BEHOLD A NEW ICON!

Tell me what you all think 😀

waiting…

I’m waiting on a phone call from the HR rep at HB Maynard, an industrial engineering/retail consulting firm that I interviewed with before November. They said the’d let me know between late December and early January one way or the other. Well, unless my definition of early January is skewed, I think the 16th would designate mid-January, so I felt if I called and said “Hi. I’m really enthused about the opportunity to work at your company, so I’d like to know if there’s anything I can do to see what is going on” and see where I can go.

I called when they opened, and apparently the lady I need to talk to is in a meeting and won’t get out until, well, right about now. I’ll let you all know what the details are when I find out.

Today’s my last day of work, and I’m going to try to do as little as possible. 😛

peace and love

//edit 9:47: Still waiting on the call. I think I might try to call again at 10.

//edit 10:44: They decided not to offer me the internship. It makes sense because I’m not a Industrial Engineer, but a Marketing major, so although I have extensive experience in what they do, it wouldn’t be fair for any of the people that want to make that their living someday to lose the spot because of me. So this isn’t where I’m called to be. I’ll move on and find other things, and perhaps just come back to American Standard. They’ve given me so much, and to look at my resume and realize they’ve given me job after job since June 2001, how can you knock that?

An interesting post

I had a chance to take a look at a friends post, and it was about her faith, and it made me think of mine. In keeping in line with what my reviewer pointed out, I’m going to cut here so that if anyone would like to skip the next entry, they can. peace and love.

My friend commened, basically, on the fact that she felt conflicted because she feels like she’s telling people not to do these things, and then in return she does them:

Maybe it takes someone I think I care about that much to make me actually THINK. And when I write the whole feeling is fading, and I like it and dont at the same time. See, I really dont seem to care so much about following the one BEING I believe is Almighty. I thought about it. If it came down to it, I’d go do everything the commandments say not to do, in the worst sense, if it were not for my morals that every human has. Yet by logic and faith I still believe myself to be in rebellion and believe God to be God and Christ to be the Saviour. I dont know what this all means. At all. It could mean something really bad about me. I really dont know. Maybe I have something really the wrong with me, according to the way I think and what I believe. I mean, let’s see. According to what I believe, I believe I most likely am committing all sins and continuing and not trying to stop. Like, I worship gods, and they could be anything, and not just idols and such. I misuse his name, loud and clear, and dont try to change. I never ever remember the Sabbath day, never care to so much. I don’t honor my parents much. I respect them. But it’s about morals. I love them, deep down. Normal human feelings… I suppose I am just very convinced that I am a sinner but am not doing so much about it. Maybe it’s just a stage of random guilty feelings. The whole holy spirit thing tugging at me? I think I am showing a very very bad example of what someone of my beliefs should be like…

As I read more and more about it, I think she gets this feeling that what she’s going through is bad, and that she shouldn’t be feeling this way at all. I guess from my experiences, I think feeling that way is one of the biggest blessings someone can have. To be able to see yourself in a complete 360 degree way, be aware of what you do sometimes, and understand is great. Paul talks about this when he says that there are multiple times that he knows what he should do, but then in return doesn’t do it. He has to deal with the fact that even though I’d say he was the powerhouse of God’s first generation of Christians, he was still a sinner, and he killed the same people he later tired to save after his conversion. Many of the people in the OT and NT aren’t exactly the greatest people. Noah: drunk; David: Murderer and Adulterer; Samson: Womanizer; Paul: Murderer (as Saul, but still… same guy); Rahab, a prostitute, was in the lineage of David and of Jesus. People aren’t perfect. I think Paul sums it up again in 2 Corinithians 12 real well:

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

You know what, we are going to be sinners, we won’t be perfect. But we don’t have to be. God’s perfect grace makes us better.

hmmm

Ever get that feeling of just general restlessness? Just feeling like there’s something you’re unsure about, but can’t exactly put your finger on it? That’s kinda the way I feel now.

Lindsay and I talked about a lot of stuff last night, and I felt it was a really worthwhile time, except we both stayed up until 11:30 or so, and we both had to get up in the 5’o clock hour. Was it worth losing the sleep over? I think yes, because there were issues unresolved that I think we finally did resolve. I just hate making her upset or sad or anything – and for that matter, making anyone sad or upset. It’s that whole do unto others thing I think. I wouldn’t want anyone to take delight in upsetting me.

For those of you who don’t know, and without going into detail, Lindsay and I haven’t exactly had the most perfect of pasts. I feel like we’ve hurt each other a lot, but for some reason there’s always been something that’s kept us together regardless: love, dedication, tenacity, stubbornness (I think it’s the first one, but the others can play into it).

Anyway, after last night and getting some issues taken care of, I realized that for some reason I still hurt because of things in the past; silly times right at the beginning when things weren’t very good. Truth be told, we probably shouldn’t have dated at the time, but we did and there’s not a whole lot we can do about it now.

So I told her somethings that will continue to stay private (I’m open, but not so open there’s no privacy 😉 ), and I’m waiting for her response. I can’t help but feel really exposed though. I let out all the things that are hurting me and left them to hang without knowing for sure what’s going to happen. The odd part is I have no reason at all to assume that she won’t understand what I mean and where I’m coming from. She’s always been so loving and caring and willing to talk things out if I’m upset, and I feel in a way I’m betraying her for even allowing the possibilty she would be uncouth. But I feel like as a person I can be exposed until I try to internalize something, and once I do, it’s tough to dig things back up and set them right. But I feel in the case of Lindsay, it’s making it so I can’t be the type of boyfriend I want to be to her and the one she deserves. And I want to take all the wonderful things about us and the things that makes her so special and beautiful to me and run with it without setting a shield to her. It reminds me of a Fiona Apple song (regenderized, of course):

“All my armour falling down
At a pile at my feet
And my winter’s giving way to warmth
As I’m singing her to sleep”

That’s what I think we’re both trying so hard to do is to lay our armour down and move on. And I think this is what the Lord would want, so I want to pursue it. I just need to talk to her, and I need to see her again soon (Saturday!!!!!! :-D).

Regardless the case, I’ve fallen for her hard, and I love her.

Today it’s getting a haircut, and going out with the grandparents before going back to school. And hopefully talking to Linds about things and her interview.

Peace, love, kaboodles,
a.

Toddy Coffee and other meaningfuls

Morning!

This is part of an email that’s all about my new toy, the Toddy Cold Brew Coffee Maker

I had my first cup of Toddy coffee this morning. Wow. It definitely lived up to its hype.

Typically, when I have a cup of regular coffee, a series of events occur in my mouth. After it’s cooled down to the point of tasting it, the first thing I feel is a bitter/acidic taste on the tip of my tongue, followed by the taste of the coffee itself on the back on my tongue before I swallow it. Obviously, there’s an overwhelming bitterness, and whatever flavor you’d attain from the coffee is just about lost. Not to mention the fact if you drink enough of the coffee, you’re going to get heartburn becuase of the acid (I’ve had this problem before, especially at school: I get 2 cups of GCC coffee in me and I’m sick for the rest of the day)

No more with this Toddy coffee. All you get is the taste of the coffee without all the heavy oil and acid tastes. It’s the smoothest cup of black regular I’ve ever had. It’s like drinking a full flavored coffee water (which doesn’t sound so appealing, but it is! It’s the taste without the pain). I’m really impressed by it, and I think it will be an amusing conversation piece in my room. I recommend everyone who enjoys coffee or tea to get one, as it will do both. On Toddy’s site it cost $36.00 with free shipping and a sample of its latte, its green tea and its chai (all of which I found enjoyable. The green tea is a little too sweet for my liking – I enjoy just plain green tea and they add honey and all of that), but on ebay by itself I found one for $22.00

Today is Wednesday, which marks humpday, which marks the beginning of the end of work. It’s been fun here this time because there’s a comfort, impressions have been made, people know who I am, and I believe they consider me capable of doing my work. I’m left alone to my devices and to do my work. How can any self-respecting college student turn down a $10/hr job typing stuff into a computer all day? I’ve been blessed with jobs since I’ve starting working. I’ve never made less than $8/hr, and except where I did all that lousy sweeping and painting (at $11.50/hr plus overtime though), I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done. I’m hoping for the rest of the week to run smoothly, and get out of here. Then it’s on to school for a new semester.

Anyway… talk to all later.

Good Morning! Review of review

I got my LiveJournal reviewed over the last couple days, and I really appreciate the candor put into reviewing my journal.

Thank you, and I hope with some of the advice I can really improve my journal

These were some of my personal favorite comments:

“…there is a good level of intelligence apparent in his entries” – I’m glad to know that I haven’t been trivial or stupid. I’ve never wanted to be at all.

“I found there to be a nice depth to many things awra2001 wrote, it is very much a coming of age journal, particularly in the first year. awra2001 does speak of his feelings, but sadly the shear lack of entries meant that the reader never gets a full picture, or a follow up to things mentioned.” – I thought this was a really nice comment, and I hadn’t thought of it really as coming of age until now, and it really is. It’s the shift from high school to college and beyond. Alas, she’s right in the fact that I don’t update a lot, and as a result you don’t get to see a whole lot of change (that was a big detractor from points for me… that and customization)

This was my personal favorite:
“Individuality:
I’ve never come across anyone quite so devoted to his faith as awra2001, so I’d say that was a unique point. The interesting thing with him is that if you look beyond all that, he’s still an interesting person which completely shatters my previous experience. The personality put across is very consistent, only wavering depending on the amount of religious content.”

One of my biggest goals from when I can remember is be able to balance faith and fun – to be able to love God, but also know how to go have a good time. At least in my journal, that happens.

“There is a constant style to awra2001’s journal. It’s not a style I can put my finger on, but one which is identifiable as his own. It would be a very nice journal to read if the sentence structure was tweaked a little bit.” – I liked this too, because I like having my own way and style. But at the same token, she’s very right – I do need to work on sentence structure… which starts the beginning of improvements:

*~*~*~*~*
Quantity
This is a desolate journal. In two & a half years, awra2001 has only made 130 entries. There are months in which he never wrote, & even when he did it was often barely ten entries a month. – there’s nothing I can say except I really should take a little more interest in my journal. I’ve taken time to keep it going for 2 and a half years, and yet I do little to keep it up. There’s something wrong with that I say! WRONG!

Bio
This was very bland, sparse & gave you no indication of who he was at all. It was just a few lines of text, very uninteresting & it didn’t promote the journal well. – That seems to be something that I could easily take care of if I’d just take the time to do it.

“awra2001 never cuts quizzes, IM conversations or the like. This isn’t to say he never cuts anything, I just feel he doesn’t make use of this feature enough.” – Also easy to fix.

Also, I really need to stop using ellipses as much, and I think I really should start typing “tonight”.

The biggest problem for my reviewer, and my biggest drawback is my lack of creativity beyond the alloted things they give me. And while I can’t disagree (I am going to work with to create a better looking journal), I just don’t put as much on an emphasis on the look of my journal. I feel like the words and the user should speak through the journal, not its design.

She mentioned some things about my tendency to talk about God in my journal, and that’s cool. I know I talk about God a lot in my journal, and I’m sure at times I may have forced it out of me for the good of the journal (which is unfortunate, alas), but obviously, it’s something I can’t compromise on, and I think she understood and respected that. However, she brought up a great point when she mentioned that it might turn away unbelievers. That should be something I work on.

In the final analysis, I think if I really wanted to do well in a review, I need to take the time someday to really make it look how I want it to look. Make it “Adam Anderson’s Journal” not “Adam Anderson’s Journal, brought to you by the kind, hard-working people at LiveJournal”. More over, I just need to take time to write in it. I think to myself “self, the reason you created this journal was because you wanted to have a place to keep your thoughts and look back in five or six years and smile”… and I don’t seem to be doing so well at it a quarter of the way through. It’s okay. I’ll just keep doing my thing, and see where it leads. Once again, thanks so much for the review.

…along the same lines as the last deal…

Is it better to just not do any work if you’re done with your task, or is it better to fake a lot of meaningless work in order to look like you’re working. I’m a “not do any work” type of guy… let me know.

hmmm

This is a tough, tortise-and-the-hare question that I figured some of you out there in LJ land might have an answer and/or opinion about:

I’ve been working most of the morning to figure out how to make a formula for a bunch of data I’m sorting in Excel today. Basically, it’s an IF statement that will say that if the time is between 0600 and 1600, it was call it first shift, and if it is between 1601 and 0559, it will call it second shift. And I’m trying and trying and still haven’t found it yet. So here’s the dilemma – I could keep trying and eventually get it because I have no doubt someone in this plant knows the answer – and hey, that person could be me if I could get out of the way of my own thoughts – or go back through every single one of the over 3400 entries, look at the time, and place a 1 or 2 at the shift time.

So my question is what would each of you do? Would you go for the brains or the brawn? Keep thinking a long time for the easy solution, or stop thinking for the long solution? It will be interesting to see.

Anyway, back to work.

Adam

…and on and on and on and on

I’m glad it’s Thursday. Because that means it’s close to Friday, which means it’s close to the weekend and I can tolerate the weekends with the best of them. The downside is I still have a good 15 and 3/4 hours of work before I get there, but at least I’m not punching in numbers like I was. I get to move on to the analyzation phase – my personal favorite. Take a bunch of numbers that make no sense and make them something useful. There’s probably something very metaphorical in there, but I have neither the time nor the energy to find it.

There was something that bugged me a little bit last night. I read all about the State of the Goat, and there was a question about Early Adopters and extended benefits. As a EA cum paid account cum EA again, I had interest in what they had to say. But I was embarassed by the response of the people on there. I could not believe the contempt they have for EA’s. I think that’s a little ridiculous. So many people forget the importance of allegances. I’ve been an LJ member since summer 2001, and while it’s gone in and out of vouge for me, at least I never decided to be done with it, and only recently have I considered adding a new LJ because I didn’t want to affect the continuity and the integrity of my LJ as it was. Which is much more than you can say about a whole lot of other people. I think if you have such a problem with it, start charging based on intellegence in LJ. Make it based on syllables per sentence, and overall grammar and ability to comprehend. The lower score, the more money that person would have to pay to keep their LiveJournal functioning. I’ve always been impressed that for a bunch of people who spend all day writing about themselves, the LiveJournal community was one of people who really cared, and was more concerned about what people wrote over perks for pay.

Oh well, as far as my money goes, I’m completely content with the way things are – I might not get the ratings or the awards for having the most creative pictures or the greatest backgrounds, but at least it’s my LJ and I’m pretty content.

Anyway, more work more work more work!

Take note of this most important thing…

My outercourse activity is snuggling!

Which Sexual Outercourse Act Are You? (with pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla

Something new…

I’ve come to realize that our society has now reached the pinnacle of laziness. In the bathroom here at AmStan and at Rachel’s (the hangout restaraunt/bar near school for those of you that don’t go to Grove City) are the GeorgiaPacific EnMotion automatic paper towel dispenser. As if we needed one more thing automated. Now instead of turning a crank or pressing down on a lever, all we need to do is place our hand right in front of a sensor and the motor gives us instant drying enjoyment. Something tells me this is a bad thing… well, except maybe in Rachel’s, where if someone is drunk, at least they don’t struggle to clean their hands after urinating on themselves, and I don’t have to have the thoughts of drunk piss on my hands. Oh well.

Hmmmmm….

I love American Standard. They’ve provided me a job ever since I’ve graduated from High School, and I’ve gained so much experience from a great handle of Microsoft Office and how to be an office temp, to learning how to 5S an industrial plant, to even interning as a process engineer – an opportunity that may even land me a new job this summer.

The reason why I bring this all up is because this time I’m back people have been so warm and friendly to me. Now, it’s not as though they weren’t before, but people are just more apt to say hello and ask me how my day is, and I really like that.

It’s a blessing to work here, and I hope that I can help out as much as possible. Speaking of… back to work.

IMDB Top 100 and the movies I watched

I thought this was cool, but when I posted it the last time it became real hokey and just didn’t work right, so here it is, LJ cut and conveniently less large than before.

I have to work all day today (which is where I am), and then I can enjoy a nice evening of relaxing.

I’ve put an asterisk by the ones I’ve seen and an ampersand by the ones I, or someone in my family owns.

*&1. Godfather, The (1972)
*2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
3. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
*4. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
*&5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
*6. Casablanca (1942)
*7. Schindler’s List (1993)
8. Shichinin no samurai (1954) (“The Seven Samurai”.)
*9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
*10. Citizen Kane (1941)
*11. Star Wars (1977)
12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
13. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
*14. Rear Window (1954)
*15. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
*16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
*&17. Memento (2000)
18. Usual Suspects, The (1995)
*19. Pulp Fiction (1994)
20. North by Northwest (1959)
21. Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
*22. Psycho (1960)
*23. 12 Angry Men (1957)
*24. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
*&25. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
26. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
*27. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
28. Goodfellas (1990)
29. American Beauty (1999)
*&30. Vertigo (1958)
31. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
*32. Pianist, The (2002)
*&33. Matrix, The (1999)
34. Apocalypse Now (1979)
35. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
36. Some Like It Hot (1959)
37. Taxi Driver (1976)
38. Third Man, The (1949)
39. Paths of Glory (1957)
40. C’era una volta il West (1968)
*&41. Fight Club (1999)
42. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (“Spirited Away”. The Disney movie)
43. Boot, Das (1981)
44. Double Indemnity (1944)
45. L.A. Confidential (1997)
46. Chinatown (1974)
*47. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
48. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
49. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
50. M (1931)
*51. All About Eve (1950)
52. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
*&53. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
*54. Se7en (1995)
*55. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
56. Raging Bull (1980)
57. Cidade de Deus (2002)
*58. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
59. Rashômon (1950)
60. Sting, The (1973)
*61. Alien (1979)
62. American History X (1998)
*63. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
64. Léon (1994)
65. Vita è bella, La (1997)
66. Touch of Evil (1958)
67. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
68. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
69. Wo hu cang long (2000)
70. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
71. Great Escape, The (1963)
72. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
73. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
74. Annie Hall (1977)
*75. Amadeus (1984)
*76. Jaws (1975)
77. On the Waterfront (1954)
78. Ran (1985)
79. Modern Times (1936)
80. High Noon (1952)
*81. Braveheart (1995)
82. Apartment, The (1960)
*83. Sixth Sense, The (1999)
*84. Fargo (1996)
*85. Aliens (1986)
*86. Shining, The (1980)
87. Blade Runner (1982)
88. Strangers on a Train (1951)
89. Duck Soup (1933)
90. Metropolis (1927)
*&91. Finding Nemo (2003)
*&92. Donnie Darko (2001)
*93. Toy Story 2 (1999)
*94. Princess Bride, The (1987)
95. General, The (1927)
96. City Lights (1931)
97. Lola rennt (1998) (“Run, Lola, Run”)
98. Notorious (1946)
99. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
100. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)

Entry time

Hey there –

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I apologize for the not writing in the LJ… I miss it just long enough to wax nosatalgic and then get back in to the swing. Anyway… updates:

Grades came today. I recieved a 3.296 (a far cry from the glory days of South Range and 4.0). It’s the best I’ve done at GCC, and I’m determined to do better next semester. If there’s something I’ve learned is that there’s almost anything is possible if you intend it to be possible.

I’m really happy with Lindsay. For those of you who have been active readers of LJ know it’s been a back and forth thing, but this semester has really been special, and I want it to continue, because I feel like this could be the start of something amazing. My friends think it’s good, and my parents – stalwarts against the relationship – are even giving it a chance for my sake. That’s a lot of go’s, and it makes me happy.

Speaking of happy, the whole RA thing has been more of a blessing than I’d ever thought it would be. 36 different guys just coming together and doing their thing the first year of college. They might not all be in a clique together, but at least I know all of them and enjoy their company. I’m looking forward to next semester, because now people are acclimated, and it’s where the real fun comes.

anyway, I need to add an installment of what I’ve kinda learned in a Christian School:

deux: Don’t feel like because you’re there you have to join every Christian organization. I think so many people burn themselves out in this illusion that if they don’t join each of the Christian organizations, they won’t be good at all in the Kingdom of God. Just like the eye can’t be the hand can’t be the foot, I might be able to be on the chapel staff, but maybe not in Campus Crusade; maybe instead of Clowns for Christ, I do a prison ministry. It’s all about where God brings you and you taking the steps there.

Anyway, up at 5:45 for work bids me to say adieu. Have a great evening all, and hope to talk to you all soon.