My freshman year of college I started a blog that I actually kept up with for a few months. I'd even branch out far enough to say I started to acquire a steady diet of everyday readers. As I lay in my bed tonight and read through the posts of life, love, and happiness I can't help but laugh at the thoughts of an 18 year old kid just trying to figure out what the real world is all about. To spare myself a good amount of embarrassment I've decided to start fresh.
We live in a world today where anybody can start up their blog or website and write about whatever the hell they want and hope they somehow make it as a top notch journalist, political analyst, or social hero. For me, it's more of a leisure activity, something to do out of pure enjoyment and somewhere I can write things down and share thoughts with the few that care to read them. I'm not here to banter politics or push religion. I mostly like to write about friends, family, sports, my job, and anything funny I encounter in a day to day life. It's also a way for me to keep up with the ones close to me 3,000 miles away and for those to see what I'm up to as I live life as a West Coast southern boy for a few months.
Those of you that know me closely know how apathetic I am about schoolwork a good 99% of the time, so I'm sure it comes as a complete shock to know I actually enjoy writing, in a technological sense. There's no way I'd do this with a pen and paper. I'd rather eat the paper and drink the pen. One thing I've always been funny about is never proof reading what I've written after I write it. Just ask my lab partner in school, Whitney. Apparently writing in phrases is frowned upon in research papers, who know? When I write, it comes straight from the brain to the paper. I don't want to read what I've written afterwards, because then it becomes work to me. I've got enough work to do from 8-5 everyday, I'll refrain from doing any more of that! With all of that said, I hope you enjoy my random thoughts, pictures, quotes, and rants from day to day and would enjoy hearing you thoughts and comments as well. Even hate mail. I love hate mail!
Thoughts while shaving?
Quickly, I just want to dedicate all my writing to two people. First, my Giga (Mom's mom) for always cracking the whip on me in 4th grade to make a "4" on the writing test. Low and behold, I made that 4, one of only 3 people in the county to do so. It was a big achievement back then, and something she was very proud of me for doing. Second, my Pappy (Dad's dad) for his inspiration in writing and broadcasting. Owning and running a radio station in Bladen County for 20+ years, announcing high school football for 20+ years, and now running www.bladenonline.com I like to think a lot of my ability to talk to and understand people came from him. His "thoughts while shaving" section inspired the name of this blog. Also, I'm hoping that by following trend I'll somehow start to lose a lot of this facial hair and won't have to shave as often.
2 weeks in 2 paragraphs
Quickly, what have I been upto for the past 2 weeks? I "gone and packed up" and moved across the country. I started my internship at Intel 2 weeks ago today in the BCPD (Business Client Platform Division) department of intel, and more specifically on the BCSS (Bus. Client Solutions Support) team. Though I can't go into the specifics of what I actually work on, in a nutshell we provide support for all of Intel's vPro technology. If you've ever heard the term "management engine" or "manageability" mentioned at a big business level, more than likely we're somewhat associated. In short, enterprises and businesses have the option to purchase specific computers loaded with Intel vPro technology that allows their IT departments to remotely manage all of their network infrastructure from a central location. Gives them the ability to perform routine maintenance, push patches, and troubleshoot problems all without leaving the IT room. When you start talking about companies with 20,000+ computers, that's a big deal. If you wanna know in more detail, feel free to comment, but for now I'll leave it at that. I love the team I work with. Great boss, great manager, great co-workers. So far, it's excellent. The only downside is it's 3,000 miles away from all the people I love and care about most.
I knew it would be hard to move across the country and leave friends and family behind, and it's been a mixture of ups and downs. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be to meet people my age. Sure, there are some 1,200 interns here, but they are scattered across 4 campuses and 16,000 other full-time employees. Luckily, I've started to meet people and interact more and more with some new friends, so I'm very excited to spend the summer getting out and doing things with them, hopefully. However, it's damn tough to replace the group of friends I have back home. One of the biggest blessings is my life is the friends I've acquired over the years. And I'm thankful to say that most of them have been lifelong friends of 20+ years, which is rare these days. I've met some great people in college too that I consider to be very close friends of mine, and I can't say enough about the group of guys I would call my best friends. There's plenty to be said about finding that one girl who is "the one" and what she can bring to your life, but man, nothing can ever replace that feeling of a good buddy who you know is always there. Time and time again, as I've faced many rough patches in my 4 college years I've had to lean on a good friend. Aside from my family, they've been the one constant in my life I can always count on and I can't put my thanks into words. Family is a whole different story that I could probably write about for days. I miss them quite a bit, and Skype is such a great invention, but it's not quite the same as being there. If you have parents in your life, take the time out of your day to send them a text or phone call and tell them you love them. It pains me to see people that have no relation with their parents or are ungrateful for all the things our parents provide for us. I've seen that up close first hand, and it really saddened me to no end. I try to tell each of my parents every day that I love them because I don't know how the hell they made it through 18 years of having me around at home every day. One day I hope to be able to repay the favor and give my parents whatever it is they want and/or need. Words to think about people.
Sports scores & thoughts
Celtics-79, Heat-93
Top Performers
Boston: K. Garnett 23 Pts, 10 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk
Miami: L. James 32 Pts, 13 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk
In short, Celtics look old and injured. I don't see how the Heat lose this series. You aren't going to stop DWade and LeBron, and if the role players can contribute 30-35 a night they're going to win. Where does Boston get offense from? Ray Allen playing on one leg? Paul Pierce who has to defend LeBron for 38 minutes? If the Heat can contain Rondo to less than 20 points and 12 assists per game and keep KG under 25 a game, they're going to win. Unless somebody on the Celtics just goes off. And I don't know who that's going to be. Heat in 5.
Braves - 2 , Cardinals - 8
W: L. Lynn (8-1)
L: T. Hanson (5-4)
Man, the Braves are in trouble. 8 in a row in an NL East division that might be the toughest in baseball and is only getting stronger? I picked them to either win the East or take one of the Wild Cards, but if their pitching doesn't turn around quickly it's going to be tough for either of those to happen. With Chipper and Freeman hurt and McCann battling the flu their offense is beyond depleted. They need another dependable bat in the lineup and I wouldn't mind seeing them try to shop a prospect or two for another bat to put somewhere. I don't know if Terdoslavich is the man of the future at 3B, he's been terrible this year in AAA. IMO, Prado at 3B and shop for a corner outfielder that can hit. Resigning Bourn is an absolute priority. He's been the only good thing this year. Outlook is grim.
Nothing big here, just a special thanks to all the vets on this special day. Proud to be an American. Thanks for your service and you don't get recognized as often as you should.
Song of the day
I can't get this out of my head so I'm going to go ahead and put it here and get it out of the way:
You're welcome, friends.
Bible verse of the day
Psalm 34:18 : "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those that are crushed in spirit"
One of my personal favorites and a go to verse when I'm feeling down and out.
