasting furiously before we said enough with waiting. The nerve of him!
Right after he passed out the scantron sheets he asked, "Do you have any last minute questions." This is where Stetz stepped in and said, "Can we not take the final." Of course it was a joke, but we were serious in a way. After deliberation with himself and our other offerings instead of the final, we had convinced him to not take the final! He gave us the opportunity to take the final to boost our grade or keep what we had. No one stayed, haha!
So it came down to a simple question with an even more simple. Ironically enough, that is what Eistein was striving for: "Make everything as simple as possible...." What could be more simple than not taking a test!
To top things off, we never had a test at all!! Life is great :)
Friday, December 7, 2007
The Beginning of Blogging...and Life
Hello Everyone!
So here I am. Beginning a journey on a path that will take me down tough roads filled with emotion and expressions...a path unlike most others...a divergent path. I'll share stories, feelings, predictions, hopes, the list goes on. Everything from my first bike ride to stories of misdemeanors in abandoned old folks homes.
I have been thinking a lot about this first blog and what I should write. There are so many places to begin, so many topics to start with. And, well, to be honest I don't want to limit myself to one thing. This blog is my way to share and express things that are often too hard to tell in person, but I will also have the simple things in life that I will write about. Thank you in advance to all who are reading my posts, thinking about me, praying for me, and just genuinely caring for others and what's going on in their lives. We live in a tough world where it is easier to follow than to lead. A world where hurting others and spiteful actions is viewed as casual or fun. To that I say I have had enough. I look toward the future with hope and great expectations. In the end I am living for God and not myself. To adhere to those words is what the journey of life is all about.
Join me in this walk as I begin to travel a divergent path; tough as it may be, I will look at life and something other than rocket science.
Thank you all,
Kyle
So here I am. Beginning a journey on a path that will take me down tough roads filled with emotion and expressions...a path unlike most others...a divergent path. I'll share stories, feelings, predictions, hopes, the list goes on. Everything from my first bike ride to stories of misdemeanors in abandoned old folks homes.
I have been thinking a lot about this first blog and what I should write. There are so many places to begin, so many topics to start with. And, well, to be honest I don't want to limit myself to one thing. This blog is my way to share and express things that are often too hard to tell in person, but I will also have the simple things in life that I will write about. Thank you in advance to all who are reading my posts, thinking about me, praying for me, and just genuinely caring for others and what's going on in their lives. We live in a tough world where it is easier to follow than to lead. A world where hurting others and spiteful actions is viewed as casual or fun. To that I say I have had enough. I look toward the future with hope and great expectations. In the end I am living for God and not myself. To adhere to those words is what the journey of life is all about.
Join me in this walk as I begin to travel a divergent path; tough as it may be, I will look at life and something other than rocket science.
Thank you all,
Kyle
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