i am shep

this is me

Tag: general

Panic at the Discold

Starting sometime last week, around Monday or Tuesday, I started feeling a fluttering in my chest. The feeling was the feeling you get when you are extremely nervous or when you have a lot of anxiety. I didn't think anything of this at first because who hasn't felt that feeling every once in a while. But it kept happening. Over and over. Several times a day. It was starting to freak me out a bit. It was almost as if I was having miniature panic attacks for no reason. But I wasn't. My heart was beating normally. I wasn't feeling anything else besides these bursts of fluttering several times a day. I figured I'd give it a few more days before I would make an appointment with a doctor.

Last night I finally voiced my concerns with a couple of people. My friend Trix told me to make an appointment with a doctor right away. My friend Brittney reacted a bit differently. I told her what I was feeling via IM and her response was one of shock. She was feeling the exact same thing I was. I thought this was very odd but didn't really think anything of it. I decided to tell my mom what I was feeling and that I may need to see a doctor. As I'm telling her, her eyes get wide and she tells me she has felt the exact same thing. This was really starting to get weird. What was causing this feeling in people? Especially Brittney, who lives in Wisconsin. This is too much to be a coincidence. My mom then goes on to explain how it freaked her out at first as well but then she overheard two ladies talking about having the same exact feeling. What is going on here? Why are all these people feeling this and why haven't I heard something about this from others? It turns out one of the ladies my mom overheard, and her husband, were feeling this and went to the doctor. The doctor told them that because St. Louis has had such a warm winter with temperatures well above the norm, our bodies didn't know how to react last week when the temperature dropped to zero. I mean, we've had weather in the 50's, 60's and even 70's when it should be in the 20's and 30's. As it so happens, the feeling started when the cold hit, but I would have never attributed it to the weather. My friend that lives in Wisconsin hasn't had a warm winter. But the temperatures have been record lows, so I would assume it can do the same as it did to me.

I'm going to keep monitoring just to make sure it's nothing else, but a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders when I found out others were having the feeling and that it was all caused by the weather. Very strange.

general, weather

Writer's Block

I've not posted anything in a while. I just haven't had much to write about and when I have had a topic I'd begin to write but half way through I'd stop not knowing how to end the post. Part of the reason for the block has to be having a busy weekend. While it was a 5 day weekend, I stayed busy reading the new Dean Koontz book, watching The Wire, and just hanging out. I also haven't had anything to write about. Nothing eventful has really happened lately and I've been out of touch with the news of the world a bit. One thing has happened that I've heard about. Apparently Charter and KMOV have reached a settlement. I'm betting Charter had to come to some agreement for payment, which I still think is just wrong, but oh well, what can you do? Anyway, hopefully the writer's block will go away and I'll have something more to say soon.

general

Pieces of Shep

Inspired by my friend Trix, I decided to let you, my loyal reader(s) in on some pieces of me that you might not know.

I collect the board game Monopoly. I've done this for several years. I have only purchased 1 of the 20+ versions of the board game I have. I didn't intend to start collecting them. It is my favorite game and one year for Christmas I received 3 or 4 versions from various family members. Since then, I've been getting them on a regular basis as gifts. My favorite has to be the St. Louis Cardinals version or the Classic version that comes in a wood box. The only one I purchased for myself was an edition from 1935, which is the first year they were mass-produced by a game manufacturing company.

I have a BSEd in History but I work as a web developer. Finding a job teaching high school social studies is hard as it is an overpopulated field. Will I go back to teaching? I'm not quite sure yet. I also work part time as a teacher for Sylvan Learning Center.

The worst job I ever had was working at my family's restaurant. It was the summer before my freshman year of high school. Most of the time I did maintenance jobs around the building. This was not an easy task on a building that was built before the Civil War. When I wasn't in the blistering heat (that was a hot summer!) doing maintenance, I was in the kitchen either cutting strawberries or wrapping potatoes in foil. Fun stuff, I know.

I love the TV show Saved by the Bell. Yeah, if you read this blog, you already know that. It's a guilty pleasure of mine and reminds me of a much simpler time.

The only movie to ever scare me as a kid was The Exorcist. That movie was ahead of its time.

I wish I was still in college. I love the college environment and would love to go back. I also love learning and would love to take all the classes I wanted to while I was in school but didn't have the time to take them. I would also love to teach at the collegiate level. I'd need to get my PhD in order to be a professor in history though, and I don't have the time or the money for that right now. I don't even have the time or money to start my Master's. Some day...

Well, there you have it. Some things about me you might not have known. I hope you learned a little more about me and now realize I'm more awesome than you once thought. ;)

general

Thank You

general, veterans-day

Desktop Mail Clients

With the advancements in webmail, I've never seen the need for desktop mail clients. I mean, I understand the need for Outlook, or a similar mail client, for work email where you're constantly sending and receiving email and integrating it with calendars and tasks, but for personal email for accounts at Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail, I never quite understood it. The interfaces of those clients are great and I don't know why someone would choose a mail client instead of the webmail interface. With the ability to add extensions to Firefox to notify you of new mail, you don't even have to login to check to see if you have new mail. The major webmail services tend to offer all the features you want from a mail client built in to the web interface. That being said, I've decided to give the desktop client another go.

For one of my websites I've decided to use my host's email. Instead of constantly logging in to my host's webmail system, I decided to set up the account in Thunderbird. I've never had anything against Thunderbird, and I think it's a great app, but like I said, if you're using something like Gmail, I never saw the point. Well, I've been using it for a couple weeks and it's fine. I don't get much mail on that account so my opinion is mostly neutral. I have decided to add my Gmail account to Thunderbird to give it a go. One reason for this was because Gmail has been throwing me a lot of errors lately when I try to do something and I wind up having to close the window or tab and open Gmail back up. I won't need to do that with Thunderbird. The setup is easy and Google provides perfect instructions for optimal integration with Thunderbird. I'm still not sure I see the point. Gmail is just as easy to access via my Gmail notifier or Google Talk, so I don't save any time. I do kind of miss the threaded view of Gmail, but that's not a deal breaker for me. Will I stick with it? I'm not sure. I'll try it for a couple weeks but I have a feeling I'll be going back to regular Gmail.

general

Wint-O-Hot

I've had this pain in my left shoulder and going up neck for the past couple days. Last night I decided to put some Icy-Hot on it. I love how much it soothes the muscle but I hate the smell of it. Why? Because it has a wintergreen smell. It smells exactly like Life Savers' Wint-o-green flavored candy. Why in the world do you make a muscle cream smell like wintergreen candy? What is the point of this? Is the smell supposed to relax me further? Honestly, it just made me want to lick my shoulder. Luckily, I can't reach my shoulder with my tongue, otherwise it might have happened. I really don't understand it. What's next, fungal cream that smells like cotton candy? There has to be a better scent out there for this. Or how about, no scent at all! That way, I don't get my creams and candies confused. This may have an adverse effect on my Lifesavers enjoyment as well. Next time I get some Lifesavers, am I going to rub them over my body expecting some nice muscle relaxation? I really don't want my muscle cream smelling like candy, so, makers of Icy-Hot, please change the scent of your product.

general

Who Do You Write For?

For those with personal blogs out there, who do you write for? Is there someone you gear your blog towards? Who is your audience?

In my case, I have a wide audience. I mostly write on personal matters and thoughts so the majority of my readers are people I know, either in real life or people I know from the internet. These people are friends and family that pretty much know what's going on in my day to day life. I don't really write for them though. In fact, if I didn't write here I'm sure they'd keep up with my life in another way (and many do keep up with my life in multiple ways). I think mostly I write on this blog for myself. It's not so much so other people can read my thoughts and what's going on, it's more for me to be able to organize my thoughts and put them down.

Sure, there are times when the post is dedicated to the audience at large, and an audience that extends well-beyond friends and family. My Song of the Week posts are made to expose new music to anyone who happens upon my site. Or take a post like The Genius of Tupac. Again, friends and family know what a fan of him I am, this was directed at a larger audience, especially people finding out what Tupac was about for the first time. And then there are my rants on various items, services, and stores to warn people of these things. Sometimes, I even like to throw in a post to show just how weird eccentric I really am. Every once in a while, I'd even write to a specific person (who I know still visits but I no longer write to them). For the most part though, I write for myself. This may not get me the most traffic or visitors, but I'm not trying to be the most popular. I'm just being me.

blogging, general

St. Louis Bloggers Guild

This week I joined the St. Louis Bloggers Guild. I know a couple other people that were part of it and I figured it would be a good way to meet fellow St. Louis bloggers. I'm interested to see what kind of things they do, what the meetings are like, and what kind of wisdom they can impart on me. I've been blogging for 4 years now so it will be interesting to see the different opinions on blogging, social media, software, etc. that I'm sure the fellow members will have. I really want to get more involved in social media, hit up events such as the Bloggers Guild meetings, tweet-ups, and blog conferences, if we ever get a big enough one to hit St. Louis. BlogOrlando sounded like a great time this year. I would like to see something that big hit St. Louis. One of these times I'm going to have to make it to a conference. I know I'll never blog for a living, but I think it would be cool to meet people who do and see how they do it. Who knows, maybe I'll even get into podcasting, but I have no idea what I'll have to talk about. Unless there is a market for Saved by the Bell podcasts. Is there? Please tell me there is. :)

general, st-louis-bloggers-guild

Too Many Sites, Too Little Time

I've not been updating this site much lately, besides the two posts over the weekend. Things have just been really busy for me. Busy at work and busy at home. With last week being the RNC, Political Jackass was taking most of my time from me. This also means that The Costanza Experiment has suffered in updates (the experiment is ongoing, I assure you) and The Technology Classroom. I'm trying to get some help on Political Jackass to take some of the pressure off me to update. I've got one person signed up and I'm hoping for more. If you are interested, drop me a line.

Hopefully this week I'll be able to work on The Technology Classroom some more. I really like the idea of this site and am looking forward to what comes of it. I plan on updating the site with several new articles and even install some forum software on the site.

I know I shouldn't stretch myself so thin with all the website, but I'm very passionate about technology and with this being an election year, I think it's important to update Political Jackass as much as possible.

general, websites

Microblogging with Asaph

Today I found out about a piece of software called Asaph. It is a great microblogging system. What makes it so great is the ease in which you can post. Just drag the bookmarklet to your bookmarks then whenever you want to post a new entry, you just select the text you want and click the bookmarklet. If you want to post an image, you click the bookmarklet and then select the image and it will automatically put it on your server for you. It's an awesome tool and there is already talk of making a plugin for Habari. I'm hoping they do, then I might switch. Check out my shorts here.

I've also been posting a lot to Political Jackass this weekend, so if you're interested in politics, hop on over. I'm trying to update several times a day. There is even a twitter account setup, you can follow Political Jackass at twitter.com/polijackass and read the political shorts at shorts.politicaljackass.com.

asaph, general, microblogging, politics, shorts

Obama in My Cube

[caption id="attachment_798" width="300" caption="The Obama Action Figure brightens up any work cubicle"]The Obama Action Figure brightens up any work cubicle[/caption] Yes, I got an Obama action figure from Jailbreak Toys. Now I think I need a McCain figure for Obama to beat up on. But then I'd have to spend money on something McCain, and to be honest, he is not worth a dime.

barack-obama, general, work

The Costanza Experiment

I'm going to begin a little experiment I'd like to call The Costanza Experiment, named after one of the wisest philosophers of our time, George Costanza. If you remember, there was an episode of Seinfeld where George decides to do the opposite of what he'd usually do. I've decided I'm going to start doing this. I'm not taking it to the extreme that George did, meaning I'm not going to change the food I order just to do the opposite. I will start doing the opposite for major things in my life though. A good friend and I had an argument the other night and things didn't turn out all that well and might have permanently damaged our friendship and it was over something that was really stupid and it just got out of hand in a hurry. In the future I'd like to avoid such things and maybe doing the opposite is exactly what I need to help me out. I'll keep you posted on my little experiment.

friendship, general, life, the-costanza-experiment

Wisdom Teeth

Yesterday I had my wisdom teeth removed. The procedure went by really quick and I didn't feel much pain. They hooked up the IV of wonderful drugs and about 15 seconds later I began to get dizzy then I fell asleep. I woke up a couple times in the 35 minutes I was out and felt them doing things in my mouth and it hurt a little, but by the time they were done and I woke up that pain was just a distant memory. My jaw and gums are still sore today but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. The vicodin they prescribed makes me extremely sleepy. I'd say the worst part so far has been how swollen my face has been and how thirsty I have been. I hope the rest of my recovery goes just as well as the past day has and really hope I don't get dry sockets.

In other news, I'm glad I didn't camp out for an iPhone. The ATT store that I would have camped out at only had 20 to sell on release day. I went to the store today and they ordered me one. It is supposed to be in in 7-10 days. We'll see how that holds up, but at least I should be getting one soon. I'm excited about that.

general

The End is Near

I saw that the school posted an opening for my job. Good luck to whoever takes it. They are going to need it. It's hard to do this job and stay sane. No breaks at all. I even eat lunch with the kids. 7 hours non-stop of being with the kids. That's a long time to be with the same kids without so much as a bathroom break or 5 minutes of time to take to yourself to preserve sanity. Oh well, in 5 more days it'll all be over. I'm so excited for the school year to be over. I'm tired of the trouble-maker kids and this job. I'm excited about starting my new job. I'm looking forward to sleeping in an hour and a half later than usual. I'm excited to be in a job where I'm not drowning in deafening silence all day long; a job where I can listen to music, talk to co-workers, leave the building if I need to. All I have to do is get through the next 5 days. They are going to be long and hard, but I think I can do it. At least, I hope I can. I'm also excited for June because the hope of a new iPhone. My contract with Verizon is up near the end of June, so I will be buying an iPhone (if the new one comes out) and switching to AT&T. I can't wait to get it. I don't know what I'm more excited for, the end of school or a new phone. They both happen within a week of each other, so the excitement has built up considerably.

general, iphone, work

There's a Whole Lotta Sleepin' Goin' On

So, at around 4:30 this morning Missouri and Illinois experienced an earthquake that registered 5.2 on the Richter scale. Everyone on the news and at work this morning was talking about it. I slept through it. Didn't even wake me up slightly. I'm kinda bummed. Besides that tiny earthquake (around a 2) I experienced when I was like 10, I've never been in one. I would have liked to feel it a bit, just for the experience. It seems that no matter what nature throws at me, I can sleep through it. While in college, a tornado touched down on campus and caused a fair amount of damage. Everyone was talking about it. It made the news in St. Louis (I went to MSU in Springfield, MO) and my mom even called me to ask if I was ok. I had no idea what she was talking about and was upset she woke me up during my between-class nap. In the future nature, if you want to wake me up, you're gonna have to try a little harder than a 5.2.

general

I'm 25

Well, I'm officially 25. Yesterday was my birthday and now I'm a quarter of a century old. I had a good birthday. My parents and sisters got me exactly what I asked for and my mom cooked one of my favorite meals. Not only that, but it was sunny, warm, and the Cardinals won. A good day all around.

As I look back at the last couple years since college, and we all tend to look at ourselves a little more harshly around birthday time, I do realize I'm not where I want to be with my life. The job I have is not the job I want (or need). The people here are great, but it's not the teaching position that I wanted to get into as soon as I got out of college. In order to get a high school position, I may have to move. I've been thinking about going back to Springfield. I know the schools and the area to an extent, so it shouldn't be hard to adjust. I would rather go to Springfield than Kansas City (even though several of my college friends now live there). I couldn't live with Royals baseball. Cardinals all the way! Anyway, I have got to find a position somewhere for next school year. Cross your fingers and hope I find something because I'm 25 now. Too old to still be here.

birthday, general, work

The Last Hurrah

Sunday is my last hurrah. I will be turning 25, the last good year. What I mean by this is this is the last year that something somewhat major happens. 16 you get your license, 18 you can vote, 21 you can drink. At 25 your car insurance drops and you can rent a car. After this, it's all down hill. From now on you get gag parties in which people give you gifts referencing how old you are. 30, 40, 50. It really isn't until you hit 90 that these birthdays stop. Then at this point you're just amazed you're still alive. So yeah, this Sunday I will be turning 25. I should be living it up and partying hard for my last good birthday, so I probably need to call up some old friends and get them to take me out, buy me drinks, and make it legendary. (I'm a realist so I'll go ahead and say this probably won't happen).

birthday, general, randomness

Spring Break, Quit Taunting Me

I'm so looking forward to spring break. It begins on Friday. I need this break so much. I'm getting worn out by some of these kids. I look forward to staying up late, sleeping in, playing Super Smash Brothers on the Wii. I look forward to relaxing and catching up on some movies, friends, and sleep. Oh man, I'm looking forward to sleeping. They say you can't play catch-up with sleep, but I'm sure going to try. After today, three more days this week until a week of pure bliss. I better enjoy it while it lasts though. MAP testing begins the Tuesday after we come back. Yay for standardized tests! (sarcasm)

general, randomness, work

I might be moving this weekend

Dmondark in #habari did me a huge favor and ported the wordpress audio player plugin. That was essentially my last major hurdle I had to overcome in order to switch to Habari. I already have an install up and running with all my blog posts and plugins. Everything seems to be running smoothly. So, this weekend, I may be moving the blog from WordPress to Habari. If I do move, I'll have a new feed address, so make sure you stop by the site to get the new address so you can update your feed readers.

features, general, habari, websites, wordpress

Trivia Night

Last night I participated in a Trivia Night that a family friend was promoting. The cause was for cancer research. Amanda spends countless hours each year raising money for research and last night was no exception. I think she said they raised over $12,000. There were 38 tables (with 10 people at each table) so it was packed.

I was a bit disappointed in the categories and questions. The categories were pretty difficult (Art Smart? Really?) The questions were incredibly detailed and it amazes me that anyone knew some of them. I've been in a lot of Trivia Night events and my teams have usually placed within the top three. I don't even think we placed in the top half last night. There was one creative category entitled "This tastes like..." There were 10 bags of Jelly Bellies on the table. The first 8 bags had enough candy for everyone to have one. We then had to decide what it is and write it down on the answer sheet. The last 2 bags had only one Jelly Belly and one person had to eat them and say what they were. I was chosen (because no one else wanted to). The first one was black pepper. It wasn't that bad at first but it just kept getting stronger and stronger, even after I swallowed. The second one was dirt. That was disgusting. It tasted like a humid summer day right after it rained, when you inhale deeply around a bunch of mud. It was quite disgusting.

All in all, it was a good time. Hopefully if they do it again they create easier questions and categories. When more people can answer the questions it makes it more fun for everyone.

cancer, features, general, trivia