BOOM!!!

Again it's been awhile since I have written a blog. I wish I would have had more time this week to get a few done, but school is pretty crazy right now. Between preparing my RMPA poster, running statistics for Experimental Psychology, and re-writing a paper for Brain and Behavior there hasn't been time for much else other that school work. Gladly the week is nearly over and I leave for Albuquerque tomorrow morning to present my research at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association's annual conference, and I am very excited to show what I have been working on for two semesters. This should be a very good experience for me, RMPA is not a huge conference so I hope this will allow me to get some experience so that I can be prepared to present at larger conferences.
Other than that, I would like to share with you some stories I found online that I thought were pretty funny. Today's theme (if you can call it that) is an example of why people should not drink. On a flight to Hawaii, a man who had been drinking got up and urinated on the woman next to him. The man was sentenced to three weeks and jail, while the woman said her entire vacation was ruined. I think that would ruin my vacation as well, I would probably be so confused that someone could just urinate on me that I would be freaked out for quite some time. In another incident, two drunken brother got into a little scuffle over a can of pork and beans. One of the bothers threw a punch, when he missed his brother grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him. The only thing I can think is how drunk were these guys? How many beers does it take to stab someone over pork and beans?
Oh well, when a person wants some pork and beans he wants some pork and beans. Elsewhere, BOOM!!. I had to give one of those in honor of John Madden. He announced that he will be retiring from announcing football games. Now, I'm not a big fan of John Madden standing there writing all over the screen while I'm trying to watch a game or speaking incoherently at time, but he was entertaining, even if only for comedic value. What I think is sad is the uncertainty of his football legacy. Most people now only know John Madden as the guy who make the video games. What a lot of people these days don't know is that he began his career as a linebacker turned youngest coach in the league. He coached the Raiders to a Superbowl title and was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I just hope, for his sake, that he will be remembered for his football career and not just the guy with the video games.

Pork and Beans Stabbing:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30246016/

Urinator:
http://tinyurl.com/dhn4hb

Madden Retires:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4073253

There Must Be Some Crack in That Chicken

To get right into it, there are some things that just infuriate me. One of these things being when people call 911 for no reason. I see these stories every now and again, one such story came about a month ago when a woman called the emergency line because McDonald's was out of McNuggets. After she ordered and paid she was informed there were no McNuggets, and was then offered another meal. She was told all sales were final and could not get a refund, and darn it, she didn't want anything other than those McNuggets. I guess, maybe (not really), I can understand her calling once and having the purpose of 911 explained to her, but she called 3 times! What does it take for you to realize a your $3.50 McNuggets aren't classified as an emergency? I wish I could say this were an isolated incident, but yesterday a woman called because her shrimp fried rice didn't have enough shrimp. She should be happy, she at least got what she ordered. But as she said about the chef "He didn't even put extra shrimp in there", and as we all know, that is simply unacceptable and one must involve law enforcement.
There was something that made me quite happy today, and it comes from my love of sport. Today I sat down and watched the PGA's Master's par-3 challenge. I love to watch sporting events like this. For those of you who don't know, the par-3 challenge is always played the day before the years first PGA major starts. The reason I love this event, maybe more so than the actual tournament, is because it shows me how great of a sport golf really is. Many of the players have their kids playing with them, and there are always old school greats that join in. It just show that if you love to play golf you can play it for the rest of your life, and you can share it with everyone around you as a great way to bond.

Question of the Blog: How far would you go to get you some McNuggets?

McNuggets 911:
http://tinyurl.com/b299gj

Shrimp 911:
http://tinyurl.com/c8pljk

Gasoline + Lit Cigarette = ?

It has been a while since I last posted a blog, about a week I think. Quite a bit has happened over the last week, at least more then usual it seems. Last Thursday I made it through my first academic presentation, which went much better then I expected. I was most nervous about taking questions about my research. When I am talking about what I have done there are no surprises and I know what to say, but I have no way of knowing what someone will ask me. I was especially nervous about taking questions due to the fact that the two faculty members I work closest with were both there asking me their own questions. And now that the Student Scholar Days presentation is done, have to hustle to get my RMPA (Rocky Mountain Psychological Association) presentation done. I wish there was more time between presentations, but I am glad the RMPA conference is soon. I have to say that I feel very fortunate to be able present my own original research to not only my peers and professors, but also to others in the field of psychology around the region. Since I am currently a Sophomore I hope I have this opportunity many more times in the next few years.
Since I am studying psychology, I also hope to understand why some people are as stupid as they are. If you read my blog then you know what I am talking about. Yet on a regular basis I still find stories of human stupidity that are nothing short of amazing. And I mean amazing in the sense that they just leave me thoughtless, not just speechless but thoughtless. To get to the point, a 47 year old man started his apartment on fire after cleaning it with gasoline. Of course the guy was smoking a cigarette as he was cleaning as well. Now I'm pretty sure this guy was trying to burn down the building. He stacked the gasoline soaked rags all together, then flicked his cigarette on the pile. After the fire started, instead of pulling a fire alarm he simply yelled fire and walked to the police department. The 47 year old was quoted as saying "he wasn't thinking". It seems pretty clear to me that this was intentional, but I think that even if this were accidental I just wouldn't want to believe a person could be that stupid.

Question of the blog: Do you think he could have possibly started the fire by accident?

Arsonist:
http://tinyurl.com/cycz2s

Wait, You Aren't Good Enough, Sorry

Today I am very excited. As of late I have been feeling very good, sleeping better, and all around happier. I am happy to say as of today I have lost 20 lbs! This is really the first time in my life that I have tried to get healthier, which I really needed to do. I have worked out to get into shape and for sports and all of that good stuff, but now that I don't really play competitive sports I did this one for me. I decided to start thinking ahead with my health. Just being Hispanic puts me at risk for things like diabetes not to mention my family history of it, if I can cut out one more encouraging factor then why not? I am also worried about the condition of my heart. I already have an hole in my heart that should not be there, and I really don't want to over work the little guy. To be totally honest, cutting out things like pop and potatoes really hasn't been that hard. And I love Dr. Pepper, even my pajama pants say so, but after the first week it was real easy to just grab a water. So 20 lbs down, and hopefully it's just the start.
Next on the list of good news today, the University of California in San Diego welcomed 46,377 new students to the school. The University sent out an e-mail congratulating the students on their acceptance. The problem is only 17,000 incoming students were accepted for the upcoming fall semester. I'll be the first to admit that I am no math wiz, but I think I could figure out that there is a pretty large difference between 17,000 and 46,377. Whoever sent out this e-mail must not have the brightest bulb in the box. Even though whoever sent the e-mail must feel awful about this mistake, I am inclined to feel worst for the students who didn't get in. Image a kid who was told they would never get into college, or that they were not college material, or even that they just couldn't get into a school that good. I'm sure when they got that e-mail they showed everyone they knew, rubbing it in the faces of the nay-sayers, just to be denied a few hours later. And I am sure there were already plenty of congratulatory parties planned before the bad new was received. That's good on the old self-esteem.

Question of the Blog: How would you feel if you were the parent of one of these hopeful students?

UCSD Mishap:
http://tinyurl.com/danblj