I finished my first semester of grad school the other day. I came home to my precious Lancaster and settled back into my parents' house. So the only thing to ask myself is now what? What do I do with myself now?
I am used to working constantly. I may be writing papers or working at my partnership. I may be cleaning my apartment or reading a book on a historical event. Point is I work constantly. I never really allow myself to have down time. And since I returned home, I am not quite sure what to do with myself.
So to occupy my time, I have been playing video games, but not as much as I would like to. Most of my time has actually been spent baking. I bake some mean holiday cookies, and so far, I have turned out four different kinds in less than a week. Tomorrow I'll turn out two more.
And in between baking cookies, I have been working on a short story. Even though I only have a few pages written, this is actually the first time in years that I have written anything of fiction. It's not like I have not tried. I used to have a very active writing imagination. I used to write all the time, but it stopped once I started anti-depressants which I think may have fried that portion of my brain. I have never really gotten over the death of the me that was before anti-depressants, but since I stopped taking them a few years ago, a new person emerged, unfortunately, it has been one who can no longer write something as simple as a short story.
But today I've had a spark that I have not felt for a long time. I suddenly had the urge to write a short story about a deep space probe. And while I feel like the story is not very good, what is important is that I have suddenly regained a small part of my brain that I thought died long ago.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Forecasting Fallout 4: My Predictions
I have been trying to guess, recently, where the new Fallout 4 will be set. I wonder if it will even be set in the United States or possibly even Canada or Mexico. It would be interesting to see how other countries faired in the Great War, but here are some predictions that I have had and that have been gathered from the internet:
Jason Bergman said: "You'll get no tips from me. But the Mojave Wasteland was a fun place to explore, wasn't it?"
So what can we gather from this? Well that it may end up being in a dessert climate again.
A friend suggested that the next game would take place in Idaho because giant, irradiated potatoes would be "awesome." This is a silly suggestion, but with Bethesda, you never know.
I have tried to do my research on the topic, but Bethesda has not released much information about it. The most information that you can get on it is in the Fallout Wiki's FAQ on it: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_4_FAQ
This is disappointing but I guess it's still a little early for them to be releasing information on it considering its projected release date.
Tell me though: Where do you think it will take place?
Jason Bergman said: "You'll get no tips from me. But the Mojave Wasteland was a fun place to explore, wasn't it?"
So what can we gather from this? Well that it may end up being in a dessert climate again.
A friend suggested that the next game would take place in Idaho because giant, irradiated potatoes would be "awesome." This is a silly suggestion, but with Bethesda, you never know.
I have tried to do my research on the topic, but Bethesda has not released much information about it. The most information that you can get on it is in the Fallout Wiki's FAQ on it: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_4_FAQ
This is disappointing but I guess it's still a little early for them to be releasing information on it considering its projected release date.
Tell me though: Where do you think it will take place?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Mitt versus Mitt and GOP Clowns UPDATED AGAIN
I don't normally write about politics, but lately I have been following the circus that is the Republican party.
But before I do that, I want to say a bit about my political background. I am a rather liberal Democrat. I come from a family full of Democrats. The only Republicans in our family married in and often feel like outcasts among us. When I was in high school I was much more liberal to the point that when someone in a class called me a Communist I kicked their ass and told them if I ever heard such filth come out of their mouth again I would break their arm.
I find that people today think that when you say you're part of any liberal party, they are under the impression that you hate your country. Quite the opposite. I love my country so much that I keep a mini version of the US Constitution in my wallet. I consider going to Washington, D.C. a religious pilgrimage. I love my country and anyone who believes otherwise about me because I'm a liberal Democrat is a fucking moron.
Anyway, lately it has been hard to ignore the growing circus in the Republican primaries. Adultery, sexual harassment, child labor, "person-hood," etc. it's all becoming a little ridiculous but admittedly hilarious to watch. You could make a fortune if this stuff were pay-per-view. And when they have debates..... ooooohhhh when they have debates I can hear the Benny Hill theme playing in the background. Grab some popcorn! Another Republican debate is on! WOO HOO!
The other night I was sitting down to watch the evening news and eat some soup. As I took a big gulp of soup this commercial sponsored by the DNC comes on:
Soup spitting commenced as I collapsed into fits of laughter. Honestly, does anyone really know what he ACTUALLY believes in?! A friend called him a "vote whore" as in he'll say anything to win votes! Typical politician but hey Mitt wtf? What do you REALLY believe in? Stop flip-flopping already!
Earlier this week, Herman Cain dropped out of the race amid accusations of adultery and earlier accusations of sexual harassment. Honestly, when he first came in to the race, I was interested in what he had to say and I agreed with some of his ideas, but like most Presidential candidates, he got crazier and crazier. His stance on abortion killed any slight chance of me voting for him. I can't stand politicians and people who only see Planned Parenthood as abortion clinics. Only 2% of what Planned Parenthood does has anything to do with abortion. They offer a laundry list of sexual health services and education that many communities could not function without.
Anyway, when Herman Cain dropped out, he made a hilarious quote and for those who were in on it, we jumped right on it:
That's right: he quoted the first Pokemon movie in his departing speech. When I realized what had happened I nearly died laughing.
But what made the article that published it even better was what I saw in the comments section:
And more recently, just in case you missed it, Newt called child labor laws stupid and said that children from poor families should replace janitors in their schools. *facepalm* You're kidding, right? Well no, apparently he was NOT kidding. He later defended his comments and stood by the idea. I have to admit that I did not find this comment funny. As a historian, I have studied the evolution and eventual adoption of child labor laws. Yes they were enacted to protect children and to keep them in school so that the population could grow and become successful. This basically helped many people rise above the chains of poverty. But sociologically we have child labor laws to protect adults from children too. As in, if there were children filling jobs that adults would normally fill, the unemployment rate would be much higher. So if you were to get rid of school janitors in this country to replace them with the children of the poor, how many unemployed adults would you create?
Also, children need time to BE CHILDREN. It's essential to a child's healthy physical and psychological development to BE A CHILD and to HAVE A CHILDHOOD.
And you know what, you can flood the comments section below with your outraged comments and accusations of me slandering the Republican party, but you know what: I don't give a shit. I'm exercising my First Amendment rights here.
UPDATE
LOOK I FOUND MORE GOP CLOWNS!!! CLICK ME FOR GOP CLOWN!
RE-UPDATED
Thank you Jon Stewart: OH THE HERMANITY!
But before I do that, I want to say a bit about my political background. I am a rather liberal Democrat. I come from a family full of Democrats. The only Republicans in our family married in and often feel like outcasts among us. When I was in high school I was much more liberal to the point that when someone in a class called me a Communist I kicked their ass and told them if I ever heard such filth come out of their mouth again I would break their arm.
I find that people today think that when you say you're part of any liberal party, they are under the impression that you hate your country. Quite the opposite. I love my country so much that I keep a mini version of the US Constitution in my wallet. I consider going to Washington, D.C. a religious pilgrimage. I love my country and anyone who believes otherwise about me because I'm a liberal Democrat is a fucking moron.
Anyway, lately it has been hard to ignore the growing circus in the Republican primaries. Adultery, sexual harassment, child labor, "person-hood," etc. it's all becoming a little ridiculous but admittedly hilarious to watch. You could make a fortune if this stuff were pay-per-view. And when they have debates..... ooooohhhh when they have debates I can hear the Benny Hill theme playing in the background. Grab some popcorn! Another Republican debate is on! WOO HOO!
The other night I was sitting down to watch the evening news and eat some soup. As I took a big gulp of soup this commercial sponsored by the DNC comes on:
Soup spitting commenced as I collapsed into fits of laughter. Honestly, does anyone really know what he ACTUALLY believes in?! A friend called him a "vote whore" as in he'll say anything to win votes! Typical politician but hey Mitt wtf? What do you REALLY believe in? Stop flip-flopping already!
Earlier this week, Herman Cain dropped out of the race amid accusations of adultery and earlier accusations of sexual harassment. Honestly, when he first came in to the race, I was interested in what he had to say and I agreed with some of his ideas, but like most Presidential candidates, he got crazier and crazier. His stance on abortion killed any slight chance of me voting for him. I can't stand politicians and people who only see Planned Parenthood as abortion clinics. Only 2% of what Planned Parenthood does has anything to do with abortion. They offer a laundry list of sexual health services and education that many communities could not function without.
Anyway, when Herman Cain dropped out, he made a hilarious quote and for those who were in on it, we jumped right on it:
That's right: he quoted the first Pokemon movie in his departing speech. When I realized what had happened I nearly died laughing.
But what made the article that published it even better was what I saw in the comments section:
In case you missed out on Newt Gingrich's part of this three-ringed circus, a couple of months ago the news came out that while voting to impeach President Clinton back in the late 1990s, Gingrich was having an adulterous affair himself. For some odd reason or another he claimed that he had "done it out of his love for his country." Wait... what? THAT MAKES NO SENSE! Someone explain this act to me! Is this one of those new modern arts clowns because if it is it's not funny. Seriously wtf.
And more recently, just in case you missed it, Newt called child labor laws stupid and said that children from poor families should replace janitors in their schools. *facepalm* You're kidding, right? Well no, apparently he was NOT kidding. He later defended his comments and stood by the idea. I have to admit that I did not find this comment funny. As a historian, I have studied the evolution and eventual adoption of child labor laws. Yes they were enacted to protect children and to keep them in school so that the population could grow and become successful. This basically helped many people rise above the chains of poverty. But sociologically we have child labor laws to protect adults from children too. As in, if there were children filling jobs that adults would normally fill, the unemployment rate would be much higher. So if you were to get rid of school janitors in this country to replace them with the children of the poor, how many unemployed adults would you create?
Also, children need time to BE CHILDREN. It's essential to a child's healthy physical and psychological development to BE A CHILD and to HAVE A CHILDHOOD.
And you know what, you can flood the comments section below with your outraged comments and accusations of me slandering the Republican party, but you know what: I don't give a shit. I'm exercising my First Amendment rights here.
UPDATE
LOOK I FOUND MORE GOP CLOWNS!!! CLICK ME FOR GOP CLOWN!
RE-UPDATED
Thank you Jon Stewart: OH THE HERMANITY!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Could the Fallout franchise be taken as a warning against thermonuclear war?
So I was watching The Atomic Cafe earlier today. I love old propaganda films mostly because some of them are so full of it that I have to avoid drinking anything while watching them because I might spit it all over everywhere in a fit of laughter. Kind of like the other day when I was eating soup and a MittvMitt.com commercial came on for the DNC. I almost spit soup all over my apartment and then proceeded to laugh my ass off.
Anyway that's besides the point right now. While watching The Atomic Cafe I started to think about how the Fallout franchise "mirrors" it. The Atomic Cafe holds the mirror of truth up to the United States. It shows us how utterly ridiculous we acted at the beginning of the Atomic Age. Part of the reason why I love studying the Atomic Age is because of how ridiculous our reaction to it was. We acted like complete morons in the face of catastrophe and I often feel like we're still acting like this. Especially during the 90s when we were so happy about the Cold War being over that we began to severely under fund our local, state, and federal civil defense and emergency management agencies. (Any pre-9/11 airport goers remember how lax security was?) We're still doing it too! My boyfriend works in emergency management and I have to say for the kinds of hours they pull and the nature of the work that they carry out and the BULLSHIT that they have to deal with, they should probably be paid more than anyone.
Boyfriend: "I really hate how stupid people are when it comes to their own safety. We tell them NOT to do something and then after a natural or man-made disaster they act like it's our fault. Then we have to clean it up! WE TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT! WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT?! But of course it's our fault." -_-
Me *thoughtful*: "So basically you're everyone's mom?"
Me:
Anyway that's besides the point right now. While watching The Atomic Cafe I started to think about how the Fallout franchise "mirrors" it. The Atomic Cafe holds the mirror of truth up to the United States. It shows us how utterly ridiculous we acted at the beginning of the Atomic Age. Part of the reason why I love studying the Atomic Age is because of how ridiculous our reaction to it was. We acted like complete morons in the face of catastrophe and I often feel like we're still acting like this. Especially during the 90s when we were so happy about the Cold War being over that we began to severely under fund our local, state, and federal civil defense and emergency management agencies. (Any pre-9/11 airport goers remember how lax security was?) We're still doing it too! My boyfriend works in emergency management and I have to say for the kinds of hours they pull and the nature of the work that they carry out and the BULLSHIT that they have to deal with, they should probably be paid more than anyone.
Boyfriend: "I really hate how stupid people are when it comes to their own safety. We tell them NOT to do something and then after a natural or man-made disaster they act like it's our fault. Then we have to clean it up! WE TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT! WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT?! But of course it's our fault." -_-
Me *thoughtful*: "So basically you're everyone's mom?"
Boyfriend:
Me:
So I would like to take a moment to think about the Fallout franchise from the viewpoint of an emergency manager, of which I am not. I am a historian/librarian/information scientist, NOT an emergency manager, but when you spend most of your time with one, you start thinking about the world from their view point. So I'm starting to look at my favorite video game from a different view point.
Some lessons and warnings:
1. Don't piss off the Chinese/Russians/Any country with enough nukes to seriously hurt us.
2. Do not worship false idols (sounds like the Commandments huh?). By false idols, I mean the atom. From what I can tell in the world of Fallout, before the Great War, the people "worshiped" the atom and even idolized it. Well look at where that got them. And then the Children of Atom do it again! WTH?!
3. Be prepared.
4. Don't take clean water for granted.
5. If you want everything to look like crap, drop a bomb on it, and refuse to clean it up even 200 years later. (Just because everything has been destroyed by a nuclear bomb doesn't mean that you can't tidy up once in a while! Moira gets this! Even though she's a pain in the ass...)
6. Atoms should be used for peaceful purposes. And I am NOT a stupid hippie. Hippies suck.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Cuba: It will fall like the Soviet Union.
When the Soviet Union fell, there were many factors that went into it. The democratic revolutions had started in 1989, but they had been going on underground long before that. Czechoslovakia had always been a problem for the USSR along with Yugoslavia. The Balkans have always been a troubled place just like the rest of Europe.
But the biggest problem was the aging Soviet guard. Gorbachev realized that the leadership was aging and that young people were not seeing things the same as the older generation. They wanted change. They wanted to be like the West.
I see the same thing eventually happening in Cuba. Fidel Castro's brother, Raul, recently implemented a major reform in Cuba, allowing people to buy and sell property for the first time since 1959.
Sure a reform like this could mean nothing, but I see one of two outcomes for Cuba in the next fifteen years.
1. When the old order dies out, Cubans will take back their country and have a democratic revolution that will open the country. My ninth grade history teacher predicted that Cuba would eventually become a democratic nation and would open itself to tourism from the United States.
or...
2. Cuba becomes the mirror of China. I like to call the Chinese "pseudo-Communists." While they still call themselves Communists, Marx and Lenin would never recognize Chinese Communism as it is today. They are more concerned with crushing the United States through economics than anything else. I can see Cuba taking this path.
How will Cuba play out? I can't wait to see.
But the biggest problem was the aging Soviet guard. Gorbachev realized that the leadership was aging and that young people were not seeing things the same as the older generation. They wanted change. They wanted to be like the West.
I see the same thing eventually happening in Cuba. Fidel Castro's brother, Raul, recently implemented a major reform in Cuba, allowing people to buy and sell property for the first time since 1959.
Sure a reform like this could mean nothing, but I see one of two outcomes for Cuba in the next fifteen years.
1. When the old order dies out, Cubans will take back their country and have a democratic revolution that will open the country. My ninth grade history teacher predicted that Cuba would eventually become a democratic nation and would open itself to tourism from the United States.
or...
2. Cuba becomes the mirror of China. I like to call the Chinese "pseudo-Communists." While they still call themselves Communists, Marx and Lenin would never recognize Chinese Communism as it is today. They are more concerned with crushing the United States through economics than anything else. I can see Cuba taking this path.
How will Cuba play out? I can't wait to see.
Wait... what?
That's what you're gonna being saying after you read this post.
When I introduced my boyfriend to Fallout 3 over a year ago he asked me why everything looked like crap in the game. Not the game itself, I mean the landscape of the game.
Boyfriend: What's wrong with the roads?
Me: There was a nuclear apocalypse over two-hundred years ago. That's what's wrong with the roads.
Boyfriend: Why haven't they fixed them? Why hasn't anyone cleaned up?
Me *bad poker face*: Well isn't it obvious?
Boyfriend: ...
Me: ...
Seriously, why hasn't anyone cleaned up or worked to make things better if the war took place over two-hundred years ago? The radiation levels are low enough in most parts of the Wasteland to enable people to safely start rebuilding. Manufacturing could have started up again by this time.
And you know what? Just because the world died in fire doesn't mean that someone can't pick up a broom and sweep up a little every now and then.
And this is where you say "Wait... what?"
The End.
When I introduced my boyfriend to Fallout 3 over a year ago he asked me why everything looked like crap in the game. Not the game itself, I mean the landscape of the game.
Boyfriend: What's wrong with the roads?
Me: There was a nuclear apocalypse over two-hundred years ago. That's what's wrong with the roads.
Boyfriend: Why haven't they fixed them? Why hasn't anyone cleaned up?
Me *bad poker face*: Well isn't it obvious?
Boyfriend: ...
Me: ...
Seriously, why hasn't anyone cleaned up or worked to make things better if the war took place over two-hundred years ago? The radiation levels are low enough in most parts of the Wasteland to enable people to safely start rebuilding. Manufacturing could have started up again by this time.
And you know what? Just because the world died in fire doesn't mean that someone can't pick up a broom and sweep up a little every now and then.
And this is where you say "Wait... what?"
The End.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
My life is super nerd- I mean country...
I recently bought a subscription to Netflix online. I have to say that so far it has been worth it. I really miss having a video store to rent movies and video games from right around the corner, but there seems to not be a single one left in the state of Pennsylvania. Sure, there's Red Box but I cannot get older movies like I could when there was a Blockbuster around the corner. And most of the time what you want to see is already checked out by someone else and you have no idea when it's going to be brought back. Frustrating...
Anyway, I love Stephen King books and movies. I decided that the first thing that I would watch would be the tv miniseries "The Stand" about a super flu that wipes out everyone. In the movie they have a fascination with an old black lady in a corn field in Nebraska. The time period that this starts is mid-June.
Now there's nothing wrong with an old black lady in a cornfield in Nebraska, but do me a favor and keep the corn's growth cycle accurate.
You: Oh Wolf why do you say that?
Me: Well because in mid-June the corn in this movie is already fully grown and tasseled out. FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!
This wouldn't bother any normal person, but it has to bother me. I have lived nearly my whole life in Lancaster County, PA and we grow A LOT of corn there. Until I moved to Pittsburgh, I never realized how much I relied of the state of the fields to give me clues about how the seasons were progressing. I've watched to corn go through its growth cycle for nearly my entire life and I feel really guilty about something as simple as corn "growing" in a movie bothering me. I feel entirely too country here...
In mid-June the corn is usually about halfway up my shin and by July it's at my thigh. So when I saw this, I died a little inside. The corn doesn't normally tassel out until the end of July or sometimes as late as mid-August. And corn pollen is a HORRENDOUS allergen. It leaves a kind of orange dust on everything and it makes you itch and sneeze like crazy. My late Jack Russell Terrier was terribly allergic to corn pollen to the point that she would lick her feet until they bled in the late summer and fall.
Anyway, now that I have shown you how much of a country bumpkin I am, I'm going to get back to work... FML
Anyway, I love Stephen King books and movies. I decided that the first thing that I would watch would be the tv miniseries "The Stand" about a super flu that wipes out everyone. In the movie they have a fascination with an old black lady in a corn field in Nebraska. The time period that this starts is mid-June.
Now there's nothing wrong with an old black lady in a cornfield in Nebraska, but do me a favor and keep the corn's growth cycle accurate.
You: Oh Wolf why do you say that?
Me: Well because in mid-June the corn in this movie is already fully grown and tasseled out. FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!
In mid-June the corn is usually about halfway up my shin and by July it's at my thigh. So when I saw this, I died a little inside. The corn doesn't normally tassel out until the end of July or sometimes as late as mid-August. And corn pollen is a HORRENDOUS allergen. It leaves a kind of orange dust on everything and it makes you itch and sneeze like crazy. My late Jack Russell Terrier was terribly allergic to corn pollen to the point that she would lick her feet until they bled in the late summer and fall.
Anyway, now that I have shown you how much of a country bumpkin I am, I'm going to get back to work... FML
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The "Cult" of Fallout
Yesterday I was able to meet some of the people who I have classes with online. I do have a friend among these people and we usually help each other out on assignments so I was excited to meet him yesterday.
During our evening class our task was to meet with our group members and fill out a special worksheet. Once the worksheet was finished, we had about an hour. So my friend and I started talking about Fallout New Vegas. The other group members looked at us like we were crazy.
I realized that loving Fallout is like being part of a cult. But this cult doesn't drink Kool Aid and think that there is a space ship following a comet. Some of us may think that latter but still it's like being part of a strange cult. We have our own culture and when we meet in public, people outside of the cult have a hard time understanding our "special" language. For example:
"I have the Bloody Mess perk so when I go home from class angry, I like to put in FNV and shoot people in the leg and feel better when they blow up."
or
"So the other day I decided that I would give the Fat Man a workout on some Super Mutants and Night Kin."
or
"Aw man I was playing three the other day and I discovered Vault 106. I will never feel the same about the color purple again!"
If you understand the above, then welcome to the cult. But remember, it's just a game.
During our evening class our task was to meet with our group members and fill out a special worksheet. Once the worksheet was finished, we had about an hour. So my friend and I started talking about Fallout New Vegas. The other group members looked at us like we were crazy.
I realized that loving Fallout is like being part of a cult. But this cult doesn't drink Kool Aid and think that there is a space ship following a comet. Some of us may think that latter but still it's like being part of a strange cult. We have our own culture and when we meet in public, people outside of the cult have a hard time understanding our "special" language. For example:
"I have the Bloody Mess perk so when I go home from class angry, I like to put in FNV and shoot people in the leg and feel better when they blow up."
or
"So the other day I decided that I would give the Fat Man a workout on some Super Mutants and Night Kin."
or
"Aw man I was playing three the other day and I discovered Vault 106. I will never feel the same about the color purple again!"
If you understand the above, then welcome to the cult. But remember, it's just a game.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
What Fallout can teach us about civil defense.
I was a history major as an undergrad and for my senior thesis I wrote about historic civil defense practices against thermonuclear war. My inspiration: the Fallout franchise of course! ... Well actually that was the final deciding factor in it all. There were a number of influences through out my life leading up to my decision on my thesis.
Recently the state of Pennsylvania has been running commercials telling its residents to be prepared at all times for natural disasters. As a long time resident of the state, I know first hand how much of a problem flooding can cause in the state. But, for most of my life, I have lived within the danger zone of Three Mile Island. As I got older, I started to worry a bit about the possibility of TMI going Chernobyl. I kept asking in school about what we were supposed to do if that happened. I never got a straight answer. My mother joked that if it went we would never know because it would come so fast.
As a senior in college, I was finally able to get my hands on my former school district's disaster plans for TMI. They did not instill a lot of confidence in me. "Inadequate" doesn't even begin to describe these "plans." The "plans" suggested that teachers close all doors and windows and then wait for further instructions. Translation: "We don't know what to do. Good luck."
I thought for sure that the schools had been equipped with special shelters for the children. If this was historically the case, I was never able to find out. Honestly, I tried to dig at them, but the district office was bothered by my digging, so I stopped.
So when I started playing Fallout, I realized how important it was to be prepared for the possibility of nuclear disaster. Let's build a vault!
2. Learn how to protect yourself from people who want to kill you and take your stuff.
I introduced my boyfriend to Fallout 3 about six months ago. At first he refused to shoot anyone who was shooting at him. "As long as I don't confront them and cause conflict the whole thing will resolve itself" was kind of the gist of what he told me.
Me: -_-
Boyfriend: What? Am I doing it wrong?
Me: People are SHOOTING at you. You also have a gun. Don't you think you should kill them? They're not going to be like "hey this guy is not shooting back. Maybe he's cool. Let's leave him alone and be friends."
Boyfriend: Well why not?
Me: *grabs controller* Gimme that! I'll show you how it's done. *kills all the raiders* There. That's how you do it. When people shoot at you, you shoot back and kill them before they kill you.
Boyfriend: ........ I am slightly bothered by this.
Me: This is the whole game. Get used to it.
Now I am not saying that this is a good idea for everyday life. In real life you have to wait until someone shoots at you before you are justified in shooting back. And in the case of nuclear apocalypse... Well there will no longer be any order in the world, so do what you have to to survive.
3. Water is precious.
Almost the entire focus of Fallout 3 was clean water for all. And some of the first things that you read in old civil defense pamphlets are about having enough water on hand in a shelter. I remember during the Y2K panic, people were hoarding bottled water like crazy. Well, I honestly see no reason against hoarding clean water. Our bodies are primarily made of water, so in an unfortunate disaster where our water supplies have been compromised, water will be a bargaining chip for other goods and services. If you have the water, all the more power to you. If you want to hoard water, that's great! One up to you in surviving the apocalypse.
Not too long ago, however, I asked the question of whether or not there are currently water filtration systems on the market that would be efficient tools in purifying irradiated water sources. Evidently, a Reverse Osmosis system would be effective, but this depends on how heavy the radiation is. Also, I don't think your Brita water filter is going to be able to handle this stuff.
So the lesson here: hoard water.
If you have any other suggestions for lessons that Fallout can teach us about civil defense, do not hesitate to post them in the comments section!
But I have decided to ask a very important question today: What can Fallout teach us about civil defense?
I would argue that civil defense in relation to thermonuclear war is practically dead in this country. Since the end of shelter surveys in 1993 after the official end of the Cold War, people have been very passive about preparing for nuclear disaster. Only since the disaster at the Fukushima-Daichi power plant in Japan has anyone really paid attention to this issue in the last ten years. Although people have been paying attention to the exclusion zone around Chernobyl quite recently but that's besides the point...
By the way ^THAT'S the exclusion zone. It's currently a thriving refuge for wildlife, especially my beloved wolves.
Anyway, what can Fallout teach us about civil defense.
1. Be prepared.
Now yes I know that the vaults were not meant to really SAVE anyone. They were more or less meant to be social experiments, but those that did not cause their occupants to go absolutely fucking insane with killing sprees did end up saving their inhabitants from the initial blast and the years of high yield radiation caused by the massive amounts of fallout spreading across the nation and the world.
Recently the state of Pennsylvania has been running commercials telling its residents to be prepared at all times for natural disasters. As a long time resident of the state, I know first hand how much of a problem flooding can cause in the state. But, for most of my life, I have lived within the danger zone of Three Mile Island. As I got older, I started to worry a bit about the possibility of TMI going Chernobyl. I kept asking in school about what we were supposed to do if that happened. I never got a straight answer. My mother joked that if it went we would never know because it would come so fast.
As a senior in college, I was finally able to get my hands on my former school district's disaster plans for TMI. They did not instill a lot of confidence in me. "Inadequate" doesn't even begin to describe these "plans." The "plans" suggested that teachers close all doors and windows and then wait for further instructions. Translation: "We don't know what to do. Good luck."
I thought for sure that the schools had been equipped with special shelters for the children. If this was historically the case, I was never able to find out. Honestly, I tried to dig at them, but the district office was bothered by my digging, so I stopped.
So when I started playing Fallout, I realized how important it was to be prepared for the possibility of nuclear disaster. Let's build a vault!
2. Learn how to protect yourself from people who want to kill you and take your stuff.
I introduced my boyfriend to Fallout 3 about six months ago. At first he refused to shoot anyone who was shooting at him. "As long as I don't confront them and cause conflict the whole thing will resolve itself" was kind of the gist of what he told me.
Me: -_-
Boyfriend: What? Am I doing it wrong?
Me: People are SHOOTING at you. You also have a gun. Don't you think you should kill them? They're not going to be like "hey this guy is not shooting back. Maybe he's cool. Let's leave him alone and be friends."
Boyfriend: Well why not?
Me: *grabs controller* Gimme that! I'll show you how it's done. *kills all the raiders* There. That's how you do it. When people shoot at you, you shoot back and kill them before they kill you.
Boyfriend: ........ I am slightly bothered by this.
Me: This is the whole game. Get used to it.
Now I am not saying that this is a good idea for everyday life. In real life you have to wait until someone shoots at you before you are justified in shooting back. And in the case of nuclear apocalypse... Well there will no longer be any order in the world, so do what you have to to survive.
3. Water is precious.
Almost the entire focus of Fallout 3 was clean water for all. And some of the first things that you read in old civil defense pamphlets are about having enough water on hand in a shelter. I remember during the Y2K panic, people were hoarding bottled water like crazy. Well, I honestly see no reason against hoarding clean water. Our bodies are primarily made of water, so in an unfortunate disaster where our water supplies have been compromised, water will be a bargaining chip for other goods and services. If you have the water, all the more power to you. If you want to hoard water, that's great! One up to you in surviving the apocalypse.
Not too long ago, however, I asked the question of whether or not there are currently water filtration systems on the market that would be efficient tools in purifying irradiated water sources. Evidently, a Reverse Osmosis system would be effective, but this depends on how heavy the radiation is. Also, I don't think your Brita water filter is going to be able to handle this stuff.
So the lesson here: hoard water.
If you have any other suggestions for lessons that Fallout can teach us about civil defense, do not hesitate to post them in the comments section!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Growing up Italian American: My Grandmother's Wooden Spoon
I grew up in an Italian American household. My dad is half Italian and half Sicilian, and my mom.... she's not Italian at all but she sure tries hard to make food that reminds my dad of home. My dad's mother on the other hand, my grandmother, grew up in Brooklyn and is VERY Italian. And if you know anything about Italian matrons, you know that they hate it when anyone is in their kitchen while they're cooking. My cousins and I used to make a game of seeing how long it would take before our grandmother would chase us out of the kitchen with her wooden spoon and a string of Italian profanity.
"Esci dalla mia cucina! Poco bastardi!" And that's mild. VERY MILD.
If you grew up Italian American then your ass and your mother/grandmother/aunt's wooden spoon are well acquainted.
As a child, I realized quickly that even my father and grandfather were not immune from my grandmother's wrath when she was cooking.
Part of the reason why Italian women do not want you in the kitchen while they're cooking is because they usually cook in very small spaces. It's dangerous to have more than one person in the kitchen at a time. Honestly, I have utilized this tactic a couple of times.
Another reason is that you might mess something up. If you have been recruited to "help" in the kitchen, be careful. "Don't rinse the pasta! You're cutting the cheese wrong! You'll burn the sauce if you stir it like that! ESCI DALLA MIA CUCINA!" Honestly, don't help. As terrible as that sounds. An Italian woman being on her feet all day, cooking a meal for her family, allows her to show how much she loves you. It also gives her something to complain about. And if you tried to help and you messed it up, you're gonna hear about it for the next ten years.
And finally, and this is a big one, keeping you out of her kitchen keeps you from "grazing" and spoiling you appetite. My dad is horribly guilty of this. When my mother or grandmother cooks, he gets in the way and grazes. If my grandmother is slicing mozzarella cheese and she turns away from it for a moment, my dad swoops in and starts eating the cheese. Even the dog did this. My grandmother used to have a white German shepherd who did the same thing. She stole cheese off the counter. This called for a "DAMN YOU STAR" while my grandmother chased her from the kitchen with a wooden spoon. "DAMN YOU STAR! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"
But seriously, stay out of the kitchen.
"Esci dalla mia cucina! Poco bastardi!" And that's mild. VERY MILD.
If you grew up Italian American then your ass and your mother/grandmother/aunt's wooden spoon are well acquainted.
Part of the reason why Italian women do not want you in the kitchen while they're cooking is because they usually cook in very small spaces. It's dangerous to have more than one person in the kitchen at a time. Honestly, I have utilized this tactic a couple of times.
Another reason is that you might mess something up. If you have been recruited to "help" in the kitchen, be careful. "Don't rinse the pasta! You're cutting the cheese wrong! You'll burn the sauce if you stir it like that! ESCI DALLA MIA CUCINA!" Honestly, don't help. As terrible as that sounds. An Italian woman being on her feet all day, cooking a meal for her family, allows her to show how much she loves you. It also gives her something to complain about. And if you tried to help and you messed it up, you're gonna hear about it for the next ten years.
And finally, and this is a big one, keeping you out of her kitchen keeps you from "grazing" and spoiling you appetite. My dad is horribly guilty of this. When my mother or grandmother cooks, he gets in the way and grazes. If my grandmother is slicing mozzarella cheese and she turns away from it for a moment, my dad swoops in and starts eating the cheese. Even the dog did this. My grandmother used to have a white German shepherd who did the same thing. She stole cheese off the counter. This called for a "DAMN YOU STAR" while my grandmother chased her from the kitchen with a wooden spoon. "DAMN YOU STAR! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"
But seriously, stay out of the kitchen.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Procrastination: I'm doing it!
Why am I writing this blog? Seriously. Why?
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Okay I'll tell you. Grad school is very stressful. I think I've complained about this in nearly every post I've ever put up on this blog. But seriously, it's extremely stressful. I have several large assignments due each week, plus with all of the crap (and I'm putting that nicely) that I have to read, I need some down time. Unfortunately, I have trouble turning off my brain during this down time.
I noticed the other day that I have been overly educated. My brain makes a million different connections a minute when given one idea. When I think about it, it's kind of like "Wiki races" where you are given a random topic with the goal of reaching another seemingly random topic as fast as you can. For example, I could give you the starting page "fly" (as in the insect) with the goal of reaching the page about Africa. The goal is to get from one to the other as quickly as possible and honestly with those particular topics, it doesn't take long. That's what my brain does. Everyday. All day long. Especially when I try to give it "down time."
I want my brain to shut up sometimes. The other day a news report made my mind go CRRRAAAZZZYYY making historical and literary connections to the point where I was like: SHUT UP BRAIN! BWAH!
Seriously it doesn't stop...
Now what was I posting about again?
Oh yeah, why am I writing this blog:
This blog has become a way for me to get my brain to calm itself down so it can go back to work. It also helps me get my super nerdy ideas out there because I cannot be the only one bothered by this stuff. There are a lot of things that really annoy me making my brain do somersaults. I used to write a journal, but I kind of gave up on that when I realized that it wasn't calming my brain down because no one was reading it. So I decided to write a blog.
This is also a way for me to procrastinate. I'm good at procrastinating, but what's ironic is that I feel like I never get anything done when I do. This blog has helped me get something done while procrastinating.
One more thing. I have terrible social anxiety. It wasn't so bad when I was an undergrad, but it's gotten really bad now that I'm in a city that I do not know or understand with people who are unfamiliar to me. I am much better back in cow country (and no I am not some hill-billy redneck, I've just grown up in a rural area) but here in Pittsburgh... There are days where my social anxiety is so terrible that I would rather curl up in a corner and read my books all day than go out and have to interact with people. This is really bad for an aspiring librarian who has to be the social center piece of a workplace. It probably stems from being an only child and having much of my early childhood take place where there were not many children around who were my age. I got very good at entertaining myself after a while. But anyway, this gives me a way to "talk" to people without actually TALKING to them.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Did you hear? I have super powers... okay not really...
So I realized earlier today that I have super powers. Besides having the power of being super spazzy I also have the power to know exactly when the bus is going to come. Okay maybe not exactly... Okay I guess most of the time, but I realized today that I usually walk to the bus stop when I "get a feeling" that the bus is going to come.
I feel like this would be a lot more interesting if I drew pictures about it but I suck at drawing so no.
Anyway, when I got to Pittsburgh being from a mostly rural area, I am not used to taking public transportation for anything. I tried really hard to figure out the bus schedule only to get frustrated and then do this:
I feel like this would be a lot more interesting if I drew pictures about it but I suck at drawing so no.
Don't care!
(I probably should have been more upset about this. I mean I am getting a Masters Degree and I cannot read a bus schedule... I have a Bachelors Degree and I cannot read a bus schedule.)
I refuse to pick up a bus schedule and I realize that this limits me greatly in places I can go, but if I want to go somewhere I tell my phone where I want to go and it gives me a less than perfect plan on taking the right buses to get there. It usually works out but depending on where I am going, the levels of frustration differ.
But honestly, I usually only take one bus daily. And I always get this "feeling" when it's going to come. And I have decided that since I am so nerdy that this is a super power. Honestly this is partially from me not missing the bus lately as I walk out of my door. But still I HAVE SUPER POWERS!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Thoughts on Wikipedia
Ever since Wikipedia started showing up in more and more bibliographies in high school and college, teachers and professors alike have been discrediting its authority. Honestly, it has no authority. Allow me to take a few minutes to rage about Wikipedia.
I have a big paper due on Tuesday but as soon as I ran across a scholarly resource that cited Wikipedia, I lost all faith in the assignment said "FUCK THIS SHIT" and spazzed for a little bit. Then I decided to complain here.
I have a big paper due on Tuesday but as soon as I ran across a scholarly resource that cited Wikipedia, I lost all faith in the assignment said "FUCK THIS SHIT" and spazzed for a little bit. Then I decided to complain here.
Look closely and you shall see that Kim Armstrong directly cited Wikipedia in her work. There are so many things wrong with this. I'm not saying that I want to be able to cite Wikipedia in my papers, but allow me to bitch for a moment. I graduated from high school in 2007 when Wikipedia was just starting its rise to prominence. We had been told over and over again by teachers that we were not allowed to use it in papers without any reasoning against it. When I got to college, however, we were suddenly made aware of the "sudden death" rule. The sudden death rule goes like this: If you are caught using Wikipedia as a source in your papers you will die... Well you won't die but you'll fail this assignment and possibly the class. I had one professor go so far as to tell us that it was cheating and that we would got to Hell. I don't believe in Hell in the religious sense but I believe in Historian and Librarian Hell. I will explain those two concepts later, but first let me explain why Wikipedia is not a credible source for ANYTHING.
Wikipedia contains user-created information. It allows its readers to edit information and while this is revolutionary, it is not credible. My grandma could edit something on Wikipedia. Your idiot neighbor could edit something on Wikipedia. The internet group "Anonymous" often declares war on Wikipedia by choosing a page at random to screw up. Do you seriously want to cite a moron in your paper? No. Let me send you to the following link for an example of why you should not cite Wikipedia: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/the-funniest-acts-of-wiki_n_522077.html#s224977&title=Blood_Libel_Entry
What really bothers me is that this person, Kim Armstrong, was able to publish in a scholarly journal even though she cited Wikipedia. She is a moron. I feel like this not only discredits her but also the journal that agreed to publish her: The Serials Librarian. I'm wondering if anyone else who reads The Serials Librarian has noticed this and has experienced the same rage and disgust for not only the author but also the publication.
Through the years I have realized that using Wikipedia is a cop-out for someone who is too lazy to look further than the first result in their Google search.
Feel free to tell me what you think.
UPDATE: So I was relating my frustrations to a professor who said that another problem with Wikipedia in academia is that since it is user-generated content there are times when it can reinforce general misconceptions about a topic. For example, children are taught the story of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree in elementary school so that they can learn about telling the truth even though the consequences for it may be less that desirable. Well, I feel like most of us know that this story is not true and was only made up to teach young children a lesson. But if someone posts on Wikipedia over and over again that it's true and more and more people reinforce this, then the public may eventually take it as historical fact. This is another problem that I have with the History Channel but that's another story.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
How I lost $30 by trying to take a cab.
I have been living in Pittsburgh for the past two months and while I brought my car with me, I have found that getting around can be quite a hassle. A problem I often run into is catching the bus on time. No matter what I do, I always seem to miss the bus that I want to take. I have tried leaving my apartment earlier and earlier but EVERY SINGLE TIME I walk outside, the bus blows by and I have missed it again. It's enough to make anyone want to punch a panda because then you have to wait 15 minutes to an hour for another bus to come. Sometimes I just start walking in the direction that I want to go and eventually end up catching a different bus but it's usually packed tit to ass and everyone on it has decided to skip deodorant that day. Seriously, it makes me want to punch a panda.
(I like pandas but Y U NO SCREW TO SAVE YOUR SPECIES?! Pisses me off...)
Well, this past weekend gave us the celebration of the most famous Italian known to man: Christopher Columbus. His birthday usually results in a day off from school for me. I love it. And I had not been home in two months so I decided about a month before hand to purchase a bus ticket. The ticket was about $30 and is cheaper than me driving the whole way home on the PA Turnpike. The only problem was getting from where I live in Shadyside to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at the crack of dawn when the city buses are not running. Yes, I could drive but there's no where to park down there that is (1) safe and (2) a place where my car won't be towed after twelve hours. So the night before I was set to leave I called Yellow Cab and arranged for a cab to pick me up at 5:15am, which would give me plenty of time to get there and catch the bus.
Well at 5:14am as I am walking out the door the cabbie calls me.
Cabbie: Hey I'm here, where are you?
Me: Walking out the door. I'll be right there.
Cabbie: Okay.
So I go outside and go to the curb. No cabbie. I try to call him back three times to no answer. I wait about five minutes before I call the cab company to ask where my cab is. They tell me that they have no clue and that they'll send another.
Around 5:45am I am getting really upset. No cab has come to get me. I call the cab company while staving off an asthma attack and ask them where my cab is. They tell me that they cannot get anyone to take the job and even though I tell them through sobs and chokes of an asthma attack that my bus leaves at 6:20am. They tell me there's nothing they can do. It takes thirty minutes to get downtown and there is no way that I'll make it in time. I do the only thing I know how to do when I am in a crisis: I call my parents.
Me (choking and sobbing): Mom! The cab-- *sob* *gasp*-- never came!
Mom: What do you mean 'it never came'? I thought you made the reservations last night?
Me: *gasp* It never- *choke* showed up.
Mom: Did you call them and ask to send another one?
Me: Yes! *sob* And I'm gonna miss *gasp* my bus! I'll never *sob* make *sob* it!
Mom: Do you have enough gas to make it home?
Me *sucking on inhaler*: You want me to drive now?
Mom: Get in the car and drive home.
Me: Okay.
By this time I was really pissed. And what pissed me off even more was that as soon as I started my car I get a text from Yellow Cab telling me a cab had been dispatched and would arrive soon. It was 6:00am. I said "Fuck that" and started driving home. When I hit the Turnpike, there was nothing that could stop my lead foot adrenaline rush. I was pissed off and I was going home.
My bus ticket was non-refundable even though I did fight with the cab company and the bus company about it. And that's how I lost $30 by trying to take a cab.
(I like pandas but Y U NO SCREW TO SAVE YOUR SPECIES?! Pisses me off...)
Well, this past weekend gave us the celebration of the most famous Italian known to man: Christopher Columbus. His birthday usually results in a day off from school for me. I love it. And I had not been home in two months so I decided about a month before hand to purchase a bus ticket. The ticket was about $30 and is cheaper than me driving the whole way home on the PA Turnpike. The only problem was getting from where I live in Shadyside to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at the crack of dawn when the city buses are not running. Yes, I could drive but there's no where to park down there that is (1) safe and (2) a place where my car won't be towed after twelve hours. So the night before I was set to leave I called Yellow Cab and arranged for a cab to pick me up at 5:15am, which would give me plenty of time to get there and catch the bus.
Well at 5:14am as I am walking out the door the cabbie calls me.
Cabbie: Hey I'm here, where are you?
Me: Walking out the door. I'll be right there.
Cabbie: Okay.
So I go outside and go to the curb. No cabbie. I try to call him back three times to no answer. I wait about five minutes before I call the cab company to ask where my cab is. They tell me that they have no clue and that they'll send another.
Around 5:45am I am getting really upset. No cab has come to get me. I call the cab company while staving off an asthma attack and ask them where my cab is. They tell me that they cannot get anyone to take the job and even though I tell them through sobs and chokes of an asthma attack that my bus leaves at 6:20am. They tell me there's nothing they can do. It takes thirty minutes to get downtown and there is no way that I'll make it in time. I do the only thing I know how to do when I am in a crisis: I call my parents.
Me (choking and sobbing): Mom! The cab-- *sob* *gasp*-- never came!
Mom: What do you mean 'it never came'? I thought you made the reservations last night?
Me: *gasp* It never- *choke* showed up.
Mom: Did you call them and ask to send another one?
Me: Yes! *sob* And I'm gonna miss *gasp* my bus! I'll never *sob* make *sob* it!
Mom: Do you have enough gas to make it home?
Me *sucking on inhaler*: You want me to drive now?
Mom: Get in the car and drive home.
Me: Okay.
By this time I was really pissed. And what pissed me off even more was that as soon as I started my car I get a text from Yellow Cab telling me a cab had been dispatched and would arrive soon. It was 6:00am. I said "Fuck that" and started driving home. When I hit the Turnpike, there was nothing that could stop my lead foot adrenaline rush. I was pissed off and I was going home.
My bus ticket was non-refundable even though I did fight with the cab company and the bus company about it. And that's how I lost $30 by trying to take a cab.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
That's your idea of a motivational speech?!: Why professors should ALSO think before opening their mouths.
So after a weekend in my home town, I traveled the four hours back to Pittsburgh on Monday to sit down and finish the rest of my homework. Naturally, as a grad student I am constantly feeling overwhelmed. I swear that I have aged about five years during the few months I have been here. (Forwards or backwards I don't know. My acne seems to be coming back though.) I am feeling more and more like a cynical asshole. I was one before but it's gotten even worse. It doesn't help that I am not sleeping well due to the noise from the street in front of my apartment at all hours of the day. After living almost my entire life in a suburban/rural community, being in a very noisy city is not sitting well with me. Add to this my money problems and my constant fear of the people around me and I am on the verge of a psychotic episode.
Because of the holiday weekend I only had one class yesterday. We're getting to the middle of the semester and a lot of us are really showing our stress. Well, my professor decided that this would be a good time for a "pep talk." Except his idea of a pep talk is telling you to suck it up and that it doesn't get any easier, it only gets harder so you better get used to it.
I don't expect life to be easy, I just expect it to get a little easier as I get used to my new role in it. I frowned while he told us this and I gather that I looked like I was going to cry (I was and I did) because my professor picked me out and told me not to give him such a sad look. I wanted to tell him that his little "pep talk" was not a pep talk at all and that he was pushing me one step closer to the mad house. Unfortunately, he interrupted me before I could give any retort whatsoever, which caused me just sit there and cry quietly in disbelief.
Honestly, just because you're a professor doesn't mean that you have the right to be a complete dick and then tell people that it's a pep talk. Just because you tell someone you're feeding them apple sauce when you're really feeding them cow manure doesn't make it apple sauce. Why don't you think a little before opening your stupid mouth?! Maybe then you won't be so confused when people start to cry in your class.
Because of the holiday weekend I only had one class yesterday. We're getting to the middle of the semester and a lot of us are really showing our stress. Well, my professor decided that this would be a good time for a "pep talk." Except his idea of a pep talk is telling you to suck it up and that it doesn't get any easier, it only gets harder so you better get used to it.
I don't expect life to be easy, I just expect it to get a little easier as I get used to my new role in it. I frowned while he told us this and I gather that I looked like I was going to cry (I was and I did) because my professor picked me out and told me not to give him such a sad look. I wanted to tell him that his little "pep talk" was not a pep talk at all and that he was pushing me one step closer to the mad house. Unfortunately, he interrupted me before I could give any retort whatsoever, which caused me just sit there and cry quietly in disbelief.
Honestly, just because you're a professor doesn't mean that you have the right to be a complete dick and then tell people that it's a pep talk. Just because you tell someone you're feeding them apple sauce when you're really feeding them cow manure doesn't make it apple sauce. Why don't you think a little before opening your stupid mouth?! Maybe then you won't be so confused when people start to cry in your class.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
My Parents' Dog is Retarded: An Odyssey
Recently my parents got another dog after being without one for almost two years. Our previous dog was an epileptic Jack Russel Terrier with a serious attitude problem. But this dog was VERY smart and when she felt like she wasn't getting enough attention, she would proceed in entertaining herself by ripping up tissues or tormenting my mother for fun. Well... our new dog... Lemme give you some background on this...
This all started back in March. I have nannyed the same set of children since I was fourteen. In that time, their family has experienced the death of a very elderly Shi Tzu, the mystery of their gigantic cat who only liked me going missing (we believe he had a run in with a coyote... poor baby :c ), and the arrival of a half-starved kitten in the tree in their front yard approximately two days after the oldest child was told she could bring home ANOTHER cat. Their luck with pets is odd. So when the youngest had her ninth birthday in March this year, she decided that she wanted a puppy. So what did they do? They had a Shi Tzu puppy shipped in from Washington state and gave it to her for her birthday.
Now I don't believe in giving dogs as gifts, especially to children. Children cannot comprehend the idea of a dog being another gift of life like themselves. They cannot comprehend that this "present" will live with proper vet care for an upwards of ten or more years. They just don't get it. So when the little one got her puppy, she was naturally excited but the novelty wore off by June. Guess who was stuck taking care of the dog? Me.
Now I was not upset about this in the very least. I was actually pretty happy about it. He looks like a tiny Ewok from Star Wars and he's very snuggly and cute. I love him. But he's retarded.
It started out that I would come over during the day when everyone was at work or school and I would take him for a "walk." Now I am using the term "walk" loosely here. It was more like I would put a leash on him and drag him down the street while people in the neighborhood stared at me in horror thinking that I was abusing this dog. The truth of the matter was that he was so stupid that he did not understand the concept of WALKING. Honestly this would be a lot more funny with illustrations.
Anyway, so I would drag the dog up and down the street encouraging him to go potty. And of course he was like "Herp derp! But I crap on the rug! That's my potty! DERP!" -_-
I did eventually get him to understand the concept of going to the bathroom outside. But this was only for me. When I was not there, I was told that he would still potty in the house.
Me: "Well how often does he go out?"
Them: "Oh I dunno. Whenever we remember to."
Me: *facepalm* "Well he's only a puppy. You should take him out every two hours to be safe. And make sure you use this special cleaning stuff on your carpets so that it gets rid of the pheromones so he won't be even more encouraged to go to the bathroom in the house."
Them: "OKAY! Derp!"
Well, no one followed my instructions. Now I've grown up around dogs. We've ALWAYS had a dog. I actually spent most of my childhood interacting with our psychotic Jack Russel and other dogs because I could not understand the concept of interacting with other children. (Most of the pictures of me in my parents' photo albums are of me with that dog.) The dogs weren't able to make fun of me for reading. I also worked for PetSmart for a while in their PetsHotel caring mostly for the dogs and occasionally the cats who were crazy and hated my guts. During "play group" the dogs would "argue" with each other about who was going to sit on my foot. Even the most neurotic and emotionally scarred dogs were happy to be my new best friend. So you could say I know a lot about dogs. I know what they're going to do before they do it and I understand why they do these things.
Well, the family continued to not follow any advice I gave them.
Me: "Here. When you mix up his food like this, he'll eat it. Here try it."
Them: "OKAY! DERP!" *does not follow directions*
Dog: *refuses to eat*
Them: ???
Dog: *eats the cats' food*
Them: D:
Me: *facepalm*
When the kids got out of school, we commenced our normal summer time routine. I would come over in the morning, wake the kids up, walk the dog, feed the kids breakfast while they were still comatose, pile them in the car and take them to swim practice, come back to the house and snuggle with the dog, pick up the kids, walk the dog, break up fights between the kids, walk the dog, play with the dog, play a board game with the kids, read my book with the dog in my lap, walk the dog, etc. etc. It was a lot of me walking the dog. And when I would ask the kids to walk him they would whine and drag their feet, take him out and as soon as he peed a little bit on the bush at the front door, they would bring him back inside. The novelty had worn off for them.
July rolled around and the family went on vacation, leaving me with the dog and two apathetic cats. I decided that the dog would stay at my house and I would come over during the day to feed the cats and clean their litter boxes, give love and attention, and then go home. At first my parents' weren't exactly enthused about the idea of the dog coming to stay for a week. The death of our psychotic Jack Russel a year and a half before had scarred my dad for life and my mother just didn't want another dog. My dad especially resisted and started to mope the closer we drew to bringing the dog into our home. I have to admit that I did not know how to feel about another dog either. The Jack had been my companion for almost fourteen and a half years and I have to say that even now I am still not over her death. But I brought the little Ewok home anyway.
The first night he was in our house, my dad looked at him with disdain. My mother was apathetic. My boyfriend and I started off by playing with the fuzzball in the living room. We threw his stuffed toy back and forth, but the dog got confused and started to bark at the ceiling fan.
Dog: *barks at ceiling fan*
Me: *facepalm*
Boyfriend: *facepalm*
Mom: "OH MY GOD! He's so cute! I love him!"
My mother thought his stupidity was adorable and immediately grabbed him and started to cuddle the dog. I was horrified. I had seen stupid dogs, but this dog... I tried telling myself that he couldn't be that stupid, I mean this is only one instance of extreme stupidity. At least my mom liked him.
The next day, the dog pulled his bed out of his kennel and slept in my dad's office for the whole day, guarding the stairs, and freaking out when anyone left the house or so much as went into the bathroom with the door closed. (Seriously, this dog has a fit if you go into the bathroom and close the door like a normal person.) My dad cracked and fell head-over-heels in love with him.
That night at dinner, the dog entertained himself with a shadow on the floor.
Me: *facepalm*
Mom: "OH MY GOD! HE'S SO CUTE! WHAT A SMART DOG!"
Dad: "I love him! He's such a fuzzy little bastard!"
Me: *fighting off a brain aneurysm* "I think he's retarded."
Mom: "Oh no! Don't say that! He's very smart! What a smart doggy!"
Me: "Mom he's barking at a shadow on the floor."
Mom: "He's still only a puppy."
Me: "Daisy was inherently smart, Mom. She was smart from the beginning. This dog... is retarded."
Mom: "No he isn't. He's still only a puppy."
Me: *facepalm*
Dog: *chases his tail, catches it, and barks at it*
Dad: "HE'S SO CUTE! BEST DOG EVER!"
Me: *twitches*
Don't get me wrong. I love this dog. He's a sweetie. He's just retarded.
After the dog went back to his family, the problems started. He had been on a strict schedule while in our home and the stress of going back to a place that was often complete chaos was shattering to him. The family complained that he was weird. Then finally the father announced what was so obvious: He didn't think they had the lifestyle to care for the dog and he wanted to find him a better home. Also, he didn't want to be bothered with caring for him.
My parents offered to take him and that's how he ended up at their house. I currently live about four and a half hours west of their home and I'm going home to visit this weekend. But the other night I got a call about the escapades of the dog.
Boyfriend: "Your parents' dog is retarded."
Me: "Tell me something I don't know."
Boyfriend: "Well tonight when I went to visit your parents' house, I walked in the door and the dog didn't understand the concept of who or what he was supposed to protect."
The dog had ignored him at first, not registering a new person for about five minutes. When my mother brought it to his attention, the dog ran to my boyfriend, growling and snarling like all hell. When he got to him he flopped over on his back and begged for his stomach to be rubbed. Then he proceeded in barking at our dining room chandelier. Then he humped his teddy bear for a while. Then he stared at the floor for a while.
Yeah my parents' dog is retarded. I'm the only one besides my boyfriend who seems to see this. *facepalm*
UPDATE:
My mother called me today to tell me that the dog pranced out of the bathroom today with the toilet bowl brush in his mouth. That thing is as big as he is.
This all started back in March. I have nannyed the same set of children since I was fourteen. In that time, their family has experienced the death of a very elderly Shi Tzu, the mystery of their gigantic cat who only liked me going missing (we believe he had a run in with a coyote... poor baby :c ), and the arrival of a half-starved kitten in the tree in their front yard approximately two days after the oldest child was told she could bring home ANOTHER cat. Their luck with pets is odd. So when the youngest had her ninth birthday in March this year, she decided that she wanted a puppy. So what did they do? They had a Shi Tzu puppy shipped in from Washington state and gave it to her for her birthday.
Now I don't believe in giving dogs as gifts, especially to children. Children cannot comprehend the idea of a dog being another gift of life like themselves. They cannot comprehend that this "present" will live with proper vet care for an upwards of ten or more years. They just don't get it. So when the little one got her puppy, she was naturally excited but the novelty wore off by June. Guess who was stuck taking care of the dog? Me.
Now I was not upset about this in the very least. I was actually pretty happy about it. He looks like a tiny Ewok from Star Wars and he's very snuggly and cute. I love him. But he's retarded.
It started out that I would come over during the day when everyone was at work or school and I would take him for a "walk." Now I am using the term "walk" loosely here. It was more like I would put a leash on him and drag him down the street while people in the neighborhood stared at me in horror thinking that I was abusing this dog. The truth of the matter was that he was so stupid that he did not understand the concept of WALKING. Honestly this would be a lot more funny with illustrations.
Anyway, so I would drag the dog up and down the street encouraging him to go potty. And of course he was like "Herp derp! But I crap on the rug! That's my potty! DERP!" -_-
I did eventually get him to understand the concept of going to the bathroom outside. But this was only for me. When I was not there, I was told that he would still potty in the house.
Me: "Well how often does he go out?"
Them: "Oh I dunno. Whenever we remember to."
Me: *facepalm* "Well he's only a puppy. You should take him out every two hours to be safe. And make sure you use this special cleaning stuff on your carpets so that it gets rid of the pheromones so he won't be even more encouraged to go to the bathroom in the house."
Them: "OKAY! Derp!"
Well, no one followed my instructions. Now I've grown up around dogs. We've ALWAYS had a dog. I actually spent most of my childhood interacting with our psychotic Jack Russel and other dogs because I could not understand the concept of interacting with other children. (Most of the pictures of me in my parents' photo albums are of me with that dog.) The dogs weren't able to make fun of me for reading. I also worked for PetSmart for a while in their PetsHotel caring mostly for the dogs and occasionally the cats who were crazy and hated my guts. During "play group" the dogs would "argue" with each other about who was going to sit on my foot. Even the most neurotic and emotionally scarred dogs were happy to be my new best friend. So you could say I know a lot about dogs. I know what they're going to do before they do it and I understand why they do these things.
Well, the family continued to not follow any advice I gave them.
Me: "Here. When you mix up his food like this, he'll eat it. Here try it."
Them: "OKAY! DERP!" *does not follow directions*
Dog: *refuses to eat*
Them: ???
Dog: *eats the cats' food*
Them: D:
Me: *facepalm*
When the kids got out of school, we commenced our normal summer time routine. I would come over in the morning, wake the kids up, walk the dog, feed the kids breakfast while they were still comatose, pile them in the car and take them to swim practice, come back to the house and snuggle with the dog, pick up the kids, walk the dog, break up fights between the kids, walk the dog, play with the dog, play a board game with the kids, read my book with the dog in my lap, walk the dog, etc. etc. It was a lot of me walking the dog. And when I would ask the kids to walk him they would whine and drag their feet, take him out and as soon as he peed a little bit on the bush at the front door, they would bring him back inside. The novelty had worn off for them.
July rolled around and the family went on vacation, leaving me with the dog and two apathetic cats. I decided that the dog would stay at my house and I would come over during the day to feed the cats and clean their litter boxes, give love and attention, and then go home. At first my parents' weren't exactly enthused about the idea of the dog coming to stay for a week. The death of our psychotic Jack Russel a year and a half before had scarred my dad for life and my mother just didn't want another dog. My dad especially resisted and started to mope the closer we drew to bringing the dog into our home. I have to admit that I did not know how to feel about another dog either. The Jack had been my companion for almost fourteen and a half years and I have to say that even now I am still not over her death. But I brought the little Ewok home anyway.
The first night he was in our house, my dad looked at him with disdain. My mother was apathetic. My boyfriend and I started off by playing with the fuzzball in the living room. We threw his stuffed toy back and forth, but the dog got confused and started to bark at the ceiling fan.
Dog: *barks at ceiling fan*
Me: *facepalm*
Boyfriend: *facepalm*
Mom: "OH MY GOD! He's so cute! I love him!"
My mother thought his stupidity was adorable and immediately grabbed him and started to cuddle the dog. I was horrified. I had seen stupid dogs, but this dog... I tried telling myself that he couldn't be that stupid, I mean this is only one instance of extreme stupidity. At least my mom liked him.
The next day, the dog pulled his bed out of his kennel and slept in my dad's office for the whole day, guarding the stairs, and freaking out when anyone left the house or so much as went into the bathroom with the door closed. (Seriously, this dog has a fit if you go into the bathroom and close the door like a normal person.) My dad cracked and fell head-over-heels in love with him.
That night at dinner, the dog entertained himself with a shadow on the floor.
Me: *facepalm*
Mom: "OH MY GOD! HE'S SO CUTE! WHAT A SMART DOG!"
Dad: "I love him! He's such a fuzzy little bastard!"
Me: *fighting off a brain aneurysm* "I think he's retarded."
Mom: "Oh no! Don't say that! He's very smart! What a smart doggy!"
Me: "Mom he's barking at a shadow on the floor."
Mom: "He's still only a puppy."
Me: "Daisy was inherently smart, Mom. She was smart from the beginning. This dog... is retarded."
Mom: "No he isn't. He's still only a puppy."
Me: *facepalm*
Dog: *chases his tail, catches it, and barks at it*
Dad: "HE'S SO CUTE! BEST DOG EVER!"
Me: *twitches*
Don't get me wrong. I love this dog. He's a sweetie. He's just retarded.
After the dog went back to his family, the problems started. He had been on a strict schedule while in our home and the stress of going back to a place that was often complete chaos was shattering to him. The family complained that he was weird. Then finally the father announced what was so obvious: He didn't think they had the lifestyle to care for the dog and he wanted to find him a better home. Also, he didn't want to be bothered with caring for him.
My parents offered to take him and that's how he ended up at their house. I currently live about four and a half hours west of their home and I'm going home to visit this weekend. But the other night I got a call about the escapades of the dog.
Boyfriend: "Your parents' dog is retarded."
Me: "Tell me something I don't know."
Boyfriend: "Well tonight when I went to visit your parents' house, I walked in the door and the dog didn't understand the concept of who or what he was supposed to protect."
The dog had ignored him at first, not registering a new person for about five minutes. When my mother brought it to his attention, the dog ran to my boyfriend, growling and snarling like all hell. When he got to him he flopped over on his back and begged for his stomach to be rubbed. Then he proceeded in barking at our dining room chandelier. Then he humped his teddy bear for a while. Then he stared at the floor for a while.
Yeah my parents' dog is retarded. I'm the only one besides my boyfriend who seems to see this. *facepalm*
UPDATE:
My mother called me today to tell me that the dog pranced out of the bathroom today with the toilet bowl brush in his mouth. That thing is as big as he is.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The Day America Shat its Pants: 54th Anniversary of the Sputnik Launch and Reflections on the Space Shuttle Program
Today in history, the USSR made history with the launch of the world's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik I. Today also marks the day that we in the States shat our pants and realized that we needed to pick up the pace on our own space program. Now whether or not you believe that the moon landing in 1969 was real is irrelevant. I don't really give a shit what your opinion of that is and I don't want to hear about it. You can bite my ass on that one.
I first learned about this event in high school when we watched October Sky in my physics class. It's not that we in America were not looking to the heavens before. Mankind has been dreaming about the stars for thousands of years. The idea of touching the stars and swimming through space is exciting to us. I feel giddy just thinking about it. With the recent demise of NASA's shuttle program, I am forced to ask the inevitable question: "What now?" Seriously, this program lasted less than half a century. It makes me sick. Now I am being extremely ethnocentric here with my "America is #1" talk, but I was raised that way. The first awareness that I had of Patriotism was when I was in Kindergarten.
What bothers me most about the end of the shuttle program is that our government would rather turn to commercial companies to build future shuttles to space. So this is about capitalist gain now? Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am hate Communism (It's fine on paper, but it can never work as long as the element of man is involved. Read Animal Farm if you don't believe me.), but I was hoping that it would be my government colonizing the Moon and Mars rather than Virgin Mobile or something horrible like that. What was it that they said in Fight Club? "When deep space exploration ramps up it will be the corporations that name everything. The IBM Stellar sphere. The Microsoft Galaxy. Planet Starbucks." Yeah well it's funny how that works, right?
Anyway, I will leave you with a little Fallout connection.
See anything odd?
I first learned about this event in high school when we watched October Sky in my physics class. It's not that we in America were not looking to the heavens before. Mankind has been dreaming about the stars for thousands of years. The idea of touching the stars and swimming through space is exciting to us. I feel giddy just thinking about it. With the recent demise of NASA's shuttle program, I am forced to ask the inevitable question: "What now?" Seriously, this program lasted less than half a century. It makes me sick. Now I am being extremely ethnocentric here with my "America is #1" talk, but I was raised that way. The first awareness that I had of Patriotism was when I was in Kindergarten.
What bothers me most about the end of the shuttle program is that our government would rather turn to commercial companies to build future shuttles to space. So this is about capitalist gain now? Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am hate Communism (It's fine on paper, but it can never work as long as the element of man is involved. Read Animal Farm if you don't believe me.), but I was hoping that it would be my government colonizing the Moon and Mars rather than Virgin Mobile or something horrible like that. What was it that they said in Fight Club? "When deep space exploration ramps up it will be the corporations that name everything. The IBM Stellar sphere. The Microsoft Galaxy. Planet Starbucks." Yeah well it's funny how that works, right?
Anyway, I will leave you with a little Fallout connection.
See anything odd?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Grandma Troll
This weekend I was able to get my hands on a little something from home.
I have lived in South Central PA for most of my life and these babies are something that I simply cannot kick. I try to not eat them very often but lately... Lard fried little bastards are my best friend. I cannot get them where I live now, so I have my boyfriend run them out to me about once a month.
I just want to say that Grandma Utz is a vindictive bitch.
There is no way that you can eat just one.
I just want to say that Grandma Utz is a vindictive bitch.
There is no way that you can eat just one.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The adventures of Super Spaz! (I was right and now it's bothering me even more.)
Maybe this is just me being a spaz, but last night I decided to go back over the footage from the FNV DLC Lonesome Road. I probably should not have done this. It has actually caused me to get even more upset.
At the time I decided that I would figure out if I was right once and for all. I was determined to be wrong. So I went to YouTube. Surprisingly there's a lot of footage for the Fallout franchise on YouTube. Someone needs to get on the copyright enforcement there... lol Anyways...
I used this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIuwgEpBzNg&feature=related and when I got to 8:03 I nearly had a seizure.
And then look at the the picture to the the right... See anything?
IT'S A FREAKING TITAN II!!!!
The look on my face:
Next thing I did was suck on my inhaler a bit. I know this stuff shouldn't give me an asthma attack, but I get very emotional about this stuff.
The Titan IIs were actually the most dangerous because of their instability. Not to mention the fact that they required constant maintenance. In fact there was a Broken Arrow incident involving one in Turkey during the Cold War.
Anyways, I have decided to write a letter to Bethesda. I will post it here once I do.
At the time I decided that I would figure out if I was right once and for all. I was determined to be wrong. So I went to YouTube. Surprisingly there's a lot of footage for the Fallout franchise on YouTube. Someone needs to get on the copyright enforcement there... lol Anyways...
I used this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIuwgEpBzNg&feature=related and when I got to 8:03 I nearly had a seizure.
 |
| Look at this... |
IT'S A FREAKING TITAN II!!!!
The look on my face:
Next thing I did was suck on my inhaler a bit. I know this stuff shouldn't give me an asthma attack, but I get very emotional about this stuff.
The Titan IIs were actually the most dangerous because of their instability. Not to mention the fact that they required constant maintenance. In fact there was a Broken Arrow incident involving one in Turkey during the Cold War.
Anyways, I have decided to write a letter to Bethesda. I will post it here once I do.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
An Introduction: I just ruined Fallout New Vegas for myself.
This is my first time writing a blog on my own. I don't normally like to publish my rantings but lately, well I need to find some other way to waste my time so why not write a blog! My life is too super nerdy to keep to myself and there are plenty of things that bug me so why not write about them? So allow me to introduce myself first.
I am a twenty-two year old female and I have a bachelor's degree in History. I am currently working on my Master in Library and Information Sciences although history is my first love. As an undergrad I studied civil defense in the Atomic Age (1945 to present) and I am still working on it as I write this even though my undergrad degree is hanging on my wall at home. I plan on getting enough together to try to publish in the next ten years or whenever I get around to it. I need to stop playing around first.
I read all the time and I try to write about what I'm reading. Many people have told me that they're jealous of my ability to write and they ask how I do it. Honestly, I have no tips for making your own writing better. I have been writing for as long as I can remember and I guess I just got better and better over the years. Writing comes naturally to me and I will not try to explain what is natural. If I were an English teacher then I would and things would get really boring really quickly.
Besides reading I play video games. Video games are my other escape from life and they make me feel good. A lot of people think they're stupid, but if you give them a controller after a bad day at work, they start shooting zombies or something and it doesn't seem so stupid anymore. And as for video games making people more violent... I'm not even going to go there. I'll just re-post my favorite comic about how stupid that argument is. It illustrates my opinion on the topic perfectly. You can find it here.
My favorite game series is Fallout and forgive me if I write about it a lot. It's what ignited a lot of my research besides Ray Bradbury's short story There Will Come Soft Rains that I read in eighth grade. (While most people are disturbed by it, some even going so far as to start crying, I was intrigued.) This is where I would like to start the subject of my first blog posting.
Last week, the final Fallout New Vegas DLC was released on XBOX Live and even though I cannot afford to buy groceries for myself I decided to buy this. (Priorities priorities...) I have had a lot to do for school lately, so I have not been able to play it the whole way through yet. For those of you who don't know about Fallout, let me point you in the direction of the wiki because I do not feel like explaining it right now.
SPOILER ALERT!
So I come home from class last night and I sit down to play because my brain is fried and it's time to take out my frustrations on some mutants. And I'm going along in the game and new monsters are giving me asthma attacks and I'm sucking on my rescue inhaler when I come to a missile silo. "Oh goody!" I think. "A 200+ year old missile silo which has been abandoned! What does this button do?" So of course I press it because that seems like the most logical thing to do. The world was destroyed by a fiery nuclear apocalypse over 200 years ago, what harm could pushing a single button do? Right? Wrong! Pushing a single button can RUIN AN ENTIRE GAME for one civil defense historian like myself!
All of a sudden the alarms start going off and the silo starts to open. The earth rumbles around you. "Oh shi-" is the only thing that came out of my mouth as a huge Titan ICBM rumbles out of the silo and into the air. Not too long after launch it explodes. At first I though: "Wow that's pretty cool" and then my super nerdy powers kicked in and I wanted to kick myself.
Last week I was watching a documentary called "Nuclear 911" and before this I was brushing up on my silo knowledge. The film mentions the Titan missiles. I had read a lot previously about them because they were used and developed heavily during the Cold War. They were one of the first rockets to use liquid fuel, but they were also very finicky. The darn things have to be constantly maintained making them very expensive. The US government actually stopped using them in 2005 for these reasons. So the idea of an abandoned 200+ year old Titan ICBM still working and going off almost without a hitch became completely absurd to me effectively RUINING THE WHOLE GAME FOREVER.
I honestly do not even know if I should play the rest of the way through since I am so disgusted with the Titan presented in the game. FML MLISN
Feel free to comment.
(I will not tell you my name as I am trying to keep my record clean. For now you can just call me "Wolf." I don't want this thing to come back and bite me in the butt later. Why then am I writing this? Well, as I said earlier, my life is super nerdy and I want to share.)
Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to get some work done now...
-Wolf
I am a twenty-two year old female and I have a bachelor's degree in History. I am currently working on my Master in Library and Information Sciences although history is my first love. As an undergrad I studied civil defense in the Atomic Age (1945 to present) and I am still working on it as I write this even though my undergrad degree is hanging on my wall at home. I plan on getting enough together to try to publish in the next ten years or whenever I get around to it. I need to stop playing around first.
I read all the time and I try to write about what I'm reading. Many people have told me that they're jealous of my ability to write and they ask how I do it. Honestly, I have no tips for making your own writing better. I have been writing for as long as I can remember and I guess I just got better and better over the years. Writing comes naturally to me and I will not try to explain what is natural. If I were an English teacher then I would and things would get really boring really quickly.
Besides reading I play video games. Video games are my other escape from life and they make me feel good. A lot of people think they're stupid, but if you give them a controller after a bad day at work, they start shooting zombies or something and it doesn't seem so stupid anymore. And as for video games making people more violent... I'm not even going to go there. I'll just re-post my favorite comic about how stupid that argument is. It illustrates my opinion on the topic perfectly. You can find it here.
My favorite game series is Fallout and forgive me if I write about it a lot. It's what ignited a lot of my research besides Ray Bradbury's short story There Will Come Soft Rains that I read in eighth grade. (While most people are disturbed by it, some even going so far as to start crying, I was intrigued.) This is where I would like to start the subject of my first blog posting.
Last week, the final Fallout New Vegas DLC was released on XBOX Live and even though I cannot afford to buy groceries for myself I decided to buy this. (Priorities priorities...) I have had a lot to do for school lately, so I have not been able to play it the whole way through yet. For those of you who don't know about Fallout, let me point you in the direction of the wiki because I do not feel like explaining it right now.
SPOILER ALERT!
So I come home from class last night and I sit down to play because my brain is fried and it's time to take out my frustrations on some mutants. And I'm going along in the game and new monsters are giving me asthma attacks and I'm sucking on my rescue inhaler when I come to a missile silo. "Oh goody!" I think. "A 200+ year old missile silo which has been abandoned! What does this button do?" So of course I press it because that seems like the most logical thing to do. The world was destroyed by a fiery nuclear apocalypse over 200 years ago, what harm could pushing a single button do? Right? Wrong! Pushing a single button can RUIN AN ENTIRE GAME for one civil defense historian like myself!
All of a sudden the alarms start going off and the silo starts to open. The earth rumbles around you. "Oh shi-" is the only thing that came out of my mouth as a huge Titan ICBM rumbles out of the silo and into the air. Not too long after launch it explodes. At first I though: "Wow that's pretty cool" and then my super nerdy powers kicked in and I wanted to kick myself.
Last week I was watching a documentary called "Nuclear 911" and before this I was brushing up on my silo knowledge. The film mentions the Titan missiles. I had read a lot previously about them because they were used and developed heavily during the Cold War. They were one of the first rockets to use liquid fuel, but they were also very finicky. The darn things have to be constantly maintained making them very expensive. The US government actually stopped using them in 2005 for these reasons. So the idea of an abandoned 200+ year old Titan ICBM still working and going off almost without a hitch became completely absurd to me effectively RUINING THE WHOLE GAME FOREVER.
I honestly do not even know if I should play the rest of the way through since I am so disgusted with the Titan presented in the game. FML MLISN
Feel free to comment.
(I will not tell you my name as I am trying to keep my record clean. For now you can just call me "Wolf." I don't want this thing to come back and bite me in the butt later. Why then am I writing this? Well, as I said earlier, my life is super nerdy and I want to share.)
Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to get some work done now...
-Wolf
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