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.