Archive for September, 2008
September 30, 2008 at 10:26 am · Filed under Lifestyle
In 2 weeks, I’ll be back in Korea.
I’d been waiting and waiting to hear back from one recruiter about a position in Cheonan. It was a for a new program based at one of the universities. Even though it was at a university, I still would have been teaching elementary students. It would have functioned as a hagwon with after school classes. Classes would have been conducted from 4:30-10:30PM. However, the pay would have been substantial enough to overlook the negatives.
When I didn’t hear back from them on Mon or Tues of last week. I started sending out resumes again. I’ve been focusing on the Gyeonggi-do region, which is the area surrounding Seoul. It’s a big region with urban and rural areas.
Ideally, I was looking for a public school in Seoul. Seoul is, obviously, the capitol of Korea. It’s one of the most populated cities in Asia. It is culturally diverse and a hub for the rest of Asia.
I’ve heard positive and negative sides of public schools. The classes have 25-35 students, but there is a Korean teacher present, so students are on their better behavior. Teaching hours are significantly less than a hagwon, but you still have to be present during school hours, 8:30-4:30. There are more vacation hours. I think I’ll enjoy the focus of education and not business. A public school wont have to worry about kissing up to the parents and keeping up cash flow. I think a public school teacher is, also, a step up in the teaching field, and it should improve my resume.
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September 27, 2008 at 11:12 pm · Filed under Techy
Sometime ago, I blogged about a little piece of software, CHDK, that would add more function to your Canon pointandshoot. I never got around to the project, because I didn’t have an SD card reader. I cant put the CHDK on the SD card.
Well, maybe, I can kill 2 birds with one stone.
I haven’t been playing my DS much either. I have a modchip device for my DS, which I bought in Korea. It worked for a time, but eventually “backup” games began to freeze during mid-game. It was annoying, because I got to the end of FF3, like the very end, and it would continuously glitch at one spot. It happened with Zelda, too. I’m not certain what is causing the freeze. I dont think it’s the games, and I blame the outdated modchip. So, I’m buying a new different card.
The new one uses SD memory to backup and store games. To put games on the SD card, you can hook it to the PC with a small USB reader, which comes with the modchip card. You see where I’m going here.
Maybe, I can get the DS to run backups again, without freezing, AND add the CHDK to my pointandshoot. Supposedly I can add some media functions to the DS, as well. I can’t wait!
September 27, 2008 at 10:00 am · Filed under Food, Little Things
Briefly, I wanted to note that I am pleased with the box form factor of ‘Just Bunches’ cereal.
As the title suggests, the cereal is “just bunches,” but it’s the packaging which impresses me. One dimensionally, the packaging is more honest about the amount of cereal which consumers get in return. Open the box, and the cereal is filled to the top. Consumers don’t get screwed by thinking that they’re buying a big box of cereal. When in reality, half the a bag is filled with air and the weight is below normal. Producers never lie about the contents, but they can be misleading.
I think more producers should be in favor of this new design and model. (…eventhough food costs rise over time and they will ultimately add less and less quantity to the “standard” box)
September 22, 2008 at 4:50 pm · Filed under Lifestyle
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Saturday, Mom got the crazy idea to go to Grovefest. Grovefest was a block party on the outskirts of Forest Park. I’d never heard of it, but she saw a flyer in the River Front Times. She pulled my nose out of the books, strapped me shotgun, and we were on our way.
We got to the Grove and ducked into the Atomic Cowboy for a bite to eat. Atomic Cowboy was a Mexican joint serving tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and the finest of beers. We each got a pint of Schlafly Oktoberfest and enjoyed an entree of quesadillas.
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With our bellies full, we sat outside to enjoy the air and music. However, a deathly stench rolled over Grovefest. The sky got cloudy, and we noticed that some of the attendees weren’t walking upright. ZOMG! ZOMBIES! That’s right. The living dead aren’t fond of block parties, and they were about to turn Grovefest into Resident Evil. Luckily, the Zombie Hunters arrived and made the dead deader-er. Whew! But in the panic, Mom was bitten by a zombie. I joined the Zombie Hunters, and we were able to save her before the zombie taint spread any further.
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Then, it was off to the Schlafly Bottling plant. We were able to jump into the 5PM tour and hear about the operations at Schlafly. At the time, they weren’t bottling, but we were still confined beyond the glass windows. We could only walk the halls and look at the plant with interest. The last stop on the tour was the tasting room. I sampled the No 16, Oatmeal Stout, and Rez Hefeweizen. I didn’t think any of them were outstanding, but they weren’t awful. I’ve just had better. At which point, Mom was pretty tanked and craving some frozen custard. Off to Ted Drewes!
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In the spirit of Fall, Teddies had introduced Fall flavors. For some reason, I cant pass up anything pumpkin pie flavored. I’m not crazy for it. But when I see pumpkin flavored shit, I’ve got to try it. So, I got a Pumpkin flavored sundae. It was magnificent. Meanwhile, Mom got an Oreo concrete!?!??…yeah…I don’t get it either. This is Ted Drewes! Not Dairy Queen.
…whatev.
September 19, 2008 at 4:38 am · Filed under News Events
I saw this headline last night. I’m in the minority of people who knows what this means, but let me say, “this is ridiculous in a free market!” U.S. stock futures leap after SEC short-sale ban
U.S. stock futures pointed Friday to a second straight rally after, on the heels of a planned move to buy up bad assets from financials, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a temporary ban on short sales of 799 financial institutions.
“The emergency order temporarily banning short selling of financial stocks will restore equilibrium to markets. This action, which would not be necessary in a well-functioning market, is temporary in nature and part of the comprehensive set of steps being taken by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and the Congress.”
Let me try to put this in perspective. With short selling, I can make a bet that a stock will go down. If the stock goes down, I can make money. This is different than normal selling, because I would first have to own a stock. To short sell, I don’t have to own the stock. By temporarily banning short sales, you’re taking away people’s ability to make bets, or profit, in the event that a stock or market goes down. This is why you’re seeing the market rocket up yesterday and today.
If that’s not manipulation and interference, I don’t know what is.
UPDATE: Here’s a good Q&A I found in regards to short sellers.
Q: Do you think that short-sellers are to blame for the mess we are in?
A: No, I do not. While I think there were some hedge funds pressing their shorts and working in coordinated attack patterns to destroy some financials (very much like they do when bulls are running on the long side which, by the way, no one ever questions), the banks and brokers are ultimately to blame for becoming easy targets. If you run a solid business, make big profits, and enrich your shareholders, short-sellers have absolutely no power to take you down. That’s the way it is suppose to work in a fair market even though it clearly seems that the government thinks we are all entitled for stocks to go up no matter what.
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