My Computer

I really shouldn’t be writing a blog right now, since I’m very angry, but I’m not sure what state my computer will be in tomorrow, so I’d better get this over with.  

I am very annoyed with my computer.  For all the talk of how simple technology is getting, it sure doesn’t seem like it.  My computer won’t do anything I want.  It’s slow.   All of my programs have a black background. My computer flips out if I’m running multiple programs at a time.  It takes forever to load anything, and it often won’t turn off unless I turn off the main power.  My computer freezes all of the time and is never helpful.  These are just a few of the reasons that I need to either a) delete everything on my computer or b) buy a new computer.

Another thing that’s killing me is the computer’s making me feel really dumb.  I can generally understand what’s going on with my computer.  Most of the time, I am able to fix whatever problem comes up.  But now, I have no idea what’s going on.  The things I usually check are telling me that nothing is wrong.  Something is wrong, though.  I know it is, and I don’t know how to fix it.  It’s a very frustrating experience, and I’m feeling that all these things I keep trying are going to no avail.  

My uncle gave me all of this software that were supposed to help us run some programs (we got this after the problems started, so don’t think they were the cause), but they could only open and run with versions older than the ones I have.  So, I decided to revert to the old ones, figuring that it wouldn’t matter that much.  It was a bad idea.  It didn’t do anything except make it so that some files (that I had no idea were connected!) wouldn’t open.  I eventually just had to reinstall my normal programs, after uninstalling all of the stuff I had just spent hours putting on.  Now I’m back to the same square, and I just want to give up.  It scares me to death to completely reboot the computer, but I think I’d feel worse if someone else did it, so that’ll be my project tomorrow.  It’s going to take me all day to do.  Uh!!  I just have to keep telling myself that it will be making it better, and that it is worth the time.  

Sorry, this is a really whiny, annoying, and uninteresting blog, but it made me feel better.  I’m not even sure if I’ll post it or leave it on.  If you are a super genius at computers (and you can tell right away what my problem is), please help me.  These problems are really killing me.  Thanks.  

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Have you ever considered how history would’ve been different if people would have: a) thought about what they were doing and b) thought about the consequences?  An event, which I recently learned about in school, could’ve been completely avoided if people would’ve thought about these points in the beginning.  This event is the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was in the height of the Cold War.  Fidel Castro was the dictator of Cuba, John F. Kennedy the President of the U.S., and Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union.  These men had many stressful times during this thirteen-day period.  It is called the Cuban Missile Crisis because the U.S.S.R. had put nuclear missiles in Cuba.  These missiles were aimed at strategic points in the United States.  If these missiles would’ve been fired, a nuclear holocaust would’ve ensued and we would not be alive.  Most likely the entire globe would’ve been destroyed.  

During this time, the public was kept in the dark for most of it.  The three, previously mentioned men were primarily involved, and it was only through some great moves and compromises that the disaster was stopped.  It is truly a miracle that this happened.    

Now, with all of our current knowledge, I cannot imagine people even considering the idea of nuclear war.  It would be the destruction of the entire Earth.  But at the time, it seemed like, not necessarily a good idea, but the only option.  The great powerhouses of the world, U.S.A and U.S.S.R., were fighting against each other.  What was the main cause of this fight?  Power.  Power is such a great downfall of so many people.  Imagine all of the wars that would’ve never begun if people weren’t hungry for power and world domination.  Millions and millions of people would’ve been saved from death and the ravages of war.  The Cuban Missile Crisis is just a small example of that, and luckily, the dangers were averted in time.

So, what are we to do with this great knowledge of the past?  We need to use it to help us in the future!  We should look at the mistakes, and the great accomplishments, of leaders and then decide how we can either use their decisions and ideas or make sure that they aren’t done again.  History is not just taught to take up time or bore kids in a classroom.  It is a tool that should used for our benefit.  We can do better than those in the past have and, using our great history, make decisions that will not only help us, but those in generations to come!  

KING KONG!!

King Kong is the best show I have seen this year!  Given, it is the only new movie I’ve seen this year, but it is still excellent.  I love the girl, named Anne, in it.  She’s smart, resilient, and quick on her feet, often literally.  I can’t believe how many times she keeps going, even after most people would’ve accepted that they’re dead.  This caused her to stay alive.  At some points she was close to death, and I had to remind myself that the main lady couldn’t be killed off.  

At one scene in this movie, there was a giant grasshopper.  It was DISGUSTING!  I hate grasshoppers in the first place, but this completely wrecked it for me.  I will never be able to look at those beady-eyed creatures again.  

This movie was excellently done.  It was long, 3 hours 7 minutes, but it didn’t seem that bad to me.  Peter Jackson, the director, doesn’t know how to make short films, though.  His Lord of the Rings movies are just another example of that.  I thought the actors played their parts perfectly.  I was impressed at how real they made Kong look.  I can only imagine the kinds of technology it would take to make this film.  

Okay, I know this isn’t exactly “honors caliber”, but I’m very excited about this movie.  It was amazing!!

I'm not sorry!

“One… Two… Three.  Sorry!”

“You’re not sorry!!

“I know!!!”

This is how the board game Sorry often goes.  It is an awful game, and it should not be played by little children.  It teaches them how to be brutally mean, instead of showing them how to be a good sport.  In this game, the goal is to move all your players from start to home.  This sounds innocent enough, but the execution is not quite so easy.  To move, you must draw cards, which give directions.  To even get out of start you must draw a one, two, or Sorry! Card.  After you finally get out (this often takes great lengths of time.  Since everyone does not get out at the same time, some players often get very ahead of the other ones.  This causes discouragement, even before you get out of start), you have to move all the way around the board to get to home.

Here are some instances of Sorry! being an unkind game.  These come from an experience I had last night with a girl I was babysitting.  They have really influenced me, and made me swear never to buy Sorry! for my own children.

First of all, I had decided not to completely beat this girl.  I would give her a chance to win, and I figured it would be a fun competitive game.  Right away, she got three players out of start, while I was still waiting to get any out.  I finally draw a Sorry! card.  I hate these, because they force you, no matter what, to be cruel.  You have to send a player back to their start, while you get to take their spot.  I decided that I was going to choose the one that was farthest back, so that it would hurt her the least.  If I chose the one most beneficial to me, I would’ve easily gotten someone to home quickly.  Well, I do this, and we continue to play.  After a few turns, she got a Sorry! card.  I had gotten two other people out, and we were both doing pretty well.  Instead of being kind, though, she bumped my best player back to start.  Then, to my shocked face, she said, “It’s only fair.”  This made me very angry.  It wasn’t fair!  I was being very kind to her, and she came back and pounded me.  I had to bite my tongue and continue to play.

The next reason I hate Sorry! came later.  The game was drawing to a conclusion.  I had decided not to use my turn to send her back to start.  Right after I decided to do her this favor, she got a 7 card.  While using this card, you’re allowed to split your moves between two pawns.  This little girl split her turn and bumped two of my pawns back to start.  

Finally, I couldn’t take it any more.  This game was annoying me so much that I had felt like I had to fight back.  This isn’t the spirit you want to be in while playing a board game, especially with a seven year old you’re babysitting.  Board games should be fun and entertaining, not cause anger and hatred towards your fellow players.  This is why this game should only be played with the greatest discretion.  Little children should not play it because it does not teach them good things.  So, be careful while playing the game Sorry!, because when you bump some one back, you’re lying.  You really aren’t “sorry.”    

Sports

Sports have really warped our nation, whether we care to admit it or not.  Sports are a big deal, and they’ve changed our outlook on winning.  No longer are people satisfied with fifth or even second place.  If they aren’t first, they might as well be the biggest loser.  Why have we become this way?  I think part of the reason is because so much money is spent on winning.  When you have profession athletes that are paid millions of dollars to play a game, the people who are paying them feel that their money should be well spent.  It’s very frustrating to think that some of the athletes get paid millions to sit on the bench being injured.  I can do that much!!  

The reason that I’ve been thinking about this so much lately is because of the college bowl games.  I watched most of the Orange and Rose Bowl, and I decided that I hate to watch them.  They’re so depressing, and you can almost always call the outcome.  Amazing things will happen on both sides, but then at the very end, someone will make a mistake, or the team won’t be playing very well, and the game will be over.  Then, one team walks around gloating about how “the other team played their hardest, and it was a tough fight, but we always knew we were going to win, because we really are the best” (even though they had been losing and doing awful just moments before).  They all think they’re so cool, and given, they have worked very hard to get there, but I feel that it often goes past being happy about their achievements and into rubbing in their victory.  The losing team, on the other hand, is never happy.  They can’t see that they’re the second best team in the nation.  All that they can see is that they’re losers.  Think about it next time you watch a game.  The other team feels that they might as well have come in dead last, even though they are second, or fourth, or whatever the case may be.  

Then, the worst part is seeing the person who’s “fault” it is.  You really can’t blame the loss of an entire game on one person.  Wasn’t everyone working together?  In the Orange Bowl, the kickers were not doing a very good job.  I have never seen so many missed field goal kicks, but still, it isn’t exclusively their fault.  If the quarterback would’ve thrown better, or if the runners would’ve scored more touchdowns, they wouldn’t be blaming it on the kickers.  But everyone really hates to admit mistakes, and so, they find someone to blame.  At the end of the Orange Bowl, the losing team’s kicker was sitting by a wall, all by himself, looking like he was going to cry.  I felt so bad for him!! He felt like no one at that time loved him (maybe no one did….), but still, it was very sad.  No one will ever let it go that he “lost the football game.”

The true reason that this all happens is society has taught everyone to be a poor sport.  Good sportsmanship is a dying practice.  Profession athletes are the worst at it.  They should be setting the example (they’re getting paid enough), but instead they show everyone that it’s “better” to be a poor loser.  But, since these athletes are considered the best and are role model, that’s what people learn to do.  So, I encourage you to be a good sport, and to realize that it isn’t always the end of the world to get second.  I know that I need to get better at this, but when I change my attitude, the games are more fun and I generally feel better about them afterwards.