Sunburn

Ultimately, sunburn is uncomfortable. Some people get burnt easier than others. I like to claim the "Italian skin" --boasting that I do not burn very often. I usually just tan. However, there are two instances where my skin reddens, and at times, hurts.

>>>At the beginning of summer when I just start exposing myself to the sun

>>>If a portion of skin that does not usually see the sun, is exposed

A few days ago, on July the 4th, I was laying outside with my mother, catching some rays. I would like to share, from past and present experience, where the most painful places to be sunburnt are.

• Between your toes. Flip flops become unbearable and unwearable. Walking in general can become somewhat of an issue, as you feel every movement of each toe rubbing against the others.
• The back of your knees or thighs. Want to sit down? Think again. You better prepare to wear loose, long shorts to protect the back of your thighs. If this sunburnt area decides to stick to a seating surface due to sweat, getting up could prove to be a problem, and quite painful.
• Bellybutton. Yes folks, this is a probable location to discover a sunburn. Who puts sunscreen in their belly button? Just pray it doesn't fall off.
• The sides of your fingers. Kind of like between your toes, but worse because you have to do so much with your hands.
• Eye-lids. This is a horrible place to discover a sunburn. But if you are laying out with your eyes closed, chances are your eye-lids will end up burnt. I feel like it is unsafe to put sunscreen on your eye-lids, so that is probably why.
• Ears. Just.. ouch.

So those are some of my least favorite places to be sunburnt. However, back to my original claims, I do not burn very often. Sunscreen is a foreign substance, and aloe hardly ever touches my body. Though if I was honest, my 4th of July sun lounging left me in a bit of fiery red hot pain.

Burn baby burn.

The end.

My Life as of Late

So these past few days have been interesting.. and some aspects of them have been completely random. Honestly.. I don't know what to think of some of the crazy things that have been happening lately. So I shall just share a few so you can catch a glimpse into my awesome life.

--I slipped on a banana peel. Yes. In real life, I slipped. On a banana peel. Here is how this went down. I was walking to BCM after class one day. It was just beginning to rain. I was not paying attention, probably texting someone back.. when out of no where I slipped [don't worry I didn't fall]. I assumed it was because the ground was on the beginning stages of being wet. When looking down however, much to my surprise and inner excitement.. I saw a banana peel! I have never heard of anyone slipping on a banana peel in real life, I thought that was only for Mario Kart racers. Honestly, as insane as that sounds it was truly the highlight of my week.

--I visited an atomic bomb crater site. According to the oh so trusted Wikipedia, "On March 11, 1958, an H-bomb was accidentally dropped on the town [Florence]. Although the 200 pounds of TNT detonated causing some damage, the nuclear portion remained intact." So how about that for some interesting history? Anyways.. a few friends from BCM and I went and visited the site. It was so neat! I don't believe words could describe. You will just have to go check it out for yourself!

--The other day I got lost in downtown Florence, and saw three interesting characters. The first, was a business man dressed in a suit crossing the street. He was a very nice looking gentleman. Anyways, as he was walking through the cross walk, he was rapping. Hand motions and everything. He was pretty into it. The second man I saw was a drunk guy stumbling down the side of the road. You might not find that intriguing, but honestly I have never seen a drunk person in real life. The third and final interesting character I saw, was also my personal favorite. There was a man riding a bike on the side of the road.. with a rake. Yes ladies and gentleman.. a gardening rake. For leaves. I suppose you never know when you might need one, so why not?

Well the above stories are some of the interesting things that have happened to me this past week. I am looking forward to what next week could hold! :] The end.

Learning From Others

I believe that it is important to learn from past mistakes. It is also important to make others aware of your mistakes so that they too can learn from them.

So it is for you, dear reader, that I have compiled this little list.

You know it is too cold outside to wash your car when..

..it is January.

..it is 33 degrees outside.

..you have to wear jeans, soccer socks, and a sweatshirt.

..you exhale, you can see your breath.

..the liquid soap is more or less like a gel.

..the water does not come out of the hose right away because it is a little iced up.

..you have to go inside after 10 minutes to warm your hands up.

..you have to wear winter gloves, with plastic kitchen gloves on top to keep them dry.

..you discover the layer of water on your car from the first hose down is now a layer of ice.

..the soap bubbles in your bucket have formed a layer of ice.

..you have to continually spray water on the section you are working on because if you don't, it will turn into a layer of ice.

..you have to use an ice scraper to remove the layer of dirty ice you just tried to wash.

..the sponge is not all fluffy; once you squeeze it, it retains that flattened shape.

..you cannot feel your fingers.

..you continually drop the sponge or the hose because you cannot feel your fingers.

..the water on the ground is beginning to form a layer of ice.

..the hose is not as movable as it should be, due to a layer of ice.

..you cannot even feel if you are splashing water on yourself because your body is so numb.

Needless to say, I do not suggest that you attempt to clean 5 months of dirt and grime off of your car in the middle of winter.

On the flip side, now my car is nice and sparkly clean for the first day of school this semester. I just hope I'm not at home sick with a rattling cough or a nasty cold.

The end.

Santa - The Ultimate Stalker

Alright everyone. This is meant to be a humorous, yet extensively creepy observation. I am about to point out some characteristics of Santa Claus, and why he is the ultimate stalker. First off, my parents never told us Santa was real, and I am very glad. I will not play Santa games with my children either. Okay here it goes..

He knows your identity: For starters, Santa knows who you are. When constructing his list of good and bad children, he obviously has to know your name. He would have to know how old you are so he can deliver an age appropriate gift, and also where you live.

He knows what you do: Santa delivers gifts based on how good you are throughout the year. He is always watching you. Do not think you can hide what you do from Santa, he is going to find out. He knows when you hit your brother, steal a pack of gum, or color on the wall. He keeps track of everything you do on his list [next to your name].

He knows your sleeping patterns: He sees you when you are sleeping. He knows when you are awake. This goes hand in hand with knowing what you do, but on a creepier level. He knows if you are sound asleep in your bed, or sitting up with insomnia. Maybe he sends elves out to keep track of your consciousness status, but still. Ultimately, Santa knows your sleep patterns.

He sneaks into your house: This particular stalkerish act that Santa partakes in makes me thankful for our gas fireplace. We do not have a chimney for him to get down. But, what do parents tell their children who have gas fireplaces? Do they tell them Santa can still get in? Because that would honestly creep me out if I was a kid. "Don't worry Junior, Santa will find a way to get in the house. He will check your bed to make sure you are asleep, and then leave your presents under the tree."

He likes kids: Maybe this is taking the whole stalker thing a bit far, but letting kids sit on Santa's lap seems like a pretty weird tradition for him to start. That is all I am going to say about that.

So basically, Santa Claus is like, the ultimate stalker. Maybe the first line in that song says it all.. "You better watch out." Kids, hide. Adults, you should hide as well. Santa Claus is coming to town. The end.

Helplessness

So we have a pet hamster. We have had him for about a year, and his name is Cookie. Today I am observing how helpless some creatures are.. and how greatly they rely on us as caretakers. Our hamster has a cold. As funny as that sounds, it is affecting his poor little body in numerous ways. He has no energy. Not even enough energy to curl up in a ball when he sleeps. When I came home from school, it looked like he had just kinda.. plopped down on his side. My family had placed a lamp overhead to keep him warmer.. and he has some medicine he has to take.

Currently I have Cookie up in my room, wrapped in a dish towel and laying on a heating pad. All of us love him because he is our pet, and we are doing everything we can to take care of him. He is so helpless.. because he cannot drink anything for himself, or move around, or take his own medicine. He needs us to do all of that for him. Poor little guy.

This is allowing me to view how valued life is. He is just a pet hamster.. but he is part of our lives. He is in our care, and we are doing everything we can to nurse him back to health. The end.

Cheating

So we had a music test yesterday, and I observed a sad, sad observation.  I have actually been observing this topic the past few weeks.  Since I was always home-schooled, I was never exposed to cheating like I am now in college.  It makes me very sad and disappointed in our young people today.  So here is my story.

A few weeks ago, we watched a video in music class, and were given a paper with a list of matching questions to answer during the video.  A few of us in one section of the room were trading and comparing answers because if you were not paying full attention to what the video was saying, whether you were reading a previous question, checking some answers, etc., then you would miss an answer.  In these videos they never touch back on information they previously gave.  So since all the answers were being provided by a video and not personal knowledge, I didn't have a problem giving some people some answers that they missed.

Now, fast-forward to the test we took in Music class yesterday.  Before the test a group of us were sitting around talking waiting for class to start.  Some of the girls that I gave some answers to on the video analysis looked at me and Tim and told us to pass them some answers after I was finished.  I was somewhat shocked that they would even consider asking that on a test.  I had studied with Tim the whole class period before, and we kind of looked at each other.  I decided that the knowledge of the topics on the test was MY knowledge.  So I looked at the girls that were inquiring answers from us, and told them that I don't give answers out on tests because my work is my work.

Here comes the sad part.  The girl that initially asked for our answers, looked at us and asked, "Oh you guys actually believe that?  I cheat on tests because if I don't know the answer, then I need to get it somehow."

This is the reason that people cannot graduate, struggle through tests, and cannot function in a world outside of school.  The end.

Parking Lots

I am typing this from the library at Tech.  I was going to come a bit early and work on some stuff, so I figured my best bet was to get here around 9:30.  The next batch of classes would be starting, so no one should be driving around the parking lot looking for a space.  Apparently though, everyone gets here for 9:00 classes, because there was not a single parking space.  I ended up driving and looping, turning and trying to get around people for 15 minutes.  Finally a car backed out and I pulled in faster then lightning.

I am very glad that I do not have a 9:00 class that I was trying to get here for.  I usually come at 11, and that is hard enough to find a place to park.

Not only are the parking lots here crowded, people seriously do not know how to park.  This is college people!  Pull all the way into your parking spot, but not too far, because someone might be  trying to park across from you.  If you pull too far in, then they cannot pull in far enough, and then no one can get through the aisles of the parking lot.

So that is my ranting and raving post for the day.  The end.