Matrix style

Here is one of my biggest problems that I would LOVE to have solved... shopping. I hate it. About every 6 months when I decided to give it a try again or get roped into an excursion, it always disappoints me. Now don't confuse shopping with buying. I'm all for the buying of new stuff anywhere from tech toys to clothes, but I absolutely hate the shopping part!

The process usually goes something like this... I decide that I need something, as a current example, a skirt to wear for the end performance at ballroom camp which has to work for both rumba AND waltz plus conform to BYU rules. So then I do some research and check out stores online to see if I can avoid searching by foot. This almost always fails me so I have to resort to the dreaded shopping. I get to drag my butt to stores, listen to high schoolers complain about their weight, and then I get frustrated because I know exactly what I want and nothing like it exists.

What I want is shopping like in the matrix. You know the scene where Neo and Trinity are going into the Matrix to save Morpheus and they need guns, lots of guns. All they have to do is say the word and wooooosh! rows and rows of guns fly past them. It could also be like that old car search commercial where the guy describes exactly what he wants and it whittles down the choices.

This might not satisfy the people who actually like going out and searching for hours to not find anything they want, but in my perfect world this would make my life even happier.

Big badda boom!

Like blowing things up or at least watching? Well head on down to Ames on July 19th for the Knapp-Storms Implosion. That's right, they are finally tearing down part of Towers residence halls and you can watch in person, on TV, or on via a web cam. I say this is definitely worth a field trip including lunch at Hickory Park that has the best ice cream!

Row, row, row your boat

So I was really excited about these Kayaking trips being sponsored by Indian Creek Nature Center and Seatasea, but apparently so was everyone else. As of Friday only 3 spots were left for the August 19th trip and I can't go then! Well my interest has been piqued enough that I'm going to look for other kayak or canoing opportunities, so if anyone knows about something like this going on in the Cedar Rapids area, please let me know.

On another note, my post office adventure ended in success and I got the chance to use one of their awesome stamp vending machines. One thing I didn't expect from the vending machine was that it would only take debit or credit cards. I suppose their cheapest stamp option was around $6, but the lack of a paper money option still surprised me. This could also be because I was tired at that point. A word to the wise next time you need stamps at 10pm, make sure you have plastic money with you, because only plastic makes it possible!

Bad compression idea

So I guess the real reason that I decided to post was more to vent some frustrations and save people from hearing me groan. Being in engineering and computer engineering specifically I have run into the gender issue more times than I would have thought starting off. Now I hate complaining about it because I know it's something that I will just have to live with to some degree until I secretly take over the world someday. But until then, I have periodically been trying to think of helpful solutions. Some of the more boring and most likely unproductive ideas have included "manuals" and training sessions (only if they are held in Beems Auditorium, though). Then, in one of my "I don't want to have to deal with you" moments that combined with work I thought, why can't Bluetooth help me? Why can't there be some way for people to "discover" basic information about each other so that they don't make fools of themselves? Now I don't mean quite the a/s/l of chat rooms, but simple things like "taken, so f*** off", "not pregnant, just fat", or "vegetarian, so I don't go to Famous Dave's" (no, that is not why I don't like Dave's); you know, things that people end up sticking their feet in their mouths over. Then after thinking of this, I read an article that Ryan sent me with a Bluetooth enabled cell phone that had something similar. Now I'm not saying that everyone should have a cell phone to handle this, but if I had gotten some small device at college orientation that could do this for me, I would have a lot fewer people in the "awkward acquaintances" column today.

In other news, never try compressing the dancing area for a dance that would use a minimum size floor of 36x60 feet. It creates collisions, cramps, and a dizzy blur of confusion when confined to itty bitty spaces.

Rock on patriotic people, I'm going to bed.

So hi...

Ryan convinced me to join in the fun so if you don't like my posts, blame him. Since I created this blog I have been trying to decide if I am going to introduce myself or not. I figure I will be nice and give you a little information to go off of, but it's up to you to find out more. To start of, I am a proud Iowa State student and I also happen to be a Computer Engineer. "Why?" you may ask. Well it all started with these little guys, Rug Warrior Pros, and then CELTS, my learning community. Besides computers I have a wide range of interests and unless it has anything to do with scary things or hospital related stuff I'll try almost anything once. Well this should be enough information for now. I will probably post again after I raid tonight.

Peace