The ending of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

If you haven’t seen one of the top 3 best action movies of all time, turn off your computer and go watch this. Right now. At the end T2, a cyborg terminator sent from the future, the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to protect John Connor (Edward Furlong) from another terminator sent from the future (Robert Patrick), the T-1000. The young Connor is a future leader in mankind’s resistance against the cyborg army which has taken oer the world.

In T1, Arnold was the terminator sent back in time to kill John’s mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Making this new cyborg in T2 (Arnold) become the protector instead of the killer was a sheer genius move of genius.

Anyway, at the end of T2, the T-800 has successfully destroyed the T-1000 against all odds by casting him down into the giant pool of molten lava, after an unbelievable final battle between the 2 with some awesome shotgun blasts by Sarah Connor. After throwing in the pieces of the terminator leftover from T1, John Connor thought it was over.

The future was changed. All evidence of a future Skynet (system causing the future war between the cyborgs and mankind) had been destroyed.

All…but one.

The hero must be terminated.

Now, it was a classic ending. The T-800 must also be destroyed for the benefit of mankind. The closest thing to a father John Connor ever had was going away and he was obviously upset. Earlier in the movie, John Connor was upset with the terminator protector asking what was wrong with his eyes (he was crying). John Connor told him it was nothing, but it was significant as he was crying again.

In the final scene, the terminator had learned empathy. He didn’t KNOW emotion, but he UNDERSTOOD it. That it what was important and so beautiful about this ending.

“I know now why you cry. But its something I can never do.”

This is one of those times where its okay for a manly man like myself to get misty eyed at a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ6uLFsLR2Y

“Goodbye.”

All in all, the only downside was on my very last run. I knew it was going to be my last run, so I wanted to make it count. And I did. At the very end of my last run, I crashed hard. It wasn’t so much the impact of the crash that hurt, it was the way my torso twisted and my upper body contorted in the middle of the crash that hurt. I sat there for a second as I had the wind knocked out of me, knowing full well that the last crash counted and would be painful today.

It still hurts right now and probably will for a few more days. It hurts to yawn. It hurts to get off the couch.

Except…it didn’t just hurt for a few more days. More like a few more weeks. In fact, it still hurts now.

Did you know that you can actually dislocate a rib?

Well, you can. I’m proof of it.

The fall that I mentioned from snowboarding ended up getting more painful as the days went by. At first, it was just painful and sore all around. The pain ended up intensifying to the point where sleeping became difficult, as laying down causes the torso to stretch, thus causing severe discomfort. Eventually I ended up going to the doctor where I received the news of why one side of my torso was on fire every time I did anything, like breathe.

Oh, and hiccups, those are the worst with a dislocated rib.

A month later, I do feel better. The discomfort is just about gone. I can really only feel it a little when I wake up each morning. The only downside right now is that I haven’t been able to work out (no running, no lifting, no hoops, nothing) for a month. I have a ton of pent up energy just waiting to be released, but I will not yet just to ensure I’m fully healed up before I hit the gym/court/slopes again.

In terms of pain I’ve experienced, it fits in the Top 5:

1- Passing a kidney stone

2- Tearing my ACL and MCL in one shot

3- Multiple ear infections (mostly from when I was a young lad)

4- Star Wars Episode 1

5- Stupid rib

Indeed. I have learned my lesson though. Do some torso stretching before snowboarding. And if I’m going to injure myself again, make the crash look spectacular.

Watch all of it.

Yesterday, I woke up early and drove out to the Cascade Mountains for some snowboarding. The previous Friday night was spent dusting off my gear and packing up. Snow pants, goggles, special wool socks that I spent too much money on, ski jacket, back pack, all prepped and ready to go the following morning.  I ended up falling asleep before midnight on Friday (as I have been doing for years now), exhausted from another long week.

On my way to pain

I woke up on Saturday morning earlier than I wanted or expected to wake up. Sort of mad at myself for now being able to sleep for another 2 hours, I decided to stretch and go outside for a run while the air was still rather cool. I ran right into a Starbucks, which is practically impossible to avoid in Seattle.

After a coffee, 2 bowls of cereal, and a surprisingly delicious eggnog latte, I grabbed my gear and set out east for the Cascades. I knew the drive would take me roughly 2 hours, so I ensured to load my ipod up on enough podcasts to keep me entertained on the way there as well as back.

I’ll just throw in there that the drive alone was worth it

The road eventually went from 4 lanes to 2, making it inevitable that you’ll get stuck behind someone that decides that its a good idea to do 30 in a 55 around narrow winding mountain roads. But that was okay. I was too busy taking in the scenery with an NPR podcast on in the background so it was easy to forget that someone in front of me was driving defensively enough to be dangerous. The greenery and mountains were all covered with snow. Apparently these roads can be treacherous or nearly impossible to pass the first quarter of the year, so I was lucky to come at a good time.

I finally reached my destination. This was from the parking lot of the ski resort. Its from my phone’s camera, so pictures really won’t do it justice.

I grabbed my stuff and went to go find a locker and rent some boots and a board. After getting the rental stuff and the ski lift, I stopped for a second, realizing that snowboarding on a mountain in Washington costs less than snowboarding on a really big hill in Wisconsin.

Anyway, after throwing whatever I didn’t need in my locker and gearing up, I walked out back to this.

Again, my crappy camera doesn’t do this place justice. It was a lot to take in and I definitely stopped to enjoy the view.

So the runs are divided by colors. Green is easy, blue is intermediate, and black and higher means you better know what you’re doing and have health insurance. I jumped on the ski left on the closest green run and began my voyage up. I wasn’t ready for how long of a ride this was. A green run in WA is the hardest run in WI.

I got to the top. Now, one of the most difficult things I’ve found about this sport is getting off the ski lift. Only one foot is typically strapped into the board, meaning you have to plant your other foot on the middle of the board and cross your fingers for a smooth ride down off the lift. The fact that I was able to get about half way down off the lift ramp before I crashed was an accomplishment in itself. My thought was to immediately get to the side as there were people that actually knew what they were doing behind me.

Finally, I sat at the edge on the top of the slope, both feet strapped in, ready to go. I stood up and pushed off downward, my board facing side to side at first so that I could find my footing and control my speed. Somewhere after about a 1/4th of the run was over, I decided to let loose and go.

Away I went, going side to side, doing heel turns with ease and managing a few toe turns. There were a few times I was certain I would crash, but I regained control quickly. I realized that I hadn’t done this in a year but had completely gotten the hang of it.

After a few more runs on the green, I met up with some other people by one of the ski shops. I had never had a formal lesson before and thought it couldn’t hurt. The package I bought included it anyway. I was glad I did, as I learned easier methods of stopping and turning. And the most useful thing I learned was how to properly fall forward or backward as to avoid breaking my wrists.

The lesson was over and I was ready to hit the blue runs. I did just fine on those as well, except at the beginning of the run. The drop off is really steep and I wasn’t used to it. But the rest of the runs I did on the blue was great. I was able to maintain a good speed, sometimes even keeping up with the 8 year old kids that were zooming in between the trees and doing backflips off the ramps. No, I’m not exaggerating; some of the little kids were doing backflips and busting out 360′s. I should tell them to teach me (how to dougie).

All in all, the only downside was on my very last run. I knew it was going to be my last run, so I wanted to make it count. And I did. At the very end of my last run, I crashed hard. It wasn’t so much the impact of the crash that hurt, it was the way my torso twisted and my upper body contorted in the middle of the crash that hurt. I sat there for a second as I had the wind knocked out of me, knowing full well that the last crash counted and would be painful today.

It still hurts right now and probably will for a few more days. It hurts to yawn. It hurts to get off the couch.

But it was well worth it.

Snowboarding has not been an easy sport to learn. Like anything else, it has taken time, practice, and a fair amount of pain from falling repeatedly to really get the hang of it.

Can’t wait till I go again.

This sucks. I’m not as good as most people to articulate my thoughts when it comes to personal matters. I get all flustered and rambling.

Christmas at my mom’s this year is going to be sad. I’ll try to make it work for everyone.

Promise.

One that I never skip is the Freakonomics podcast.

If you’re not familiar with Freakonomics, take a second to check it out. Their claim to fame is that they will literally try to apply “economics” to, well, anything.

Take for example, their latest podcast on hitchhiking:

LEVITT: Hitchhiking is a classic example of what an economist would call a matching market, where there’s a person who wants a ride, and there’s a person who’s willing to give a ride. There was some sort of equilibrium in which there was a set of people who wanted to hitchhike, and there was a set of people who were willing to pick them up. And somehow that equilibrium got destroyed. So the question is what happened to the equilibrium?

Interesting, right? I know! I can’t get enough of this. I even saw a few hitchhikers myself in South Dakota when we were on our way to Seattle. Duder even commented that we should pick one up if the back seats weren’t full of my earthly possessions. I know its still common in areas of DC too where people want to use a carpool lane. The evidence cascaded from the podcast is somewhat interesting and mostly seems to be on point.

There are a lot of times in this podcast where they come off and wanna-be sociologists. And more often than not, I’ve wanted to pull over my car and run the math they just claimed to be true. And even more often than not, I want to call them like its a radio station and begin with “[insert variable] is not being taken into consideration!”

But I like how they try to think of an issue from a rational and logical standpoint. Its this critical type of thinking that pulls me in, because its somewhat how my brain works.

For example, I’ve wondered if kids today are really safer than they were, say, 30 years ago. Are children perceived to be “less safe” because of news stories running over the air and internet 24/7 about the latest abduction? Or has this guise of having to keep our kids safe simply a byproduct of issues being more well known? Has keeping kids sheltered lead to a smarter, but more obese, generation?

I wish I had the time to really dig and study these sort of things. For fun. I guess that’s why I listen to this podcast. Even if I don’t always agree with the content.

So I’m cleaning up my podcast list. If anyone has any good recommendations, I’m all ears (eyes). Steer me less toward sports, pop culture, and music though. I find myself more entertained down the math and science route.

Whats new? Who still reads this?

Also, the stereotypes about Seattle weather are true. During the late fall/early winter, it never stops being wet and gray. It apparently doesn’t still until April.

Therefore, a video by Creedence. Awe man, they took the Creedence tape!

Yes, there are times when the phone should be shut off or silenced or left with someone that is not you. Getting married is probably one of those times.

The story is going viral now, but it doesn’t shock me one bit. I understand the need for some people to be connected to their phone for work purposes, but there is a time and place for everything.

In a theater? Turn is off.

In church? Turn it off.

At dinner? At least silence it.

There is a reason why I keep my phone silenced or on vibrate almost 98% of the time. Because I want to answer anything I receive at my own convenience. That sounds selfish, but I don’t think it is. We’ve all heard the story- too many people are far too attached to their phones. I don’t think any of us really disagree with this statement. I too find myself checking my phone more often than I should.

Some of my friends have taken different measures to personally combat their phone addictions. While several people I know (including me) tried to quit the Facebook for good, we eventually came back. But a couple of my friends have stayed successful in that they never returned. A few more of my friends didn’t quit by deleting their accounts (or ‘suspending’ them would probably be a better term), but when I go to check their pages, their last 2 updates were made in a span of a year. 1 update every 6 months- its safe to say they’re doing a fine job of signing off.

I’ve actually had a few people say to me “what do you mean you’re not on Twitter?!” To me, that says a lot about who I’m speaking with. Yes, I know of Twitter. Its just not for me. Deal with it. There are other ways to get a hold of me. I still do things like…call. I text. I can email too. Though my preference of communication is smoke signals, my lack of having an account on Twitter doesn’t mean I’m some aging dinosaur from a technological standpoint.

Duder doesn’t have a Facebook or a phone that can access the internet. He will text but tells most people email or call him instead. Most people doesn’t include me, since I’m special.

I want to go back to those days where I’m even less connected to my phone. Having a fancy one can be fun, but I’m not even close to utlizing this phone to its full capacity. Its why I got rid of the last fancy phone I had for one the more simple models. I saved $50 a month and didn’t catch myself checking for updates as often. Sure I’ll miss the ability to occasionally browse Facebook or post a picture on my account. I’ll miss Words With Friends, but I’m seeing people play it less or stop playing completely. My phone will tell me I have email 1/4 of the time at best, but I’m in no hurry to figure out why. From a data standpoint, that is 90% of the phone’s use right there. Most of the time, I still just use it for texting and calling.

Ultimately, going back to a more simple model will probably happen, because for me, it just makes sense.

Back to the original issue at hand, I wish I could tell that lady from the link I posted that she should attempt to disconnect for a week and see what happens. No internet usage unless its absolutely necessary. Turn the phone on silent and check it for missed emergency calls once an hour at most. Don’t send any texts unless its a response to someone else.

I’ve done this and so have a few people I know. Each time the result was the same: it was a little tough at first, but at the end it felt great.

What is more addicting: crack, heroin, nicotine, or your phone?

Our college town had 4 Taco Bells and they were all within proximity of the same street. They also were open late night, so many a time, in between going from bar to party we’d need some re-energizing. Since my friends and I were all technically suave back then, we had cellphones. I had a Nokia 5120 with a blue face plate. It ruled. The phone could text AND play worms.

Anyway, on occasion we’d be trying to figure out which Taco Bell we had to meet up at. Therefore, we assigned a nickname to each Taco Bell, based off either one of three pieces of criteria:

1. Location of Taco Bell
2. Employees of Taco Bell
3. Experience of Taco Bell

This made things easier. The nicknames were:

Taco White (2) – Because all of its employees seemed to be white
Taco Black (2) – Because all of its employees seemed to be black
Taco Hell (3) – Because it smelled horrible, the employees were terrible, and the food was awful (we tried to avoid this place if we could)
Taco Shell (1) – Because it was actually inside a Shell gas station

Taco Hell was easily the worst. Taco Black was my favorite cause they were fast and always messing around with us. I was indifferent to Taco White. Taco Shell wasn’t too bad; their employees were always singing whenever we went in there. Not sure why.

THE END

My next job, whatever, and wherever that may be, will hopefully not relegate me to sit in front of a computer or in a meeting or a combination of the two for hours on end.

The corporate world. I am very much over it. DONE. For real this time. The hour is nigh. I had a conversation today about my future over the next 6 months.

Its safe to say the wheels are in motion. Tired of being miserable and busy. I want a gig that I can move around and not really have to think all that much. Something to help supplement the income and pay the bills.

Maybe THIS?

Or THIS?

Or…THIS?

I won’t know until some point until the first quarter of 2012. But I can say that I’m glad I saved money all these years. The nest egg will likely have to be dipped into, but when I think about it, that’s its purpose.

One of the reasons why I chose engineering as a future degree (electrical is the goal, civil is the backup option) is that I would get to work in the field on at least a weekly basis. Sure, there may be some level of computer related tasks associated with these jobs. But the prospect of working outside with my fellow real men (many with beards) beckons me.

First I have to take the difficult courses followed up with some very challenging certification tests. It’ll be a few years at least. I started taking courses in 2010 to try and decide what kind of career change I’d like to make and thankfully this has worked out. Sure, I probably should have done this earlier. Like, say, 4-5 years ago. But no sense in wondering what might have been. Sure, even though some of the more difficult courses are out of the way (Diff EQ, math for chumps), there are still more ahead of me.

I have a lot to look forward to in my life. This is one of those things.

Now I just have to update my wardrobe so that I can fit in with the youngins and get invited to the sweet frat parties. College!