This is what I was worried about...

This economic stimulus bill is getting out of hand. On election night last November, when I watched the Democratic party rout the GOP in a stomping the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1992 elections, I instantly dreaded the results.

Not because I'm ultra-conservative or a liberal-hater, but because now, in this volatile political and economic environment, there is a single group of people "unified" in their vision for America that now has virtually unquestioned control over the nation for the next two years.

Instead of being the bipartisan body that logically discusses and finds solutions to issues that President Obama wished upon us, Congress has become a giant Democratic circlejerk that, because of majorities in both chambers of the Capitol that are the largest in recent memory, feels that they can do whatever they want to with little to no oversight or opposition - they're like a 5-year old kid when the parents leave the house.

So now, under the veil of an economic emergency, Congress has essentially been granted unlimited latitude to pass what is quite possibly the largest single pork-barrel spending bill in history. Remember when, using "National Security" as a reason, President Bush was granted executive wartime spending priveleges, and then used it to start not one, but two ill-advised wars? I'm concerned that the same thing will happen here: using current events as a shield, a now decidedly partisan Congress will push through whatever legislation they want until the next round of elections.

I sincerely hope President Obama starts calling out specific individuals for this crap--a lot of damage can be done in two years.

New Computer or not?

The laptop I got at the beginning of freshman year is getting old. I need to at the very least wipe the Hard Drive and get a fresh install of everything on there. I only have about 3 of the original 60GB left, and I'm beginning to have some virus problems from stuff I've picked up here and there resulting in my computer (or more specifically, my X500) being kicked off the University's wireless network.

So, 3 options:
1) Wipe the 60GB HDD, reinstall everything. Result: good enough for now. Cost: minimal-to-none. Fun: not much.
2) Invest a little money in my laptop. Buy a 250GB HDD (and maybe some extra RAM while I'm at it), reinstall everything on that, move the 60GB to my little laptop (which currently has 20GB. Result: fresh install, plus an extra 190(+40)GB. Cost: $90. Fun: kind of, but not really
3) Buy a new computer. Build a desktop machine from the ground up. Result: Brand new machine that will do what I want it to for the next 5 or 6 years. Cost: $800-$900. Fun: tons.

Importing Posts from Xanga

I've imported all my old blog posts from my (now defunct) Xanga account. I'm now officially separated from that site.

Take that, social networking proliferation!

The Job Search

In a little under 3 months, I will be done with school and have to move off in to the real world. Which means, in the interim, I need to find a job, find a place to live, and basically re-set my life.

I've had a few interviews here and there, stemming from the two job fairs I've attended, but none of them have yielded any results (job offers, that is).

I know exactly two things about what I want to do for a living:

• I want to design aircraft for a living. I've known this for 4 or 5 years now. It really doesn't matter what kind; there's just always been something fascinating about the beautiful complexity of an airplane
  
• I don't want to work for NASA. In the 1960's, I would. Maybe if we get in another "space race," I will. But not now. It would be cool, but I don't want to work on any project where Congress directly controls the budget.

But now, with the economy in the tank and 4-ish months of limited to no success, I'm not so sure anymore. I've always been told--and believed--that "I can do anything I want to," but now I'm torn between following my dreams, which now is beginning to seem risky at best; and settling for a safer option and taking whatever I can get.

I'm starting to think, in my opinion, that I've never really worked "hard" for anything. Sure, I've been successful in school, been involved, won a few awards, done a few cool things, but maybe I never really was truly, really, challenged by any of these, and, maybe now that I'm required to really work at something, I'm failing miserably. To try to solve this, I'm now commiting myself to dedicate at least one hour of every day doing nothing but job searching: applying on-line, researching companies, searching for new ones.

Hopefully it'll all work out in the end.