American Public Education

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My experience with the public education system is, well, a painful memory, a time in my life I wish I could relive very differently. And the above seems to sum up how I feel about it all. Go American Public Education, Go! Yay!

Protoculture Addict

For those of you who don't know, thanks to my friend Sypoth, whose real name I will not say here, I have become a Protoculture Addict!  He started showing me various funny parts of the Robotech books he was reading, till I just couldn't take it anymore and had to read the series, now I'm reading them faster than he is, and he is having a hard time making sure to lend me a book to read before I'm done with the current one.  Maybe I should just go to the library and check out three books at a time like I used to, like over a year ago, before I started working two jobs at the same time, one of which causes agony and injury, the other which just sometimes annoys me.  

I really enjoy working at Higginbotham Associates, the people are so nice, and that's where I make the greatest friends, like Sypoth, that crazy genius!  He is an inventor, and much of what he shows me and explains is over my head, but I try to understand at least the basic concepts he is trying to express.  He is a computer genius, a whole pay grade above me I'm afraid.  I'm sure that if he had attended the same computer class I had at High Tech Institute, we would have been fierce competitors for the top spot.  But, I've gotten very rusty from not using my computer knowledge and skills.

Well, back to Protoculture.  In the Robotech series, which I am also watching on DVDs Sypoth lends to me, there is this amazing power source that causes normal technology to kind of take on living properties, which they call Robotech.  That power source, though they have difficulty understanding it, much less creating it, is Protoculture, it's like the Mana of the Gods, the Power that drives all Interstellar exploration and conquest, and yes, even war.  The Robotech series took three seperate anime shows and kind of changed things a bit, made it much better IMHO, and put it out as a great new retelling of the original story.  Protoculture is called that becuase it is basically a seed of the Flower of Life, which has amazing powers locked up inside, and it's just Bursting to grow at amazing speed, but if you somehow manage to force that seed to stay dormant, not grow, for a period of time, it's latent energies burst out of it empowering technology, and organic beings alike, with absolutely shocking capabilities.  In the Original stories, beginning with Macross, Protoculture is actually the Culture that existed before all other Cultures, the First Race of sentient beings in the universe, capable of amazing wonders, but, their civilization fell appart when they gained the ability to reproduce without sex.  The males and the females no longer wanted anything to do with each other, love became a forgotten memory, and the two genders began to war with each other, causing devestating destruction accross the galaxy.  Well, I guess that's enough spoiling.  Go read and watch Robotech and Macross, etc. etc.

Go, Go, what are you still doing here?

The Invalid Time

What I am about to tell you here in this post is something I was told by my boss, not just some guy somewhere, and I must obey.  But it has been driving me insane for weeks now.  It's only a tiny difference of one minute one way, or the other, no big deal, right?  I guess I'm like Detective Monk on the USA Network, I'm obsessed.

Here it is, and forgive me if I have already talked about this, but I just don't remember doing so.  I work as a Security Guard, as you may already know, and our reports must always be written using Military, aka 24-hour, time, ie anything after 12pm is 12 plus whatever it is, so 1pm is 12 plus 1, 1300.  The 24 hour clock makes more logical sense than the 12 hour clock most people use, because it always starts at 0.  There is a reason someone invented the concept of 0, and it revolutionized the world.  Look at any numbering system used by any culture that has no concept at all of the number 0, are they still around, much less advanced in their social development or technology?  I say, NO.  If you disagree, well, find a door and use it.  Ok, back on track here, when you are writing 24 hour time, you always use 4 digits to indicate the time, as above, with no : in between the minutes and hours, and when you Say the time you say it as if all the numbers indicated hours, like thirteen hundred hours, or fourteen thirty hours.  I think that was intended to confuse people who had no idea what was really going on.  In any case, 24 hour time is always used in all official documents the likes of which have legal weight.  They must therefore be extremely accurate, precise, and detailed.

Now the thing that drives me mad, mad I say!  If I write down a time stamp of either 0000 or 2400, the judge will state that this is an invalid, invalid mind you, time and that therefore the entire document is inadmissible in court.  So I have to write down a time of either 2359, or 0001.  Oh, I can't write 2401, since in fact a 24 hour clock does not use 24 as the begining of the new time cycle, it's actually always 0.  Now, you may think I'm wrong, and you would be stupid if you did, but if the time 0001 is valid then so is 0000.  

There is no logical reason whatsoever to invalidate 0000 as the time given for any particular event being reported.  If 0000 is an invalid time, then the entire 24 hour time system in use by every military, or civilian police organization in this entire country is also invalid.  Prove me wrong, why don't you?  And if something happens at exactly midnight, and I report that it happened either 1 minute before, or after, that time, I have, in effect, lied on an official report, which when it comes to doing something in court is either tampering with evidence, abstruction of justice, or some other illegal thing, I dunno.  The point is it's wrong to do it, even if it is only one tiny minute one way or the other.  And I will not participate in any such thing, I guess I'm too honest for my own good, but I believe in honesty and integrity above all else.

I will probably be found to be in contempt of court, but, I think I've got a bad enough temper, and that I'm insane enough, to actually call any judge who invalidates 0000, an abject moron not fit to serve in our justice system.  I would elaborate in great detail as to exactly how stupid that judge is, and why it is a miracle that the judge is actually still alive, seeing as how brain function must have ceased some time ago.  Then I would indicate my willingness to commit an act of violence at exactly midnight so that I could get away with it, since any report or evidence indicating the event occuring at exactly midnight would be invalid and therefore inadmisible in court.  And then I would laugh histerically as they drag me off to a cell, where I would then bang my head against anything solid enough to hurt.  Also, being in prison would likely cause my fragil mind to break in half, spewing all manner of nonsense imaginable, and there would be no way of predicting my behavior from that point on.

You think I'm kidding don't you?  You don't think I'm that crazy, or stupid, to actaully defy a judge in his or her court room, don't you?  Well, maybe you are right, maybe I would miraculously stop myself, and actually manage to stay out of trouble.  But I doubt it.

That's my rant for now, stay tuned for more insane ramblings, because this is Krepta's Life, brought to you by unknown chemical processes best left in the dark!

Politics

Politics gives me really bad headaches, much like economics and a couple other things. Unfortunately for me, there is a lot of both politics and economics infringing on my peace of mind a LOT lately. So, I feel it necessary to release some of my thoughts here, maybe my head will hurt less.

My church has been pushing very hard to have us vote for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Well I already voted, and although I really do NOT want to discuss it in person with anyone at church, or with my family, I voted NO. I'll tell you why if you are still reading. It's because I am a Libertarian. I don't care how many consequences you may perceive will occur in the future from allowing people to be free in a free country, but that IS what I will defend, if not with my body and life, at least with my votes.

You may hate me, or call me a heretic, if you wish, but I believe in Liberty and Justice for All, and nothing, not God, not Government, not Anything or Anyone will convince me to sacrifice those. So some kids are being taught to have more tolerance by the public schools, oh well, scary. Maybe instead of banning gay marriage we should just have them all imprisoned or shot. How far are we willing, as a nation, or a people, to go to make ourselves feel comfortable with the world around us? Who are we willing to hurt, or destroy? I am not willing to reshape the world to make myself feel better. I'll accept my own discomfort or disgust as being the price I pay, and gladly, for a free society. How about you?

Full Range Motion Control

I've given up on running my own internet radio station, at least until I manage to buy a good desktop.

Rehzeero != The Great Zero, Orthodoxy and canon vs. logic

I realize that I am obsessed, which by definition is illogical, but I obsessively need things to make logical sense to me. So when someone does something that makes no sense, I get very upset. I am very upset that the creator of something is "right" no matter what they do, because they say so. That is just wrong!

So, my reason for this post is Cyan/DRC screwing around with their creation, doing things that are very illogical. There is a place in the deep city we call Uru, which is D'ni, that has been called "The Great Zero", but the DRC/Cyan put the word "Rehzeero" in the Nexus and KI devices as the D'ni word for the place, and said that no one knows what that word means. It seems obviouse to me that they took the word Zero, and slapped the D'ni word for "the", reh, on the front and claimed it is a D'ni word. I call that D'ninglish. After researching and learning the D'ni language a bit, I've figured out that the proper way to say "The Great Zero" in D'ni should be "rehroon pahrah", or "rehroon gahro". Even though someone at Cyan said that "rehgahro zeero" was proper use of the D'ni sentence structure, this is NOT true. You can't invent a language, with logical sentence structure, then break that structure and claim that's proper. IT MAKES NO SENSE!!

So, even though everything Cyan sais and does is "right" because they Say so, and is Orthodox and Canon, they are still Wrong! What kind of world would it be like when someone can control absolute truth like that? Where they can setup something, tell everyone THAT is the truth, and the way things are, then totaly break it, screw with it, and claim that THAT is absolute truth now, and that the other way was totally wrong, or maybe that Both versions are truth, even though they conflict horribly. Arrrgh! That's the kind of thing the Catholic Church did long ago, way back in what is aptly called the Dark Ages. It wasn't dark because the sun didn't shine ya know. It was dark cause THINKING was basically illegal. Nations filled with Morons! Well I refuse to stop thinking, or arguing against things that make no sense at all, just because someone else sais so.

I am right, rehzeero != The Great Zero. Either that structure and system that is the Beating Heart of D'ni is NOT The Great Zero at all, and no one knows what the heck the english translation of rehzeero is, OR they stupidly d'nified an english word, zero, because they wanted to call it The Great Zero and were not thinking at all about the language they invented.

Don't get me wrong, I love all things having to do with D'ni and Myst, I just obsessively need, I mean NEEEEEEEED, things to make logical sense, even though being obsessed about something that makes no difference in the world, or my life, is quite insane and illogical. Please, for crying out loud, I'm begging you Cyan/DRC, either admit that it is NOT The Great Zero at all, that this is a totally wrong thing to call it, and come up with an english translation of rehzeero that makes sense, or abandon this stupid D'ninglish word and call it what it Should be called, rehroon gahro or rehroon pahrah! Please! Please! PLEASE!!!

chucker, shut up, I don't need to hear you saying I have no point. Paradox, I know, Cyan is "right" because they say so. Anyone else? Whatever you have to say about it has already been said, I'm sure, but you can say more in the comments if you like. I just need to get this off my chest in a place where no one will Delete it because it's heresy to speak against Cyan.

Heretic Krepta signing off.

Full Range Motion

My internet radio station is kind of sort of up and running again. Who knows how long I can keep it up. I used to run it all the time, I really enjoyed it, and I had a lot of neat things set up and working. Then things started crashing left and right, and things got out of hand, and I just gave up. Well, it's a fresh new day! I'm trying to get things working again. Right now it is just one single audio stream, stereo, MP3Pro. At least, it should be working right. *sigh* Hope someone enjoys my music as much as I do, that's why I am running the station.

No more gloom

I am very happy again, my paycheck has increased due to more hours, and I'm able to pay bills again, yay! :) I won't be quitting either job any time soon. I really enjoy working at Higginbotham Associates, it's a fun environment, with lots of interesting people to chat with, which I really like a lot. The pay structure is different every week, I guess I already explained that at some point before, but, it makes things interesting. Plus, I get to be a nut, and no one will fire me for it, that's a big plus! :) Sadly, one of my chat buddies was fired, reason unknown, but I can guess. He probably got caught purposely putting in "Busy signal" instead of removing numbers from the calling system when the person called requests it. Look, when you tell someone remove my Name from the list, but they have no idea what your name is, can you really expect them to remove your name which they never had in the first place? Anyway, when someone says something to the effect "don't call me anymore" we are supposed to remove the number from the system, that's Code 21 people! *sirens blare*

I'm having fun with my Numbers Obsession still. One of these days I'll get up the courage to call Coast to Coast AM and say "Shorah b'shehm everybody!" and explain my obsession and why I think the D'ni are real and wish I could get my hands on a Linking Book. *sigh*

Are you having fun reading my insane blog? Well, please do. It's meant for anyone ages 90 and bellow... well, ok, all ages! :) Oh, don't mind me, I'm harmless... <.< >.>

GO!

Screwed again

Maybe I'm just asking to be screwed all the time. Anyway, I've been working as a Security Guard, and recently they've reduced my hours to 20 a week, plus 3 patrols a day, 3 days a week, $15 a day for each one of those 3 days. That's not hourly wage, mind you. So that's 20*$9/hr=$180/week +$15*3=$45/week, so that's $225/week. That's really hurting. If it gets much worse I'll have no choice but to quit and find something else. Should I quit my job?

I forgot to mention a big reason why I may have to quit. This last Teusday the 15th I had Jury Duty at 8am. I asked my boss if I could have monday night off so I wouldn't be really tired. He said no, because I wouldn't be out all night, I'd only be doing the 3 patrols. Well I did the patrols, and went home as usual, and didn't get any sleep. I told the judge that I thought it would be too hard for me to be a juror, because of lack of sleep. He didn't think my boss had a right to keep me from jury duty by not letting me off. But the only reason he excused me was because of financial hardship. And that was only because the prosecution and defense had no objection.

I just found out I'm worse off than I thought at first. I'm making only $5 per day for those 3 days of patrols. And I saw a timesheet from another guard that is even Worse off than I am, nothing but patrol days all week! That's 5 days at $5 per day, with two days off. WTF?!

First Security Trust Bank

This is not an advertisement, I just wanted to mention this bank. Although they did misspell my last name, they are correcting the problem. For some reason they have a toll free #, but they have not put it on there website or anything. So I'm going to post it here, 1-877-705-1894. They supposedly don't charge overdraft fees, which is why I want to check them out. I hope they do as they claim.

Grandpa Lenny Ingebrigtsen

My sister, Tamra, just found this awesome Museum and they have my Grandpa listed, Yay!  I hope they do more than just put his name somewhere.  This is just so awesome!

A new obsession: Dvorak

I recently heard about a keyboard layout that is faster and more efficient than the standard layout I have always used. I also heard that the standard we use was invented to SLOW you down, because typewriters had arms that would strike a paper, and if you typed too fast, they would get jammed up. So I printed the Dvorak layout, and rearranged the keys on my keyboard and laptop. Telling my Ubuntu Linux to switch between the Dvorak and standard layouts was very easy, unlike on Windows XP. I've been using Dvorak for a couple weeks now. I'm using it right now! Once you learn it, it's really easy. Dad thinks I'm nuts. It's just my newest Obsession! :D

Here is a screenshot of my desktop.

How I would run HA

Now don't think that I know how to run a business, I'm absolutely NOT management material, IMHO, but, I have ideas for how to improve things all the time, and maybe some of them might be good ideas. So, let's start with Higginbotham Associates, where I work on the phone at one of two phone centers calling people to do surveys. These are just my ideas below, nothing to get angry about, sheesh. My ideas do not necessarily reflect things Wrong with Higginbotham Associates, some are just general suggestions for Any business. Again, no getting mad, gosh.

1) Employees come and go and work at will, no set schedule, no paid lunch period, unless they set and keep a Reservation, like at a restaurant. If you set a Reservation, as in you schedule ahead of time when you will start work, when you will take lunch break, etc., you will get paid lunch and paid breaks, plus a Reservation Bonus of some amount, like $5/day, but only as long as you Stick to your Reservation. If you break your Reservation, as in you're late for work or late getting back from break or something, you lose paid lunch, paid breaks, and your Reservation Bonus for THAT DAY ONLY. You can try again the next day. Reservations must be set a week in advance, and your Reservation also Reserves a Seat, or Workstation, for you for that specific time period, which will be posted along with your name and employee number at each workstation. That's what the week in advance is for, to give time to post stuff. You get paid for what you do, paid for how long you work, etc., just as is done right now anyway.

2) Survey Bonus structure is split into Sections of a survey completed, some of these surveys take a long time, my longest was about an hour and a half, and it seems entirely unfair to do that much work only to have to reschedule it because the Qualified Respondent is unable to finish at that time, then when someone else finishes the survey you did all that work on, THEY get the Bonus for Completing the Survey. So, Survey Section Bonus PLUS Survey Complete Bonus structure. Like $2 per section, and $3 for Completion, or something. I'm not a programmer, don't know how to setup something like this, but surely such tracking CAN be done.

3) Ceiling Fans on every floor, every room, they save a lot on electricity, it's a proven fact, and help keep the temperature moderated by keeping the air circulating well. Good circulation is very beneficial for everyone.

4) Pleasant Lighting, like windows and skylights, soft lights, no more harsh fluorescents!

5) A NICE Break Room with Nice cushioned seats, for every building, for all employees, period.

6) Good Back/Lumbar Support for every employee, good ergonomics for computer workstations, period.

7) Health care coverage, and dental, for all employees, effective as soon as possible after start of employment. Healthy employees work better, work longer, stay with the company, well worth the investment. Unless you like high turn around rate, burning out, using up, throwing away employees by the dozens every week, having to train new people All the time, a never ending meat grinder. I personally think that's bad for business, and bad for the economy as a whole. So no meat grinder.

My disclaimer for all this is that I'm not a businessman, I am not management, and I'm an idiot. Take all of this with a grain of salt, or two, or a pound.

Update time, or something

Well I am still happily employed at two jobs, as a security guard at one, and a professional telephone annoyer at the other.  If you get a phone call saying "Hello, I'm Aaron with Higginbotham Associates, I'm not trying to sell anything, I'm just trying to do a (brief) survey for your community. Have I reached you at your residence?" you will probably want to get very mean and say horrible things and hang up on me.  Well please don't.  I don't earn much unless I complete, that's COMPLETE, surveys.  A few questions done means nothing at all as far as bonuses.  And I'm making minimum wage if I don't get bonuses.  But that's only if I'm never even one minute late getting to work, or getting back from break.  If I am, I lose 75% of my bonus money for that week.  So let's say I come in two minutes late on the first day of the work week, which is always tuesday.  I automatically get only 25% of my bonus money from that point on for the rest of the week.  A typical bonus is like $3 per survey completed.  Gee, what's 1/4th of $3?  Ooo, that's only 75 cents per survey, on top of minimum wage.  And oh yah, if the person I'm talking to likes to yammer a lot about thier life when I'm trying to get them to answer my survey questions as efficiently as possible, the survey could take twice as long, at least.  The shortest time I have is like 12 minutes.  The longest time I had, because of a very very chatty person who kept complaining about how long it was taking, was like 2 hours.  OMFG!!!  Serisously, who in thier right mind wants to take that long on a survey, sure as heck not the one asking the questions!

Ok, so I've been very very sick, nearly to death, for about three weeks, and I'm suffering financially from the whole not working thing.  I hate that.  Seriously, I may complain about work, but I can't stand not working.  I love having a job, it gives me purpose in life, when I can't work, I get really bad headaches from worrying about the not working.  I can't just sit back and enjoy the lack of working.  It drives me nuts.

BTW my rel.to link changed to point at my blog instead of at my numeric obsession, a new link was created for that.  So now you get to my blog at http://rel.to/krepta and my obsession at http://rel.to/kreptano.  If you don't like that, oh well, whatever, rel.to isn't my site, it's just an awesome portal to all things D'ni and Myst run by someone else, that's all.

And now, for a true rant!  Do Not Believe the Lies told by the pharmacuetical companies about heartburn, acid reflux disease, and gurd, or whatever, and the supposed cure they claim to be antacids.  Do NOT take antacids, unless you want to be hooked on them.  They set you up for a painfull fall.  Here is my explanation for my insane rant!  A while ago I decided to start taking Tums, because of the calcium, I need it since I don't drink milk as I'm alergic to it.  I had never had a problem with heartburn before, and I didn't think anything was wrong with eating a couple tums in the morning.  Much to my painfull surprise, I began to have heartburn every evening before bed, so I would take tums.  Then I had heart burn in the morning so I took tums.  Then I had heartburn in the afternoon, so I... yes, took tums.  The heartburn kept getting more painful, and I also started having really painful abdominal cramps and constipation.  Finally I figured out my problems all started when I started taking tums.  So I stopped, cold turkey, and just suffered through the constipation, cramps, and heartburn.  Oh yes, it hurt, it hurt and hurt like the word hurt had lost it's meaning and gained a whole new dictionary definition.  When finally it subsided and my system returned to normal, I decided to research this thing that happened.  Now I Know, and I'm telling you the truth and the facts!  READ!

Heartburn and acid reflux disease and gurd are all the same thing, indigestion.  Ever had a backed up toilet?  Ever had a backed up sink?  Stinks doesn't it?  This is what is happening to you, your digestive system is not breaking things down and moving it along properly, so it's backing up, and what happens to that acid that is trying hard to get that stuff moving?  It's comming up your throught and it burns and hurts.  They are Lying to you when they tell you that your problem is that you are making too much acid.  Nonsense!  Did you know that one of the most common side effects of antacids is constipation?!  You are BACKING UP YOUR SYSTEM when you take antacids.  So, you take an antacid, it does NOT shut down the acid making little pump things in your stomach, it acts as a chemical off switch for the acid itself, I believe that is called a Base, I am not sure.  The thing that Makes the acid only knows one thing, stuff isn't getting digested very well, must make more acid.  So they rev up the acid production.  So what happens when the antacid can no longer counteract the acids in your stomach, AND the acid makers have been trying their hardest to speed up and increase acid production?  Heartburn times 2, or more!!!  So you go take some more antacid to fight back!  STOP Attacking your own body!  OMG, seriously.

So, you are wondering what the frak you should do about your painful heartburn to make it stop eating up your throught.  Well, that's easy.  HELP your digestive system digest and move stuff along.  What do you think happens when a residential septic system gets backed up.  I've seen it on a movie, nasty stuff comes up in the back yard, they have to dig up the yard, remove the tank or whatever, and replace it.  Horrible.  Now, normally a septic system has stuff in it to help break down the crap you flush so it can move along.  What happens when you poor, I dunno, toxic chemicals that kill the stuff that is supposed to break stuff down?  Back up like crazy.  I've seen an ad on TV for stuff to flush that will Help your septic system break stuff down.  THAT my friend is what you should do to keep things moving.

So, how do you help your digestive system?  Well, one way is to eat something called digestive enzymes, but I've also found out that something acidic really helps get things going.  A little Apple Cider Vinegar, nasty horrible stuff that burns all the way down, will absolutely cure your heart burn, and you will be heart burn free for weeks if not more after just one dose.  You think I'm kidding?  I'm not.  This is the truth about antacids, they attack and destroy your ability to digest.  Indigestion IS what causes acid to reflux, or back up.  Stop attacking your body, Help your body instead.  For crying out loud.

Ok, I'm done with my rant.  Have a nice day.