I'm back
Wow, it's been a really long time since I've gotten much of a chance to write in here. I've spent the past 8 months away from college, working at a test lab near home, which was surprisingly a lot of fun at times. Most of my co-workers were guys who were less than 5 years out of college, and had been in the same situation I was in, working at a shitty low paying low respect internship. The work wasn't all that bad, but my boss and his right hand man, so to speak, were both completely the wrong people for their jobs. There's plenty of reasons, but I won't go into that right now. I got to work on a few big projects, which was pretty cool. I was like 3rd in command, so to speak, on the testing of all the prototype engine compartment power distribution boxes for all of the 2007 Ford trucks. Doing that showed me why Ford is going to go out of business, because this thing was a POS. I can't really say a whole lot more about it, though, because it's not on the market yet.
Other than that, I just got to hang out with my friends from back home a lot. I got to work in Keifer's wedding, which was kinda weird, since they were only 19 and 17 at the time. Brad and Mishelle are engaged, which hurt for a while, but there's nothing I can do about that. I don't know if I'm going to go to their wedding, if it happens at all. I guess we'll just see about that when the time comes. Ashley told me a few days ago that she wants to be together again, because we finally got to hang out together after more than 2 years. It was fun, but I'm still skeptical about what's going on, and I'm just going to see what she's going to do.
I moved back into the dorms, into my friend Polock's room. It's been pretty good so far, I've kinda been absorbed into his circle of friends, who are all neighbors. That, and his asshole roommate from last year has left Tech. I guess that means there won't be anybody to bug me for vicodin anymore, what a loss... Anyways, I think that this semester should be a lot better than those past. I've only got 4 classes, 2 of which I've taken before. Physics and Calc 2 are back to haunt me, and now I've got an introductory Computer Science class, and Backstage Technology as one of my Humanities requirements, which I think will be fun. And evidently Polock has a LOT of "academic resources" for Physics and Calculus, so this should go pretty good.
Anyone uninterested in nerdy hero worship should read no further because as sort of a last bit of fun before coming up to school, I treated my dad, my sister im_losin_touch, my friend Bill billzodiac, and myself to what was to me the most fun I've ever had in my entire life. Two weeks ago today, we piled into my Dad's new car, and set off for Cleveland. I had bought 4 platinum ticket packages for Gigantour, a concert tour with my ever obsessing favorite band Dream Theater co-headlining with Megadeth. It was a general admission show, and I don't usually like general admission shows, but we got let in first, so we were right up against the bar. I was the only one who was able to hang on to the bar and not get pushed around for the duration of the show. There were half a dozen or so bands that went first, though most of them were screamo or nu-metal. A band I had never heard of before, BobaFlex, was up first. I can't say much for their music, though they were at least entertaining to watch. The lead singer would frequently run around in the security guard area and jump up on the railing separating the crowd from everything else. He was running around once, and punched me in the shoulder as he ran by. It didn't hurt, it just pushed people about 3 or 4 rows deep back. I think I must have stood out a lot, because the thirty people to either side of me were all wearing black shirts, while I was the only guy I could see that bought a white DT shirt. I caught a pic from them, which had the Jaegermeister logo printed on it, which was pretty cool. Dry Kill Logic, another unknown, was next, and their music seems to revolve around shouting "WE ARE DRY KILL LOGIC!!" during songs. I think Symphony X was next. They were the first taste of good music I'd heard all night. I had vaguely heard of them in DT circles, being part of the same genre. I think Nevermore was next after them, and they were almost as good as Symphony X. Erin and Bill listen to them often, so I knew a little about them before, but I was still impressed by both bands. Next was another unknown band, Dillinger Escape Plan. They were easily the worst band I've ever seen live. It was like they wanted you to hate them. I was standing in a swarm of people wearing shirts of Dream Theater, Opeth, and the like, and the first words out of the singer's mouth were, "We were going to make up some introduction with scary keyboards and stuff like that, because we know you like that sort of thing, but we're not into that shit." They proceeded to jump around the stage shouting unintelligably for about a half hour. At one point the singer climbed and squatted on top of an amp stack for a song or two, and in between songs decided it'd be a good idea to get into a pissing contest with a member of the audience, calling him a lazy fat asshole or somthing like that, and throwing a few water bottles at him throughout the course of the show. To worsen the show, he broke off the faceplate to one of their amps and started throwing it around, and at one point stole one of the drummer's cymbals and started beating the shit out of it with an extra stick before slamming it into the stage. All of that led to people yelling how much they sucked between songs, and everyone applauding when they said it was going to be their last song. After them was Fear Factory, and they gave a solid performance. There was one guy behind me who must have really liked them, because he was jumping up and down the whole time. I could actually see both of his arms coming over both of my shoulders. After them was Dream Theater, which had to be the most energetic showing I've ever seen from them. James LaBrie's pants split right up the ass during the second song. Oddly enough, he didn't have any underwear on, so we all got a full ass cheek. He ran backstage and put a big peice of tape with NICE written in big bold letters on it, and then sang on like a true rock star. That song will now forever be known as Under An Ass Moon. The rest of their set went awesome, Jordan treated us to a short Continuum solo, and had even started replacing some of the keyboard parts from the songs, now playing them on his Continuum. It was a really good show overall, and I screamed my lungs out singing to every song, but the best part came last, because after their set was over, we got instructions to go to the side of the stage, because the platinum package included backstage passes to the meet & greet with the band. I got my LSFNY cd with the banned cover art signed, and two pictures with them. They were the most awesome guys to talk to. I even got John Myung to open up about playing the Chapman Stick, which you can see pictured in my new userpic. We decided to leave without watching any of Megadeth's set, partly out of pure exhaustion, and partly out of wanting to leave on a high note. Here's one of the pics i got from backstage, though I can't guarantee that my LJ tag skills are as good as they used to be.
Other than that, I just got to hang out with my friends from back home a lot. I got to work in Keifer's wedding, which was kinda weird, since they were only 19 and 17 at the time. Brad and Mishelle are engaged, which hurt for a while, but there's nothing I can do about that. I don't know if I'm going to go to their wedding, if it happens at all. I guess we'll just see about that when the time comes. Ashley told me a few days ago that she wants to be together again, because we finally got to hang out together after more than 2 years. It was fun, but I'm still skeptical about what's going on, and I'm just going to see what she's going to do.
I moved back into the dorms, into my friend Polock's room. It's been pretty good so far, I've kinda been absorbed into his circle of friends, who are all neighbors. That, and his asshole roommate from last year has left Tech. I guess that means there won't be anybody to bug me for vicodin anymore, what a loss... Anyways, I think that this semester should be a lot better than those past. I've only got 4 classes, 2 of which I've taken before. Physics and Calc 2 are back to haunt me, and now I've got an introductory Computer Science class, and Backstage Technology as one of my Humanities requirements, which I think will be fun. And evidently Polock has a LOT of "academic resources" for Physics and Calculus, so this should go pretty good.
Anyone uninterested in nerdy hero worship should read no further because as sort of a last bit of fun before coming up to school, I treated my dad, my sister im_losin_touch, my friend Bill billzodiac, and myself to what was to me the most fun I've ever had in my entire life. Two weeks ago today, we piled into my Dad's new car, and set off for Cleveland. I had bought 4 platinum ticket packages for Gigantour, a concert tour with my ever obsessing favorite band Dream Theater co-headlining with Megadeth. It was a general admission show, and I don't usually like general admission shows, but we got let in first, so we were right up against the bar. I was the only one who was able to hang on to the bar and not get pushed around for the duration of the show. There were half a dozen or so bands that went first, though most of them were screamo or nu-metal. A band I had never heard of before, BobaFlex, was up first. I can't say much for their music, though they were at least entertaining to watch. The lead singer would frequently run around in the security guard area and jump up on the railing separating the crowd from everything else. He was running around once, and punched me in the shoulder as he ran by. It didn't hurt, it just pushed people about 3 or 4 rows deep back. I think I must have stood out a lot, because the thirty people to either side of me were all wearing black shirts, while I was the only guy I could see that bought a white DT shirt. I caught a pic from them, which had the Jaegermeister logo printed on it, which was pretty cool. Dry Kill Logic, another unknown, was next, and their music seems to revolve around shouting "WE ARE DRY KILL LOGIC!!" during songs. I think Symphony X was next. They were the first taste of good music I'd heard all night. I had vaguely heard of them in DT circles, being part of the same genre. I think Nevermore was next after them, and they were almost as good as Symphony X. Erin and Bill listen to them often, so I knew a little about them before, but I was still impressed by both bands. Next was another unknown band, Dillinger Escape Plan. They were easily the worst band I've ever seen live. It was like they wanted you to hate them. I was standing in a swarm of people wearing shirts of Dream Theater, Opeth, and the like, and the first words out of the singer's mouth were, "We were going to make up some introduction with scary keyboards and stuff like that, because we know you like that sort of thing, but we're not into that shit." They proceeded to jump around the stage shouting unintelligably for about a half hour. At one point the singer climbed and squatted on top of an amp stack for a song or two, and in between songs decided it'd be a good idea to get into a pissing contest with a member of the audience, calling him a lazy fat asshole or somthing like that, and throwing a few water bottles at him throughout the course of the show. To worsen the show, he broke off the faceplate to one of their amps and started throwing it around, and at one point stole one of the drummer's cymbals and started beating the shit out of it with an extra stick before slamming it into the stage. All of that led to people yelling how much they sucked between songs, and everyone applauding when they said it was going to be their last song. After them was Fear Factory, and they gave a solid performance. There was one guy behind me who must have really liked them, because he was jumping up and down the whole time. I could actually see both of his arms coming over both of my shoulders. After them was Dream Theater, which had to be the most energetic showing I've ever seen from them. James LaBrie's pants split right up the ass during the second song. Oddly enough, he didn't have any underwear on, so we all got a full ass cheek. He ran backstage and put a big peice of tape with NICE written in big bold letters on it, and then sang on like a true rock star. That song will now forever be known as Under An Ass Moon. The rest of their set went awesome, Jordan treated us to a short Continuum solo, and had even started replacing some of the keyboard parts from the songs, now playing them on his Continuum. It was a really good show overall, and I screamed my lungs out singing to every song, but the best part came last, because after their set was over, we got instructions to go to the side of the stage, because the platinum package included backstage passes to the meet & greet with the band. I got my LSFNY cd with the banned cover art signed, and two pictures with them. They were the most awesome guys to talk to. I even got John Myung to open up about playing the Chapman Stick, which you can see pictured in my new userpic. We decided to leave without watching any of Megadeth's set, partly out of pure exhaustion, and partly out of wanting to leave on a high note. Here's one of the pics i got from backstage, though I can't guarantee that my LJ tag skills are as good as they used to be.