Daily Ponders

I had a terrible experience at 2 different locations of McDonalds, in the same town, all in one night.

On 11/15/2008, at ~6:30pm, I came through the drive-thru at the 8211 SNOWDEN RIVER PARKWAY COLUMBIA, MD 21045 location to make an order: 2 McChickens, fries, and a soda. This was done at the ordering window. When I pulled up to the cashier's window where they take your money, my friend who was riding with me asked for an additional McNuggets ($1 item). After confirming it with the cashier that it was OK to do that, I was given back $1.06 less in change than I was supposed to, to reflect the change in the order (6% sales tax in MD). After we got our food and pulled out to clear way for customers behind me, the McNuggets were missing.
But we thought nothing of it - employee fault, things like that. I've been shopping at this McDonalds a lot, and I've never had any problems with it personally, until that night. But still, we went on with our night thinking nothing of it.

At the end of the night, I was supposed to drop off my girlfriend home, who lives 5 minutes away from another McDonalds. This location was at 6385 DOBBIN ROAD COLUMBIA, MD 21045 - same town. This time, it was around 11:00pm, and I had to be home by 11:30. We walked in rather than go in the drive-thru. Regardless, it should have left me with plenty of time to get home if I got my order promptly. My girlfriend and I ordered a Big Mac, a double cheeseburger, and a drink with that. Fairly enough, it's a simple order that should take three, MAYBE four minutes at most. Bear in mind, there was no one in line in front of us - just the people at the drive-thru. After about a minute of waiting, the store manager - an African American lady in her late 40s - started to use profanities as she started to yell at the employees. She said stuff like, "I want my Filet-O-Fish for the Drive Thru NOW, I don't care what you're doing, I want it NOW!" So I figured, "Oh crap, this is going to take a while." After that, a black man arrived at the registers after us, he made his order, and got his food right away. My girlfriend and I are white, so it wouldn't be a far stretch to assume racial prejudice at this location, either. Although it didn't take him as much time to wait for his food, he received a complimentary ice cream cone for free. My girlfriend and I spent at LEAST a good 20 minutes waiting on our food. That's not McDonalds quality that I expect. This isn't Olive Garden - a double cheeseburger and a Big Mac do not require such an amount of time to prepare. After getting our order late, we weren't offered any complimentary compensation - not a free apple pie, not an Arch card, nothing! Not even an apology! The manager continued yelling at the employees, right in front of customers, as we were leaving the store.
So we came in at 11:00pm and left at 11:20 with a double cheeseburger and a Big Mac with a soda - I'm sure those must've been pretty hard orders to make. Needless to say, I was 20 minutes late, coming home at 11:50 instead of 11:20-11:30 as I planned. I filed a formal complaint with McDonalds Corporate at 1-800-244-6227. I left my cell phone number and name for the franchise owner to contact me.

Personally, I don't feel like any kind of compensation - if they'll even offer any - will be sufficient enough for me to shop at McDonalds
ever again. Over the course of my life time, I don't know how many hundreds of dollars I've spent there, but I'll make sure that they
don't see a dime from me ever again.

Do you remember anything from math class? If you don't recall advanced calculus, here's a pretty straightforward formula that students experience in real life every day: if school = x and stress = y, then x = y. I call it the Student Theorem, how about that? So if you're a parent, a counselor, or someone who just doesn't know what we mean by "school is stressing me out" or "my classes are such a pain", read on.

5) Classes
With how tough it is now to get into good colleges - and if you're in college, to learn enough to land a good job - we're constantly pressured into taking advanced classes. Luckily, going above and beyond isn't normal nowadays. All you have to do is be just a little bit above average, and suddenly you have colleges looking at you saying, "Wow." But the hard part kicks in when you have 5 or 6 or 7 classes a day where you have to go above and beyond to succeed. That means doing the extra credit homework. Taking that additional AP elective. Staying after school to keep your grades up. All of this adds up to a lot of hassle.

4) Sports
Sports practice 2-3 hours a day after school. That means after your brains have been at work for 7 or 8 hours, you must hit the field, or the court, or the track, or whatever else you're doing, and do the same work over again, except with your arms and legs and lungs AND mind. So that's a lot of physical stress right there. People get a feeling of satisfaction out of doing sports - from friendships with teammates, to adrenaline on the field, to the feeling of success when your play finally works and you score that point. the trade-off, however, is physical pain - sore muscles, being sick if you play in the rain, or even breaking bones. But hey, at least playing it is a blast!

3) Teachers
Your teachers are your ultimate key to a good (or bad) transcript. If you're out of line too much, you might get a disciplinary referral, which eventually will come back to haunt you. Whether you don't qualify for the National Honors Society, or something as big as don't get into the school of your dreams, it'll stay with you forever. So don't screw it up. That's, basically, why it's stressful - you always have to watch your back. Because, chances are, someone is looking when you don't think anyone is.

2) Work
If you have a car and you have insurance / gas to pay for, you must maintain a legit employment. Even if you work a part-time, 12-15 hours a week deal, that's still 2-3 hours of work a day. Some prefer to do it every other day for 4-6 hours, but regardless, that's a lot of time you don't get to do homework. This ties back in with #5, when you simply don't have enough time to get it all done. And when you do get paid, and you pay off your insurance and gas and maintenance and such, what you have left over gets spent on friends. Unless you have a great savings plan, that's a lot of effort to be put in outside of school.

1) Friends
Friends can be bitches. Backstabbers at worst. But usually just bitches. You get stressed out over them any day. Either they make you feel unappreciated, or they ruin your plans for you, or simply borrow lunch money that you needed for after school - if it makes you go "GRRR" it makes you stressed. Then they have their friendship / relationship problems that you ultimately have to help them with. As if you don't have enough on your plate as is, now you have to deal with their stuff. It's all very problematic. of course, there is a good side to it. You can go to friends to relieve your stress - either vent to them, or go out with them to have fun in your free time. regardless, though - from peer pressure to fistfights, your classmates can make you feel like a bunch of BS at the end of the day.

So how do we make it all work? It's a day to day thing. You never know what tomorrow brings, and you never forget what yesterday had in store for you. You live and learn, and then you die.

[Update 11/12]: It turns out that the car dealership didn't sent the car info to the MVA. Funny how they charged $600 for registration & title fees, yet almost 3 months from the purchase date, I am yet to get my title. Hmm. Will resolve.

I guess I jinxed it last time I posted. I got my first speeding ticket. 55 in a 30mph. I was driving pretty fast, trying to get home on time, but I thought the speed limit was 45, not 30. I saw a car approach, and noticed the blue and red lights ablaze as soon as the car passed me. I thought, "How could he have clocked me WHILE DRIVING?" but pulled over peacefully. After the officer told me what I was stopped for, I cooperatively handed over my registration and license, sitting patiently in my car. Another 2 police cars pulled up, and I thought, "Wow, what kind of a jam could I be in?" I was afraid there might be something serious, like a warrant out for me - and I didn't even know about it. Of course, this was my first time being pulled over for speeding, so I was a bit nervous. After 20 minutes, the cop finally came back, and said that my tags and MVA registration didn't come up as anything in the computer. I'm still wondering how that could be, but I'll have to contact the Motor Vehicle Administration to get that looked into.



End result? $160 fine and 2 points on my license. I will be going to court to get those retracted, as it's my first offense. I also have some data math'd out that proves that I couldn't have possibly been going 55mph. But we'll see how it goes.

Owning a car is a great privilege. From getting your learner's permit, to driver's license, to shopping around for a car, to sealing the deal - it's all very exciting. But with the ownership of a car comes a lot of responsibilities and hassles. So it's not all fun and games; someone's got to maintain the things that let you have the fun, and when it comes to cars, that someone is you.


My Homecoming picture

Right now, gas prices are the basic hassle of owning a car. Despite the fact that prices are dropping now, a gallon of 87 is still around $2.40 in my area, plus or minus 10 cents here and there. My 11-gallon tank costs me $27-$30 to fill up. I do about 190 miles on 10 gallons of fuel, so it's not that bad. Regardless, filling up your tank once a week eats up cash pretty fast. In the summer, when I had to walk everywhere, I would work, spend money on whatever I want, and still have some left over to save up [for a car that I would eventually buy]. Now, I earn money, spend about $150 a month on gas, and the rest has to be budgeted. Needless to say, any responsible car owner should put away at least $100 a month for a rainy day - you won't need to actually SPEND it every month, but you should still save it. Because 5-6 months down the road, when something that costs $600 to repair breaks, you'll be set with the money to fix it (and then there are car washes, oil changes, wheel alignments, air fresheners, and all those little things, but they're negligible). So that's $300 a month for just the car maintenance alone.

Then there's the logistics of using fuel efficiently. When you're with friends, and they all casually ask you for a ride home because "it's just a couple of miles away," you have to learn to manage time and miles effectively. Whom do you take home first? How long will it take? Will all of that interfere with any other plans you have for the day? It all takes a lot of brainwork, and it's confusing. But I'm getting better at it.

Evading cops is a troublesome task. When you're going 90, you have to actively seek for hidden police cars. That's when it helps to know the road that you're on - you get accustomed to the turns and bushes and such along the sides, where police might stake out. After all, a ticket will cost me much more than a fine - it would mean that my insurance would go up, as well. And that's not a pleasant thing. And, of course, that would add on to my $300 a month for car maintenance. Thank God, I haven't been ticketed yet.

Then there's the routine, mundane task of cleaning out your car. Because when you have 3-4 people riding with you, you'll always end up with gum wrappers, empty water bottles and such laying around. God forbid someone spills a soda or something (I've done that before, haha). You don't have to do that a lot, but it's still annoying. Like, you remember "Damn, I told him to take his Red Bull out with him!" and it just pisses you off.

Despite the troubles of owning a car, personally, it's a worthy trade-off for all the fun times you have. You only live once - so, in my opinion, it would be stupid NOT to take advantage of a privilege such as having your own wheels. Or letting your friends ride with you even though you know they'll leave shit around. Or going on dirt roads to explore and have adventures. Anyone who says money can't buy happiness never had a car.

Happy first day of winter, everyone, don't forget to move the clocks tonight.

Have you ever been in a social group with a person who's obviously less attractive than everyone else in the group, yet everyone completely accepted them? They were the popular kids in school, the social center of attention in college, etc. They are butt-ugly, yet they enjoy the privilege of being socially accepted among their peers. Yet here we are, spending thousands of dollars a year on designer clothes, make-up, the latest shoes, the nicest bling, and just about anything else that we believe will make us attractive. How does this work out?

There are many benefits to having the spotlight, and being ugly doesn't have to stop you from being socially accepted. This goes out to all the readers out there who think they look like this:



First thing's first: chances are that you only think you look like that. In fact, according to a study, 98% of women don't feel like they are attractive. I'm not sure about men, but I know that guys have confidence issues, also. No matter what you think you lack, you can follow some steps to gain that much needed self-esteem.

So, ugly people: how do they get the attention? Is it their swag, or their voice, or the way they walk or something? If it's a girl: is it her boobs/ass? I set out to figure out the magic triple formula to getting the spotlight no matter how you look on any particular day.

1) Attitude
Unless you're not cool with the people at a particular lunch table where you'd like to sit to make a good impression, just sit there. Or if there's only one or two chairs left, ask if anyone took the seat. If they say yes, you have a decision to make. Consider how you were told that the seat was taken; if it was with a mean remark, then the people who sit at that place might not want you to be around; take the hint and leave if it turns out that those people, in fact, aren't cool with you. But you have to make your entrance effective. How do you do it? If the seat is taken, but you get a good vibe from the people, pull up a chair and tell someone to scoot over. Be confident in it. Don't act as if you're not sure if you're wanted around; if you weren't, they would've let you know by now. Smile and see how people react. Don't make it a creepy smile, though - keep your body language light. You're just getting some food.

2) Mood
You have got to be positive. In just about any company of people, bullies and creepers are not needed. Make a joke if it's short and funny. If you're not sure if people are going to laugh, think twice before you say it. My teacher used to say, "Better have others think you're a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt." It's best to be considered neutral than unfunny. So if you're going for the "funny guy" attitude, make sure your sense of humor is legit. Don't TRY to make a funny - instead, just say stuff you find humorous if you TRULY find it funny.

3) Behavior
Pay attention to how ugly/popular people act among their peers. Act like you belong. They do, and it works for them - why not copy them? Now, I don't mean stalk them to learn every little thing about them. You have to have your own swag to "fit" - it's like finding your niche in the social circles that you'd like to occupy. Yet there are certain elements that you can adapt. Examples: what kind of jokes are acceptable? How do these people react to comments about alcohol or drugs? Make your decision once you find out those, about whether or not you want to be a part of that.



So basically, if you want to be the shit, you have to act like you're the shit. Follow the magic formula, and success will follow. Try it!

Howard County Police in the state of Maryland acts in a very peculiar manner at times. For example, you can get pulled over for a busted tail light; however, when you need them for a serious call, they will take forever. I had to wait a half hour today to get some help - totally unacceptable. Not for the #8 best city to live in across America.



In addition to the long time taken to respond to my call, the police behaved very unprofessionally. Not in a disrespectful way, rather, in a laughing-about-stuff, not-caring-about-problems-going-on way of talking to each other. I won't get into details about what happened, so don't ask me, but I just had to get that off my chest.

Owning any kind of equity is great. It's rewarding, it's satisfying, it's gratifying. Having a car, for example, is a great thing for many reasons. Besides the obvious reason to own a car - transportation - there's one that's particularly personal to me. Swagger.



Not bragging, but swagger. Your car becomes a part of your personality, a part of who you are. That's why shopping for the right kind is important. That's why I picked a red 2005 Ford Focus ZX4 Se. This sexy sedan above represents a lot about me: the young spirit, the mischievousness, the attitude. Yet at the same time, it's just a car - nothing too fancy, like kids are getting nowadays. I worked for so long and so hard to get this baby, that it's too satisfying to know that this is what you've longed for. Great car, by the way.

Here is my last politically-related post until after the election, I promise. My election predictions. I compiled a list of top 3 things that I predict will happen in September-October before the voting goes down November 4th.

3) They'll catch Bin Laden
Watch: around October, it'll be all over the news. This will be used as propaganda to push the GOP to the White House, with the Dems having nothing to respond. McCain's already took the "change" momentum from Obama, and this will be ultimate reason why his change is the "more real one." No longer will Barack be able to stand ground on foreign policy whatsoever, as catching the #1 terrorist in the world will be the ultimate check-mate with no leeway at all.

2) Crucial anti-Obama propaganda will pop up
Whether they'll find "ultimate proof" that he's a child molestor, or a murderer, or anything ridiculous of that sort - it'll end up killing his campaign. Whether what the McCain's advisers will find is true or not will no longer matter - they'll make it so that no one in their right mind would vote Democratic.

1) They'll bomb Iran
The Bush administration will unite with their allies to start shit in the middle east. The McCain excuse will be "oops, Bush did it, not my fault." Then, of course, McCain will deal with it, but that's how it's going to go down. I'm not sure what's going to happen with Georgia, but I'm pretty certain that McCain will inherit Bush's cleverly-planned "legacy" in a way that would favor his political interests.

Despite the fact that IMO Obama SHOULD win, I don't think he will. Politics is dirty business. Comment.

I'm LLS. Click it!

These "thirteen keys to the white house" have been developed in 1981 and published by Allan J. Lichtman. In his words: "I developed the Keys system in 1981, in collaboration with Volodia Keilis-Borok, a world-renowned authority on the mathematics of prediction models. History shows that the choice of a president does not turn on debates, advertising, speeches, endorsements, rallies, platforms, promises, or campaign tactics. Rather, presidential elections are primarily referenda on how well the party holding the White House has governed during its term. The Keys give specificity to this idea of how presidential elections work, assessing the performance, strength, and unity of the party holding the White House to determine whether or not it has crossed the threshold that separates victory from defeat."

Allan Jay Lichtman is a 61-year-old political historian and a professor at American University in D.C. This is the man who has worked with Edward Kennedy and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in the 2000 Florida voting mashup. Lichtman has authored and co-authored six books and over 100 articles. These keys is what he's best known for.

What are the thirteen keys, and how do you analyze them? Here they are.

KEY 1: Incumbent Party Mandate
KEY 2: Nomination Contest
KEY 3: Incumbency
KEY 4: Third Party
KEY 5: Short Term Economy
KEY 6: Long Term Economy
KEY 7: Policy Change
KEY 8: Social Unrest
KEY 9: Scandal
KEY 10: Foreign / Military Failure
KEY 11: Foreign / Military Success
KEY 12: Incumbent Charisma
KEY 13: Challenger Charisma

Each key is a True/False kind of question that you have to honestly and unbiasly answer. Thankfully, they're pretty much straight-up, and require little opinion, so it's easy to answer those untainted by your personal preference to either Democrats or the GOP. I thought, why not answer each in detail and focus on the essentials of this election. After all, these keys have been proven to correctly predict the winner since 1860, being incorrect only twice - missing the prediction by just 1 answer.

-----------------------------------------------

"KEY 1: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections."
False. The Congress changed their incumbent party from the GOP to Democrats in the 2006 election. Simple.

"KEY 2: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination."
True. McCain won the Nomination by a landslide, with Romney only getting 22% of the Primaries vote and Huckabee trailing behind at just 20%.

"KEY 3: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president."
False. George Bush is neither running for re-election, nor is he allowed to do so by law.

"KEY 4: There is no significant third party or independent campaign."
True. The Libertarian Party and the Green Party are the most popular third-party candidates for presidency, and even so, they receive no media attention, no talk on the web, no significant Youtube videos.

"KEY 5: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign."
False. Although there have been split opinions about whether we're in a recession or not, lately the media is covering more and more financial stories about how our economic times are turning sour. This merits enough credibility to consider this one true.

"KEY 6: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms."
False. There hasn't been much economical growth on Bush's watch, which means it's below average.

"KEY 7: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy."
False. Neither Bush's last term in office, nor McCain campaign's records show any change done or proposed for the future.

"KEY 8: There is no sustained social unrest during the term."
True. No major violent protesting has happened in the past 50+ years that even comes close to the riots of 1960's.

"KEY 9: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal."
False. The waterboarding scandal, as well as No-WMD accusations have brought President Bush's approval rating to a rock-bottom 19% at one point. These are pretty significant civil rights violations and foreign policy affairs worth noting.

"KEY 10: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs."
False. The Iraq "War On Terror" has been going on for over 5 years now without a solid success. Although Saddam Hussein's regime was brought to a halt, and the recent surge is working, the war in general has still been a bad idea. Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose, Al Quaeda is believed to be stronger than ever, and thousands of our soldiers have died. This is failure.

"KEY 11: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. "
True. The North Korean nuclear reactors have been destroyed, and Saddam's been caught. The former has been a pretty big success for our nation's security, while the latter is just another goal achieved by the Bush regime (whether it had merit to be done in the first place remains a mystery).

"KEY 12: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. "
True. John McCain's POW status, as well as that of being a War veteran, makes him charismatic for the strong conservative bases.

"KEY 13: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero."
False. Barack Obama's speeches have been compared to those of MLK numerous times. His family has been charming to millions of families across America. And his motto for change has been the center of charismatic headlines for months now.

-----------------------------------------------

So let's do the math. That's 8 FALSE versus 5 TRUE. How do you use this to interpret the meaning of the keys? According to Lichtman, when five or fewer statements are false, the incumbent party wins. When six or more are false, the challenging party wins.



The incumbent party being the Republicans, and the challenging party being the Democrats, and the numbers being 8F-5T, the winning candidate is obvious: Barack Obama. Now, before you begin questioning the author and whether or not these keys are legit, ask yourself: have any of the above questions been answered unfairly or incorrectly? I think I was pretty conservative and straight-talk about these. Feel free to answer these on your own, but my answers were based on facts. No matter which way you look at these, at least 6 of them are answered unbiasly: keys #1, #2, #3, #6, #12, #13 - and that's sufficient enough to kick the GOP out of the White House. After all, the Keys have correctly predicted the winner in the upcoming election since 1984. 6 elections - or 21 years - is a pretty good streak, if you ask me.

What do you think about this? Comment!