The mud bog and my car don't mix

This is adapted from my previous post and part two of "Why Roger should never take his car off of the paved roadway system ever again for something stupid will happen to his car."

So I was driving around and went out to the mud bog to drive around in circles. I had no problems driving around the place. I thought it was fun spinning around and having an entertaining time. What happened was tragic.

I was driving out of the area and up the hill to get on the dirt road to get back to the main campus. I thought I was going to clear the rock that was just jutting out of the dirt. I judge it being low enough that I would not have a problem. That didn't happen. I heard a fine crunch sound and thought nothing of it until I got back to campus.

When I got back to campus, I parked it and looked under my car. Oil was pouring out from somewhere in the engine. Oh crap. Well, at least I got it back instead of getting stuck out there. Smart one. Well, I told my parents of the bad news. So much for bad news. When I was thinking it was the oil, it was actually the transmission fluid reservoir that I punched a hole in. That nasty little problem complicated things much more.

So I have been stranded in Socorro for about a week and I've been handling it fairly well for being so. It has been an interesting week depending on others to drive me places and learning how to drive standard in order to borrow a friend's car. I had to shell out over $200 to send my car to Albuquerque to get it fixed. Now it's fixed, thanks to my parents bailing me out.

Lesson learned? Probably not. I think I'll plan on getting a manual transmission truck sometime in the future so I can drive over rocks and not break anything that shouldn't be broken...

San Lorenzo and my car don't mix.

Okay, there is a moral to this story: never stop in a small stream bed full of silt and sand and WATER.

The idea was to enjoy our time out at San Lorenzo with fireworks. This turned out to be an entertaining night, mind you nothing influenced us. With that in mind, fireworks, a campfire, and hot dogs did the trick. Andrea, James, Fox, and Sam were part of the crew.

Next came driving back home. For some reason, I stopped and was wondering what was making this noise leak in the car. I stopped in the middle of the riverbed that had a small stream going on. Then it came to driving out. Well, sand, water, dirt, and everything in between got stuck half way up the front wheels. I had no traction and all the mud, rocks, and water was flying everywhere. Well, my left side of the car was stuck in a rut and my right wheel was left spinning. Oh crap. The back two tires were sitting high and dry and not in the small stream. I wasn't panicking, just needed to get the thing out. To top it all off, no cell phone service. That didn't want to stop me from getting out.

We used the jack and a board to jack up the tires and put rocks underneath. Then I decided to drive out to a nice area that wasn't full of mud. I think we lost Andrea's hat out there. We drove and drove and drove down the riverbed. I must have missed the turn-off AGAIN, because I remember telling Fox and Sam that we needed to prop up the broken down fence at the turn to the riverbed so we can get out. Thats where the fun began.

I kept on driving down the riverbed and without tire tracks or anything. I was, "eff this mess, I want to get out." We got through a couple of tight spots and everything. Then we saw this huge light, it happened to be a lighted billboard. We keep driving and found the freeway. We drove under the freeway and then got back on the side-road that goes out to Bernardo.

Sam was laughing histerically when we drove under the overpass. I was, screw it, I wanna get out and I wanna go back home. We stopped by the truckstop in Lemitar and pulled off the hubcaps and cleared out all the dirt, because on the road, my wheels were out of balance. That solved the problem by cleaning the dirt and then we got on the freeway to go back to Socorro.

Anyway, I'm back on campus. Thank GOD.

Astonishingly Satisfied

I have to mention that my life is awesome. I never knew I'd go so far and impact so many people who I love and enjoy being around with. I'm glad I'm here to be part of everything to make people happy.

What drives me to be this great is just talking to people all the time. I'm comfortable being myself these days. Everything looks like it's falling into place and I'm not falling down and missing out on stuff. I think I'm glad I miss some things.

Life sounds fantastic right now, I think it could get better somewhere and sometime soon. It may...

Life in Socorro

I have not been at home in several weeks. I hardly ever go back to my parent's house. All of my stuff is nicely organized there. Okay, organized isn't the best term, maybe located there is a better term. Everything back home is now so strange.

So much for home. Sometimes I do wish I had my own house. That isn't going to happen. I enjoy Tech so much that I don't think I could ever leave it. Some day I have to leave Tech for something bigger and better. Going backwards in size from Albuquerque to Socorro is nothing new that I contemplate. Socorro is getting better, it isn't a mindless town out in the middle of nowhere. There actually is stuff to do here!

As for not going home, I'm glad. I have my own life out here. I'm glad there is something for me to do here. All I have to look forward is the next day and expect it to happen. Nothing is for certain. Things happen.

There is so much to do here, so much to see, everything out here. My world is doing pretty good for now.

Yay?

So this now is how to blog via widgets on Dashboard.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm on my MacBook.

Off-road: The places my car wishes not to get stuck in

Today was an awesome day. Ashley invited me to go with the New Mexico Tech Off-Road Club to take a trail run in Quebradas. I went to find how much fun it is to drive over rocks, dirt, sand, and lots of hills. You could think of it as riding a boat (Jeep) through a dry riverbed.

The morning was chilly with a little breeze, there were no clouds out there. Later in the day the sun beat down on everyone sitting out at the barbecue. There were ten suvs driving out there on the riverbed. I went with Ashley in her Jeep along with Jessica.

Neville (sp?), the guy who owns the computer store in the Plaza, got his Cherokee stuck on this rock only half an hour into the trip and it wasn't even one of the obstacles. He drove right over it and his tires were only rolling in the sand. I quickly learned that he does stuff like this and there is an "-ism" for his stunts.

Later on we saw other obstacles and others were trying them. The second obstacle was the hardest, two rigs turned over while trying to go over them. One tipped over and everyone just picked it up and turned it right back up. So much for pulling that truck out with a wench. The second one tipped over on this huge puddle and the windshield cracked. Lucky there was a roll-cage to stop it from completely rolling over. They righted it back up and then went to the next part of the obstacle. This is where the girl driving her rig got into big trouble.

She broke her U-joint on one of the rocks. So they had to pull it down to a level area, then from there, the guys replaced the joint and tried the attempt again. All while we were waiting, the barbecue team set up and got things cooking. Hamburgers, soda, chips, and hot dogs. It was good. She tried the obstacle again and instead, she broke her axle. That was when we were stuck in the same place for about three hours while we waited for the guys to pull the tire out again and find some way to set it up so she can drive out of there.

Everyone called it quits after getting the vehicle out of the pile of rocks in the bend in the riverbed. We drove back the way we came in, which was unsual because everyone exits on the other side. We had to stop one more time because the same truck lost all its oil pressure. That sucked. So much for having it die badly this time. I guess when it's not your day, it's not your day. Oh well, it happens to everyone. They are lucky to get it back as far as they did.

So I was happy. This was an awesome trip. Among almost getting stung by bees, hardly any bugs, and just getting a bit sunburned, I think it was a good trip. I'd go again because it's something different to do and you get to have fun even if I don't get to drive. I don't own a 4-wheel vehicle with adequate clearance. I own a camera and I like taking photos. :)

Lack of Sleep

I cannot believe this is the fourth week of classes. I can only remember it being the first week and me going insane with the newspaper. Things have settled down and I'm back to my regular routine of doing homework, socializing, and work. Not in that order, not in that importance, and everything just happens.

Right now I'm pathetic having failed going to bed. The only way to assuage my pangs of frustration is to type away and blow off more of my thoughts on my blog. I have to change some stupid habits like this one, staying up late and getting no sleep, because I should have a somewhat normal sleep from 1 to 8am and take an afternoon nap somewhere.

Here goes to trying to unsuccessfully sleep once more.

Busy! Why?

I wish I could take a break from being busy. I hate being bored. Saturday was one of those days where I simply sat around all morning doing nothing but reinstalling my computer's operating system. When I saw the clock, I literally thought time was wiggling so slow like it was stuck in jello.

All last week I was so busy that I never knew it flew by so fast that I was able to do so much in so little time. Sleep was another thing. I never got a proper amount of sleep which made my life and body miserable. Being sick sucks. This weekend I'm recovering from my coughing which has been stabbing my throat.

Now I better get back to doing homework and prepare for this week. I hope it won't be much of a killer like last week. Happiness is on its way!

Moving Back

It has been about half a month since I last posted here. I'm slowly packing away my posessions and getting ready to go to New Mexico Tech. In some ways, I'm glad I get to clean up everything and make my life run better at Tech.

Going to school makes me happier. I get to do more things than sit in my house and let things gather dust. I have so many more things to do when I'm over there. I have a huge project ahead of me, classes to finish, life to catch. Moving back lets me renew my life because I can change the way my room looks like, change my styles, change my attitude, and for the better.

So many things have gone on this year, I do not want to bother about them. Some habits and ways must be let go in order for me to go forward. Going forward is better than getting stuck in the middle of the ocean with no trade winds to push you along.

Taking a point from history, move on, move forward, keep going.

Two Weeks Left

Summer is almost at a close. I'm glad I had a decent summer. I finished chemistry and I will never have to take chemistry ever again!!! I will never put myself in that position ever to suffer so much and almost never make it through.

Mathematics and chemistry are not instinctual talents I have, nor will I ever achieve such logic that my friends have. Heres to calculus and physics! I need the best of luck to pass those lovely courses. Why are they lovely? I want to make sure that when I get through them, there will be battle scars to prove my struggle.

My new venture into the newspaper business is a challenge. I never knew how difficult it is to organize it together, but each day is a new step in the right direction. So far, I believe readers will be amazed. For now I won't do my pep-talk, I will let the paper say that.

Consumerism, individualism, etc...

I thought about a specific thing at work today, which was that we (adults) are teaching children to become expensive consumers. I am not kidding when I say, we are. To me, this sounds all dandy and so, but it's not good to teach them consumerism, and by what I mean, to elementary school students.

There is everything from brandnames to specific foods, etc. I thought it was kind of crazy to think that everything is individualized for a person, while that may limit what is given, it is personalized to a bit. Catching on yet? Making anti-social socialites because of selfishness. Everyone wants their own thing.

I believe in individualism, but is it going to cost us more just to get things like that? As long as you earn your way into individualism, that is what sets apart how we can function with each other. No need to share, no need to pull and tug at the same thing, no need to be dependent.

In some ways, I enjoy how my job can allow me to think, even when entering this chaotic environment, I'm still able to pull it off with no sweat.

Brilliant Discoveries

There are many news websites I go daily, some are fairly bad, some are decent, and some are moderately ok to visit. The only thing that bothers me about news is how stagnant it can get when I never read anything new about the news.

Entertainment news and tabloids never catch on to me, they are just boring as hell, and I wonder how people can stand gobbling up all that news. To me, I wouldn't want to indulge in an actor or actress's personal life. But people do.

Tech news, business, politics, science, and everything that sounds relevant and interesting to me, I read. Arts and certain historical news items are pretty cool to read. Night Noir is a pretty interesting read about photography in New York City. There is so much news out there that I know most of it before the rest of the newspaper readers ever get a chance to read it themselves.

You could say I am a day ahead of newspaper readers, but in fact, I find it is easier to read online news instead of waiting a day later. Also, reading the news online gives me a larger perspective and most of it is free to read.

Research Agencies

Today I received a call from a research agency asking me to do a survey about local politics ranging from the state of New Mexico to state representatives. I thought, sure, why not? A lot of questions dealt with potential candidates, people already in office, potential scenarios, would I vote this way, do I agree or disagree, and et cetera.

Some of the questions were ridiculously strange and confusing. To top this off, I had to deal with another person having to speak English as a second language. Lovely, the accent pointed me to somewhere between the Asia and the Mediterranean Sea. Anyway, after my answers were filled, then I asked the person doing this survey to answer a couple of questions, such as what research company he worked for and to give me the information about the company and a contact address and phone number.

What he gave me was Mountain West Research. So I searched for it on Google and found out that they actually exist, but what really bothered me was that on their website sounded so clean, so pure, but the person I just talked to had a hard time pronouncing people's names, especially when living in New Mexico, Spanish names are unique.

To get to my point, if then why is Mountain West Research's website show people working there as having a neutral accent, when I get a person with a distinct accent from the other side of the world interviewing me? If it is located in Pocatello, Idaho, why shouldn't I get someone who works there or at a facility in the United States? Oh wait, I forgot; we are exporting American jobs and professions in order to make a better profit for companies and investors. Sounds un-American to me to cut the lifeblood of American companies and the truth is that I would love to talk to an American interviewer on the other end of the line asking me about my local politics instead of wrapping my phoneline across the world to another human who may not understand why he or she is conducting this survey for, except to get paid and bring an income to his or her family.

Thunder + Rain = Happiness

My favorite weather occurence has to be thunder and rain. I just like the sound of thunder. It shakes the ground, the walls, and makes you jump if lightning strikes in close proximity. The roar reminds me of a giant lion growling away at the skies.

The shaking contributes to how unpredictable everything is, you don't know when or where that next strike will come down, it is very appealing. Lightning itself is somewhat bland because sometimes you cannot see where it is and it is luck that you catch a glimpse. It does offer a neat sight at times.

Rain used to be pretty sucky to me, probably because I'd get wet and that would be it. Now I love rain, the smell of it coming up from the ground, the slick roads, and its cooling properties. It reminds me of how lovely things should be and how taking time to slow down and look everywhere has to be a priority.

Rain and thunder force me to look around and look at things in another way. Sometimes I wish I could simply slow down and not be so rushed in life. Everything goes by quickly and I forget that there are more lovely things out there that cannot be rushed through.

Death of Radio

For some reason, I believe radio is dead to me. As strange as that sounds, I hardly listen to the radio as much as I used to. I listen more to my iPod and cds in my car instead of the radio. To me, the radio stations waste a lot of time playing ads instead of actual music or they waste their time with DJs that make absurd talk-shows out of useless topics. Keep the talk shows to AM radio, I actually like listening to those.

I spend more time watching television than listening to the radio any year, I spend more time listening to music from my stereo or iPod than from the radio. Why do I have to listen to something that is free when I can save my sanity and play better quality music on my own system.

This has not ruled out getting satellite radio, to me that would be pretty awesome. At least they have hundreds of channels to listen to instead of the limited channels you get in a medium-sized metropolitan area.

Happiness in a Box

I need to package all my happiness into a box and store it for days where I feel bad. Today is actually a good day, so I should package some of that happiness into a box and keep it for a bad day.

So life sounds so promising. I am half way done with school, half way done with my summer. Now to make the next two years worth it. My class at UNM is not faring too well. I am slowly creeping into the lovely category of not-passing. Bah. Two more exams and I must do excellent, three more quizzes and I must do decent, and three more homework assignments that I must do marginally well, and I should pass with a decent grade. I am not counting on a great recovery, but I need to ramp up my productiveness and study habits.

Next to nothing, I just take the class over, but I hate to do that.

In other news, my box of a room is slowly having a makeover. Currently 1/4 of my walls are covered with photos I have taken over the past four years. More should be coming. I need to make my room more presentable to my family and friends.

Refrigerator

Our avocado-green General Electric refrigerator died. It stopped working a day after the compressor click of death started. I suspect that a lightning storm hit our fridge, which was causing a faint burning plastic smell everytime the fridge kicked on. It was a freaking old fridge, about 30 years old, and sadly it died and brought the temperature of the food inside of it to room temperature. That refrigerator lasted forever! It was crazy to believe that it died because it was a family/household item that was unique. The only thing that was different about it was that it was crazy avocado-green. Other than that, it was neat.

Now we ordered a new refrigerator, sadly not the same color, and it has no protuding handles. It will be weird to find a new place for our hand towel that went around the refrigerator handle. Our new Amana refrigerator will get here in the morning.

In an effort to salvage what was left, I took the plastic imprint of the refrigerator and peeled off the product label, which included the model number and serial number. It was made in the United States.

As for our new Amana refrigerator, it probably was made in China.

Man, this sounds like an obituary for our long-time refrigerator.

Monday - Friday

I cannot believe this week flew by without stopping. I just remember it was Monday and me starting my new job and then it was Friday with me finishing my third day on the job. I feel like I live in two worlds.

World One: I go to class at UNM in the mornings, which is not bad because it is an hour of my life, thirty minutes commuting back and forth between my house.

World Two: I work very close to my own house, which is very peculiar due to my consistent occurences of getting jobs within my own zip code. At work I'm there for six hours non-stop doing as much as I can while keeping a controlling balance against opposition. I say the most awesome thing is how organic everything is at work. It simply works.

As for how my world is going, I'm looking for a house to rent in Socorro. I cannot bear living another year with more drama on campus. Any idea folks? (Ashley?)

Cleanliness

Today marks a day that I made significant strides towards removing more of what I own and organized what I have. I believe this will provide more productivity for my lack of productiveness. What really bothers me as a person, we are packrats! I wish there was some way to remove the instinct that forces us to keep a ton of junk we really have no use for. This includes broken hardware, outdated papers, and objects that serve no purpose but occupy space.

One more thing to note, I have a surplus of office supplies, paper, and toothbrushes. Yes, toothbrushes. My dentist usually gives me one every six months when I go for an appointment, which reminds me; I have one coming up soon.

Cars

I went and saw Cars in theaters this Monday. I liked it a lot that I am planning on ordering it off of Amazon.com whenever it is released. I'm suprised that I returned to watching a Pixar film since A Bug's Life. So much for staying up with Pixar movies.

What I like about Pixar movies is that they show a true human perspective that cannot be done just as well. The story, plot, scene, the animators do an excellent job of presenting a story that is worth the magic. It is impossible to not watch their movies. Their style of animation is still one of the best and astronishingly made to be cartoony and realistic at the same time.

Pixar has come a long way from Toy Story. I do not know how they managed to improve so many things between then from how the camera tilts, pans, and zooms. Of course, for over 10 years of watching movies and for 20 years of Pixar, so much has gone by. I think it is slightly neat to have an animation company as old as I am.

Return to UNM

So I went back to University of New Mexico for the summer. I have to take Chemistry 122 and Chemistry 122 Lab and that will be all I can do. I am glad that I can get this college class done so I don't have to suffer at New Mexico Tech taking super-hard science courses. Calculus and Physics are now the next ones I need to battle in order to beat. We'll see if I can get through this semester. My chemistry professor at UNM isn't half-bad, in fact he is one of the best science teachers I have had who will explain in great detail and review without confusing students. That is a good teacher if he can do both.

Enough about school, I want to change the subject. I'll talk about my random adventures around Albuquerque. The last big adventure was when I went to the zoo. I never went to the zoo in over a decade, so this was one of the best opportunities for me to visit the wild and caged critters. I took a few pictures of my adventure, which I should upload to the internet. Such happy and sometimes strange animals. One hyena looked distressed and the gorillas were just lazy ones sitting around. Polar bears were pacing through the waterfalls and I think we saw a lobo (Mexican wolf). One downside by going to the zoo in May: end of the year school fieldtrips seem to make the park so busy with ignorant highschool students or loud and obnoxious kids.

This summer looks to be one where I am booked solid in the mornings and possibly afternoons. Weekends and nights are my best bets to do something productive and possibly fun activities. I am planning on seeing a few movies in the theatres and reading a few books. I need to diversify myself in my entertainment by not watching much television (I never do anyway) and reducing my waste of time on the internet and playing computer games. We'll see.

Return of the Boxing

This past week I have boxed up so much of my own posessions, I was suprised that I made the entire trip from Socorro to Albuquerque without having to rent a storage unit back there.

For the record, I filled up a recent model minivan and an economy sedan full of boxes, bags, appliances, and almost all of my apartment. I made it in one trip, I was suprised that all of this fit in two vehicles.

Now I have boxes sitting everywhere in my room. Boxes to this, boxes to that, boxes to my computer, printer, monitors, it is crazy. I do not know why I managed to move so much stuff and then have to haul it all back. I swear, I will be skimp on myself next year and just have my laptop, my stereo, a few clothes, a box.

I am tempted to find a place off-campus. Anyone know of any place?

Mobile

Never try to get a replacement cell phone at around 7pm on Sundays. I went yesterday to Albuquerque to drop off a bunch of boxes and papers, most unfortunately I wished I dropped off more, but oh well. I went to the Verizon Store to get my replacement cell phone. Closed. So I went to the mall and my friend said that the mall closes at 7. She was right.

So, I go to Circuit City to get my mobile and I'm good to go. Haha. Funny how simple that was. Now I have my new Motorola phone and I'm happy to say it is a good phone that still has analog features because I cannot run without analog due to the remote places I happen to accidentally get myself into.

That reminds me, I want to find a couple of people (or a group for that matter) to go camping on the weekends around New Mexico. That would be an awesome blast to get to know a few more people.

Approximately 0.85k miles later

From Thursday to Sunday, I believe I traveled over 850 miles. That is almost equivalent of spending $75 worth of gasoline. I don't know how I was able to pull off driving 700 of those miles. Heres the traveling details:

Thurday: I went from Socorro to Albuquerque to spend time with friends there.

Friday: I went from Socorro to Roswell to visit the UFO museum because it was an academic holiday and I wanted to go and research stuff for our group project in American Popular Culture. Also that same day I drove to Albuquerque.

Saturday: I drove around Albuquerque shopping and getting business done (as usual). Then I got picked up to go to Santa Fe and all over Albuquerque afterwards. It was fun to not drive for once.

Sunday: I drove back to Socorro.

Meds

Finally, Placebo has their latest album.

Placebo - Meds

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Now to hide and listen to my new album.

Well

This weekend I found out many things about myself. I'll share five.

1. I must make my own decisions
2. I'll take advice into consideration if my judgement isn't too clear.
3. Those you love must know you love them.
4. Theres many ways to approach any problem and an infinite many solutions but they come out with two results: desired or undesired.
5. Lifes too short.

The new SSC

Right now, the wireless internet works in the new Student Services Center. I think it is awesome that we have a place to hang out (on campus) and do homework in the coffee shop area. The building still is missing pieces here and a few rooms are bare. Overall, it is brand new and we can study while we are here. The coffee shop is open until midnight and it looks like it is a success here. I'm amazed.

Now I'm returning back to homework. Its getting late.

Starbucks

I have to let everyone know that Starbucks is finally open in Socorro.

Fall Planning

I plan to take some hardcore classes this summer and fall semesters. On my plate to cover for the rest of the year is Chemistry 2, Calculus 1, Psychology, Genetics (do not ask why), Persuasive Communication, and Spanish Literature.

I get to see what will make and break. I should hold my ground for another two semesters. I am working on doing more and getting better at managing my time to complete my work well and on time. I am getting better at doing anything if I put my mind to it and anything is possible.

Cost of Things

I was shocked to see gas prices shoot up 10¢ overnight. It was $2.50 at the Diamond Shamrock the last time I checked, then the next day it's $2.60 at the same station. I got my gas at the Chevron a mile further down the road at $2.59. Obviously a lot of drivers took notice that it was the cheapest in town and they bought gas there.

I found out that is cheaper to buy a case of soda and buying fast food without the drink. I wonder why people haven't figured it out that you can get a case of 32-12oz Dr Pepper cans for $9 instead of buying a $1.25 fountain drink.

Photography

In photo class today I processed my roll of Ilford FP4 125 speed flim. The development turned out to be awesome, unfortunately I could not get the calcium stains off the film. I didn't add enough Photo-Flo and now there's nice mineral stains. The verdict is that the negatives are not ruined, they just have to be washed again to rinse them off.

Blarh

Yeah, I actually registered for a Blogger account before they were bought out by Google. Now to start writing in it...sometimes.