TAMU PTTS Gestapo vs The Justinator

The Texas A&M PTTS (Parking, Traffic & Transportation Services) Gestapo struck again, only this time it was I who was the victim. For years I had heard about how ridiculous those fat scooter riders (I'm not kidding, they really are) are when writing out parking citations. When you park in 30 minute parking, they won't hesitate to give you a citation before your time is up. Now I know why people call them the Parking Gestapo.

Anyways, on to my story. That fateful day was a rather hot and humid one. I had until 12:00pm to move out of the dorm before they deactivated my card access. The best place to park was alongside the street in the bikelane that runs beside my dorm, Hobby (note the black bar encircled in red in the map below and the green square where my car was parked). Normally it's illegal to park there, but for the week of finals and several days after, they had that area as a designated loading area including the day I was moving. So, that's where I parked. The nearest alternative was around 100+ meters from the entrance of the dorm and that was only after going down four flights of stairs. I figured that since it was legal for that week, it would be fine.....

I was able to get a little help with three big things, but the rest was up to me. I kept going upstairs, grabbing a few more things, down to the car in the street, back up to the dorm, grab a few things, back down to the car, etc, etc. I was bringing down another load when I happened to notice something fluttering on my windshield. "What???!!" Imagine my frustration! Here I was parking in a designated loading area, loading everything on my own, and I get a citation!

To make the day even more exciting, it started raining when I was trying to move everything into my summer residence.

I finally finished moving in and sat down to decided what my options were with the citation. I could appeal it and probably get shot down like it happened to most, or I could just pay it. Well, being the stubborn guy that I am (especially in situations when I know I'm being taken advantage of), I appealed it. I explained the whole situation in front of the student board of appeals arguing (well, not really arguing) for dismissal of the citation. But they refused and just reduced the fine by $10 for parking legally in a designated loading zone. It's certainly better than the original amount, but it really should've been dismissed. Looks like The Justinator was defeated this time:(

How Conservative or Liberal am I?

Your Political Profile:

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The Taylor's Funniest Home Video

Greetings, friends! I just wanted to let you know that my pastor's family, Tom & Kathy Taylor will be on Funniest Home Videos Friday night at 7:00pm CST (May 19, 2006). Turns out, they submitted a video of one of our homemade 4th of July fireworks displays. Basically, what happened was I, or John Taylor would light a Roman Candle and one of their little Doxons would growl and race over to it, grab it in his mouth, and run to Tom while the Roman Candle is still firing.........at us. In the video, you see the balls shooting out of the side of the puppie's mouth while I'm running behind the cars and Jesse and Stacey are running for cover. Tom ends up jumping 5 feet in the air to keep from getting hit with a Roman Candle ball. It was so hilarious! Anyways, they sent it into Funniest Home Videos and they got 3rd place in the top 25 videos of all time winning them $10,000!!! That was only after they were flown out to Florida for an all-expense-paid trip to Disney World where they literally got to do absolutely anything they wanted.

We were all so happy for them. All of them needed a break. So be sure to tune in Friday night at 7:00pm CST (8:00pm EST) to see all of us on America's Funniest Home Videos!

The Justinator vs. Stan, the Printer

It was hot and rather humid day when I began my walk to work. I arrived at work on time and things were going just peachy. It just so happened that I decided to be a good little student worker and do some dusting. Well, as some of you may know, computers need to be "blown out" with compressed air from time to time to make sure the accumulated dust inside doesn't cause any problems. The power supply on these printers (these particular printers have a computer that runs the Xerox software) were quite dusty. Only problem is I can't take the cover off.....well I can, but it would nullify the warranty. That being the case, I just started "blowing" dust off of all three of the printers' surfaces (there are no dusting cloths). As I have done so many times and had been instructed to do so, I started dusting the back of the first printer, Cartmen. Things were going marvelously. Then, I started dusting Stan..........*BOOM!!* *sizzle sizzle* a nice puff of smoke and the stench of burning electronics right in my face! I must've jumped 10 feet in surprise.

Before

After

It wasn't that bad, really:) Amazingly enough, I survived with only a slightly burned finger (first I break my toe, now I burn my finger *rolls eyes*). I knew Stan didn't care too much for me, nor I him, but I never expected this much insubordination. He wound up having to get a new power supply and now he's much nicer:) Oddly enough, I didn't get in trouble at all. My supervisor said "it won't be a problem because the university pays [a lot] to have the contract with Xerox that will replace and service anything related to the printers for free." It's a wonder I haven't been fired for being a liability;) Looks like summer is off to a great start! However, The Justinator will live to fight another day!

It's Finally Over!

School is finally out for the semester!*does three jigs* Finals were rather harsh this time around. I wound up getting through Engineering Physics by the skin of my teeth. That was the class with the Chechnyan prof....

*shudders*. Calculus II was pretty bad also. The final was very.....interesting. At least in that class, the prof was from Austria!

*gaaaaa!* But now it's over! No school until the end of August! I'll be trying to CLEP out of a class this summer, but not actually taking a class. I'm to the point where any class I would try to take during the summer would have to be in my major and I really think I've died a horrible academic death one too many times already.

This summer, it looks like I'll be working quite a bit. I'll be in a very good situation, though. I get to move into a good family friend's house, rent and utilities free! God is so merciful where I need it the most! All of this means I'll be able to make it to Camp Moriah and maybe even Harmony Hill! However, it means I'll be working a lot. Something like 8am to 11pm will occupy me some days, but I think it's worth it honestly. To be with "bosom friends" and learn so much comes without a price, don't you think?

Well, Saturday is my day to catch up on homework. Wait, that's right! There is no homework!! Muwahaha! *does three more jigs*

Wrong Time, Wrong Place

February3, 1990
Washington

The following mind-boggling attempt at a crime spree appeared to be the robber's first, due to his lack of a previous record of violence, and his terminally stupid choices:

1. His target was H&J Leather & Firearms. A gun shop.
2. The shop was full of customers - firearms customers.
3. To enter the shop, the robber had to step around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door.
4. A uniformed officer was standing at the counter, having coffee before work.

Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a holdup, and fired a few wild shots. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, covered by several customers who also drew their guns, thereby removing the confused criminal from the gene pool.

No one else was hurt.

We Have Closure

Well folks, I finally got the news. SSG Roddy called me today to let me know how everything turned out. I only had to keep calling him almost every day. As Julie said, "Whenever they want money from you, they don't waste a moment, but if you want money from them it's gonna take a while."

The folks that give the physical down in Houston looked at my paperwork and said they had never heard of "Raynaud's Phenomenon" which was what the doctor here at the Quack Shack at A&M diagnosed me with. Raynaud's Phenomenon is the medical condition that causes my hands to go numb very easily. Because they've never heard of it, they want to research it. Only problem is, it could take up to a year. That being the case, it's safe to say this whole Army thing is going to happen, at least not this year.

Like I've said before, I was going to be happy either way and I really think that how this turned out was God's Will. It's a slight disappointment, but now I'm really looking forward to going to Camp Moriah and maybe even Harmony Hill. I really appreciate all of your prayers in this matter. I think it really helped. God Bless and I hope to see ya'll this summer!