Learn To Speak French

As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of Top Gear, and if you have been around me blabber on about how much I wish I had Jeremy Clarkson's career, you know I am obsessed. So I can't help but post funny things about the show when I see them. This is a post from AutoBlog.com (they are also in my blog roll). Begins now!

Will Pierce has gotten it backwards. The goal is to get paid for watching Top Gear; instead, Pierce earned himself a hefty bill for catching up on the Best. Car. Show. Ever.

Pierce and his son were on a ski trip in France, where there happens to be a paucity of English-language television. To stave off the boredom, out came the laptop and its Vodafone data card. Vacation saved by Internet downloads of Clarkson and friends, father and son returned home to a £21,716 ($30,334.40) Internet service bill. Needless to say, the humongous charge was something of a surprise. Thankfully, Vodafone kindly waived Pierce's fees with an admonition to check his plan and whether it covers massive data downloads while in other countries. So, the next time you find yourself in foreign lands with time to burn and a hankering for some quality Stigtime, well... consider yourselves warned.

The Webs We Weave

I put on my headphone to escape the sounds of my roommates. The Street Fighter II Turbo, the constant and never ending whistling from down the hall. Of which is the chorus from the same song for the last three weeks.

The sound of the blender at 6 a.m., the never-ending laughter when I am trying to go to sleep. The feeling of waking up in a freezing room. The paying for food I never see, or get to eat. The preparation of meals without gratitude. The few of many things I will not miss when I move out of my current living situation.

I used celery sticks for spoons in my peanut butter because all the other utensils are in the dishwasher, still dirty from the last three dinners. The bleeding of my ears from the music turned up so loud to drown out the annoying existence of roommates. The desire to stay on campus until late hours to avoid it all. Their lack of understanding of common sense — my declining level of patience.

The sound my car makes when I turn it on and it isn't the perfect operating temperature. The way it feels when running for more than five minutes. The way it dies in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

The way I am treated by my peers, the ignorance, the back stabbing, the undermining of intelligence. Who needs that now? I have the rest of my life for people to tell me what I am not made of. No more guilt trips from teachers on a bid for power. No more lugging 50+ pounds of books around and never using them even though they are "required."

No more ... no more interest in writing this anymore.

Gearing Up For St. Patty's Day

St. Patrick's Day is coming up and everyone will want to drink some green beer. Ya? So what better to put it in than a St. Patrick's Day commemorative NHL pint glass? My girlfriend got me an NHL Shops gift card for Valentine's Day and I couldn't wait to go to the website to see what I could get.

If the San Jose Shark's merchandise store accepted the NHL Shops gift card I might have gone in person to get something else, but with shipping, it took care of any extra spending I could do. But I ordered my Sharks pint glass, and it arrived today and look at it! It is just stupendous. Beer, hockey and St. Patty's day, all rolled up into one. I couldn't think of a better gift.

Now if only I didn't have a night class on "Kiss me I'm Irish" day. Oh well. I can always have a pint in this awesome glass whenever I choose.

Check NHL Shops to find similar glassware and other "Green" merchandise in for your favorite team.

Speed 4: Life On The Highway

I have an update on my Bus Ride of the Week story from last time. I thought my bus rides were bad from the park and ride lot to campus, but it seems my school's drivers have been outdone by the great folks at the Valley Transportation Authority.

What you can't see in the photo is my speedometer. If I could get it in my photo from my iphone, it would show you that I was doing above the speed limit and was passed by a city bus. I am not trying to get anyone in trouble, but come on? How fast does an in (or out) of service bus need to be going? Not that fast, unless it is trying to keep above 65 miles per hour, which on most California freeways is only possible in the two left lanes (if there are six available lanes).

I had my music up pretty loud when this happen and I was scared that I was in the filming of a movie (or possibly being chased by police). I quickly checked my surroundings and grabbed my trusty iphone to snap the photo. No motorists were harmed in the taking of this photo.