Virginia is for lovers...but I hate you

You know what really grinds my gears?

You, Virginia. I have a couple of issues with you. But to begin, I just flat out don't like you.

Let me set up some background information of my disgust toward Virginia. My family decided to drive up to Maryland for Christmas and my great-grandma's 90th birthday, all of which were successful endeavors since I saw and played in snow. Now the day after Christmas, we have to drive back down to Florida, with a stop in North Carolina overnight. Our plans were to drive down to North Carolina in 7 hours.

Haha, yeah right. Thanks to Virginia, our trip was extended to 10 hours.

Now onto my list of grievances: First of all, people apparently do not know how to drive in Virginia. People of Virginia, there is no need to stop on the interstate if there isn't an accident or a lane shift! There shouldn't be a parking lot on I-95 for absolutely no reason!

Second, have your rest areas open! When your interstate is going to be a stand-still, you may want to have rest areas open so people can go to the bathroom if needed. I know there are budget cuts, but seriously, people will still be driving and people will still be needing to go.

Also, I-95 in Virginia needs to be a 3-lane highway, not a 2-lane. If every other surrounding state can be a 3-lane highway, what makes you so special to only need two lanes? Huh? Are you that special?

Overall, you are a dumb state. Why we readmitted you back into the Union is beyond me, but we did anyways. For any readers, this is your fair warning: Avoid Virginia!

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Not a Clean Cut

You know what really grinds my gears?

As I'm sure most of you know, we are approaching Christmas. If you were not aware, then get a calendar. Since it is Christmas time, most people are wrapping gifts. I enjoy wrapping gifts, but what grinds my gears is when you are trying to cut a straight line in the wrapping paper, and it is nothing like a straight line.

I like to be meticulous when I am wrapping presents, so when I try and glide my scissors across the paper to get a straight line, and yet it abruptly stops and leaves a rip or tear, my gears start a' grinding. I even have the wrapping paper with the gridded line to help guide my scissors so I can cut a straight line, but my scissors still snag on something and I get a tear.

My mom said, "Why don't you just cut along the line instead of gliding across?" Well that takes more time, and I already spend enough time making sure the presents look nice and crisp. If my sister can just take the scissors and quickly cut across, why can't I? They even have those special gift wrap cutters that are designed to just go straight across the paper, but I'm sure if I were to use those, I would only cause more errors.

And you know what else grinds my gears? When we get a nicely wrapped present that just looks pretty, we tear into it like a tiger tears into raw meat. I put all of my hard work into making the present look aesthetically pleasing, and then you go and rip it apart into tiny shreds of paper. Nice, that's classy.

Sorry my rant isn't so organized, but I just thought of this yesterday while I was having "fun" wrapping presents."

Let me know if you like these, and hopefully I will start writing some more posts and even publishing them in the Paw Print.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Your Using You're Wrong!!!

You know what really grinds my gears?

There are a lot of people out there (and you may be included) that still cannot use the words "your" and "you're" correctly and properly!!

People, they are two different words that sound alike, but have very different meanings! Those are called homophones, just like by, bye, and buy. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that N*SYNC decided to call their song "Bye, bye, bye," because "By, by, by" would not make too much sense. ("Buy, buy, buy" makes sense, but they are not trying to boost their sales)

Basically, people prefer to just use "your" all the time for ease, as opposed to having to write out an extra letter and even an apostrophe to get to "you're." I know that it is a lot of extra work to write or type out a few extra symbols, but trust me, there is a fine line between ease and laziness.

One of my favorite little ironies of life is when people post status updates and comments on Facebook saying "Your stupid." I am not sure why you need to claim possession of another person's stupid, but your comment only makes you sound stupid.

What I am trying to say is that you should really take time to look at your spelling errors, especially for situations with homophones. "Your" and "you're" may sound alike, but the difference between the two words on paper is the voice of an intelligent person. Neither ignorance nor laziness excuses you from making silly mistakes. If you must write out "you are" for "you're," then please make that a habit. And please, "ur" is never acceptable for "your" or "you're," in any situation.

So I hope that your considering some of you're common spelling mistakes and usage errors. Their are a lot of possible grammar errors out they're, and English teachers are easily willing to take out there red pens to catch those mistakes.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Family Feudless

You know what really grinds my gears?

I can't stand the fact that on Family Feud, the game show, every answer given is always a "good answer!"

I mean, EVERY answer is always a good answer. Even the most stupid, dumb, idiotic, and thoughtless answer is always a good answer. Note the absolutes that I used here.

Let me offer an example: Let's say the question is "Name a country where men greet each other by kissing each cheek." Some good answers would be Italy or France. And for these answers, the family is always clapping and cheering "Good answer, good answer!" Then the next girl says Europe.

...Okay, what? Last time I checked, Europe was a continent, not a country. Nonetheless, the entire family still cheers "Good answer!" and the survey, of course plays the loud buzzer noise, and the family still says "Good answer!" (not to be redundant here)

Okay, let's be honest. How many family members really thought that was a good answer? I certainly thought it was a dumb answer, yet the family expects the survey to have Europe as an answer. Now, if the people were surveyed were as dumb as her, I would understand why they were applauding.

Let's cite another example: The question: "Name a country that begins with the letter A, besides America"
Some given answers: Argentina, Asia, Amsterdam

Okay, and all of those answers were applauded and cheered for as "Good answers!" when only one answer was a good answer (which is Argentina, just in case you were unsure. You may think Amsterdam is a great country to visit, but you may be high while saying that (for obvious reasons))

Why a lot of these "good answers" are related to geography, I am not quite sure. There are certainly other questions where dumb, dumb, dumb, and dumber answers were given, but I'd rather not bore you with a recollection of those.

And hey, for those tough geography questions on Family Feud with the "good answers," Miss South Carolina would say that they probably don't own a map so they don't know the other countries.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Sorry that I haven't been posting blogs often. Hopefully, I'll have a few more blogs out for you to read in the upcoming weeks.

Dumb People Who Act Dumb

You know what really grinds my gears?

There are people out in the world that choose to act dumb, despite being somewhat smart, and they develop this persona for society to see.

I guess I am really asking why? Why do people want to act dumber than they really are? Personally, I want to appear smarter to people than I really am, because I find that intelligence is a desirable character trait. So does society consider acting dumb a desirable trait?

I am choosing to focus on high school students, although I could talk forever about dumb celebrities (Paris Hilton). As an observant high school student, I watch people all day long that make most people wonder why are they in high school? You see, I have a philosophy about all students: All students are capable of learning to their full potential; nobody is born stupid. However, for those students that don't do well in school and do not try to get help throughout the year to better themselves actually try to not do well. Some may say that they are setting themselves up for failure, but I believe that some students actually try so hard to fail, that if they applied the same effort to succeeding, then they would receive great grades.

For the student that gets C in his or her classes, but tries his or her hardest everyday to do well is not at all stupid. I believe that these students that actually try deserve A's and B's, especially when considering other students that completely fail a class because they don't do anything to try to bring up their grade (until the last day of the semester). To go along with my philosophy, I believe that you have to put more effort into failing a class and less effort in passing. What really grinds my gears is that those kids that receive F's in their classes are okay with their grade.

Really? And how is that F a positive thing? It surely doesn't help out yourself or anybody else.

As society continues to sensationalize celebrities that appear to do nothing for all of their wealth, high school students begin to believe that they too can do nothing and still succeed in life. This is a major fallacy, for even those celebrities have had to work very hard for their success.

So after going off on a tangent there, allow me to go back to my original thesis. Some people feel that failure is an okay thing, and they act on this impulse and it develops into their ego. They take their ego, and they let everybody else know it. In my opinion, society is becoming more accepting of failure and acting dumb, which is certainly very bad. But who do we blame? We can blame the parents, celebrities, or the kids themselves. I would rather blame the education in America for being too soft on these kids and letting them get away with a slap on the wrist. Education should reward the good and punish the bad; however I believe that American education does pretty much the exact opposite.

So again, after going on a second tangent, people that act dumb really grind my gears, especially when, in my honest opinion, people are not inherently dumb.

And to repeat, that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

That's So Cliché!

You know what really grinds my gears?

People that say we shouldn't use clichés when we write. I just think that clichés are a blessing in disguise that should not be ignored.

I am really going for broke with this blog post here, since I know that a lot of people can't stand clichés, but I always say let sleeping dogs lie. Clichés do not hurt anybody, and I feel that they add a special voice to one's writing, so if you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen.

With this blog post, I hope to steal the thunder from strict English teachers and editors to turn the tables on the argument of whether or not we should write with clichés. In my opinion, I find clichés to be common phrases amongst people that can enhance the connection an author makes with his or her audience. However, many people let clichés fall through the cracks, stating that they make the writer sound dumb and uneducated, with which I disagree. A true and successful writer should know the ins and outs of how to use clichés effectively, so that a cliché does not sound, well, cliché. So long that the cliché used isn't ineffective and pointless, all's well that ends well.

So last but not least, I will fight the argument to the bitter end that clichés can have a valid and supporting role in any writer's works. I know I may be preaching to the choir, but it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and to be successful in writing, you have to be able to stand out and strut your stuff. In conclusion, give it the old college try and add some clichés in your writing. Remember: the sky's the limit!

And that is what really grinds my gears!

Cameron

Florida: The Artificial Sunshine State

You know what really grinds my gears?

The new bill currently in the Florida Legislature that plans to ban the use of tanning beds for children under 16 is completely unimportant and is perhaps a detriment to the already suffering Florida economy.

Artificial tanning, basically using a tanning bed, is currently being attacked for causing melanoma and other skin cancers based on the high amounts of UV radiation. State congressmen and congresswomen are now attempting to regulate the way that teenagers either use tanning salons or how often they use tanning salons to receive their tan. If we are now suddenly concerned about the possible cancerous side effects of tanning beds, why are we not regulating its use for everybody, adults and children?

It always appears to me that when it comes to politics, children always get the short end of the stick (pardon the cliché). Whether the issue is education, health care (although we do have Kidcare now), or commerce, the children of Florida are always the least (or most, depending on how you look at the situation) impacted in the realm of public policy.

With the new bill, teenagers under the age of sixteen would be prohibited from using the tanning bed, and those teenagers from ages sixteen to eighteen would be required to wear protective eye wear, have parental consent before tanning, and would be restricted on the number of times tanning beds could be used.

Now being the younger brother of a once teenage sister, I know that from 16 to 18, she had to receive parental consent in order to tan. All people are required to wear protective eye wear in a tanning bed, so the only difference would be a regulation on how often a teenager can visit a tanning salon. In all honesty, is this bill necessary? Aren't we currently in a economic recession and shouldn't the state legislature deal with those economic issues before dealing with a frivolous matter as tanning? Now I am only a teenager, unable to vote, so as a non-constituent, my voice plays no role to a congressman.

Once again, the government is stepping in and playing the role of parent in determining how teenagers can or cannot use a tanning bed. At this time, the government has a lot more to deal with to recover the ailing economy, so this matter seems pointless and irrelevant.

Remember, we are in an economic recession, so businesses are relying on the consumer to maintain their business from closure, so if you remove a large customer base from a business, it is likely to fail. The possibility of regulation would be crippling to the tanning salon industry, which should be helped in anyway possible as should any other business.

Now from a scientific viewpoint, the process of tanning relies on UV (ultraviolet) rays to stimulate production on melanin, which gives a darker appearance to the skin. Congressmen are attacking tanning beds for damaging UV rays, yet the sun is always emitting UV rays, which are just as damaging as tanning bed UV rays because they are the same. So we might as well regulate the time we stay indoors or the time we wear long sleeves and pants to protect from the rays. That would prove as effective in protection, wouldn't it?

In my opinion, it is the parent's role as a parent (duh!) to take control of when their son or daughter tans, how long they tan, and how they moderate the tanning. That is the key word: moderation. Tanning in moderation is okay, just as if you were tanning in a bed or out in the sun. There is no difference in the two, so if you plan to prevent tanning bed use by teenagers, you have stopped one, perhaps more efficient mode of tanning, but you will not have ended the true cause.

In politics, it all flows down to the dollar, as opposed to the moral standpoint that some people actually think congress stands for (check their combined criminal records). Maybe congress wants to boost tourism, so by making pre-teens go to the beach to tan would increase tourism revenue. Who knows? All we know is that the bill proposal is idiotic with no true purpose except to diminish the role of the parent and place unnecessary restrictions on teenagers. They already cut education funding, so what else can they do? Thanks Florida Legislature.

And that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

On Education: Local #1

You know what really grinds my gears?

For those of you that either have experienced or are experiencing the thrills of the wonderful Hillsborough County education system, you probably have experienced my grief when I discuss the one of many faults of the education system. I am going for a local approach, but from then I will expand to state and national level.

Today, I will discuss my anger of having to take final exams for my AP classes, of which I am required to take the AP exam for the class.

I love the Advanced Placement system set by College Board. I feel that AP classes are a happy medium between college-level classes and the Springboard program. Now I hate the Springboard program, but I will save that topic for a later date.

AP classes give students the opportunity to receive college-level credit for classes based on a 1-5 grading scale for the ETS/CollegeBoard AP Examination in early May. For most colleges and universities, a score of 3 or higher on the AP exam will allow students to receive credit for classes in college. The higher the score you receive, the more classes you may be able to exempt.

Teachers of AP level curriculum teach the AP classes in order to prepare students to take the AP examination; they do prepare students for semester grades, but the teacher's priority is to ensure a student is well prepared for the AP exam in May.

For students and teachers alike, this is a grueling process. The extensive curriculum of the AP exam is then condensed into a 3-4 hour exam in early May that is draining both physically and mentally. Students study long hours to ensure that they can receive the college credit for the class.

Now here in Hillsborough County, we have semester exams, like most school districts. But what really grinds my gears is that even after taking the exhausting AP exam, the school district requires that students take the final semester exams, unless they have exam exemptions that they may use.

Once the AP exam is finished, most AP teachers stop teaching because the war is over. They have prepared for the exam and now they are done. The time after the AP exam is time to relax and celebrate the tough commitment made. However, a few unfortunate students then have to return after about two weeks of no lessons to take a final exam for the county. Does this seem fair?

In my opinion, no. Students have to dedicate many hours to practice and study to take an AP exam that means the world to us, and yet we then must go back and take a meaningless exam that may drop our grade, even though we may have earned the 4 or 5 on the AP exam. So why are we forced to take a final semester exam? I honestly do not know. It could be the usual "money" factor, but what money is made or saved by having exam papers printed and having teachers write the exams (that usually requires some stipend)?

I don't know, but I really feel that taking a semester exam after the AP exam is ridiculous. Hopefully some of you agree with me. I would like action done to remedy this problem, but appealing to the school board is about as difficult as telling Sneakers O'Toole to take his sneakers off (Family Guy reference).

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Please look for my new blogs on education, where next I will narrow my subject to my school and discuss something else that grinds my gears.

Cameron

Biggest Pet Peeve for College Admissions (thanks Craig for being my memory)

You know what really grinds my gears?

I cannot stand it when athletes are accepted to major universities on full ride scholarships, yet here I am, along with many other people, with a 6.0+ GPA and we cannot earn enough in scholarships to attend the college of our choice.

As I know many people are finding out about whether or not they have been accepted to their college of choice, I decided to talk about a matter that means a lot to me, since I have less than a year to apply for colleges, along with many other students in the class of 2010.

Now let me clarify something. There are many athletes that are strong academic leaders and are involved in many extracurricular activities, but there are many athletes that do not make the cuts for admissions, or make the bare minimum on SAT scores and a minimum 2.0 GPA. And these athletes are accepted based purely on athletic skill and not on academic ability.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the college or university so called for being an "institution of higher learning"? In my opinion, anybody that is attending a college or university should be primarily attending to earn a higher education. Even athletes should be more concerned with higher education for their career choice, since there are more jobs and career fields than there are professional sports positions.

But anyway, back to admissions. So I am very concerned about how I will pay for college. I may not attend an in-state university, so I cannot receive Bright Futures, but I do have prepaid college at the tuition rate of a Florida public university, which equates to one class at an out-of-state university (slight exaggeration). My PSAT scores may help with some scholarships for National Merit, but it is improbable, since they were kind of low. After that, I would have to rely on independent scholarships and scholarships offered by the university of choice. In the end, I will end up taking out college loans in order to attend college. But if I were a football player with half of my current GPA and SAT scores, plus little leadership qualities and fewer extra-curricular activities, I could attend a major university with no cost to me, plus I would receive the best care and academic advising in the entire university. Does anybody else see a problem with this, or is it just me?

Just to give you an idea of the money spent for athletes. In 2008, the University of Oklahoma spent $2.4 million dollars on counselling, tutoring, and salaries for academic advising and tutoring for football players. Let me say that $2.4 million is a lot of money to spend. This doesn't even include the tuitions covered by universities to allow these players to attend the university.

So money that I could use for my own tuition or improvements to the university programs is being used to help athletes earn their degrees which they may not even need if they become professional athletes.

The big question is why?

Why can't I go to college for less money because I am a strong academic student?

The answer is obviously money. Colleges need money to run their schools, so they rely on athletes to become professional players, so they can then donate their millions of dollars from their salaries to return to the schools for allowing them to attend their university.

Is this fair? Probably not.

Is it reality? Certainly.

For those of you that feel that this issue also grinds your gears, here is a link to an article that helped me with this post that I believe you would enjoy:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/feb/01/co-athletes-eyes-on-degrees/

And that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

Food Blog #2: Sandwich Geometry (A subset of Non-Euclidean Geometry)

You know what really grinds my gears?

Ever notice how bread is square and bologna (or any sort of sandwich meat) is often round?

First of all, let me give all claims to Family Guy since this idea comes from the episode, Stewie B. Goode, but I felt that I could attack this topic.

Now, I am not a fan of Bologna (mainly because of the pronunciation error that I have), but I will speak for all deli meats that are usually round, but not square.

I find that the meat companies are using round slices mainly to skimp on how much meat they have to produce. Think about this: Do you get a bite of meat in every bite of sandwich? Because I certainly don't. And it's not just bologna, but also salami, turkey, ham, and the list goes on.

Unfortunately, this puts the bread companies at a disadvantage, since they produce more bread than the meat companies produce meat. In an economic recession, the bread to meat ratio should be as close to one for optimal snacking.

Now the cheese companies are smart, since they have square slices (except those in the provolone business), but there should be a complete harmony between all three.

And this is why I believe that the Spam industry will grow without bounds because of its square meat-like substance. So if you plan to invest in the stock market, the Hormel Company is a good place to go.

And that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

Food Blog #1: Hot Dogs

You know what really grinds my gears?

I can't stand it when I buy a pack of 10 hot dogs, but I only can find a bag of 8 hot dog rolls to buy.

Now let me set the premise that this is one of many food related blogs that I will post, so please enjoy.

Now I am a fan of the hot dogs. There is nothing more that I enjoy on a Sunday afternoon than some L & A (if you need to look that up, go ahead) cooked on the grill. However, my absolute favorite kind of hot dog is the all-famous Oscar Mayer Cheese Dog! Nothing can compare to the taste of processed cheese injected into the center of a hot dog.

So if you haven't noticed, most hot dogs come in packs in 10, yet the hot dog rolls that I buy (Martin's Potato Rolls) only come in packs of 8.

Now I am just slightly mathematically advanced, so I can determine that there are two extra buns over hot dogs (10-8=2). So to equalize the number of buns to the number of hot dogs, I could double the buns, leaving 6 extra buns, or using some math, I could buy 4 packs of Cheese Dogs and 5 packs of buns and pray that I am really hungry for hot dogs.

To my knowledge, I have heard that some buns come in 10-packs and vice versa for hot dogs, but there should be some uniformity. If Rockefeller could use vertical integration to control quality of production, then Oscar Mayer should gain control of the hot dog bun industry and standardize the numbers.

And that is what grinds my gears.

Stay tuned for food blog #2, where we analyze the geometry of the sandwich.

And I apologize for the extensive use of math, but math is important to me, so I try to incorporate it into daily life.

Cameron

Oh, the weather outside is....Chamber of Commerce?

You know what really grinds my gears?

I have been hearing the term "Chamber of Commerce" weather for the past week and I keep hearing it everyday. I hate it when I hear clichés and they remain clichés for the next year.

Ok, how many of you have ever heard the term, "Chamber of Commerce" weather? I haven't heard it since last Friday, and yet whenever I turn on the news, I hear that our weather is Chamber of Commerce weather.

For those of you that don't know, Chamber of Commerce weather is synonymous with the best weather possible in a region. So as Goldilocks would have it, it's not too hot, and it's not too cold, but it's just right. It's the marketable weather that the Chamber of Commerce can utilize for advertisement and increase business in a town or city

So apparently, this upcoming weekend is going to be "Chamber of Commerce" weather, just in time for the Superbowl, but I am sick and tired of hearing it. Why should we name weather by a certain institution? We don't call bad weather, "Federal Reserve" weather. Actually that would be awesome. We (being the two people that read this blog) should start petitioning for a new term for bad weather. It's just an idea, but it could be the new craze that sweeps the nation.

And that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

Anatomically Inaccurate

You know what really grinds my gears?

I'm watching Family Guy right now and I just realized that all of the characters have four fingers. I just find that kind of crazy, but also the fact of the matter is that not only do the characters have four fingers, but the characters have five toes!

I would think that one of the most popular cartoon comedies in the nation, perhaps world, would prefer to be anatomically correct, for the sake of its rather observant viewers.

So Seth, if you are reading this (which is improbable) please consider giving the characters in Family Guy five fingers, please? It would make me happy.

And that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

Txt Msg Addiction

You know what really grinds my gears?

I just saw a news report on how a Florida girl is ranked as one of the top texters in the nation.

Really? We took time out of our busy schedule to give accolades to someone for texting a lot.

So she texted 35000 text messages in the last month and she is not phased by this at all, and neither are her parents because they have an unlimited plan. Do they not realize the mental and social implications of this?

Now let me set the record straight that I have nothing against text messaging. I am a frequent text message user, but this situation is just a little too much to bypass.

Imagine sending a text message constantly for 16 straight hours. Not only would your hands be tired, but you would have accomplished nothing. If we average one text message to last 30 seconds from start to finish, and she must have sent somewhere in the ball park of 100 messages per hour (give or take 25 per hour) and you are left with 10 minutes an hour. This does not even count school, when she does not text (COUGH!!).

Are cell phones (text messaging especially) destroying the social aspect of speaking? People don't speak over the phone anymore for the ease of texting.

Really? I find talking a tad easier.

Texting has eliminated speech for most teenagers, sans in school. But speaking has a more profound impact. No one has sent the great American speech over a text message. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln used strong rhetoric to convey their thoughts. Their rhetoric made them the people we remember today. Now not every teenager will become the next Great American Speaker, but the lack of verbal dyadic communication may ruin the social aspect for the future generation.

The girl says she receives A's and B's in school, but I would be interested to see her writing skills after being such a profound texter. I cannot stand chat lingo and text jargon, for the life of me. At most, I will use LOL, but other times, I will use proper English grammar. Why? Mainly so I don't sound like an imbecile.

JK. LOL. ROFL. LMAO. STFU.

I sound like, well I don't know. But it's not an intelligent person.

All I'm saying is to not rely on texting for all form of communication and maybe pick up the phone and call a friend to have a conversation.

And that is what grinds my gears.

And I hope to recontinue the blogs on a daily basis for the two of you that read this. Just to please you all.

Cameron