Good News

I don't mean something good happened; I mean that I found a good news article.

Here's an article from the Boston Herald that I found during my lunch break while I was browsing Google News.

America getting dumber by the minute with A-Rod details

Basically, the story is about the image Americans are getting from the absurd amount of attention given to celebrities by the media. From the article, in reference to Cynthia Rodriguez's allegations:

"...I don’t know or care what her allegations say about A-Rod. Instead, I’m more concerned with what the attention to Rodriguez’s marital problems says about us."

I agree with this statement completely. Don't get me wrong -- I love this county... But I start to get concerned when people know more about Madonna's love life than they do about missile tests in Iran.

Back to Jerz

Well, I'm back in NJ. I spent the weekend in Rutland, Massachusetts visiting my friend Tracy from college. I drove up with our friend Fang, and stopped at her house in Westchester NY on the way for a pit stop (and home made Chinese dumplings!) and then shot right up 84 the whole way. All in all, about 5 or so hours of driving. Not too bad.

We spent Friday evening relaxing and hanging out with her family and boyfriend Steve (I lived with him for one semester at Lehigh), and had a fantastic BBQ dinner. Then came Steve's beer tasting.

He's been brewing his own beer for a few years, and I haven't gotten a chance to taste it until now. We had an American Pale Ale (APA), double India Pale Ale (2PA), Belgian Triple, some kind of Stout and a few others. I absolutely loved the pale ales, and the Stout was very good, too! And not just because he's my friend -- they actually were extremely good beers! Anyway, once I get everything settled in at home (yeah, still working on that ... ) I will be likely be trying my hand at brewing my own beer.

Saturday was spent at Tracy's family's lake house nearby. Their family is Finnish, and this particular lake shore was settled in the 30's or so by Finnish immigrants and their lake house has been in the family for quite some time. It's a beautiful area, and they have a boat that her brother took us out on for a ride and some fishing (I caught a small-mouth bass that I named Ted -- I let him go but I'll be looking out for him next year when he's bigger!). They also have an authentic wood-fired sauna (pronounced sOW-nah, unless you want to get funny looks from the Finns!) which was absolutely incredible. Tracy and her sister took it easy on Fang and I since it was our first time sauna-ing with real Finns, only bringing the temperature up to a mild 172 degrees F ....... but you know, it's a dry heat so it's not bad, haha -- whoever came up with that saying has never sauna-ed with Tracy!!

Empty Promises of Updates

Hey all (or anyone still reading this after my two month "hiatus"),

I'm back with another empty promise that I will update more often. I know that doesn't mean anything since I said it last time also, but I'll try at least.

FIRST THINGS FIRST -- Big Things:

I graduated college. That's a pretty big deal I guess; my grades weren't nearly as bad as I thought they'd be. Actually, they were nothing like I thought they'd be: my good grades were bad, and the awful ones were great! Oh well... that's all done now.

I started work. I'm three weeks in as a Geologist for Hatch Mott MacDonald. I like it there -- a good combination of field work and office work/reports. Basically, it's EXACTLY what I went to school for, to the letter.

BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL -- Motorcycle.

Well, I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is, I finally have a bike of my own! The bad news is (at least, bad news to those of you that were suggesting I get a Harley) that Dad and I got Hondas. Either way, I couldn't be happier with the bike!

After much deliberation and shopping around and test rides and whatnot, we settled on Honda cruisers. I have a brand new 2007 Pearl White Honda VTX 1300 c. The pictures aren't great; they're from my camera -- but it's the best I've got at the moment:


Well, I have a LOT more to write about -- but don't have the time. I'm off to New England for the weekend to camp and canoe with some friends... though it looks like it's going to storm -- we'll see what happens. I WILL be posting again soon!

Harley or Bust...?

Ocean City, Maryland -- wettest senior week ever. Thursday through Tuesday was incredibly stormy, practically hurricane conditions. There were garbage cans blowing down the street at 30+ mph!! BUT Wednesday was the most beautiful day of the week, about 70 degrees and sunny. I rented a Harley Davidson 1200N Nightster for 8 hours, and -- as you can imagine -- it was one of the most spectacular experiences of my life.

Not only was the riding great, but the whole experience was fantastic. The guy who ran the rentals was very nice, and when I got there to pick up the bike it was waiting outside for me, and he had all the paperwork together. Fitted me with a helmet, gave me a walkthrough of the bike's features, and set me on my way. Turns out that the bike was BRAND NEW .. 13 miles on it.

Picked the bike up, rode around for about an hour to get comfortable on it and then of course went to show off to my friends ^_^ Then I went down south to the barrier island just below Ocean City, Assateague State Park, where I cruised open highway and saw the famous wild ponies of the park. Then I just set out for about an hour and a half with no destination, and then fired up my portable Garmin GPS and made my way back to the dealership to return it.

There was a classic car show going on in the parking lot when I got back, and the rental guy actually set up cones to block off a parking spot for me right in the front of everyone -- it was a pretty cool feeling! All in all, I put 152 MILES on the bike and I couldn't be happier! Here's some pictures:

I think I look pretty cool!! =-D

Ocean City, Maryland

We're in Ocean City, MD for senior week. The weather so far hasn't been anything spectacular, but the sun should be coming out soon.

BUT...

Wednesday should be a nice day, so I went to the local Harley Davidson dealer and made a reservation to take a 1200 Nightster out for 8 hours. I am SO psyched! I'll let you know how it goes.

Back to school on Thursday; graduation on the 19th! Now, if I could just check my Structural Geology grades to make sure I passed.....

I Passed!

According to the state of New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission, I am qualified to operate a motorcycle. I passed the Basic Rider Course with [moderately] flying colors!

We took the course on Suzuki 125cc bikes which were small, but so much fun to learn on -- I was a bit nervous when we started, but now I feel pretty confident that I can handle a small to medium size bike, and at least get a large one moving.

As far as the Harley goes ... I unfortunately think that I need to start small -- maybe just for this season. I originally was considering a 600-750cc Honda, and I think that's what I'm going to go with. I'm sure I'll be riding a LOT this summer, so by next season I'll be able to handle something in the 1200 neighborhood.

Thanks to everyone who gave me the input on bikes and all .. but the Harley is going to have to wait a bit. However, I really do think I will get one in the near future.

Anyway, I just spent the afternoon at Mountaintop Campus with my neighbor Matt riding around on his 1981 Honda 400 Hawk. A fun sport-cruiser that he just got into [semi]running condition; a big improvement over the frame/engine/box of carburetor parts that it started as when he got it off craigslist! I was able to handle that bike perfectly fine .. actually I feel like I would have liked it to be a bit bigger and more powerful. I know that probably sounds cocky since I've been riding for exactly four days, but that's just what my impression was.

And!! I experienced my first [and hopefully last!!] back tire blow out in a corner! Apparently, 20 year old severely cupped tires don't work well in 10mph corners in an empty parking lot. I got to practice my quick stop in a turn technique that I learned in the class! Needless to say, the bike is parked up there until further notice. Luckily, we don't have to worry about tickets since the bike has Massachusetts plates that expired in 1996...

I spent the morning at the Firing Line breaking in my brand new Bersa Thunder 380. I couldn't wait for the Taurus PT-99 (that I'm picking up on Monday) so I went to Jim Flynn's to browse what he had in stock and ended up with the Bersa... I'm very happy with it. It's a compact sized handgun but actually has a fixed barrel, so it's surprisingly accurate. I've put 250 rounds through it so far, and I'm getting pretty good with it. I'm definitely looking forward to Monday when I pick up the PT-99 ... it's incredible how much cheaper 9mm ammunition is than 380 auto.. especially since it's basically the same thing except that 380 auto is 2mm shorter than 9mm.. (9x19 versus 9x17).

Well, I guess I've put off studying long enough -- tomorrow's exam in Environmental Groundwater Hydrology is the only thing standing between me and the end of college! Wish me luck!

Patience is a Virtue...

... and I don't have it.

I ordered a Taurus PT99 from a firearms shop in Jersey, and the guy told me it would probably be in as of Tuesday, unless they didn't have any at the warehouse. I was very psyched about going to pick it up, but he said they didn't get it in and it could be at least a week still before he can get a hold of it.

I hate waiting for stuff. I have no patience. He told me there was a chance it wouldn't get there very quickly, but I chose to convince myself it HAD to be there by Tuesday because I was so excited. And now I have to wait more, which is killing me!

On the plus side though, I used the time I would have spent going to pick it up in Jersey at the range nearby in Coplay and temporarily satisfied my desire to go target shooting. I started out renting a PT92 (the same as the 99, but without the adjustable sights) and put a box of 50 down the range before switching down to the double deuce rimfire.

I haven't shot 22 in so long, I forgot how much fun it is [and cheap! $2.75 for 50 rounds!]. Played around with a Browning Buck Mark, Ruger Mk II Target, some Smith & Wessons, and some really awesome SAO cowboy style revolver with a super long barrel. Great grouping at 10 yards... but then again, it's hard to shoot poorly when you've got a 10 inch barrel on a gun with basically no recoil.

Well, I'm off to shower and head up to Delta Upsilon for Marc and Bridget's pinning party. I have to dig around my closet and see if I can locate some "cocktail attire"........

Motorcycles and Strip Mines

Well, I'm home for the weekend. Mom made a very good dinner and I ate too much, just as I expected I would. Now it's Sunday and I am in no rush to get back to school -- even though there is only one week of classes left, and then I'm moving back here anyway.

Dad and Emily and I went motorcycle shopping yesterday afternoon at the Harley Davidson dealer. I have found the bikes of my dreams, and the price tags of my nightmares! Either: Sportster 1200N Nightster, or Dyna Super Glide (or maybe Fat Bob..). I love the look of the Nightster, but I'm just afraid that its smaller size won't be as satisfying over time as the bigger Dyna would. Either way, I'm taking the course at the end of the month and then I will have a license, and buying one of these will be even more realistic!!

The downside though -- I have completely ruined any consideration I was giving to buying Suzuki or Yamaha cruisers.. They're incredibly attractive bikes (with an even more attractive MSRP....), but there is just no denying that they aren't Harley Davidsons.

They're just missing that extra little bit that I only found by sitting atop an HD V-Twin.

__________

In other news, we had a field trip last weekend for Structural Geology class to the Bear Valley Strip mine of Shamokin, PA. We also went to Centralia, PA -- the [semi]abandoned town that has a 40 year old underground coal seam fire.

(click for full size)

We've got Centralia here above, yours truly in the Miami shirt. You can see some of the steam rising out of the ground from rain the night before.

Then we went out to Bear Valley Strip Mine in Shamokin, PA. About 5 miles west of Centralia. Very awesome folded rocks here, some of the best exposures in the United States actually. The place also has a lot of Carboniferous plant fossils, which are always a lot of fun to hunt around for. What you can't get out of this picture is the scale of the place -- it's about a quarter mile long, and maybe almost a tenth of a mile wide -- the big anticline hills are VERY steep!!

(click for full size)

If you feel like checking it out, you can find links to the Google Earth and Google Maps points here.



Well, that's about all for me today. I'll try to keep more on top of this -- I'm sure everyone [read: all 3 or so people that read this] is very interested in what I like to write about.

T-minus 42 days...

It's already April.. which means I have less than one month of college classes left. That feeling is taking some getting used to.

I've got a lot to look forward to, though!
Last Friday, I took step 2 towards getting a motorcycle -- took the written permit test and passed. I can't wait (but, sort of can!) until the end of April when Dad and I take the safety course to get licenses.

So, that's one new hobby on the horizon. As for another, my handgun purchase permit came through the police department this week. I had gone to the shooting range in Coplay a few times and really enjoyed it, so I'm going to join a shooting range near home that does competition shooting tournaments and such -- I think that could end up being a really fun hobby to get into! It's not something that many people do, and the people that I do know who are involved with it really love it.

As for the rest of college: There are a bunch of fun events coming up, like Senior Week in Ocean City, MD. Dylan, Sam, Joe, Adam and I are sharing a place down there for the week -- it should be a fun time! Then graduation at the end of May... These last four years have gone by so quickly -- just like everyone said they would.. except I didn't believe them until now...

This past Friday night was the Senior Formal at the Allentown BrewWorks. It was quite a fun night, hung out with some friends I haven't talked to in a while. One of whom, Marjan, has a new blog! Check it out: transphatt.

Also -- hit up the RSS feed at the very bottom of this page!!

Motorcycle!

Well, it's official! Dad and I are registered for New Jersey's Motorcycle Safety Course for the end of April. It looks like this motorcycle thing is actually going to happen -- If I pass, that is..

The motorcycle I want to get? Harley Davidson Sportster 883. More power than the Honda Shadow 600cc that I was looking at earlier, and also -- it's a Harley! Dad said that he's getting a Harley, and that I have to get one too because he wouldn't be caught dead riding his Harley Davidson alongside someone on a Honda.

Spring break is almost over, but I'm getting the stuff accomplished that I wanted. My room is just about cleaned out of all the high school crap that it was filled with, and I guess it's more or less ready for my school furniture and all that.

My First "Motivator"

This is the first "motivator" type picture I made.
Click on it to see the full size!

Left 'til the last minute

Well, it's almost 9PM and I'm just sitting down to start my work. Of course, I'll probably be here all night because I left everything until the last minute.
I've got a research paper to read for Structure, and I have to pick out the "data" presented and the subsequent interpretations drawn from said data. Not fun -- First of all, I'm not that great at understanding this particular kind of geology and secondly I can't concentrate reading a technical paper... at least it's only four pages!

In other [better] news, I've got a few new 'favorite' songs. I've been getting into the habit of putting songs onto my iPod that I haven't listened to from artists that I really like, to see if I'm missing out on great songs.

The best one I've hit so far? "Lost in the Flood" by Bruce Springsteen off of Greetings from Asbury Park. FANTASTIC song! I can't stop listening to it, but I have to or else I will get bored of it too quickly. I'm planning on doing a lot of backwall Springsteen on the radio show this Sunday, so tune in if that's something you'd be interested in!


Also, Nayla is coming to visit tomorrow -- I haven't seen her in a long long time, I'm very excited! I got very used to her being around to hang out with all summer, but since she left we haven't spoken much. This will make tomorrow a good Valentine's Day!


Well, it would probably be a good idea to get back to discecting this paper so that I can get to sleep at a decent hour -- class at 7:55 really hurts!

Back to the Grind

I'm still at home, but I'll be heading back to school soon. Today looks like it's going to be very busy..

10:00-12:00: Laundry
12:00-14:00: Drive back to Bethlehem
14:00-16:00: Plan Radio Show
16:00-18:00: Jake and JD's Old Timey Radio Program on 91.3 WLVR!! (Stream live from the link at the top right!)
18:00-20:00: Meeting with Blaze and Danielle to work on our presentation
20:00-21:00: Watching National Geographic channel (for homework for two classes..)


Luckily though, I already did my lab homework with Sue Nee last week, so after the show I can just relax.

I will be setting up my rock tumbler, to start polishing up these big garnets from the Vermont trip last semester. They should make some nice jewelry! I'll take pictures when I get a camera..


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Now playing: Venice Sunlight - Dances
via FoxyTunes

Starting Again..

Well.. it looks like I'm going to be giving this blog thing another shot. This time I hope to stick with it! I won't bore you with an attempt in trying to give and update since last time I tried blogging, so I'll just start fresh. Here goes nothing!

I'm watching Alton Brown's Good Eats on the Food Network, it's the special on peas. I don't particularly like them, but his show really is fantastic no matter what food he's focusing on.
I came home for the weekend, and just got back from dinner with Dad and Emily. We went down to Long Branch, which was kind of far but it was a decent Italian restaurant ..

On Sunday, between 4pm and 6pm JD and I will be broadcasting our first radio show on 91.3FM WLVR Bethlehem. If you're in the area, you should definitely tune in! If you're not, you can listen to the live stream by clicking on the link at the top right of the WLVR website.

Well, I will be signing off for now.. at least until I either think of something else interesting to write about, or stumble upon some website that I think is worth sharing.