Least Attractive Thing Ever

Ok, so yesterday's post was about one of my big pet peeves. Today's is about the one thing that any cute guy can do if he wants to do something that is a huge turn off. That one thing, is smoke. I was at a function today with several people from my high school. One of them is a really cute guy. I've known him for years. He's a few years younger than me and I hadn't seen him in awhile. In addition to being physically attractive, he has a great personality. He had the whole package, or so i thought. Today, after said function, this guy got into his car to drive away, and as he did, lit up a cigarette. He went from like a 9 or 10 to a 4. It's hard to explain just how terribly unattractive I find smoking to be. This kid also attends one of the top colleges in the country, yet smokes. While I have a very good grasp of addiction, I still don't understand the thought process of very intelligent people who start using a substance. I feel bad that you're addicted, but not too bad. It was your choice to start using whatever substance you're addicted to. This is especially true in a time when everyone knows the dangers of smoking. There's no such thing as making an uneducated decision.

In other news, because I care about being able to breathe, I was at the Y today and had an unusually good swim. I did a fair bit of medium to long distance freestyle and it felt really good. My stroke just seemed to be all in place. It's actually starting to get fun again.

So You'll Be Here When Exactly...?

One of my biggest pet peeves in the world is when you have some household item that needs repair and the person coming to repair said item tells you something like, "I'll be there between noon and 3pm." First off, why can't you just tell me a time you're going to be there? It's called an appointment, and is how the rest of the world functions. Second, if you give me a three hour (or larger) window, that's a huge amount of time for me to hang around just waiting for you. In light of that, you had darn well better be there in said window of time. But, of course, the technician coming to make some hardware repairs on my Dell laptop (by the way, I will never buy another Dell as long as I live) of course managed to come at 3:40 pm. My whole day was pretty much a waste thanks to it. The guy who did show up was a nice guy and quite competent, but the half hour of repairs should not have required my full day, especially not when everything was under warranty.

Speaking of repairs, my car started making a noise today that it definitely shouldn't be. Unfortunately, getting home at 10:30 tonight, I won't be able to deal with it at all until tomorrow.

Boring Saturday

I literally did nothing today. I helped my parents with a few little things around the house, went for a short swim (pool is now on summer hours and closes earlier than I'd like), and watched two episodes of MythBusters, which is actually great television. It turns out you really can save your buddies' lives by jumping on a grenade. Also turns out you could accomplish the same thing by throwing the grenade into the nearest bucket of water and you might not have to die in the process. Good life lessons for the next time you're in that situation.

Since I don't have too much in my life to talk about, I thought I might bring up an article I read in the news. Some guy in Massachusetts who took the MA Bar Exam and failed, is suing the state. It turns out he didn't answer one question and only failed by one question. The question this dumbass refused to answer, involved a question about the financial assets of a married lesbian couple (cuz you can actually do that in MA). He is suing MA for both failing the bar and for compensation for their homosexual agenda and their abandonment of religion. Well hear this buddy, I'm sure there's a very special place in hell waiting for you. Aside from that, if you want to practice law in a given state, then it is your obligation to be knowledgeable about and uphold ALL laws in the state.

On the job front, I found two more jobs to apply for. One of them I'm not too sure I'd actually want, I'd need more information, but the due date to apply is tomorrow so I'm safer sending a cover letter and resume and then making a decision later. The other one looks kind of interesting and like a job that would be good to do while going back to grad school.

I made it to the Y again today, and was rewarded twice over. While I was leaving the locker room at the end of my swim, I ran into the same cute guy from the other day. The real fun though was the guy who decided to swim in the lane next to me. I could swim circles around him, but not at all a bad guy to look at. He really needs to learn though, that if you want to swim laps, board shorts really aren't the best choice for your swimming (or my viewing).

Aside from that, no particularly exciting news to report.

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!! Usually the fourth is one of my favorite holidays as I like holidays during the summer. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty lousy today. Thankfully, my weird town had our fireworks on Monday night, so I didn't really miss out.

Unfortunately last night I was slightly distracted by some kind of party or something nearby that involved lots of screaming at very innappropriate hours. It eventually became concerning enough and annoying enough that I called the police department and asked them to drive by. Shortly after that, it returned to normal suburban quiet. This distraction is partly to blame for me not posting.

For those of you following the blog, I've posted a few times on my attempts to get back into shape with regular swimming workouts at the Y. Although the Y was closed today for the holiday, I did get to go on both Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday, for the first time, I finally saw a guy there that required me to stop and take a second look. He looked to be part way through college or just graduated. I think he should come and workout again while I'm there. Along the same lines, Jay over at Jay + Gay = Me (a blog you should be reading if you're not already) has come up with a way for him and some of his fellow bloggers to be held accountable for their workout goals. We're posting what our goal is for the end of September and helping each other stay motivated and on track. I happen to think it's a really good idea. I definitely know how difficult it can be sometimes to keep motivated without a little help from other people. If you're interested in jumping in on this, you should check out his blog (http://gayjay.blogspot.com/).

The Promised Blog (or Land)

Ok, so I'm still getting used to the idea that blogs are really designed for you to express your opinion regardless of what other people who read it might think. But, I am getting used to it and so this post might make some people a little bit annoyed at me. I'm going to go ahead with it anyway.

I have read or skimmed a fair bit of the debate I linked to in my previous post. A very brief background is that Sam Harris is a well-published author and atheist arguing against the existence of God. He is debating well-published author and pro-religion Catholic Andrew Sullivan. On Page 4 of the debate, they finally get to exactly what my problem is and I have to say, that from as objective of a viewpoint as I can get, Sam Harris crushes Andrew Sullivan. The quote below is Sullivan (pro-religion) responding to Harris (atheist).

You wrote:"What would constitute "proof" for you that your current beliefs about God are mistaken? (i.e., what would get you to fundamentally doubt the validity of faith in general and of Christianity in particular?)" It's a good question. It prompts me to say something I've been reluctant to talk about for reasons best expressed by Wittgenstein. But here goes anyway.I have never doubted the existence of God. Never. My acceptance of God's existence--of a force beyond everything and the source of everything--goes so far back in my consciousness and memory that I can neither recall "finding" this faith nor being taught it. So when I am asked to justify this belief, as you reasonably do, I am at a loss. At this layer of faith, the first critical layer, the layer that includes all religious people and many who call themselves spiritual rather than religious, I can offer no justification as such. (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/209/story_20904_4.html)

This quote shows the obvious problem. There is very little evidence to support the existence of God but yet, there is nothing that most people of a religious faith will accept as evidence that God does not exist. How can you have a debate if one side won't accept or acknowledge evidence to the contrary? If someone wants to jump in with good evidence that God does exist, I am more than willing to consider it and spend some time thinking about it. I am at a loss to offer much in the way of evidence myself. I can however, offer much evidence to support the idea that God does not exist, yet I think Harris and Sullivan are both right, when they suggest that it wouldn't do any good. I'm already aware of it and those with faith don't care about it.

Ok, so that was me pissing off the religious crowd.

A Link

Ok, so I absolutely promise I will post on this in the near future. In the meantime, for anyone remotely interested in my posts on religion, this is fantastic. Read some of the debate even if you don't have the ridiculous amount of free time required for the whole thing.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/209/story_20904_1.html