I just finished setting up the new cable modem, and my internet seems faster...As a representation, I have posted my results from speedtest.net below. Try it for yourself and see how you stack up, if you want.

Anyway, here's today's XKCD, entitled "Alternate Currency":

Tags: Cable Modem

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Well, I seem to have quite a bit on my shoulders as of now. I've got a public safety re-test tomorrow, which shouldn't be too much of a problem. The rather large bustle in the hedgerow this time is a French skit I have to do. It's only 6 lines, I have it memorized, and my accent is pretty nice and all, but still. There's something about standing in front of the class in dead silence while speaking in another language. As always, I'll get by.

We can take our Final Exemption Forms starting this week. To exempt a final, you have to have at least a 90 in the class and no more than three absences from that class. I was going to exempt the French final, but I have four absenses from French (I was sick for two days, and I left early, thus missing just French, twice). At least it won't be a complete waste. I can join with my other magnet friends in skipping the public safety final (most of them either have magnet math or honors world geography). The thing is, you can't be exempt from honors, AP, or magnet finals.

As another memorization-related case of hedgerow bustledry, I have to memorize a passage of Romeo and Juliet for lit. Basically, we were given a selection of ten or so passages, and we have to pick one to memorize and recite by next Friday. There are different grades associated with different passages...For example, memorizing and reciting the Prologue...

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Will net you a C. And that's only if you get it perfectly. Basically, he counts off one point for every word you miss. I plan on reciting the Prince's speech in Act I (21 lines), which is an A. It's basically the shortest passage that you can recite for an A.

Now, for Monday's XKCD, entitled "Sleet":

Tags: School French Boredom Finals

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Meh. With every soaring high comes a crashing low. I've lived enough to learn that it's true. The high, in this case, was my week off for Thanksgiving Break. The low? It's my general post-break depression. I've got a lab for chemistry to finish up, and a public safety project I'm working on right now. To top things off, I probably won't get to sleep tonight. I'm talking to Rent over messenger right now to keep me from going insane. THESE ARE THE TIMES WHERE PEOPLE WOULD TURN TO STIMPACKS. MY PROBLEM IS THAT STIMPACKS WON'T BE AROUND FOR ANOTHER SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS.

Yeah, if you haven't noticed, I've been binging on Fallout 3 for a while. I just found one of the greatest moments in modern gaming history! POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!

In the Tranquility Lane Quest, you enter a simulation that takes you back to post-war America. You basically have to do a bunch of bad things (making a kid cry, forcing a couple to divorce, and eventually killing a bunch of people) for a character named Betty, who is actually an evil doctor trapped inside the simulation. Since I'm trying to be a good guy, I stopped doing bad things after I realized that it was probably gonna tear my good karma to shreds. Instead, I looked up this combination of items I had to activate in an abandoned house in the simulation. A terminal came up, which allowed me to activate a CHINESE INVASION FAILSAFE. NOT ONLY DID I GAIN KARMA FOR DOING IT, BUT A CRAPLOAD OF CHINESE SOLDIERS APPEARED IN THE SIMULATION AND GUNNED EVERYBODY DOWN! It was epic.

END SPOILERS.

Anyway, in networking news...I had multiple chats with Xbox, Comcast, and Linksys customer support people. After about three hours of dealing with incompetence, I finally got the information I needed. Long story short, I CAN HAS NEW CABLE MODEM! I ordered it last night. It's a Linksys CM100, and it's pretty cool for cats, as far as reviews go. The problem is, I've heard that your internet dies for a 24-48 hours as they get your connection going...Meh. I'll deal with it when it comes. I'm just glad I've got a potential solution to my connection issues.

To conclude this lengthier-than-average blog, here's Friday's XKCD, entitled "Egg Drop Failure":

Tags: School Homework Project Depressed

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Thanksgiving was enjoyable. Sure, the food was good, but my main victory today was my uncle finally explaining to my dad that it would be a legitimate fix to my connection problems if I got a new modem. Hopefully, I'll get it fixed by Christmas. I should really get around to printing my Christmas list, which is surprisingly lean this year, and is entirely Xbox 360-related. Game-wise, I'll be asking for Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty: World at War, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (It's like LittleBigPlanet on the 360, DON'T JUDGE ME!), and Rock Band: AC/DC Live Track Pack. Also, I will be getting Guitar Hero: World Tour (either the stand-alone game or the game and guitar bundle) from my aunt.

The break is winding down, and it's really wearing on my mind. I've got a Public Safety project (that would probably only take a few hours to do) that I need to start on, but I just can't find the initiative to do so. I really need to get around to it.

Finally, here's yesterday's XKCD, entitled "Induced Current":

Tags: Thanksgiving Turkey Pie

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My dad had bought a Sony Wega HDTV off of Craigslist for $190. It does 720p HD, but it looks like a CRT TV. First, I should talk about us getting the stand. We bought the TV stand for $15 from a guy who lived in a pretty well-to-do community of townhomes near a mall. No threat there. Then, we had to get the TV...

The neighborhood just scared the crap out of me, and we even had to go into the guy's house. It was pretty run down, along with the rest of the neighborhood, and the whole place smelled of animals (because there were at least five). The neighborhood was so suspicious that my dad actually brought some "insurance"...Anyway, we were pretty relieved to get out of there with the TV. We had to give everything a thorough cleaning (to get rid of dust and odors), but the TV works just fine.

If you're looking for good deals, Craigslist is better than eBay. However, I kinda like eBay's method better, where we don't have to go and actually meet the sellers. The less human interaction, the better.

In conclusion, here's today's XKCD, entitled "Drapes":

Tags: Craigslist HDTV Ghetto Driving

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Unlike previous school years, we actually get all of Thanksgiving week off this time around. It gives me a chance to relive summer, if only for a week (albeit a colder one). Today, since most of my friends were strangely offline from XBL, I decided to go into Fallout 3. I ended up fixing one of my glitched quests, resulting in an achievement. Then, I ended up completing three or so side-quests and reaching Level 7. There are still a few things I need to sort out in the game, but I think I've reached a turning point, where my character isn't necessarily weak anymore. I went out and tore through at least 20 Super Mutants (which I used to run from) with my assault rifle and hunting rifle. This resulted in more caps (ingame currency) and experience. The game just got more fun.

Also, we might just be adopting another addition to the family...

No, not a kid...A new computer. My dad's co-worker offered him an HP desktop tower, for $250. It's got 300GB of hard drive space and 3GB of RAM with an NVidia graphics card. Sure, it's just the tower, but it seems like a good deal to me.

To conclude this blog, here's some XKCD:

Wednesday - "Theft of the Magi"

Today - "Experimentation"

Tags: Thanksgiving Break Fallout

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Well, I've got a nice mix of good and bad going for me this week. On the bad side, I've got a chemistry test tomorrow, an inconvenient dose of homework tonight, and a rather large math packet due after Thanksgiving Break. On the good side, the New Xbox Experience will be out in a few hours and I only have three more days of school before Thanksgiving Break. Now, for Monday's XKCD, entitled "A Bunch of Rocks":

I guess I'll be a bit more direct this time...My friends say there are other fish in the sea, so I guess I'm going fishing. I just hope she's there when I get back. Quite possibly the most sappy thing I've ever written...

Tags: Hidden Text Bored Studying Test Homework School

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Greetings, Gap Minders. Do you want to know what my real situation is like? Listen to "Santeria" by Sublime, and that might give you an idea.

This year, we've got the entire Thanksgiving Week off as opposed to just Wednesday through Friday. That leaves me five more days of school to deal with and plow through. In other school news, I had to write a sonnet in one night for lit. No, this wasn't procrastination. My teacher assigned it to us and told us it was due the next day. Anyway, I'm usually a very concise and uninspired writer. However, for some reason, my teacher liked it and said he was going to put it in the school's literary magazine. I didn't even know we had one!

And in case you wanted to know, yes, I'm still playing the waiting game. The secondary obstacle has been removed from the equation entirely, and now, it's just pure chance.

Now, for some XKCD!

Wednesday - "Terminology"

Friday - "Legal Hacks"

Tags: School Bored Gaps Thanksgiving Break

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Be mindful of the gaps.

Today was mildly uneventful. We had character ed. today, which was nice because it got me out of chemistry early. Speaking of chemistry, I really need to pull my grade up. My report card (really a progress report, nothing final) says I have an 88, but the grade was before I did pretty badly on a stoichiometry test. Now, an 88 might seem like a good grade...However, my dad suffers from "Asian Dad Syndrome", which means he wigs out when I get a B. I've gotten two B's before, once in PE (which didn't get me punished, since my dad didn't care) and once in math (which got my 360 taken away for QUITE A WHILE). I've got a quiz tomorrow on intermolecular forces, and it seems like easy stuff.

The waiting game is taking a bit longer than I expected, but the secondary obstacle is out of the way. While that secondary obstacle does the dirty work for me, I just have to sit and wait.

In gaming news, I beat Gears of War 2 on Normal yesterday. It really feels more like a war story this time around, and the vehicle sequences are amazing. Since I was playing as Marcus, I GOT TO "DRIVE" THE BRUMAK AND FIRE THE CHAINGUN while my friend Alex was on the Rocket Launcher/Chaingun. Honestly, that final boss somewhat jumped the shart, but it was fun just for the shock value. This weekend, I'll probably be jumping back into GoW2 again to beat the campaign on Insane.

Alas, time is short. The game must end soon, but I'm banking on circumstance here.

Tags: MIND THE GAPS THIS TIME

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