What a Break...

Spring Break just came and went. What did I do? Eh, a few things...

1. planted flowers & bushes around new house (they died due to the freeze LOL)
2. played MTG with friends
3. played some WoW
4. I drove down to Smallbany, GA to visit friends

I know that Albany is not a small town - It is usually the 4th or 5th largest city in GA. I call it small due to the unfortunate situation many of its residents are in - a state of small-mindedness. I love my friends that are there - they are exceptions to the rule, but a great deal of the people there make me want to vomit. The words, "pretentious, racist, snobbish, judgemental, fanatically religious, and superficial" come to mind.

Mind you, as I said, the friends I made in Albany are my friends because they weren't those things. It is okay to be religious, but anyone who tells me I'm going to hell for the way I believe is judging me and they can go fuck themselves. Furthermore, the pretentious, superficial, 'I'm better than you because I drive/wear/went to/etc' people,.. well,... those people are a lifeform somewhat below the level of moldy cheese and they reminded me of why I don't like to visit SMALLbany. However, there are still reasons I'll probably visit again;

5. I played poker with friends, just hung out with friends,

6. I played some PnP RPG (Marvel) with good friends, and

7. I got to visit the most wonderful family I know, the Parrs.

The Parrs are family to me. I literally call them Mom, Brother, and Sister. Its because through my good fortune I made friends with one hell of a guy I call Elvis, some 16 years ago. He's a wacky type, so you can imagine we get along pretty well. :) I'm glad for that. His mom is terrific, and I consider her to be my mom of sorts too. Heck, she's raised me quite a lot since I met her. His sister is a riot too. She's a bit odd, but aren't all sisters? hehe ;) She has 5 children I really adore. Also living with them is his Aunt. She's a fruitbasket but I love her dearly as well - hehe! I got to spend hours with them just playing and talking. It was because of numbers 5, 6, and 7, that I will brave number 4 again. They make the trip totally worthwhile.

{EDIT}: Mitch, you dipshit, you're included in #5! Yes folks, I hung out with the amazing Mitch Belcher!!! :) Hehe. - Better?!? :P You Dork. LOL, Don't worry Mitch, I still luv ya!

Subdivision Entrance 

2nd Bedroom 

Backyard 

Dining room from Sunroom 

Front door 

Front Elevation of "Home" 

Kitchen from Dining Room 

Dining Room from Kitchen 

Living Room from Sunroom 

Living Room from Front Door 

Master Bedroom 

My desk 

Sunroom View 

Hazy Daze

Wow, its spring break already!
And amazingly the time left in it is flying by,... quickly coming to a close.

What have I done you ask? Where have I gone?

I went to Home Dept and Truevalue and Lowe's.
I planted flowers and bought a chainsaw to cut down some trees.
Exciting, huh? Well, it isn't the most exhillarating spring break ever, but hey, when you own a home, isn't this what you're supposed to do?

I also got the taxes done. I thought I'd be in good shape after buying a home. Big fucking surprise that a corporation screwed things up. I owe the state government $700!!! >.< I am NOT happy about it.

The only thing I AM happy about right now is that some friends are driving over from Atlanta today so we can play some Magic: The Gathering (card game). :) Wheee!

I'll take some pics of the flowers when I'm done and post them. =P

Unisex: Violation of Expectations ?!?

Ooh, ooh,.. I forgot to post about this last week. So here it is now.

The Setup
For quite some time I've entertained conversations with a few coworkers about the labeling of what used to be the Men's Faculty Bathroom. Now it is the "Unisex / Handicap" bathroom. We often joke about the fact that very often people will go in to use it and not lock the door. At the same time we wonder if it is strange that people go in and lock the door, since it is afterall "Unisex". We always joke that one day we'll use the urinal and not lock the door and see if people still come in or if they immediately leave. To understand where this is going you need to know what the bathroom looks like.

The Bathroom Layout
There is an exterior locking door. Inside, there is a sink, a urinal (with small walls on either side), and one stall with a locking door.

The Event
One day last week I had to pee really badly. I left my office and went around the corner to the Unisex bathroom because it is closest to my office. (There's a men's room on another hall not 50 more feet away though). I opened the bathroom door to find a young woman styling her hair at the sink. Seeing as I had to pee really really badly,.. I politely said, "Oh, hello,... excuse me." and I walked right past her and started using the urinal. She left in quite a hurry thereafter. Once the door closed behind her I chuckled slightly as the wave of relief washed over me.

The comedy of it all - and the Questions this poses
There's a separator wall between the sink and the urinal. Should she have not felt uncomfortable seeing as it was a Unisex bathroom? Should she not have hurried out but instead finished styling her hair? I think if I walked in and some woman was using the stall, I'd still use the urinal. I mean, really,.. who gives a damn. We're adults.

I know a lot of students probably have not had a public bathroom experience, but I have (and no, I wasn't even in Europe). I know me continuing violated her expectations. As for myself, I think its rather comical. That'll teach her to use the Unisex bathroom! I can hardly wait until these young adults go out into the corporate world and have to use a bathroom where there are 40 stalls side-by-side and people actually *gasp* talk to each other while defecating.

Janet and Chris at my WebCT Vista training session

We're switching over to WebCT Vista at work. I like using WebCT for my courses, and this looks like it has some nice features even though I'm sure I'll spend a few more days figuring out how to make it do what I want it to do. Chris is a nice and very helpful guy. Janet is awesome. She's helped me a lot with WebCT and other distance learning issues. Snapping their picture with my camera phone is somewhat revenge. They're always taking pictures of us (faculty) at their functions and I figured it was time for some payback. ;)