Sunday, June 17, 2007, 01:18 PM
Every once in a while I will be reminded of the existence of a completely useless social club called Mensa. There is only one qualification for membership: you have to pass an IQ test and have a result of 135 or higher. That' it!
of course, IQ is predetermined by one's genetics. It's not as if one can train to be more intelligent the same way one can train to be more athletic. Your IQ is what it is, for better or worse.
My big gripe with Mensa is that they believe people of lower IQ are inferior people. They also believe that people who are mentally ill or mentally retarded should be destroyed. Nice group.
of course, my dad is a Mensa member since his IQ is 165 and he views vast stretches of humanity as disposable. For all the hooplah about geniuses, I've noticed that the serial murderers all have very high intelligence.
i'm really glad that Mensa is nothing but a fringe group. They would be dangerous if they had political power.
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( 3 / 1019 )Saturday, June 16, 2007, 05:46 PM
I finished writing chapter 44 of "I, Construct". Frank tries to stop a brutal cult murder but his intervention unwittingly spawns a zombie uprising!
as soon as I get a chance to upload the file, I'll create a link to it.
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( 3 / 1000 )Saturday, June 16, 2007, 11:30 AM
I overdid it at the gym. My right knee has been really sore for 4 days. Ugh. I think it's because I did 10 miles at the gym. This really sucks, since i was well underway towards being able to do a half marathon. I hate being in pain, and I hate even worse not being able to exercise. I feel like a fat, greasy, lazy pig. I don't want to gain a whole bunch of weight while waiting for my leg to get better. This just totally sucks.[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 933 )Sunday, June 3, 2007, 08:25 AM
I’m thinking that my goal of weighing 175 pounds might not be attainable. 18 months ago, I weighed 221. Six months ago, I weighed 185. Yesterday, I weighed 183. The rate in which I lost weight really slowed around 187.
I’m not sure what else I can do. I exercise four times per week for 4-6 miles per session. I cut out junk food and sugared sodas. I try to never eat more than 1,800 calories in a day.
I could be happy with weighing 179, since that would make me “normal” weight according to the BMI obesity chart.
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( 3.1 / 998 )Saturday, June 2, 2007, 11:57 AM
Ever miss the good ol' days of peace and prosperity? I know that I do! Bush has been a friend to the Religious Rich, but a foe to the middle class and to the Constitution.
Bush (2007) vs. Clinton(2000)
GASOLINE:
Clinton: $1.29/gallon
Bush: $3.29/gallon
-- Increase of 161%
HEAT/ELECTRICITY:
Clinton: Approximately $150
Bush: Feb-07 bill was $946
-- Increase of 530%
HEALTH INSURANCE:
Clinton: $84/month
Bush: $192/month
-- Increase of 128%
RENT/MORTGAGE:
Clinton: $550/month
Bush: $730/month
-- Increase of 32%
MY INCOME:
Clinton: $36k
Bush: $25k
-- Decrease of 31%
Isn’t Bush Economics grand?
Of course, under Clinton, we *weren’t* at war and the rich actually had pay taxes. Under Clinton, the United States had allies all over the world. Under Clinton, the nation debt was well under control. Under Clinton, we had the rule of law.
Under Bush, we have unilateral wars all over the world that have NOTHING to do with national security. The Iraq war was started on a lie. Under Bush, the rich got the biggest tax break in history. Under Bush, key cost-of-living indices have had triple-digit increases. Bush created the Dept of Homeland Security, which operates outside the bounds of Constitution. The Bush administration makes people “disappear” to Cuba and other places without any hope of judicial review. Bush’s Oil/Corporate Wars have cost our country trillions of dollars in debt.
We got Bush in office because Clinton got a blow job on duty. But was his moment of infidelity worth the seven years of wreck and ruin at the hands of Bush and his greedy, small-minded cronies?
I don’t think so!
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( 3.1 / 935 )Sunday, May 27, 2007, 07:07 PM - Cool Stuff
I finished writing Chapter 43 of "I, Construct". my novel now has 167,000 words!
Chapter 43 - I, Construct
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( 3 / 1159 )Monday, May 14, 2007, 06:59 PM - halo's thoughts
The more I delayed hurting myself, the more bad things kept happening. I've accumulated a very substantial spiritual debt for my continued existence. I should not exist, and yet I do. today, for a brief time, the internal balance of power shifted from Indigo to Halo. And as Halo, we made a payment on the massive spiritual debt.
It is interesting to note that when Halo takes a knife and wields it against this body, we do not feel pain. I can calmly watch the body bleed. It's never enough, but perhaps it is enough for now.
As Halo, we know that blood pays for sins. Blood is the only coin we have with which to pay. This was not an attempted suicide. This was an installment payment on a debt.
Blood pays for sins. As Halo, we know this.
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( 3 / 1012 )Sunday, May 13, 2007, 08:40 AM - Dumb Happenings
Well. . . Brothers Roofing gets a lot of hype on the local Talk Radio station, but I don't see what all the hub-bub is about. They built a new roof for my house about two months ago and it has been a thoroughly INCOMPETENT job.
So far, my roof has leaked heavily EVERY time it has rained. The company sent a repair team out twice so far and yet my roof still leaks. It hasn't even leaked LESS. In fact, the brand-new roof leaks just just as badly as the worn-out roof did. The difference, of course, is that I paid $5,000 for a roof with the understanding that it would actually REPEL water! What a novel concept!
After the second follow-up repair, Brothers Roofing had the nerve to send me a $500 invoice. Yeah, right. Considering that I had to drag buckets back into the kitchen last night, I don't think I will pay that bill. Besides, the roof has a 10-year warranty. I'm just hoping that they can get it to repel water sometime in the next ten years.
For the first two repair attempts, I had to make a dozen calls the first time and 8 calls the second time before anyone returned my call. At least they called back quickly last night. But the time has passed when I would EVER consider recommend Brothers Roofing to ANYONE. They just don't do quality work.
UPDATE: The VP came today and did a really thourough inspection of the roof. It turns out that the problem is likely a bow window that projects out onto the roof. He recaulked the window. If my roof stays watertight the next time it rains, I'll be pretty happy and will retract my dis-recommendation.
Update #2: (June-2-07) It's rained twice since the most recent repair and the roof has held up fine. Yay! I think third try must have been a charm.
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( 3 / 1290 )Sunday, May 6, 2007, 09:53 PM
I did my longest workout ever yesterday: 10 miles! It was 6.5 miles of jogging, 2 miles on the Stairmaster, and 1.5 miles of walking. That burned 1,424 calories. Too cool! They way things are going, I should be able to give the Baltimore Marathon a shot later this year. I think it's in October.
My new weight: 182 pounds. I haven't been this thin since 1997 - ten years ago!
My ultimate goal is to get down to 175 pounds, the weight I had in college. My highest weight was 221, which means I've lost 39 pounds since then. Not bad.
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( 2.8 / 971 )Friday, May 4, 2007, 09:24 PM
I'm torturing poor Doug tonight by playing a concept video of my favorite band, 'YES'. Who could NOT like Jon Anderson and company? Between the chess song 'All Good People' to the 18-minute rock-chant 'Revealing Science of God', there is no such thing as a bad Yes song.Alas, Doug does not find the ultimate prog-rock band to be the modern-day Mozart.
I'm watching the 9012LIVE concert, filmed sometime in the 1980s. You can tell, since the came members are still thin and had all their hair. In fact, they had 80s hair, which was really, REALLY big hair! And the white sweatsuit that Jon Anderson years, oh my! The fashion faux pas!
In fact, all of the band members wore a lot of white. I suppose that's why they had to break out the black-light illumination during 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' Ha ha ha ha!
Fashions may have changed, but Yes still remains the ultimate rock band.
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