Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Stereotypes of an Appalachian Dialect
For everyone that lives in Appalachia, have you ever been aggravated when someone from outside the area asks you to say something again just so they can laugh at the way you say it? I have been aggravated by this before, and it spawned into a project for one of my classes. Below is the clip for a radio show I produced. Hope you enjoy.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thanksgiving and a Black Friday
The past few days have been pretty relaxing.
I didn't get any crisis calls on Wednesday night. I was very excited about that. Since I didn't get any calls, I basically slept all the way through the night! That made me a happy person for Thanksgiving.
On my way home from the Crisis Center on Thursday, I proceeded to get into an argument with a cashier at a convenience store. I didn't have enough quarters to get a Bristol paper with all the Black Friday salespapers, so I decided to go into the store and buy a cup of coffee, a donut, and a paper and put it on my debit card. Well, I got to the register and the cashier said I couldn't put the newspaper on my debit card. I asked him why not and he gave me some bull-shit answer. Thinking out of the box, I asked him if he could just charge me for another coffee (which would equal the price of the paper) and I would just take a paper instead. He said he couldn't do that because his inventory would be messed up. I was angry. It was then he told me that the paper machine now takes debit cards. Why couldn't he have told me that at the beginning and we wouldn't have had a 3-minute conversation about the dang paper?!
Thanksgiving dinner was good. I ate way too much. I spent the day with my Aunt Karen and her family. It was good times.
I went to Dana's house last night so we could get up and go shopping this morning. We woke up at 3 and left the cabin by 3:15. We were in line at Target around 3:40. People get on my nerves...and a lot of people are idiots. The lady in front of us in line would not shut up talking to the people beside of her. It was FREEZING! Here is a quote from that lady, "It doesn't look like it's gonna get any warmer." What the hell? It is 3:45 in the morning. Of course it's not going to get warmer. The lady needs to use her common sense!
The crowds were crazy, I was tired, and honestly I didn't feel like putting up with anyone. I bought a few things and then we headed back to the cabin. I did get a really nice GPS system for my car. I was really excited about it.
Currently, I am sitting in Blacksburg at my friends' apartment. I wanted to get away for the weekend. This is a good place to come because it is always fun, it's relaxing, and it is a good distance away. It helps me just to get things off of my mind.
18 days and I'll be in Arizona. I can't wait.
1 month and I'll be leaving for England. I also can't wait.
Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.
I didn't get any crisis calls on Wednesday night. I was very excited about that. Since I didn't get any calls, I basically slept all the way through the night! That made me a happy person for Thanksgiving.
On my way home from the Crisis Center on Thursday, I proceeded to get into an argument with a cashier at a convenience store. I didn't have enough quarters to get a Bristol paper with all the Black Friday salespapers, so I decided to go into the store and buy a cup of coffee, a donut, and a paper and put it on my debit card. Well, I got to the register and the cashier said I couldn't put the newspaper on my debit card. I asked him why not and he gave me some bull-shit answer. Thinking out of the box, I asked him if he could just charge me for another coffee (which would equal the price of the paper) and I would just take a paper instead. He said he couldn't do that because his inventory would be messed up. I was angry. It was then he told me that the paper machine now takes debit cards. Why couldn't he have told me that at the beginning and we wouldn't have had a 3-minute conversation about the dang paper?!
Thanksgiving dinner was good. I ate way too much. I spent the day with my Aunt Karen and her family. It was good times.
I went to Dana's house last night so we could get up and go shopping this morning. We woke up at 3 and left the cabin by 3:15. We were in line at Target around 3:40. People get on my nerves...and a lot of people are idiots. The lady in front of us in line would not shut up talking to the people beside of her. It was FREEZING! Here is a quote from that lady, "It doesn't look like it's gonna get any warmer." What the hell? It is 3:45 in the morning. Of course it's not going to get warmer. The lady needs to use her common sense!
The crowds were crazy, I was tired, and honestly I didn't feel like putting up with anyone. I bought a few things and then we headed back to the cabin. I did get a really nice GPS system for my car. I was really excited about it.
Currently, I am sitting in Blacksburg at my friends' apartment. I wanted to get away for the weekend. This is a good place to come because it is always fun, it's relaxing, and it is a good distance away. It helps me just to get things off of my mind.
18 days and I'll be in Arizona. I can't wait.
1 month and I'll be leaving for England. I also can't wait.
Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Next 10 Hours
The cool thing about a blog is that I can update it from anywhere at anytime...as long as I am near a computer of course.
It's 11pm on a Wednesday night and I'm sitting in the Crisis Center. I agreed back a while to take overnight shifts on Wednesday nights into Thursday mornings. My shift tonight is from 11pm-9am in the morning. 10 hours. Yes...10 hours of my life where I am devoted to the phone and the receiver sitting on the desk in front of me. I don't know what to expect. A person could call me and tell me their heat is messed up and their house is cold and they don't know what to do...or I could receive a call from a person who says they have a gun in their hand and they're contemplating suicide. I never know what to expect when the phone rings. But, I had to do 40 hours of training to work on the hotline and I am pretty confident I can handle whatever comes my way.
Much of my day was spent relaxing and scoping out the deals for Black Friday. Me, my friend Dana, and her mom Rita have made it a yearly habit of fighting the crowds at 5am on the day after Thanksgiving. I am very excited. I always end up buying a lot of stuff for myself. My goal this year: to obtain the $99 Garmin Nuvi GPS that is at Best Buy. I will be in line at 5AM to get it. I have read reviews and compared it to the many other GPS deals that are being offered, and I feel that particular one is what I want. As much as I travel, I have never owned a GPS. I would like to have one and I think it will be beneficial to me.
I spent the day at my cousin Misti's house and then me and Dana ventured into Abingdon for the evening to have frostees at Wendy's and to loaf around Roses. I went back to Misti's for a while then left to come here. On my way down her driveway, a rabbit ran out in front of me. But, when I expected it to keep running, it didn't. It had no choice. Something was wrong with it and it kept rolling around on the ground. It was moving around but it could hardly walk. It reminded me a lot of my cat that contracted "milk fever." I sat there with my headlights focused in on this rabbit for about 2 minutes and I desperately wanted to get out and help it...but I thought I shouldn't because it could have had rabies or something. The sight of that helpless rabbit stuck in my head for a while after seeing it. I'm not sure why it bothered me so bad, but I think it teaches us a lesson. We are able people, and we have the responsibility to help those who can't do the same things as we can. Tonight, I should have helped that rabbit, but I really didn't know what I could do to help it.
A possibility: the next crisis call a receive will be someone who has helped a rabbit in distress in the past and they will tell me what I should have done. I learn more from the calls I receive and the people I talk to than I could ever teach someone else over the phone.
Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.
It's 11pm on a Wednesday night and I'm sitting in the Crisis Center. I agreed back a while to take overnight shifts on Wednesday nights into Thursday mornings. My shift tonight is from 11pm-9am in the morning. 10 hours. Yes...10 hours of my life where I am devoted to the phone and the receiver sitting on the desk in front of me. I don't know what to expect. A person could call me and tell me their heat is messed up and their house is cold and they don't know what to do...or I could receive a call from a person who says they have a gun in their hand and they're contemplating suicide. I never know what to expect when the phone rings. But, I had to do 40 hours of training to work on the hotline and I am pretty confident I can handle whatever comes my way.
Much of my day was spent relaxing and scoping out the deals for Black Friday. Me, my friend Dana, and her mom Rita have made it a yearly habit of fighting the crowds at 5am on the day after Thanksgiving. I am very excited. I always end up buying a lot of stuff for myself. My goal this year: to obtain the $99 Garmin Nuvi GPS that is at Best Buy. I will be in line at 5AM to get it. I have read reviews and compared it to the many other GPS deals that are being offered, and I feel that particular one is what I want. As much as I travel, I have never owned a GPS. I would like to have one and I think it will be beneficial to me.
I spent the day at my cousin Misti's house and then me and Dana ventured into Abingdon for the evening to have frostees at Wendy's and to loaf around Roses. I went back to Misti's for a while then left to come here. On my way down her driveway, a rabbit ran out in front of me. But, when I expected it to keep running, it didn't. It had no choice. Something was wrong with it and it kept rolling around on the ground. It was moving around but it could hardly walk. It reminded me a lot of my cat that contracted "milk fever." I sat there with my headlights focused in on this rabbit for about 2 minutes and I desperately wanted to get out and help it...but I thought I shouldn't because it could have had rabies or something. The sight of that helpless rabbit stuck in my head for a while after seeing it. I'm not sure why it bothered me so bad, but I think it teaches us a lesson. We are able people, and we have the responsibility to help those who can't do the same things as we can. Tonight, I should have helped that rabbit, but I really didn't know what I could do to help it.
A possibility: the next crisis call a receive will be someone who has helped a rabbit in distress in the past and they will tell me what I should have done. I learn more from the calls I receive and the people I talk to than I could ever teach someone else over the phone.
Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Is It Gonna Work?
So, my blog fails. Epically. When I'm doing something cool (like travelling in Ecuador or working in California), I seem to have no problem keeping everyone updated with what is going on in my life. But, when I am in school and busy doing other stuff, my blog falls to the back burner. That is proven by the fact it hasn't been updated in nearly 4 months. Maybe more than that. I want to change that. This is my last semester in college. I've learned something I suppose. I want my blog not only to be about the fun stuff that happens in my life, but letting you in on stuff that I've learned over my past few years here at Emory & Henry.
I'll just highlight some important points from the past few months of my life:
I'll just highlight some important points from the past few months of my life:
- My summer ended great. After finishing work at CTY in California, I travelled to Yosemite National Park and Las Vegas. It ended up being the best summer of my life.
- I began my work as President of the Student Body.
- I have been working as an intern with the Crisis Center in Bristol. I help people solve their problems. It is quite challenging, but at the same time I am learning a lot about myself and other people.
- This is my last fall semester at Emory & Henry. Wow. It is over in two weeks!
As most of you know, I am fascinated by airplanes. One of my good friends helped me realize that I am not going to be happy unless I'm a pilot. So, after I graduate from Emory & Henry, I am going to pilot school to become a professional pilot. I get more and more excited about this each day. I was driving through Bristol today and I saw a jet preparing for it's landing at Tri-Cities Airport and I got really excited. I know...you probably think I'm weird as hell, but that's the kind of thing I get excited about. If everything goes as planned, I am going to enter an accelerated training program after graduation and I should have my commercial pilot's license 5 months after I gradate from E&H and hopefully this time next year I'll be working for an airline!
Here is what I want my blog to give you over the next little while: what I know, what I learn, what I experience in my travelling (I have upcoming trips over Christmas break to Arizona and London, England), my thoughts on things I read (I'll put up interesting articles and such), what one's last semester of college is like, and everything in between.
I hope I don't slack as usual.
Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.
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