terrancew_hod

^ you know most people don't think of others. I used to rent a house and my roommate and I were sitting on the porch and this lady's dog just pooped in yard and she kept going... my roommate went in the house, grabbed a baggie, scooped of the poop and carried it down to her house and dropped it in her garden right in front of her and then proceeded to curse her out for not curbing her dog. I'm not a pet person, so don't expect me to clean up after your dog after I finished cleaning my yard.

^you just sent a chill up my spine, when I got that flashback of that song. And it wasn't a good thing. Although i think Ms Debarge will be happy to sing it at anyone's venue now: baby showers, cell phone conventions, etc.

I actually played around with it on a work computer the system admin put together. He was showing me a few things and then I went and grabbed my powerbook and fired it up... I told him... "looks familiar huh? And the hardware looks pretty too!" He wasn't pleased. If you're not used to looking at a 3D interface, you'll always be wowed. I'll just wait for Leopard and decide how I want to run my windows apps.

^Now don't fall off your program! Get back in the gym! I know it's hard work and it helps to have people encourage you. For example I talked to by best friend back home and he said he's celebrating his 1st anniversary of being in the gym by losing over 100lbs. He said his encouragement is my workout program and how much trouble I'm starting to get myself in and it reminds him of "old times" when we used to hang out. So he says he refuses to be left out! Now lets go and hit that program hard!

I have my reservations about vista. I'm not in that much of a hurry to install it since I'm a mac user at home and there are no plans to convert to vista at work. I have one pc laptop that I could test vista out on (we have several vista licenses at work that won't be used), but I'm debating doing a dual install when I buy my Macbook pro later this summer. Since microsoft cut out so many features just to get the product out of the door, i don't see any advantages to upgrading besides the interface, revamped security, and some of the .NET features integrated. Eventually I'll install it once i'm sure the programs i do use on XP work well in vista.

I think you're gonna have to wait and save money to go with friends or maybe on a group coaster trip. My father and brother didn't like amusement parks and only my mother and I would actually go on rides. I managed to go to the Six Flags park in St. Louis on a church trip and Silver Dollar City (before they had any rides worth talking about) because of the cave tour. Most times it was an actual struggle to get a vacation to those parks; and i really didn't get to go to most amusement parks until I was out on my own. I still tease my father about us going to Busch Gardens and Disneyworld (back when it was free to get in but you had to buy tickets to get on rides) and only going on one ride in each park. I was mad back then but then it was their money and their car, so I was lucky to be out on town on vacation... which at the time was something most of my friends could only dream of. My parents did send us to visit our aunt in Los Angeles one summer in 1976 (saw Jaws in Kansas city and had nightmares on the train ) and we did go to all the amusement parks there, so that was a treat. Maybe if you have relatives in other towns with amusement parks, maybe you could visit them and maybe they could take you. Otherwise you may have to wait and do them on your own.

Gas prices are kinda expensive these days, why not get something with better gas mileage? I remember looking at jeeps during my SUV phase... i looked at the MPG and walked out of the showrooom . Something with low maintenance and good gas mileage would be something great if you don't see driving all the time. Remember unless you've found a short cut out of disney, you may be stuck in a little I-4 traffic. And getting to those stores with cheaper prices is going to be a bit of a drive; if you're gonna get something that guzzles gas, you might as well shop close. Gas will be one of your bigger expenses, so you might put that into consideration when you're buying another car.

Two things: 1) After years of wanting to go, I finally made plans for going to GayDays in orlando at Disney in June. Earlier my best friend bagged on me and another wasn't sure, I scraped up the money to put down for the weekend at the host hotel. So whether I have someone tagging with me or not, I'll be there. And if I'm by myself, with all this work I've put in the gym, I doubt I'll be by myself for long! 2) One of my straight friends that I hadn't seen in years and his married friend just had to tell me that they were jealous of my body. I said "Um, that's nice. But why are you guys looking at my body?" There was silence at the table... then I started laughing. I'm starting to love painting people into that corner!

^also there is no property tax on your car. I know when I moved from the midwest I was quick to change to florida plates. Saved me a few hundred a year.

^It's a bit late for me to be doing math (especially after drinking a large hot saki, then half bottle of cold saki), but if you can bring your car I would. Mass transit isn't that great in Florida and some places you may want to go (cheap groceries, shopping etc) may be too inconvenient to catch a bus.

Maybe drugs is a problem 'cause there's not much of a night life . Seriously, if this your first time on your own you really do need to be careful of who your friends are. Also you gotta believe in yourself and take care of yourself because no one else will... if you have that attitude you will be fine. I would imagine drug use would be a no-no working at disney anyway so I would stay away from that stuff, if you're planning on making it your career. And be careful who you room with, you'll come across so many undependable people that will drag you down. If you can swing it, I would live by yourself. That way everything is your name and you know exactly where your money needs to be. And if you need a roommate, just get one.. more than one stranger can make things difficult, especially if they are eating your food and using your things... and not paying their share of the expenses. My father told me when I first moved out that I should be able to carry the rent on my own if need be... so i made sure I could. Sure enough my roommate wasn't paying his rent or expenses (and eating my food) and started stealing money and I had to put him out. Luckily I could afford the place on my own, so it was a little struggle, but it ended up being cheaper because I could control how much electric was used, didn't have to buy extra food because someone ate mine up, etc.

^The thing about hurricanes and florida is, there's not too much to slow them down--swamp and flat lands won't diminish the strength; the larger ones with the feeder bands can pretty much engulf the state... you just have to watch where the eye is going because that's where the most damage is gonna be. That's why you gotta be prepared. Pretty much from August to November (usually) is when they start flying through although last year gave us a much needed respite. Around that time you should be checking at least once a day the weather reports because they can just pop up like they did in 2004. Try selling property and the next thing you see a tropical depression just turns into a full hurricane off the coast! I've been though a few category 3 hurricanes, but for the most part we have been away from the eye so we just had to deal with power outages and downed trees. You should have water and your other hurricane supplies handy (lantern, candles, batteries, radio, etc.); when Wilma came through everyone thought it wasn't going to do to much and knocked out the power for most of South Florida... people were trying to get ice and food because they didn't do it beforehand... I had my supplies and used my cell phone as a modem to dial into the internet from my car... (luckily i had a car adapter for my laptop)... we didn't have power for a week... luckily we had money to buy tickets to new york and spent most of our time up there... when we came back, we had just walked into the house and the power came on! Just one tip during the hurricane... don't open the door to look outside! That is if you still want to have a roof on your place!

Matthew, Hopefully you did your research on moving to orlando, so don't let others give you a negative view. Florida, like any other place has it's positives and negatives. If you're staying with relatives and haven't been out on your own, your outlook is gonna be different than starting fresh with your independence. Personally when I moved to south florida, I had did my homework and research a year before I actually moved. I looked at salaries, nightlife, crime statistics, etc. Then I took a week to visit and take a look around... and I went everywhere--grocery stores, malls, etc. I drove around and decided to stay off of I-95 as much as possible . Of course I'm not a stay-at-home person, so I checked out the night life... getting your party on til 5am has it's advantages. And Boy over the last few weeks, the nights been kinda wild... you know you've partied hard when you made a hooker mad at 7:30am when she thinks you stole her corner! I had considered orlando, but it wasn't that much different than a midwestern city except for no hills, swamps and tourism being it's major source of revenue. I have varied interests and a amusement park being a major draw wasn't attractive to me. Considering where I was, there was a lot more positives than negatives... I interviewed at a company that paid for my moving expenses when I was hired and eventually bought a condo. But again, it's about making your own fun no matter where you are. I know people that are ready to pack their bags and leave Florida and people wouldn't want to go anywhere else. Moving is a big decision and and you have to make sure the move is right for you, and for the right reasons. If you have any other questions that need to be answered, since it seems no one is really trying to help you, just msg me. I can relay some of my moving cross country experiences to you. Terrance

* Food prices are about average. The farther away from the parks, the cheaper things will be. * You don't have state income tax. * The nightlife pretty much sucks unless you're hanging at the parks; I think everything pretty much shuts down around 2:30am. Get your party on early. * Home insurance prices and property tax are out of this world. * Once you get your florida ID, you can buy all your amusement park tickets and passes at the discounted florida resident rate. * Keep change handy in case you gotta take a toll road someplace. * Start getting your hurricane supplies together so you're not fighting crowds later. You don't wanna be suffering if we have another procession of hurricanes passing through like in 2005. That year was ugly.

^I don't know, but to me I don't think it's very respectful or appropriate to be making jokes or humorous comments when someone is trying to be serious no matter the subject. If you can't give money, I would think not saying anything would be better than giving humor.

The truth usually works. Just tell him "Look, I totally being serious with you now. I don't like it when you call me a ganster, so please stop or you can't hang with me anymore." If he does it again, tell him to go away and mean it. If he doesn't leave then you say "Well then I'm leaving. I don't hang with inconsiderate a*..." and punch it. Leave him standing there looking stupid. He'll stop. Although it's best when someone calls you something you don't like, nip it in the bud right then and there. It gets harder if you let them get away with it for days or weeks; saying nothing is like giving approval for them to say it.

I'm going there during that time too. I'm not sure who I'm staying with though. My best friend said he wants to go, but I can't pin down a confirmation from him so I'm saving up for the hotel room by myself regardless. Then last week I ended up hanging out with some, errr, adult stars (real long story... don't ask.. but it was innocent enough...only thing I got was a liquor flask Ethan Gage found on the floor filled with scotch; I cleaned it out and may have to take it on the Midwest Trip) who I ended up chatting it up with until dawn and they asked me if I wanted to chip in on a room at the host hotel and hang with them... so I'll see what pans out in the next few weeks... A Porn-N-Disney TPR would be kinda hot, although some of those pics may not be for public consumption! Did I say I loving my workout program? Terrance "Why is this camera pointing at the bed?" Weaver

It's the day before payday, but I donated a little. I'm volunteering for the walk in Miami (more of the behind-the-scenes setup); good luck with your goal.

My short list: Rudy Ray Moore - THE pioneer for black comedy from the 1970s... i have all his re-released CDs (and some of his out-of-print works) and his albums are collectors items. His comedy consists of X-rated rhymes and skits of the exploits of pimps and hustlers. He also starred in numerous blaxploitation movies and albums... some of his works was sampled on 2 Live Crew's albums--that's how filthy some of his works. Richard Pryor - I have all his albums too. Def a pioneer. Robin Harris - His "Be Be's Kids" album was a classic. Eddie Murphy - Not a big fan of most of his movies, but his comedy acts were classic. Lawanda Page - if you heard any of her material, you'd find it ironic that she was cast as Church-goin "Aunt Ester" on "Sanford and Son". Wanda Sykes - the woman is just nuts. I read her book on my trip to L.A. over christmas and she killed me that she didn't have enough words for the intro so she started making stuff up and kept asking "Is that 1000 words yet? No? Well Let me keep goin. At least that's about 30. Oh there's a few more."

^Alcoholism is a disease, calling him a functioning drunk would be insensitive. But calling someone an alcoholic would be the politically correct thing to say right? I think someone who acknowledges his drinking problem would be rather be called an alcoholic than a drunk. So I really don't think I was really insensitive in my comment towards him. Anyway, I really don't have to lighten up over things that offends others and myself. I would like to think that I am thinking of others when those types of comments are made, instead of being selfish and telling people to lighten up or get over it. But hey, if that's your thing, more power to ya. You do your thing, it's America right? I don't think political correctness is the issue. I think a lot a people just don't have either the regard for others or any understanding of other's backgrounds, preferences or cultures; so a lot of people will not only say things that are insensitive to others, but won't think anything is wrong with it. And they will especially say things online that they wouldn't say to someone to their face; and that's just not right.

^^Actually that's an upside... they won't have to call security on the geekoid that actually will win the contest when he tries to get a little too fresh with the girls. Besides those pageant girls already has lots of gay friends to make them up to look presentable (you actually didn't think they did all that on their own?), so the would probably prefer it that way.

It's oh so not cool to be insensitive to other groups. Just a few minutes ago at work I get called aside by a black and a latino coworker that work in the department that issues refunds to customers. They wanted me to verify the meaning of a word. This is what the general manager of the company put on the form (on a stickie note) as he denied the refund for an Asian person: "No refunds for gooks" We all were horrified, offended and upset that he would put that as business correspondence, especially with him being Jewish and was just ranting about some article he read about anti-semetic remarks that were written on a synogogue van. I said "He must have been hitting the bottle again when he wrote it." (he thinks he's hiding his alcoholism) That was too much for words.

^a lot of people tend to look at me crazy because we will go grocery shopping, and they will pick up a box of something... i will grab it, turn it around and look at the nutritional label, gasp and put it back on the rack for them. I'm working on reducing my body fat percentage so a lot of food is off limits for me or fall into "cheat meals or snacks". I still need to do my fat percentage check in another month, but I did end up going to the beach and someone said that my 2-pack is in... also I was confident enough to take the shirt off... and i got a lot of people staring and not believing that I was going to be 39 in a few months... maybe I can get that six-pack by my birthday. My exercise program is a lot different that everyone elses, since I'm actively working to put on muscle weight and lift, in addition to aerobic activity and a diet... I weighed myself yesterday and I hit 200lbs (started at 178 before christmas) but I'm still holding on to the same 31inch waist (with the waist loose and the leg area are getting real tight from my squats). I think before my waist was holding the pants together, now it's my thighs and glutes because i'm wearing adjustable belts to keep the pants from falling down! But my program is motivating everyone else, whether at work or with my friends to exercise. I see a lot more ladies at work eating "Lean Cuisine" and walking around the parking lots during breaks and weighing themselves during lunch. Also my best friend is 2lbs away from his 100lbs goal.. although work is keeping him busy. He joined a "biggest loser" program at his gym to try to keep him motivated and the gym wrote an article on him about his weight loss. Maintaining any type of fitness or weight loss program is hard work and requires a lot of dedication. But if you are focused on accomplishing your goal, then it will be easier than you think.

^you have to be careful what you say around others, because it may offend. Telling someone to get over it is usually not the right thing to say. Someone said the "N" word to me and I told him not to say that and he told me to get over it... everyone uses it... after I threw him against the wall, he had to figure out something else to say .

And if you have something based on more than looks, you will. Looks fade, some sooner than others. And it's sad to see what people will do and go through to have something based on outward appearances--have stuff stolen from them, people living off of them or just getting mistreated.