Archive for December 2007
Going home
I’m going home today! The only problem is I have to drive the whole way by myself and then drive the whole way back by myself. Poor Bryan is sick. I wonder what it is. Also, we are out of “DVDs” so they say and that’s just going to stress me out a little further.Aight, well I’m out gotta get to driving.
p.s. wish me happy birthday for tuesday.
New Year’s Resolution Ideas
This is just an accumulation of some things I would like to try to do or accomplish etc, over the next year or so. I want to get my resume looking good so I can obtain an internship, I also want to get that gpa up some more. I achieved that goal this year and it is one that I’m keeping for 2008.
I am also making some little daily type resolutions. For one I want to do the walking thing with my dog more often. to be continued…
List of … lists!
1. get nice furniture
A. bed frame
B. matching side tables/coffee table
C. new recliner
2. paint-just the one wall
3. School-
A. get a resume
B. before fall-08 get internship for that fall
C. look into some grad schools and talk with Staniunas on it
1. check with fin aid ofc on prices and my availability to receive any
4. Remember to exercise daily
a. walk charlie 3X30mins a day
b. jump rope 5 mins/day
c. 20 push ups and 100 crunches/day
5. get all my bills paid off other than monthly recurring ones
6. Finish Profile Article
7. Ill be adding more like I do everyday.
Trans-Homo-Gender-Sexual??
How in the world did Earth survive without all of these homosexual/bisexual/trans-somethings? Seriously, where were they all before say that past 20 years?
You can argue that they were always around but just never said anything or noone ever knew do to the fact that it was highly unpopular, but ALL of them? I don’t buy it.
I also don’t buy into bi-sexualism, but yet I totally believe and understand the theory of a transgender. “I remember looking in the mirror when I was just a toddler and thinking that’s not right”– so many kids have thought that. I feel like someone that I am not also, but that doesn’t mean I’m the wrong sex. But I get where they are coming from.
But a bisexual … pick one … that’s what most people say. I used to say it all the time, now I just write it and think it, as saying it out loud is so politically incorrect.
I need to talk to a psychologist about these things because it’s not like I have anything against someone who is a bisexual, homosexual, transsexual or whatever I just don’t freaking understand it. I just want to be in someone else’s head for a day so I can understand how in the world they work.
Time
It seems I never have enough time to do the things I want to do anymore. For example, right now I would love to be out walking my dog but instead I must be getting ready for work. I know you are thinking, “but Emma you are wasting time writing in your blog!”
And you are right. I want to have lots of time to do these things as well. So the point is, sorry for the short blogs and there goes my dream of becoming a housewife in Montana.–oh yea the reason I don’t have a lot of time is because I am spending it cleaning and doing laundry.
the hardest job kids face today is to learn good manners without seeing any
I backed out of a parking spot in the parking lot of Target today and when I did it took 5 minutes and almost hitting 3 different cars and a pedestrian. I’m not a bad driver there was just some woman standing outside of her car with her car perpendicular to all the parking spots just taking up space while she was talking.
I rolled down the window and said,”Hey thanks for making that so easy for me.” and as quick as I could put my finger on the window button again she had already yelled “Oh no problem, glad I could make your day.”
wasn’t mad because that was a pretty witty response, but exactly like the title of today’s post says, “How do you expect me to have manners(I’m 21) when she can’t(at least 40). Isn’t she supposed to be a role model for me?
I guess since I’m an adult I’ll just start being the bigger one from now on. I knew shopping the day after Christmas would be stupid.
I’m Starving, Literally
I don’t have an eating disorder and it was almost completely not my fault. Every single time I ordered food it was prepared wrong, the wrong temperature or simply too gross to eat. I understand that the fast food chains in this world are meant to be quick and inexpensive but does that give them the right to make inadequate food that a dog won’t eat? I think not.
First of all, McDonalds is my absolute favorite of all fast food places to eat, I love it and the supersize movie just made me want a Big Mac while I was watching it. The fries are cooked with beef flavoring and salted enough to give me (someone who is young and healthy) chest pains. Many of my friends joke that there is something addictive like crack in the food because we all know it’s bad for us and we still want it. Sounds like a cigarette to me, but I love those too.
Anyway, do not stop at the McDonalds in Fairfield, Va. I did and not only did I have to stand for a few minutes before the cashier came to the register to take my order but when he was finished he just left and started mopping floors. Once my sandwiches were ready they sat there on the warming rack for about a minute and a half and then the boy returned from his floors to bag my two double cheeseburgers.
He then sets them down and walks around talking to the sandwich maker-guy about the fries. He then starts the fryer and tells me it will be four minutes until my fries are ready. It has been at least four minutes since he took my order, why didn’t he start the fries then, instead of mopping floors? Don’t customers come first anymore? I should remind you that during this four minutes plus the two he wasted talking to the sandwich maker-guy my sandwiches are sitting in an open, unfolded bad, getting cold.
Finally, beep, beep, my fries are ready and then I hear the cashier yell to the drive-thru girl to get me a large fry. She s-l-o-w-l-y got them for me and then handed them to without saying anything. What no F-ing thank you for waiting here in the middle of the night 10 minutes for something that should’ve taken two? To top it all off I get back on I-81 and go to eat my food and as I mentioned my sandwiches were freezing.
Then I try the fries and they have 0 salt on them. So I put them in the backseat for the dog. No lie here, he didn’t even touch one of them and he eats everything. If a dog can’t eat it how do you expect me to?
By the time this article runs, the The Better Business Bureau will know of my next story. Exit 205 on I-81, better known to most of us as the Whites truck stop exit, we all know it. Well at that same exit is a Wilco truck stop and a Wendy’s combined. I went there for one sandwich, a single with cheese.
It starts the same as McDonalds with a long wait for someone to pay attention to me. That entire wait I spent staring at a large, sweaty man with long straggly hair( and no hair net), eating a sandwich on the make-line with gloves on. That’s weird and gross.
After I was rung up I watched that same man start to prepare my sandwich, I knew it was mine because I was the only one there and the drive-thru girl was just standing around. He laid the bun out and placed a piece of meat (?) on one side and then he reached over and took a bite of his sandwich.
The next move I made was to get my money back and not get anything from that place. The manager seemed concerned but not really.
It was raining so my fiancé was putting a tarp over the back of the truck. While he was doing this I was watching the Wendy’s from outside, and the manager did say something to the man, but he never changed gloves or washed his hands even after the manager said something to him. He should’ve been removed from his job permanently in my opinion and that of many employers. I guess Wendy’s is not one of those.
If you want me to flip out about something a little more close to home you put me in the same room or even the same building as the manager’s and owners of the Sonic here in Radford. I have NEVER once gotten what I ordered there. NEVER. I am not exaggerating and I am nice enough to give them a tip because I know how nice that is to get a tip randomly.
I met one of the owner’s once, and he gave me a free pass for two meals. He wrote on the paper, “Do not fuck up her order,” and then he signed it. Well ya know what? They f—– up my order!
So ya know what Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Sonic and all you other people that can’t do your jobs and give me what I pay for? I’m telling you now I’m going to find a way to make you do your jobs and give me what I want because I am tired of being screwed over all the freaking time. Your job is not that hard! I’ve done it.
I know a lot of you have worked in the food business, was it really that hard? Or do you have a similar story that you want to tell?
I can do anything someone else puts my mind to.
Why would anyone give away cigarettes especially after being intoxicated? Donohoe did because she found a cure for the addiction to cigarettes and nicotine. For less than $100 and about two hours of relaxation, she quit smoking cigarettes.
Hypnotism is a recognized and accepted form of medicine that is growing strong all over the country. Hypnotism or hypnotherapy has numerous myths and misconceptions that may include a dangling watch or ridiculous stunts, such as clucking like a chicken when a doorbell rings.
In reality, hypnotism and hypnotherapy is very controlled. Moreover, the experience is controlled only ten percent by the hypnotist leaving most of the experience up to the patient.
“It’s important to tell him everything, he’ll ask you questions, like when do you most need a cigarette?” said Donohoe.
Being honest with the hypnotist can help a patient solve a variety of problems, or life stresses including but definitely not limited to smoking cessation, weight management, and anxiety.
According to Michael McGee, LPC, MHt, and member of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, hypnosis connects us to our inner selves in a space between sleeping and being fully awake. While in this state the hypnotist can aid in relaxation while increasing awareness.
Once the patient is in this relaxed state he will then start to receive positive thoughts that were predetermined between the patient and hypnotist to reach the goal of the patient. In the case of Jamie Donohoe it was the goal of complete smoking cessation.
Donohoe was reminded of her own reasons for wanting to quit smoking, told she had the power to do it herself, she was then told to envision her life without cigarettes and then told to relax whenever she thought about, saw or heard anything about a blue rose. This relaxation will allow her to manage her own stress of smoking cessation.
McGee chose the image of a blue rose because it is an object that will most likely not be seen or talked about. This rose is a symbol for the brain to switch from “give me a cigarette now” to “I’m relaxed”.
“It’s like changing the channels on a TV,” said McGee.
After thirty minutes to an hour of relaxed awareness and positive thought reinforcement provided by the hypnotist, the patient is woken out of that in between state.
“After that I felt like I had just slept eight hours,” said Bryan Hawkes. Hawkes saw the same hypnotist as Donohoe and is hoping to achieve the same great results as her.
Donohoe and Hawkes both saw McGee for one session and had dramatic results. Donohoe had only been smoking for a couple of years on and off and felt she needed the final push to quit for good. It is now four months after her one-time, ninety minute session ,and she has yet to touch a cigarette.
Hawkes has been a smoker for almost a full decade and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes every day and, while he has only been a non-smoker for three days since his session, those three days are a lot more relaxed than any other time he has tried to quit.
“I tried the patch, I’ve tried cold turkey and I’ve tried just cutting back, oh yeah I tried the gum and none of that crap worked at all and with the patch I still had nicotine in me everyday so it was pretty pointless and they didn’t work anyway,” said Hawkes.
Quitting smoking for good has many positive results such as ease of breathing, less coughing, less bronchitis, feeling healthier overall, easier to get a good sleep and wake up habit.
Quitting smoking even for someone such as Hawkes who has smoked for nearly a decade can have immediate and long lasting results.
Within a month Hawkes will be reducing the amount of phlegm in his body due to increased coughing but by the end of one year without smoking Hawkes will be similar to a non-smoker in his lungs and heart, lowering his risk for lung/heart disease or cancer.
According to International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association most smokers try an average of four times to quit before it is successful. Perhaps that is because they are not actually doing it themselves. The patch, the gum and other forms of stop-smoking aids leave the patient out of the process, which is a recipe for disaster. Cold turkey quitting is unrealistic because the patient must actually believe that they can do it.
Through hypnotism, the quitter/patient is almost in complete control of the entire experience and therefore is quitting completely on his/her own. The only real job the hypnotist has is to get the patient and their subconscious on the same page.
Once there the hypnotist fills it with his or her own words and information to achieve the desired result and reach the goal. The patient is in control.
Dog Days
You’ve all seen them and the majority of you are one. The Radford dog owner. Dogs on campus and the surrounding area can prove to be a hassle for more than the obvious list of caretaking duties.
There is absolutely no problem with your dog not being on a leash in a public place other than the fact that it is illegal. Obviously a few illegalities won’t stop the Radford student; the real problem comes in when your dog doesn’t listen to you right away or at all for that matter. Let’s skip all the problems with the dog running away, etc. Let’s talk about when your dog who is completely friendly, listens 95 percent of the time, comes trotting over to my dog, who is on a leash and completely unfriendly. My dog is going to eat your dog and I am not going to feel bad. Learn to use a leash. If you can’t learn to use a leash then teach your dog some discipline before you let it out in public.
How about that dog that’s not on a leash and there is no owner in sight. Is it friendly? What do I do with it? I can tell you from personal experience most stray animals in Radford are just hungry. There are those ones you need to watch out for though. For example, a few weeks ago at 3 a.m., a beautiful tan colored Pitbull came trotting down my road. So I called him over and then called the cops to come pick him up. In between the time it took for the police officer to arrive at my house from when I called him, “Rex”, as I affectionately named him, and I had become close buddies, licking my face and all.
Officer Jenkins of the Radford police department arrived and stepped out of his cruiser only to be forced right back into the seat. Rex tried to eat him! It’s a good thing I was holding the leash. Round Two: Jenkins steps back out of the car and towards Rex and I, then Rex tried to eat him again and almost lost his life. Officer Jenkins was ready to protect himself against that dog by using his gun and ending the dog’s life. At this point in time I tell Jenkins I’ll just keep the dog until the morning when the pound opens up.
It turns out Rex’s name is actually something else, but I don’t want you all to be afraid of him if you meet him, because he was trained to dislike uniforms. So again if you are going to get a dog, take care of it. That includes teaching good habits and not poor ones.
How about that neighbor who never takes her dog to pee? Well I shouldn’t say never, poor little “Indian”, (name changed too) gets to go out once a day. Don’t own a dog if you aren’t going to take care of it! It needs more than food, water and shelter. There is this little thing called exercise that keeps puppies happy, and dogs for that matter. You should try it; it’s great for the owner too.
My dog and I are best friends and he goes on a 30 minute daily run as well as numerous walks throughout each day. He is never off of his leash, and he will eat you. Take care of your dog’s folks, have some responsibility.
Due to this overwhelming dog population, the Radford year long residents are getting fed up, as there is no law to inhibit students or anyone else from owning a dog, property management companies that tend to lease to the student population have put their own restrictions on dogs. Starting next year, Bondurant won’t be the only stickler for pets. BCR will only be allowing animals in a few of their residents and most of those you must be living there now with your pet so you can be included under the grandfather clause.
Good luck keeping all those dogs around next year, but at least then I won’t have to worry about your dog dying because you’re too ignorant to put it on a leash. The only thing on my mind will be whether or not you gave it to a proper home instead of leaving it on the streets like students do every other break during each semester.
So take good care of your dog, use a leash, give it a little exercise, and if you don’t have one already, come borrow mine for 3 days before you head down to the pound to get your own. It’s a lot more effort to own a dog than you realize.
originally published in Issue 22 Season 4 of Whim
Gift Cards/And That Damn Day
Gift cards are one of the greatest inventions but I have decided the biggest winner is still the company.
This Christmas I received 3 gift cards for different places. Between the three of them I spent all but around 10 dollars. The problem is, there’s $2.20 on one card, $6.06 on another, etc. I’m never going to remember to swipety-swipe for two dollars and 20 cents! That’s like nothing.
But all bitching aside, This was the best Christmas I’ve had in a while. Everyone seemed Happy and we all knew that even though “times were rough”(when weren’t they though), we were still extremely lucky have everything that we do.
The little old lady next door gets a little crazy every night and yells and sings, it’s sad but cute. Well she made me tear up the other day, it was Christmas Eve at like 10 p.m. and I hear her start to sing Jingle Bells and she sang it all the way through the first chorus. Poor lady, I’m glad she has family or I would’ve really lost it.
Even worse than that, Bryan and I are sitting outside watching our little camp fire and a man in a big white dually type pick up pulls up and asks where 400 Fairfax Street is and we tell him. A few minutes later the same guy pulls up and asks if we know someone named Cory something or other. It sounded familiar to me but I told him know, and then he described the guy to me and I did know him. The man then asked me if I had seen him recently or if I knew how to get a hold of him.
–It’s Christmas Eve and there was a man in his 40s and a young girl(probably his daughter) looking for a young man in his 20s. Dude can’t find his kid!!! that’s so freaking sad. At that moment I realized my Christmas couldn’t get any better. I knew that all my loved ones were in a safe place. Even those that can’t be here this year.
(Gma Eva…Chris!!I love you guys.)
I’m lucky, most of us are. I can’t stop thinking of that damn photo of a girl in Sudan crawling to a feeding station and the vulture waiting just feet behind her for her to die.–the photographer of that picture committed suicide later.
Anyways with these damn gift cards I got all kinds of things but my favs- a new book called The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. a new covered kitty litter box and catnip!! we got new curtains, some new shirts, a new season of south park DVDs and a paper shredder. That’s right no more stealing my identity.–That’s a pet peeve story for another day.
