Monday, November 29, 2004

The Doctrine of Parking

My best friend wrote this article: The Doctrine of Parking from Evan VanOrman November 21, 2004 Dear Editor, Interested in free parking anyone? Well... it's easy! Just stroll on over to the LDS Institute of Religion and sign up for an institute class and don't forget to obtain your Institute Parking Pass! This handy pass will allow you to park with all those other "Molly Mormons" and "Peter Priesthoods" in their elitist lot. UVSC paid to build an underground tunnel just for these people, so they can run over to their spiritual superiority classes without bringing traffic to a standstill. But wait! You can also just walk across the street and head straight over to UVSC! That's right. Just because you signed up for a daytime class at the Institute of Religion, you won't have to be a chump and pay $60 for parking. What a great deal! Don't mind those pesky cars in the roadway, if they don't stop it'll be blood on their hands. You're in a hurry for crying out loud! What's that? You don't want to take any more classes? Ah come on! This isn't BYU! According to lds.org/institutes , "A student can do as much reading and research of gospel topics as he or she wishes and has time for... The Institute offers grading / credit options to fit the circumstance of each student." These classes aren't hard. Not LDS? No problemo! There is nothing wrong with taking a little afternoon nap in Brother Superrighteous's class. Just be sure to get on the roll 75% of the time - otherwise your free parking is history. Besides, Members LOVE having "Non-Members" in class! (Just keep your mouth shut and nod... yes... that's it... you'll do great.) I can't imagine a better use of the tithes of the Lord's church than having the Institute providing parking in exchange for attendance. I mean, get real! Who would, in their right mind, wish to attend religion classes unless there's some sort of reward? Sign up today and take advantage of a host of other benefits to attending Institute such as getting your picture taken for the "Meat Market Menu" and joining in for a Munch & "Mingle." Who knows, maybe you'll meet your eternal companion! -Evan VanOrman Wow!! I am impressed with this article and I believe he made a lot of valid points!

Thursday, November 18, 2004

In a daze...

Man!! I wish I could just move to Arizona right now and get it over with. I am done with my ASL class last Tuesday. Nothing else to do until mid-December. I am looking forward to living in Arizona again. Things to do and places to go: IKEA, open captioned films showing 3 weeks at a time, Trader Joe's, Tokyo Express, Streets of New York, Uno's Pizzeria, spending quality time with my nephews and niece. Did I tell you my step-grandmother had a Deaf brother, and she bought all the kids a videotape of "Signing Time: An American Sign Language (ASL) Video for Children" just so they could talk to me!?!?! Wow!! I love my family! I am working on making my own chai tea powder and see if it is any good. If it is, then I will save more money making my own! I was shopping the other day, looking up the prices for making my own chai drink. I nearly shit my pants when I saw the price tag for ground cardamom: $13.49 for 1.75 oz of that $$$ spice! *sigh!* I hope it taste good or better than the ready-made one. I am only experimenting to see which taste better and go with the superior choice. In the past 1 1/2 weeks, I have watched about over 27 DVDs!!! I got this $9.99 a month deal from Hollywood Video. Unfortunately, I can't check out the new released movies, just the one already there for quite some time. I knew it was getting too much, so I made myself commit to getting my kitchen cleaned and organized before I rent another DVD again! It worked! My apartment is starting to feel like a home, my own place! I still have some storage boxes in the other room, but will worry about them later this week. Anyway, I feel great about having a working kitchen! The front room is still a mess from my marble magnets madness. It's a fun mess though! Ohhh, Christmas is coming soon!! It's time to make my Christmas Wishlist 2004! I am going to go with less things to wish for this time. Let me see... link here.. I think I am going to buy myself a DVD player soon, because I am wearing out my iMac's DVD player with all those movies! It overheated several times! Anyway, I named my purple iMac, 'Kirby'. I have to thank ArtizLife a MILLION times for sending me her iMac!! I better make sure I make her a Christmas present and other things, send them off ASAP! Another thing.. I need to get working on my site!! I have been neglecting 3 of my webpages for several months. I need to whip up a layout when I have the chance. I am going shopping for chai stuff now! ;)

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Hectic..

Wow! It's been a crazy month! I noticed the last time I updated my blog was in October 19. It makes sense now that I haven't been able to get online much, thanks to one of my roommates who won't pay his share of the internet bill. Last August, this one roommate and I agreed that I can use his Blockbuster Membership to replace his part of the internet bill. Well, he has been grouchy and cranky often that I didn't get my money's worth of renting the movies. His replies were: "Not now, I am not in the mood."; "No, my girlfriend don't like the movies you rent."; "Later, I am watching my movies right now."; and "I am pissed off at you, so I am not letting you check any movies out." And, get this.. I was gone for the whole month of August in Arizona and still paid my share of the internet. I didn't think it was right I had to pay when I am not there to use it, but I paid. During my stay in Arizona, I decided what to do with my life and how to run things. I decided that if my roommates can't pay their part of the deal, I am going to pay what I can and let it disconnect. Later, in the end of September, the same roommate and I talked again about the internet bill. He agreed to pay for 2 months share of the internet because he let his girlfriend use our wireless internet connection for September to October. She only lives the next door, upstairs. So, October came and went. The bill still wasn't paid for. I had another discussion with him again and asked if he was going to pay. He said he will give me burned copies of Macintosh software in exchange to "pay" his part of the internet bill. I told him I prefer money and need to pay it off ASAP. He didn't pay. The very next morning, the internet got cut and all Hell broke loose. He and I fought on AIM, accused me of all sorts of things like "breaking his truck door" and singling me out for his own problems. Also, I said a few things that pissed him off. I noticed when things are said that are true, the guilty party gets angry and pissed off. After our argument online, his girlfriend sent me an IM and asked me not to come home. My roommate sent me several threatening IMs, saying he was going to befriend my ex-wife's husband and bring him over to our apartment and beat me up. She begged me to stay somewhere else so my roommate will chill out. I told her I may have to go to the police station or hospital because those are the only 24-hour places I know I can stay at. I even tried calling my sister. My roommate's girlfriend called the police on me, thinking I was going to kill myself. Hell, no! The visit in Arizona helped me out a lot. I asked her why she called the police when it will make it worse for everyone. She said it was for my safety, and begged me to not tell them about my problem with her boyfriend. Too late, the police was called and they need answers from me. Was I going to lie? No. While the officer tried to talk to me, another friend sent me an IM, warning me that the roommate's girlfriend has been talking behind my back for about a month. *sigh!* The officer questioned me why I am "suicidal". I told him I am not suicidal, I was having problems with one of my roommates and I am just trying to find a place to stay for the night. I made the mistake of telling him my brother-in-law is an officer in the city and I am trying to get a hold of my sister. This officer called the dispatch and the office heard something like: "One of your officers' brother-in-law is suicidal and he needs to be picked up!" Oh, no!! I told the officer I am not suicidal and, already, I knew my brother-in-law is embarrassed! If that girlfriend NEVER called the police, it would have never become worse! My brother-in-law got off work, came over to pick me up and asked me upfront, wanting to know the situation and explain everything. He asked me to get online and IM to my roommate and his girlfriend to meet at the apartment. He called the next police jurisdiction and asked them to send an on-duty police officer to be present. They wouldn't come right away because "an interpreter is not with us", and I told my brother-in-law that I will ask one of our neighbors to interpret for him. Finally, the roommate and his girlfriend showed up. I could tell the girlfriend didn't like that we asked one of the neighbors to interpret. I know that as long as there is reasonable accommodations, it is perfectly fine to have a neighbor interpret a dispute. It's either use that interpreter or do it by paper and pen. No one was getting arrested, so there was no real need for a "certified" interpreter. I appreciated that my brother won't take my side or their side, just keeping it a neutral ground and trying to make things work between me and my roommate. We agreed that we are not to tell anyone anything about what is going on, to leave each other alone and not to touch each others' property. When all is said and done, my brother-in-law had a "brother-to-brother" talk with me. He made sure that I understood I have every right to stay where I am living. I went to the interpreter's apartment and asked for the landlord's phone number. I thanked her for interpreting the situation and apologized for the Utah Deaf people's behavior. The next day, the same roommate gave me such attitude and bullying, writing on the eraser board, saying that he is forcing me out of the apartment and wants me to move out of state. One of my friends and my sister saw the messages. Both think he is being an immature asshole. This roommate even accused me of "ruining the Spirit". I know for a fact that whoever harbors ill-feelings and bullying towards another is the instigator of ruining the Spirit. In your face, pal! I feel so sorry for this roommate because he don't know how to handle his temper, like I don't know how to handle my depression. However, I am the only one who is going to therapy and getting better. I finally moved out to the other apartment, with the landlord's permission, to keep the peace. It's been so nice I am living alone for a while. I am sure you already read my entry about my birthday. Well.. About 2 days after my birthday, my pumpkin got destroyed. No one would confess to ruining my birthday present. I just picked it up and tossed it into the bushes and trees by the apartment to fertilize them. This happened like on October 18 or 19. Then, two days ago, I come home from hanging out at my best friend's house and see the SAME pumpkin sitting on the porch of my new apartment! It's funny and disgusting. There's black rot inside the pumpkin. I disposed of it, thinking this is so immature and hilarious of my ex-roommates to do this. Looking back in the past year, it's been a rough one. I realized that, even though I liked him and admired him, this troublesome roommate has caused me to have a deeper depression in the long term. I was diagnosed with double depression, so I am always depressed, but with other people's depressions or problems layered on my first depression. And, to top it off, I am suicidal, too. You can imagine how that can really mess me up. I ended up in the hospital 3 times in the past summer. His girlfriend was in the hospital a few times, too, for the SAME reason. Both of us weren't that suicidal until this roommate came into our lives. I know he is a good person, but he doesn't realize or mean to have that effect on either of us. Because of a few people coming up to me, saying he and his girlfriend have been talking trash behind my back for over a month, I decided to write this long entry and dish it all out. Truthfully, I am not afraid of this "scary" roommate. He really needs to grow up and start getting wise.