Time for an update....

Procrastination is one of the most dreaded afflictions college students face, among others such as swine flu and STDs, and one of the symptoms of procrastination is Facebookstatusupdateitis. This is one of the most painful symptoms, as it leads to the readers of the statuses having an unfiltered knowledge of whatever, and I mean whatever, their friends are doing at any one time.

Updates are posted about the most intimate details of writers’ lives, inviting all those who can read into their world. Some of the more recent examples: “F$%@ THE CHP! (pulled over by the CHP), “work till 1 p.m. (I’d guess they’re working), “Megan McPherson had murder burger last night…and now wants to die…” (I don’t want to know that), “Megan McPherson just took an AWESOME procrasti-shower,” “Heidi Thompson drank so much on tuesday that even her backyard was hungover,” and “Joe Schmoe drained a redbull, studying for midterm tomorrow-1:17 a.m..” Some posts are obviously looking for reader responses, whether it be looking for comfort (“Virginia Ha had a horrible day L”) or assistance (“Tommy John totally could use some help like right now!”).

The most perplexing thing for me is why do people feel the need to update everyone about every single event and problem in their lives? It brings people who are not involved into the situation and almost puts an obligation upon the reader to respond to the posts as they see it (Do I respond to the update saying my friend had a bad day, or do I ignore it?). The question that begs to be asked is what were people doing before Facebook and Twitter were created? How did they survive without telling everyone about every single thought on their mind? Did they just randomly burst out into updates in the middle of the Coffee House: “I just took a shower, and I feel GREAT!” or “I need a hug….like RIGHT NOW!” I think that most people would refrain from doing that, but then why do it on the Internet? Do not get me wrong, social networking is a good thing, but the level of Twittering and Facebook status updates is at an absurd level, and it should lead all those involved to ask themselves a question: Do I really need everyone to know that I got trashed last night and threw up and ended up feeling crummy this morning? I believe the answer would be a resounding NO.

Workin' on a Friday

After a nice, relaxing week of school and work, why not top it off with a 16-hour workday on Friday? It seemed like a good idea to me at the time. In any case, I decided to sell my soul to work for 16 hours on Friday. I work for Unitrans, the big red bus system in Davis, transporting everybody to class. I just recently got hired as a supervisor so now I am lucky enough to be the guy who makes sure everyone is on time. At 5:05 on Friday morning, I was woken up by my alarm and I dragged myself to work. From 5:20 till 3:45 in the afternoon, I sat in the dispatch center, trying my hardest to make the buses run on time (Sorry if your bus was late by the way :( ) After doing that, it was on to Tipsy Taxi in the evening. Tipsy Taxi is a service where people call in from 10 pm-2 am on weekend evenings to request a pickup in one of our four vans running. Talking with drunk people on the phone is a good time, but then cleaning up their puke from the van isn't so much of a good time. I dispatched vans and answered phones at Tipsy Taxi from 9:15 till 3:00.

Some of the highlights from working for Unitrans in the morning are the drivers that sleep through their alarms, leaving the dispatcher scrambling to find someone to drive. It is not a welcome phone call at 6:25 in the morning: "Ughhh..Hello?"
"Hey Gary, it's Forest from Dispatch. I had you down for a start up this morning ten minutes ago...." "OH S@!%!!! I'm so sorry!!!!!! I just slept through my alarm!" Or even better they don't pick up their phone, and you have to find someone to drive a line that starts in fifteen minutes. After the first hour of scrambling and phone calls, things started to calm down. Things stayed that way until later in the day, when a bus missed a turn and kept going another half-mile. "Hey Dispatch, so....I just missed my turn." It is not a welcome call on the radio, leading to re-routes and a late bus. After that, the highpoint (or low point if you were a passenger waiting) was when a bus that was supposed to pick up passengers decided to go back to the terminal instead of picking any of the passengers waiting to go back to campus, leaving unknown numbers of furious people waiting on the J line (I apologize), and many questions being asked. Tipsy Taxi later was more relaxed. Sample phone call follows:
Me: Tipsy Taxi.
Drunk Guy/Girl: HELLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Is this, like, Tipsy Taxi?!?
Me: It sure is.
Drunk: Can we, like, get a ride for four of us to, (yelling to friends) where are we going? La Salle!
Me: Sure, 4 to La Salle. Where are you?
Drunk: UHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...like, I think...South Davis?
Me: ............


Fun times and getting paid bank!

Diagnostic

As a writer, I’d like to see myself as a logical, coherent writer, with clarity. Writing is a form of expressing oneself, and what better way to get it all out? Writing helps me lay out my thoughts and organize them, but at the same time I am able to get that important message out. While writing I like to the get the message out front; I want the reader to understand how I feel about something. I enjoy writing about things that are important to me and near and dear to my heart, and I enjoy writing about history and socially important events. I want my writing to be clear and concise, with that important message at the front. I enjoy writing, and I’ve had quite the influence growing up, with my father being a high school guidance counselor and a former history major and my mother being a published writer. Writing has always been interesting to me.
As a thinker, I TRY to be deep, emphasis on try. I try to think things out and get my beliefs and thoughts lined up before I speak. I try to be logical and calm, but unfortunately it doesn’t always turn out that way, as I sometimes say something without thinking, and it almost always ends badly. I let my emotions get the best of me in some cases, and that leads to me getting in trouble. When I have messed something up, I almost obsessively go over what happened in my head, and I beat myself up over the mistakes. I try to do the same in life, reminding myself of how to act and what and what not to say, and to keep to the point, without too much bullshit thrown in the way. Life has all its little roadblocks that get thrown up in the middle of the road, and it is important to remind oneself to stay on point and to not let all the bs and unimportant things get in the way, and I try to do the same in my writing and my way of thinking. As we all know, no one is perfect. Except for me. Just kidding ;) that's all for now kids. Till next week...