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Ever feel a little swamped?

< 1 minute read

November 11, 2003, 1:44 PM

I feel a little bit swamped today. I do want to get a new quote up to prevent the current quote from running for three full weeks, but when I will get to it is another story entirely.

But it’s good to be busy, because it means things are getting accomplished.

Categories: Schumin Web meta

I saw Monty Python for the first time on Friday, and…

< 1 minute read

November 9, 2003, 12:45 AM

Yeah, I saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Friday night. The whole family is all like, it’s a great movie and such. I saw it for the first time, and they insisted I not see it like I see most movies I watch – while doing something else on the computer.

My review of it, after having seen it for the first time? It did not live up to what the rest of the family promoted it as. According to them, it was like the movie to end all movies, and incredibly funny. I found it to be somewhat “eh”. It had its amusing parts, but I didn’t enjoy it like they did. Not my type of humor, I guess. The first scene involved a long, drawn-out argument on a technicality. I don’t know… it just got old rather quickly for me.

However, I did find out where Battle Chess got the knight-on-knight fight idea, where the winning knight cuts off the losing knight’s limbs. Lifted straight out of the movie.

Categories: Movies

You are looking at an EMPLOYED person!

< 1 minute read

November 8, 2003, 12:10 AM

Finally! I have a job!

So you may ask: What, pray tell, will I be doing? I will be working “front end” at Wal-Mart. Front end is things like people greeter, cashier, service desk, etc. Now, I will have a job while I’m finishing up at JMU and deciding what to do with my life, plus I can finally replace the Previa.

Which Wal-Mart? The new one in Waynesboro that’s currently going up on Lucy Lane, off of Lew Dewitt and US 340. It’s going to be GREEN! However, until the Waynesboro store opens in January, I will be working in another area Wal-Mart. Where, I don’t know. All I know is, I’m excited! I have a full-time job again!

And before you ask, no, those Schumin thongs do not make me enough money to get a car.

Categories: Walmart

Who’s worse? Your run-of-the-mill spammers, or JMU?

< 1 minute read

November 6, 2003, 1:15 PM

It’s a toss-up. JMU likes to spam its students on a regular basis. Sure, it’s not anything like the run-of-the-mill spammers who want to get me a mortgage, a supercharged sex life, stocks and more stocks, and porn out the wazoo, but JMU is really getting on my nerves with their school-wide Emails, which really should only be reserved for emergencies. Look at this one:

Now is the time to grab some great deals for the holiday.
Support JMU’s Adult Degree Program’s online auction. Go to
http://www.bisauction.com now! Get registered and then have
fun bidding on some fabulous items like a 2 night stay in
Williamsburg, some great JMU items including a JMU Gumball
Machine, and a cute puppy dog. The auction will continue
through November 21. For more information, e-mail adult-
degree-program@jmu.edu.

There you go. Unsolicited commercial Email from JMU. Let’s say it together: SPAM! The subject even started with the word “Adult”. It’s now really now a case of the pot calling the kettle black, because JMU’s IT department on one hand has all kinds of weird spam filters that eat all kinds of legitimate Email, and then on the other hand facilitates almost any JMU department or organization’s sending its own spam out…

Categories: Internet, JMU

This “indian summer” is just unpleasant…

< 1 minute read

November 6, 2003, 11:52 AM

My cold weather is taking a breather! Frustrating, it is. I don’t know about you, but for some reason, I love the fall and winter much more than I do the spring and summer. But that’s just me, I guess. Still, we got some rain, which has served to cool things off a little bit, though not by much. What we need is a good cold front. Drop the daytime temperatures to the 50s at best, and into the 30s at night. I definitely enjoy the cold…

Categories: Weather

Fixed!

< 1 minute read

November 3, 2003, 12:22 PM

Well, my car’s exhaust problem is fixed. Basically, my car was running very loudly for the last few months, since, as we found out, the “flex pipe” was shot. I have no idea what that is, but I need one in good condition to pass my inspection.

It was very strange to drive the car after it was fixed, since now there’s no roar when I accelerate. It’s quiet!

Categories: Toyota Previa

And the story comes back from my first college party…

3 minute read

November 1, 2003, 5:04 PM

Well, I went out with a number of former Potomac-ers, like Patrick, Chris, Jackson, Jason, Will, and Adam, as well as several others. You’ll of course recognize the people from College Life. Since it was Halloween, I wore the scariest thing I owned, which is how I describe my “I Bleed Schumin” shirt. Patrick went as a crocodile (in an inflatable costume no less!), Jackson went as a lifeguard, Chris as a pirate, Jason was… something else (hard to describe), plus we had a hula dancer, road signs, a cop, Billy Joel, and much more.

I think all in all I had like five beers, maybe four or five shots of vodka, plus a trip with the “ice luge”, which is basically where you put your face on the end of a groove in a big block of ice, and people pour alcohol down the groove into your mouth.

Needless to say, I was blasted. Totally smashed. However, I was a happy drunk, getting very friendly, even as I was kind of running into one wall after another and leaning on everyone and everything. I would dare say I was hanging on everyone at least once through the course of the evening. Still, I felt so light on my feet! My legs felt like rubber as I tried to maintain my balance. My face also felt like rubber, which was an interesting feeling. But yes, I was very drunk.

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Categories: JMU

I’m going to my first college party tonight!

< 1 minute read

October 31, 2003, 6:19 PM

Yes, it’s halloween, and I’m going to my first ever college party. Oh, I feel like such a freshman, but unlike the freshies, I’m legal to drink.

I feel like such a nerd… I’m 22 years old, and a fifth-year senior, and only now am I going to my first party.

Categories: JMU

Wilson Hall is starting to look like a campground!

< 1 minute read

October 30, 2003, 8:36 PM

The night before Halloween, there’s bunches of people camped out in Wilson Hall waiting to sign up for Alternative Spring Break trips. From what I understand, there are limited spaces on these trips, and so if you want the one you want, you really have to get there early and then camp out to hold your spot.

Alternative Spring Break trips, for those of you who don’t know, are basically community service trips to different areas both in the United States and in other countries. And it has quite a history of high involvement at JMU.

I did something similar quite recently – an alternative fall break trip to Pittsburgh about two weeks ago, where we worked at a soup kitchen, a drop in center, and Sojourner House.

However, the camping is where I draw the line. With the LPCM alternative fall break trip, we took as many as wanted to go. All I had to do was fill out the proper paperwork, which took five minutes. But there is no way in HELL that I’m camping on the floor of Wilson Hall, no matter how noble the cause. There’s just something about a cold, hard concrete floor that doesn’t go over well with me.

All in all, I commend them for their dedication to service, but I’ll pass on the floor, thank you.

Categories: JMU

Guys want to support breast cancer awareness, too, but not all of us are secure enough in our masculinity to wear the shirts…

2 minute read

October 30, 2003, 6:56 PM

Look at this picture, an LPCM file photo that I took way back in fall 2002:

LPCM dinner

The girl on the left is my friend Laura from LPCM. She is wearing the pink “MADISON” shirts that a group on campus is selling in regards to raising money to fight breast cancer. Now I’m all for supporting medical research. Anything that gets people to the next birthday is great by any means. I just think that pink alone is limiting their market just a little bit.

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Categories: JMU, LPCM

Spam seems to officially be crippling Email, but not how you would think…

< 1 minute read

October 30, 2003, 11:21 AM

Yes, spam, as in unsolicited commercial Email, is crippling the Email system. But not how you think. It seems that as a result of people and their overzealous spam filters that nowadays I’m more astonished when Email DOES arrive than it getting eaten.

It used to be so easy to get Emails through to people. Address, message, subject, and voila. Done. If I need to send a file as previously discussed, I attach it and go.

Nowadays, there have been cases of all kinds of messages being eaten. Kathleen, the LPCM campus minister, recently sent me a whole bunch of stuff that never showed up, eaten up by the Email monster. I Emailed Dr. Teske a sound that we had previously discussed. Never showed up, though interestingly enough, it did show up for the friend I CC-ed it to who’s on the same server. I Emailed Dr. Skelley a paper recently, and it never showed up. Very frustrating…

At least I got the spam filters taken off of Schumin Web. You send something to my Email address, and I can assure you, I will get it. This after I nearly lost some domain names because the spam filter was eating my confirmation Emails.

It’s sad when I can say that the spammers are winning in destroying Email, but not directly due to their own activities, but rather some overzealous filtering techniques that will eat more Emails than they let through.

Categories: Internet, Schumin Web meta

Strawberry Pocky!

< 1 minute read

October 27, 2003, 2:40 PM

Strawberry Pocky

Yes, another one of those quizzes. This one about the Pocky crunchy cookie-sticks. I’m strawberry Pocky. Good stuff, that Pocky. You can get it in places that sell Asian products, or just slide on down to the Chinatown nearest you.

Categories: Netculture

I never thought I’d see a kids’ version of Survivor…

< 1 minute read

October 25, 2003, 11:16 AM

I watched Saturday morning cartoons this morning… I’m amazed what they do nowadays. Of course, it’s better than one cheesy cartoon after another like it used to be, but still this is amazing.

We start out with a children’s version of Trading Spaces. Here, two kids and one friend each, plus a designer and a decorator each, trade spaces and redecorate the other’s room. Different designers and different host from the regular show, but still interesting. A major difference I noticed is that they don’t mention their budget at all. All in all, though, I enjoy Trading Spaces in general, and this was no exception.

Then there’s “Endurance 2”. This reminds me of a kiddie version of Survivor, except it appears that the kids get to shower and get, like, real accommodations during the show, compared to regular Survivor, where they totally had to fend for themselves. Still, they have stunts and a form of “Tribal Council” where teams who are marked for elimination play “Paper, Rock, Scissors” with elements wood, water, and fire. Interesting.

Interesting what they show nowadays, indeed…

Categories: Television

I managed to get it right – my number is nonpublished!

< 1 minute read

October 23, 2003, 10:33 PM

Well… kind of. I did manage to get away with having no phone number listed in the JMU phone directory, which I did intentionally. However, I still do have an entry in the phone book and my address is listed, but I doubt many JMU students will actually drive out to Stuarts Draft to go visit me. Besides, it’s more interesting to send me to them, since it’s a way to get out of the house.

A “real” nonpublished listing, by the way, would not appear in the phone book at all, and would show up as “NONPUB” in a directory assistance service.

Still, I am quite pleased with myself, since I’d had problems with prank calls in the past. And with dorm numbers, you have one choice: published. So I’d get drunks calling me on Friday nights trying to get some entertainment. Now, I can work in peace on Friday nights, and not have to worry about getting a phone call, because JMU doesn’t have it.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering what my obsession is with having a nonpublished number, it’s several reasons. First of all, the whole thing with the drunks, plus after working for CFW/nTelos/Telegate for almost five years, I’ve seen the whole non-published listing thing, and how well it works. And lastly, speaking of my former employer, after almost five years of working in a phone job, what makes you think I particularly want to spend more time on the phone?

Categories: JMU

“Student of the Month” eh? Glad I’m ineligible for that…

2 minute read

October 23, 2003, 5:28 PM

As announced in the October 23 edition of The Breeze, the Student Government Association at JMU will now be picking a “Student of the Month” from nominations by students, organizations, faculty/staff, administrators, or themselves (the last one which we call “shameless self promotion”).

The requirements to be the Student of the Month are to have at least a 2.0 GPA, be a full-time student, be in good standing, and that only the past 90 days can be considered.

The winner gets a $50 gift certificate to the JMU Bookstore, lunch or dinner with Linwood Rose (JMU President), and a formal resolution of recognition from the SGA Senate.

I am ineligible for the Student of the Month program due to my being somewhat less than full-time this semester (I’m taking six hours, and you need twelve to be considered full-time). Just as well, though. People are always surprised to hear this, but I absolutely HATE public recognition. I despise it. It means very little to me to be recognized publicly in front of a bunch of people. In fact, I can’t stand public recognition and award ceremonies so much that I would deliberately miss recognition functions (and they would have to track me down later to give me the award), and I absolutely refuse to attend my own college graduation at JMU. Seriously. I simply want to receive my degree in the mail and then quietly fade from the JMU scene. Seriously.

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Categories: JMU