Bad Luck

I have been searching online for a new job for several months now, I used to work at a bar and bartend but I truly wasn't feeling the job. Dealing with drunk old creepy people when I am wore out makes me very crabby. So I thought it was time for a new job.

I had applied for several jobs, such as Toys R Us, Target, Shapko, Macys', ect. Well it was a two weeks before Thanksgiving and I received a phone call from Target. I was the happiest person ever because this meant that I would get an interview, and I rock at interviews. I have a way of just blabbing on for ever about the questions they give me to answer. So I was pretty confident that I would get the job.

The interview day came along, and sure enough they requested me to have my second interview on the same day! After my second interview they told me that I had received the job and they would call me the next day about my orientation times. Well the next day rolled around and I had not received a phone call from Target, I ended up just waiting another day thinking they probably are not calling me back because it is a Sunday. So they next day I called back and asked them why I had not gotten a call back about my orientation day, the lady on the phone explained to me that she could not give me this information and that she would direct me to one of the main staff. She just so happened to not be in that day so I left her a message.

Another four days passed and I had still not received a phone call back from the head staff on when I should begin my orientation. So yet again I called back, I ended up having to call back three times to get ahold of the lady. She then told me that I would have to wait another week before I could start my orientation because they had keyed in my information into the system wrong and had to retrieve all the correct information back. After all this went on I soon received my orientation times. After orientation was done we all received our work schedules, lucky me I had to start training on Black Friday! Let me tell you that was a very interesting experience, for one I have never shopped or been out and about during Black Friday, and second of all I had no clue of what I was doing.

All is good now I have completed my training and love this job way more then bar tending, minus the pay.

Crazy habits and ways to break them

We all have those annoying habits that we do, maybe its smoking, playing with things like change in your pocket when you are nervous, or even nail biting. A habit that someone has can effect their reputation, or how people perceive them for example, smoking. A lot of people smoke but a lot of people don't like the smell of cigarettes so they could perceive you as being stinky. Here are a few ways that can help you drop the habit.

Do you have the habit of smoking? You already tried, nicotine patches, gum, and even trying to quit cold turkey, but nothing worked. Well doctors are trying to figure out other ways to help some one stop smoking. Herbal remedies is an example, they have drops of nicotine that you can add to your drinks making you crave the nicotine less. Also they have several types of teas that contain nicotine in them to try to get you to stop smoking. There is also several different ways, along with those. Another example could be hypnosis. My mom actually tried quitting by trying hypnosis, she stopped smoking for about 6 days, but other people have had more success maybe it will work for you.

Maybe your habit is fiddling with objects when you are nervous, like hair, coins, pens, ect. What are some ways to stop these habits, what are ways to make you less nervous? You could do several things to maintain your nervousness. For example you could meditate or even do yogo, but not many people have the time to do those things, so for a quick fix you can just listen to settle calming music before you are going to go do something that you think will make you nervous, also take deep breaths through your nose or even let your body relax and don't tense up, you can do this by stretching, rolling your head around, and just sitting up straight in a chair.

If you are like me you might have the habit of nail biting, 45% of teens and college students bite their nails due to school or job related stress. Engaging in this habit can be very unhealthy for you because your nails carry a large amount of bacteria, also biting your nails can cause your teeth to grind down. Since so many people have this habit there are several ways out there to stop this habit, a natural way is that you could dip your finger tips in to lime, or lemon juice, or even juice from jalapeno peppers. Also they sell nail polishes that have a very bitter taste. For me none of these things worked, the only way for me to stop biting my nails was to get fake nails. I ended up taking those off with in two weeks for the fact that I don't like long nails.

A habit is just a habit and if you try hard enough you can drop that habit, there are several ways to kick a habit to the curb, but you may need to do some research you  might even be surprised at what methods you find to stop a habit.

Tattoos

“ “It’s a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.” This quote was said by Jimmy Buffet. A tattoo will stick with you for your whole lifetime, but for some people that’s exactly what they want. A permanent reminder of something always right there with them. The iceman that was found gave us a lot of information on tattoos. Also how tattoos can show different meanings for different types of people. Maybe it’s a memorial form of art for someone that was very close to you someone you look up to, or even just something that was catchy to the eye. The popularity of tattoos have increased greatly threw out the years. Depending on what culture or age you are, the reasons and meanings for having a tattoo will vary for everyone.

We all know that tattoos have been around for several hundreds of years, but we didn’t know how long till we discovered the iceman. He was found well under several layers of ice in the Italian Alps in October of 1991. This man was clamed to be a hunter of a tribe that dated back to the Bronze Age.  He was the oldest mummy ever found with tattoos, that’s over 5000 years ago! Around this time its thought that only about 1% of the earths population had tattoos. The iceman had 58 tattoos located over several parts of his body; some scientists believe that these tattoos may indicate an early type of acupuncture that would treat symptoms of diseases that he might have had.  For example his autopsy showed that he had some form of parasite that was eating his stomach, and they found several tattoo markings on his lower back approximately by the stomach. Over 5000 years ago some people where using tattoos as a form of treatment, here are some other ways people used tattooing in their lives.

Sailors and prisoners are just a few examples of where we see tattoos today. Sailors would get an anchor tattooed on them to symbolize that they had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. Some people believe that tattoos can help promote someone to do something they wouldn’t be able to do if they didn’t have that tattoo, for example. Having a pig on one foot and a rooster on the other. The meaning behind these tattoos where that they where both barn animals that can’t swim so they will help the seamen quickly to shore if there ship had sank.  A prisoners’ tattoo was somewhat like those of a sailors they represented something to them. Prison tattoos could be used to display a gang they are in, their convictions, or even their skills. For example one of the most common of these tattoos is the teardrop located next to the eye. The teardrop tattoo symbolizes that the prisoner has either killed someone, or has had a friend who got killed in prison. Also the numbers 13 and 14 indicate membership of a gang, the list goes on. Prisoners also use tattoos as a way to look tough, especially if their tattoos where done in prison, then they where probably created with make shift machines with anything they could find around the prison, such as the motors from electric shavers, and guitar string for the needles.  Even though sailors and prisoners are all different their reasons and meanings behind their tattoos all have a story.

Over the years’ tattoos have became more and more popular amongst the whole world. Many people these days get tattoos just for the fact that they love art. It doesn’t have to show meaning or display something to people other than maybe interests, but we will still stick to those old traditions of using tattoos to display meaning.

Tattoos have dated back to 5000 years ago. Even though it has been years tattoos have had very little change in how they are defined. Who knows how long this trend will go on for! My guess is a long time; even though having a love for tattoos might not apply to everyone it applies to a large amount of people.  “It’s a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.” As stated by Jimmy Buffet.  So think before you ink.

Blizzard!

We all knew a head of time that we where going to get several inches of snow fallowed by horrible wind speeds, but I personally really didn't think this was abnormal. I have lived in Minnesota my whole life, we are always prone to having at least two bad snow storms a year and we know its coming. Well this year I wasn't exactly prepared for this blizzard.
It all started Saturday night, I was scheduled to work 4 to midnight. I ended up getting off early due to the high risk of employee injury from all the snow luckily my place of work allowed us to leave around 9 o' clock, even at 9 I was spinning around trying to get out of the store parking lot. When I got to the parking lot of  my apartment I could barley make it threw the road because it had not been plowed yet. I am proud of my self though because I actually was able to park my car and there was two other cars in my parking lot that had gotten stuck in the middle of the road. I'll be thanking my mom for those awesome snow tires she got me!
So Sunday morning roles around, I had gotten up at 4am, for work knowing I would have to give my self some extra time to get out of my parking lot. Little did I know that we received another three inches on top of what we already had along with several 4 foot high drifts caused by the wind tunneling through our apartment buildings. Mean while I am preparing my self for the bitter cold by bundling up, as I went outside I took the broom with me to sweep the snow off my car, because I didn't have a ice scraper for my car. This took me for ever because the one side of my car was completely covered by a drift of snow.
Eventually after driving back and forth I got my car out of my parking spot, but only made it about ten feet through my parking lot until I hit a huge snow drift, and got stuck almost sliding right into my roommates truck. Apparently I woke up my roomies from squealing my tires trying to get out. Since I was stuck I ran inside to them already getting their boots and gloves on to come help me get unstuck. Gotta love that type of caring roommates! It took all three of us about an hour to get my car back into my parking spot, along with a lot of shoveling.
Sadly I had to call in to work saying I was unable to make it until the plows came through, well the plows didn't get here till about 9:45am, and they didn't help me out very much, they actually pushed snow up against the back end of my car, making it impossible to back out. So here I am just a couple hours later digging my car out again, only to make it to work for 3 hours. SO not worth all the hassle.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

            We have probably all heard of the Nobel Prize; this prize is contains five different categories of prizes awarded to people with great accomplishments. Alfred Nobel, a very wealthy Norwegian man created this prize. When he passed away he left his fortune to go towards awarding several individuals for their great achievements in medicine, literature, chemistry, peace, and physics. One of those special individuals was Aung San Suu Kyi, and she was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

            Aung San Suu Kyi was the third child but only daughter conceived by Daw Khin Kyi and Aung San on June 19, 1945 in Rangoon. On the website Chambers Biographical Dictionary, it states that she was named after her father, mother, and grandmother. Aung San for her father, Kyi for her mother, and Suu for her grandmother. Aung San Suu Kyi had two older brothers; one died at a very young age due to drowning, her oldest brother moved to San Diego, California and became a citizen of the United States of America.

Her father Aung San was a Burmese nationalist hero. He fought hard for Burma’s independence, which was under the ruling of the British. Coming very close to gaining their independence he was assassinated on July 19, 1947. (Chambers Biographical Dictionary) Aung San Suu Kyi was only 2 years old. Due to her fathers great leadership Burma established their independence on January 4, 1948. Around the year of 1960 Aung San Suu kyis’ mother Daw Khin Kyi continued on in her husbands’ footsteps to spread peace through India, Suu Kyi fallowed in her mothers footsteps. (Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers)

In Aung San Su Kyis’ Biography taken from the website nobelprize.org it states that, in 1962 Suu Kyi began to attend college at Oxford University. Her studies consisted of Economics, Politics, and Philosophy. In 1969 she received a job to work for the United Nations in New York.  Along with that she would take up a volunteer job on evenings and on the weekends at a hospital to help patients with reading and companionship. While she was attending Oxford University she fell in love with Michael Aris, leaving him behind at Oxford she left to go to Japan to attend Kyoto University to further in her studies. (Chambers Biographical Dictionary) Aung San Suu Kyi and Michael Aris reunited in 1972 when she returned to Oxford University.  They then got married on January 1, 1972 and moves to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. They do not stay here long. (Nobelprize.org)

In 1973 the couple returns to London England in preparation for the birth of their first child, Alexander. Soon after in 1977 they gave birth to their second son Kim at Oxford. Aung San Suu Kyi husband continues on with his studies in Himalaya as she begins to do research on her father along with writing a biography of him, and assisting Michael in his studies. As she goes off to Japan to study more about her father she brings her son Kim with her, and her son Alexander stays with her husband Michael. In 1987 Aung San Suu Kyi and her son Kim join Alexander and Michael in London to go visit Dow San Kyi, her mother who is going through cataract surgery. So she could be close to her mother she began to continue furthering into her educational degree at a school in London.  

On March 31, 1988 Aung San Suu Kyis’ mother suffers from a severe stroke. She is devastated and moves her family back to Rangoon to help take care of her mother as she is in the hospital. While her mother is in the hospital there are several protests against the military going throughout Burma. On August 8^th 1988 a very violent suppression from military acts vastly killed thousands of people in Burma. This upsets Suu Kyi immensely and she decides to take action by sending a letter to the government informing them to get themselves ready for several multi-party elections. On august 26^th she gives her first speech, her sons and her husband are there to support her along with thousands of people. Aung San Suu Kyi makes this a lifestyle and goes throughout the country speaking to large amounts of people about a non-violence and civil disobedience. While Aung San Suu Kyi is just approaching the beginning of her rout of becoming a widely known peace campaigner things where not going so good with her mom.

On December 27^th 1988 her mom passed away at the age of seventy-six. On January 2, her mothers’ funeral was held. It wasn’t no ordinary funeral thousands of people attended, and they also got to hear Suu Kyis’ speech. She preached about being as great as her mother and father. She devoted herself to continue spreading the word about nonviolence amongst the military and protesters. For several months after words she continued to campaign for what she thought was right, she would get death threats one after another along with being harassed for what she believed in, but that did not stop her. On February 17^th she refused to stand for election, along with her pride and bravery she was not afraid of anything and wanted her points to stand out to other individuals. She went as far as standing or even walking towards the barrels of the guns that the soldiers where pointing straight at her.

Aung San Suu Kyi begins a hunger strike in 1990 to help out students that where not being fed properly. Due to her strike she was placed under house arrest and threatened three years of imprisonment. Even though Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest she is elected and granted the Rafto Human rights Prize, by a grand winning percentage of 82%. Soon after on October 14^th 1991 Suu Kyi was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1991.  Being the great person that she is Suu Kyi gave $1.3 million of her prize money to Burmese people for education and health.

On July 10^th of 1995 she was released from house arrest after six years, during these six years of house arrest she was unable to see her family very often, and even being off house arrest they still restricted her movements, along with being able to communicate with her family through the phone because the government was scared for her safety. Eventually she was allowed to speak outside of her house to many reporters and other people. As she continued to spread her voice amongst many people about human rights the government threw her back into house arrest illegally.

She was unable to see any of her family members unless authorities accepted the request. On March 27, 1999 her husband Michael Aris died of prostate cancer. A month or so before he passed away he sent out a request to see his wife one more time before he passed away and the authorities denied his request. Suu Kyi hadn’t seen her husband since a Christmas visit in 1995. After this happened the government allowed her to go abroad and join her family, but if she did this it meant that she could never return, therefore she would not be able to continue her work on having a free Burma. (Nobelprize.org)

In the article “A Charade the U.S. can’t play” by, Jared Genser it states that Suu Kyi was place under house arrest illegally, she was not giving the right to have a trial, nor had any charges. They simply just held her under house arrest for 21 years of her life. Whenever she was released from house arrest she would begin to speak and would always be outspoken by the military therefore she was thrown right back into house arrest. Suu Kyi was unable to see her children or any other family member for several years of her life. She knew she had to make a change and she stuck to her ideas, and her planning. She was released from house arrest in 2000, 2002, and on 2009, but always placed right back into house arrest. After being released in 2009 they sentenced her to three years in prison, but then changed her sentence to 18 more months of house arrest.

On November 13, 2010 Aung San Suu Kyi was released from being under house arrest, hopefully for the last time. Suu Kyi devoted her life to studying about her father who was assassinated when she was two years age. To her mother who was ill, and her husband and children. They all played a huge roll in her life, but Suu Kyis’ main focus on life was making Burma a safe and free place to be. To this day she is still working on making Burma free. Suu Kyi has the option to go back to see her family, she has thought about returning, but it is taking her sometime to think of her actions because if she leaves she is never aloud to return, and finish what she has been living to do. 

My grandpa

"My grandpa didn't believe in hugging and kissing, or saying "I love you." His love had to do with the way he treated you. When he said, "We're going here, we're going there," he was telling me about life. That was his love for me. My love for him was listening to what he said, keeping out of trouble, doing right, being fair."  Bill Cosby said this quote. This quote stuck out to me greatly because this is exactly how my grandpa was. He didn’t just tell me about life, but his life.  Threw his stories he brought many things to my eyes.

My grandpa was very strong, not only physically but also mentally. In his earlier years baseball was the world to him.  He knows everything about every team. In his twenties my grandpa had the chance to play for the Minnesota Twins, but unfortunately he turned it down.  When I found this out I thought he was crazy, who wouldn’t take up that offer especially with having such a love for the sport. Obviously I had to question him as to why he turned it down, all he said to me was that he would much rather watch his plants grow, along with his family.  I thought this made my grandpa very strong, because he gave up something incredible for something that is more important to him.

My grandpa was a very devoted person. He had a very strong love for his garden, not just the beauty of it, but also the work that it took to get it to look beautiful, like shoveling, raking, and weed pulling. He also did the same thing for his children and grandchildren, he didn’t just watch us grow, he taught us how to live life and become something beautiful in the end like his garden.  He took care of that garden 7 days a week, along with my cousins and I. To us grandpas was the place to be. My grandpa showed his devotion towards us in many ways.  While spending numerous days on end with my grandpa I saw how he lives life and how he is the type of person that lives life for the moment, and for that moment only.  For the fact that moment wont ever come again.   He only worried about making everyone else happy around him, and his or her needs always came first.

My grandpa was also a hard worker; his hands were like sand paper. He was so driven, and determined that once he started a task he wouldn’t stop till it was complete. He worked very hard for those who didn’t have the ability to do things he could. My grandpa would go around town and help all the little old ladies with their yard work and bring us along to also help. After seeing how thankful the people were after doing a few simple things for them for free, opened my eyes as to seeing how working hard can pay off not in money but in satisfaction. My grandpa would never take anything that was offered to him for the work, but the occasional cookies or food they would cook for him and us grandchildren. He worked very hard on teaching us how to live a successful life by physically setting an example, and carrying us through his experiences.

My grandpa is a very strong, devoted, hard working individual. Even though he didn’t express his feelings to me through hugs and kisses, he expressed it in his own unique way. From showing me that choosing what is most important to me and not to others is the right thing to do, all the way to showing me how to work hard for satisfaction. Throughout his experiences, and stories that he has shared with me I know he loves me and was just setting a great example for his grandchildren.  

Cloning

Cloning

                Have you ever thought about giving birth to your diseased mother or father? Probably not, well actually there are several people out there that want this to actually be possible. It’s called cloning, a cloning method that gives a daughter the ability to bring up their diseased child, sister, mother, or even their father. How would you feel about raising your father and having them think that they are actually your son, when in reality he is your father?

                I strongly disagree with this action, I think it is wrong and isn’t the way life should go. If we could just recreate someone ever time they passed away our world would be way over populated, but even worse we could have people out there recreating Hitler. Maybe even an army of Hitler’s. If scientists continue testing on how to make a clone and actually succeed it could become a major problem. If people have the money to purchase a clone they will, or they may even accept letting people experiment with their bodies just to receive millions of dollars. For example many super models have been interviewed and agreed to get paid to give away their genetic copy so that more of them could be made. We already have an image of how a beautiful person should look; now what if you put cloning into the mix. Many people will want to have this stereotypical beautiful child, and will pay for the genetic copies of super models, or even ask for their child to have certain features, because all will be possible.

                Besides for that type of cloning there is a method of cloning that I actually agree with, it’s not cloning the whole entire human body, but parts of the human body. These parts can be used for heart transplants, along with any other type of organ. Why do I agree with this type and not the other? Well, because we are already able to do this from other people who are willing to give away their organs to another person who is in need. For example my grandma was on a waiting list for about a year to get a new lung; she didn’t make it because she was unable to get that lung in time. Now if cloning a lung back then was possible, she might still be alive. It’s saving a life that is already living, not creating new lives of individuals that where genetically put together.

                Many clone scientists make up several different definitions of cloning to try to complicate the system, since testing on cloning has been banned in several states they decided to create different more humane ways to clone, so that states will only ban one way and then they can continue to do testing. Really there isn’t much of a difference in between the definitions, they are still killing clones that went wrong or had some kind of mutation. It’s almost like they are experimenting with one’s life and when they fail to create it correctly they just stop it from further growth. I hope I opened up your eyes on how cloning can be a good thing, and also a bad thing. Who knows how the future will end up, we will just have to wait and see.

Hitchhiking

            Why this topic? Well, just a few days ago my cousin from Florida and I where discussing football. Oddly he is a Packer fan, but lives in Florida. I am of course a Vikings fan, and we all know how competitive football watchers are about their teams especially when it comes to the Packers vs. the Vikings. We came into an argument on what team is going to win this upcoming game. Soon enough he tells me that the only way this will be resolved is if I go to Florida. Well being as broke as I am there is no way I can afford a round trip, or road trip for that matter to Florida, unless I were to hitchhike.

            Obviously I’m not going to hitchhike, I would be way to frightened to get picked up by a stranger, especially after watching T.V. shows about people getting murdered by hitchhikers. This made me wonder about hitchhiking, and if it is even legal. Interesting enough there are very few places where there are laws to restrict hitchhiking. Manly the laws are that you cannot hitchhike on Interstates, Motorways, or on the Autobahn. Other than that you can basically get away with it. This surprised me since there are so many recordings of people getting killed after picking up a hitchhiker. We may see it every once in awhile, but not to often around these parts.

Netherlands area for hitchhikers

            In some countries hitchhiking is actually encouraged. For example in the Netherlands they have designated signs showing where you can sit and be picked up by passing drivers. So in the Netherlands they don’t see it as dangerous. In the United Kingdom college students actually play this “game” called Jailbreak. This is usually played during the summer months or during vacation time. Well the object of the game is to see who can get the farthest away from the school without spending any money on transportation. So in most cases they would hitchhike. Well how do you inform people that you want to be picked up.

            In most cases to show that you are hitchhiking you would hold your thumb up in the air. Well there are a few ways to show that you want to be picked up other then the good ol’ thumb trick. For example some ladies would pull their skirt up on one side to show off their legs, another is waving money in the air, in the United Kingdom they hold their index finger up in the air, or even just holding up a sign to where it is you want to go. So before you decided to hitchhike outside of the United States you should research the different methods or laws that there are for that location.

Final narrative (Never give up)

Never Give Up

            August 19^th is a very important date to me; it has been ever since I was born, considering it’s my date of birth. On August 19, 2007 my birthday was the least of my concerns. I had been woken by the town’s siren, from instinct I knew that sirens never meant a good thing. Soon after I would find out that the date would change meaning to me, but also be remembered by several people. August 19, 2007 changed a lot of lives including those of my close friends and family.

            For the night of my birthday it was always routine to spend it with my dad at his house in Rushford MN.  As I sat in my dad’s living room he watched the news, because I didn’t really care for watching the news I was off playing games with my little sister. The voice of the weatherman was faint; it was the least of my concerns. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the rapid light flicker from the television screen. As I continued on concentrating on what move to make next on the board game my phone rang, it was mom.

“Hello, Krista are you safe?” she asked.

I replied, ”yes, why?”

My mom than continued to explain that my entire hometown Houston MN, had been asked to evacuate due to the rapid level increase from the water of the Root River. The fear was that it might reach the height limit that the dike could hold, and wipe out the whole town. At this point I was really confused since I didn’t think much about the rain, I mean it’s Minnesota it rains all the time. Scared from the news that I had received, I asked my dad where we should go to be safe, he explained to me that he lives on high ground and we wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. This calmed me down, and I just decided to call it a night, and soon fell asleep.

            Around 5 a.m. I was woken abruptly along with my dad from the loud roar of the towns’ siren. Terrified we both went for our phones, the home phone along with my cell phones lines were so blocked up from the hundreds of people trying to use them at once that we couldn’t get a single phone call out. Both of us by this time, were in a panic, all we could think about was our families, and if they are safe. Soon enough we where running out to the car to go check on my grandparents. We where in such a rush I doubt we even put our seat belts on. At this point I don’t know what to feel, the adrenaline, the fear, or the curiosity of what was going on inside the town of Rushford. As we raced into town there were several people racing out of town, giving me a feeling that going into town was probably a bad idea. As we approached town we couldn’t see anything but water, what used to be a town now looked like a giant lake, only the roofs of the trailer houses where visible. The house that I used to go to for daycare when I was young was completely submerged under the mucky water, along with the main road into the town.

Main street, located by bank.

There was no way of getting to my grandparents house the short way, so we had to turn around and take a bunch of back roads in hopes that they where not submerged under water. Luckily they where clear enough for us to get through. As we arrived to my grandparents we noticed that the water was literally three inches from their back door, my grandpa had placed many sand bags around the door blocking off the water. My grandparents lived in the perfect location; all the houses and businesses below them where completely flooded and ruined, as for the houses above theirs had been completely demolished from a mudslide. Seeing someone’s house broken and collapsed with its pieces scattered all around their yards and the road made me feel heartbroken. As for my grandparents they where very lucky to have a house to go back to, unlike many others who lived in Rushford.

All of the trash that was taken from houses.

As I walked down one of the only streets that had not been filled with water I saw many mothers, fathers, children, and even old friends carrying the few things that they where able to get out of their houses. The streets where filled with people but yet silent, everyone was in complete shock, and no one had a clue on what to do. There where cops in boats going around house to house spray painting red “X’s” on the houses doors that had been considered unsafe to return too. My aunt and cousins where one of those houses with the red “X” they didn’t have a house to return to, they lived in the lowest area of Rushford and had lost everything but the clothes on there backs. By being in the center of this horrific situation so unexpectedly changed me and made me look at life in a different way. I began to see how lucky I was compared to a lot of people who had lost almost everything.

As more and more people began to hear of what had happened to Rushford numerous amounts of people fled to help everyone they could. They brought in cleaning supplies, food, clothes, and shelter. FEMA along with Red Cross also provided temporary homes, and house supplies for those in need, to help them get a new head start. The workers and people of Rushford had no way of getting supplies of food unless it was brought in because the grocery store along with the gas stations had all been flooded as well.  All of the water was causing a lot of mold and bacteria to form inside people’s houses, because of this everyone was wearing masks. As the waters went down and people were let into their homes everyone pitched in to help clean, along with myself, and believe me those masks and bleach where every ones new best friends for several weeks. It was heartbreaking to see everyone completely gutting out their houses all the way from beds, fridges, baby toys, and even pictures that had been destroyed. Knowing that everything of mine was still safe was a relief for two reasons, I was able to donate several of my belongings to people that needed them more than me, and for the fact that I could help out in such a way.

This experience changed me in a good way it made me realize how much people needed my help and how thankful everyone was for the help that I could give them. Many of my family members and I will never forget August 19, 2007. This day changed a lot of peoples’ lives. This natural disaster came to surprise everyone in Rushford and Houston. This experience showed me that things happen unexpectedly and you have to react fast, even come out of your comfort zone to help strangers in need. Now as you drive threw Rushford I guarantee you will see a couple bumper stickers or signs with the saying “never give up”, this is in remembrance of how no one gave up on August 19, 2007.

“Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Itali”

What do you notice yourself doing every Saturday? Is it going out to a movie, hanging out with friends, or simple catching up on homework? Or maybe it’s different every Saturday. Since the year 1530 Italy has played  “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Itali” every Saturday, and to this date a select few still play it. In 1770 the French began to play that game but they called it "Le Lotto". This game was known to be played by the wealthy Frenchmen. In Germany they used the game in a different way, they used it to teach students how to do math, and learn other elements.

Soon enough in 1920 this game came to North America, but yet again the name was called something else to them, it was “beano”. This word probably reminds you of beans, the reason for this is because beans where placed on cards to cover spaces in this game. This game was also very popular among carnivals. Do you know what game I am talking about yet? Well a man by the name of Edwin S. Lowe from New York heard about this game being played all over, he was very interested considering he was a toy salesman.

In 1930 he gave this game another name, he called it “bingo”. Yes, the simple game bingo went threw this much change till it came around to us, but how did it get the name “bingo”. Edwin was sitting around at a carnival watching the game be played, when some one accidentally screamed out BINGO! Instead of “beano”, this gave Edwin the idea to change the name. After he gave it a new name he hired a math professor from the University of Columbia named, Carl Leffler, to help him increase the number of combinations in bingo cards. Carl came up with 6,000 different formations of numbers on the cards.

So “Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Itali” went from "Le Lotto” to “Beano” then finally to “Bingo”. This invention didn’t really come across any problems, just a lot of interest for the game and modification to improve it. It also changed from how it was used. It Italy it was played every Saturday as a simple game, in France only the wealthy Frenchmen where allowed to take part in the game. As it reached around to Germany they found other ways to use it, such has in there teaching methods. Now it is used here for entertainment at carnivals, nursing homes, and even some churches use it as a way to gain funds for their church. Thanks to Edwin and Carl, bingo has been spread throughout the world. 

Narrative ( Never give up)

Never Give Up

            August 19^th is a very important date to me; it has been ever since I was born, considering it’s my date of birth. On August 19, 2007 my birthday was the least of my concerns. I had been awoken by the towns’ siren, from instinct I knew that sirens never meant a good thing. Soon after I would find out that the date would change meaning to me, but also be remembered by several people. August 19, 2007 changed a lot of lives including those of my close friends and family.

            For the night of my birthday it was always routine to spend it with my dad at his house in Rushford MN.  As I sat in my dads living room he watched the news, giving that I didn’t really care for watching the news I was off playing games with my little sister. The voice of the weatherman was faint; it was the least of my concerns. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the rapid light flicker from the television screen. As I continued on concentrating on what move to make next on the board game my phone rings, its my mom.

“Hello, Krista are you safe?” she asked.

I replied, ”yes, why?”

My mom than continued to explain that my home town Houston MN, had been asked to evacuate the town due to the rapid level increase from the water of the Root River, in fear that it might reach the limit height that the dike can hold and wipe out the hole town. At this point I was really confused since I didn’t think much about the rain, I mean its Minnesota it rains all the time. Scared from the news that I had received I asked my dad where we should go to be safe, he explained to me that he lives on high ground and we wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. This calmed me down, and I just decided to call it a night, and soon fell asleep.

            Around 5 a.m. I was abruptly woken along with my dad from the loud roar of the towns’ siren. Terrified we both franticly went for our phones, the home phone along with my cell phones lines where so blocked up from the hundreds of people trying to use them at once that we couldn’t get a single phone call out. Both of us by this time are in a panic, all we can think about is our families, and if they are safe. Soon enough we are running out to the car to go check on my grandparents. We where in such a rush I doubt we even put our seat belts on. At this point I don’t know what to feel, the adrenaline, the fear, or the curiosity of what was going on inside the town of Rushford. As we raced into town there were several people racing out of town, giving me a sense of feeling that this was probably a bad idea. As we approached town we couldn’t see anything but water, what used to be a town now looked like a giant lake, only the roofs of the trailer houses where visible. The house that I used to go to for daycare when I was young was completely submerged under the mucky water, along with the main road into the town.

This was the main street (by bank)

There was no way of getting to my grandparents house the short way, so we had to turn around and take a bunch of back roads in hopes that they where not submerged under water. Luckily they where clear enough for us to get threw. As we arrived to my grandparents we noticed that the water was literally three inches from their back door, my grandpa had place many sand bags around the door blocking off the water. My grandparents lived in the perfect location; all the houses and businesses below them where completely flooded and ruined, as for the houses above theirs had been completely demolished from a mudslide. Seeing someone’s house broken and collapsed with its pieces scattered all around their yards and the road made me feel heartbroken. My grandparents where lucky to have a house to go back to unlike many others who lived in Rushford.

As I walked down one of the only streets that had not been filled with water I saw many mothers, fathers, children, and even old friends carrying the few things that they where able to get out of their houses. The streets where filled with people but yet silent, everyone was in complete shock, and no one had a clue on what to do. There where cops in boats going around house to house spray painting red “X’s” on the houses doors that had been considered unsafe to return too. My aunt and cousins where one of those houses with the red “X” they didn’t have a house to return to, they lived in the lowest area of Rushford and had lost everything but the clothes on there backs. By being in the center of this horrific situation so unexpectedly changed me and made me look at life in a different way. I began to see how lucky I was compared to a lot of people who had lost almost everything.

Big pile of trash from the houses that got flooded

As more and more people began to hear of what had happened to Rushford numerous amounts of people fled to help everyone they could. They brought in cleaning supplies, food, clothes, and shelter. FEMA along with Red Cross also provided temporary homes, and house supplies for those in need, to help them get a new head start. The workers and people of Rushford had no way of getting supplies of food unless it was brought in because the grocery store along with the gas stations had all been flooded as well.  From all of the water it was causing a lot of mold and bacteria to form inside people’s houses, because of this everyone was wearing masks. As the waters went down and people where let into there homes everyone pitched in to help clean, along with myself, and believe me those masks and bleach where every ones new best friends for several weeks. It was heartbreaking to see everyone completely gutting out their houses all the way from beds, fridges, baby toys, and even pictures that had been destroyed. Knowing that everything of mine was still safe was a relief for two reasons, I was able to donate several of my belongings to people that needed them more than me, and for the fact that I could help out in such a way.

This experience changed me in a good way it made me realize how much people needed my help and how thank full everyone was for the help that I could give them. Many of my family members and I will never forget August 19, 2007. This day changed a lot of peoples’ lives. This natural disaster came to surprise everyone in Rushford and Houston. This experience showed me that things happen unexpectedly and you have to react fast, even come out of your comfort zone to help strangers in need. Now as you drive threw Rushford I guarantee you will see a couple bumper stickers or signs with the saying “never give up”, this is in remembrance of how no one gave up on August 19, 2007.

Conserving

            We have all heard this many times before college students are always broke. Our families were always telling us as we grew up to start saving now. Did we listen? Of course not, it obviously went in one ear and out the other. So here we are at college enjoying our freedom and that first electric bill rolls around, your jaw immediately drops to the floor. What to do know? I know the first thing I would do is call my mom, but that fails all she has to say is I told you so, or barks off a list of things I can do for her. WOOHOO! A chore that’s exactly what I want to do, NOT! So now what? Well there are several things you can do to save the money you do have so that this does not happen again, and you can stay independent.

            So time to save some cash, first thing first, buy the cheap stuff! Go generic, you’re in college you don’t need top of the line shampoo, food, or even alcohol (for those partiers). Also you can limit the amount you eat out, or go out. Secondly, take all your change, like pennies, quarters, and such and hide them in some kind of container, and when it’s full take it to the bank. You will be surprised on how loose change can accumulate.  Another way you can save is to go to the five-dollar movie bin at good ol’ Wal Mart instead of going out to a movie. Movie theaters are insanely expensive and I’m sure you will all agree with me. Yeah most of the movies in the five-dollar bin are lame, but sometimes you can score big! So why not try it. You can also do many things around your place of living to conserve some cash too!

            Cleaning supplies, towels, or even kitchen wear can all be found at the Dollar Store for only a dollar!  Instead of going to Wal Mart and spending three bucks on a cleaner go to the Dollar Store and save your self two bucks. Also I’m sure you have heard this before but I’m going to use it as one of my examples, TURN OFF THE LIGHTS! Seriously it works, but what if you have lazy pesky roommates that don’t know how to turn a light off, buy sticky notes and post reminders for them, sounds nerdy, but I actually did this and it worked! Also you could find a night of the week when all your roommates are home and make a large dinner for everyone and rotate every week on who buys the ingredients. You will get a couple free meals this way. Another thing that you can do is instead of watching a movie at night on the TV. slip a DVD. into your computer, it saves more electricity.

            So here is the tricky part, you all know of several ways to save your money, but will we really do it all the time?  Probably not because we are the typical lazy college students, but you can try to for starters and maybe sooner than later it will become a habit of living, like everything else it takes a while to get use to change. 

Tinker School

“We start with doodles and sketches and sometimes we make real plans and sometimes we just start building.” Stated Gever Tulley. I agree completely with this statement, because for one it’s completely true in my opinion. We always start off with just a doodle or a sketch before we get a complete idea or object out of something. You have to start somewhere for basically anything we do. I am a hands on learner, my favorite classes where actually wood shop and art.  Too me it seems like school systems are mostly concerned on students being book smart. In the real world you need a lot more than knowing how to find information from a book. Having the ability to use all parts of your brain and achieve thinking skills and problem solving for everyday tasks is more important to me. You are only in school for a short period of your life, after that you will need more of those skills that are showed in the video then ever before. This school not only allows kids to seek out that part of their brain, but it also shows them what they are capable of achieving.

Some of those objects those kids created where amazing, I would say that I doubt I could do that, but yet again I have never tried. Anything is possible if you put your mind and knowledge into it. For some reason this reminds me of those TV shows where people who are very wealthy come to a problem some time in their lives and don’t know how to solve it because everything is always done for them.  They have no clue on how to go about doing something that is an every day task for the bigger portion of the population. For example cleaning or organization believe it or not there are people out there that have never had to clean or cook for themselves. Based on my opinion this is horrible, I’m someone who loves being able to do things on my own with out having to have someone always do it for me.

 Gever Tulleys video inspired me, I share the same opinions as him on things, kids should have the ability to create things on there own by putting out a plan by using there imagination. Schools theses days don’t exactly let you do that, yes being book smart is very important but so is having the skills to be able to achieve things on your own and being hands on. Life is all about being hands on and getting things done. I do think that schools should stress this learning system more. Everyone learns in different ways. I just so happen to be one of those students that learns better when I am actually put in a situation where I need to use my thinking skills and my hands. Others who are better at learning from reading things could or couldn’t excel from this as well. For example having to read the directions of something or create the directions for something may come easy to them because it involves reading, but it might not as well. Either way I think this learning system is amazing it allows kids to know how they learn best. It can even put a “fun” spin on their learning experience.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_action.html

Weekends

One thing just about anyone looks forward to would be the weekend, but why?  The weekend is a time when most people get to relax, see friends, or do what ever else is on their agenda. Well, I lucked out this weekend because I got an amazingly long four-day weekend. Reason number one, I don’t have class on Fridays and reason number two is for the fact that every Monday of the first week in September is Labor Day. On Labor Day my family usual gets together for a one last camping hoorah, but not this year! Thanks to the vast change in weather it was just a tad to cold to sit around a campfire in the middle of nowhere. 

So here I am with a whole four-day weekend, and nothing planed. Soon I remembered that it was my best friends’ birthday. Being my best friend we obviously needed to celebrate. We started off the day with going out to eat at The Olive Garden, might I add it was amazing. After that I explained that I had other things going on that night and as she thought I was ditching her on her birthday I was actually preparing a surprise birthday party for her. I won’t get into detail but it was a successful surprise.

Justine(birthday girl), cat, and obviously me

As for the rest of my weekend it was mostly about making money and relaxation. Saturday I had to work. I work at a local bar and grill as a bartender. As I was working a large bachelorette part bus stopped in things got crazy, along the lines of having to bust a few minors, and break up a bar fight. I honestly was scared being as small as I am there wasn’t much I could really do, but apparently I had a way with words because they ended the fight with a bear hug. Finally 4 a.m. rolled around and I had just clocked out talk about a long night.

Relaxation is key to a good weekend, usually Sundays is the day to just sit back and relax.  I spent all Sunday by eating A LOT of junk food and watching the one and only Dexter. For those who have never watch it I suggest you do, it’s the best show out there from my point of view. All in all I had a very successful four-day weekend, I achieved hanging out with friends, making some cash, and even relaxation. All that’s on my mind is waiting for 12:35 on Thursday to role around, then my weekend starts all over again.

All about me

First off my name is Krista Himlie, interesting enough people call me Krista, or Keisha, I honestly don’t know how this nickname came about its stuck with me since elementary school, but it has evolved in to a nick name that I despise, “egg bake” seriously people I don’t even like eggs, but sadly I respond to it so I guess I cant really complain. I grew up on 80 acres of farm free land in a little town called Houston, no not Texas. I work at a bar and grill, so far so good. For my 19th birthday I went to New York, unbelievably three people asked me if I was famous, along with almost being robbed, all in all it was a good birthday. To pass time I listen to a lot of music, and jot down lyrics that stand out to me. I love going to live shows or concerts, mainly rock. I have seen more bands than I can recall. The main reason I enjoy going to concerts is because it gives me an adrenaline rush, just from all of the people and how much energy there is in the crowd. From my point of view, you don’t get the full experience of it unless your right there upfront getting squashed, may be painful but so worth it. Some other things that I have interest in are; photography, travel, and being outdoors. 

I like photography because you are able to obtain memories from pictures, along with being able to go back to somthing. I mainly like taking pictures of sceneries, sunsets, animals, and concerts. Among other things I am a very outgoing person, I will talk to anyone who cares to start a conversation with me, I have been told that I’m intimidating more than once, this confuses me because if you ask me I’m nothing to be intimidated by, I mean seriously people mistaken my age for being 15 more than once a month. All in all I’m a nice person and excited to meet new people.