I finally told Commonwealth One to take a hike…
2 minute read
November 18, 2003, 11:08 AM
And boy, did they have it coming, too. But as of 11:00 AM today, Commonwealth One Federal Credit Union is no longer my bank. And just as well, too. I was never too fond of their service, as the employees seemed to act as though they were better than everyone else. And let’s talk about availability. Two branches – one on campus, and one in Cloverleaf Shopping Center in Harrisonburg. ATMs available at both branches, plus Godwin Hall and the Festival. (Yes, I realize they have DC area locations, but I don’t live up there).
But the straw that broke the camel’s back in their case was their new checking accounts. Previously, we had FREE CHECKING. All you had to do was keep $5 in a savings account, and you had full access to the tellers and call centers and such.
Now, they have “Relationship Checking”, which charges a $5 monthly service fee for a daily balance lower than $500, or a $2,500 average monthly balance. Additionally, you must have direct deposit, and the fee applies if any of the three criteria ($500 daily balance, $2,500 average monthly balance, and direct deposit) are not met. All existing accounts were put on this plan (how convenient for them).
Continue reading…Categories: Companies
“Never use a big word when a little filthy one will do.”
< 1 minute read
November 13, 2003, 12:22 PM
Johnny Carson once said, “Never use a big word when a little filthy one will do.”
Thus today on the way to JMU and then on the way to and from classes, in the wind. And goodness, what a bunch of wind we’re getting, too. Supposedly, it’s supposed to get up to almost 50 today. With this wind, it feels like winter coming to visit with a vengeance. And let’s not forget my car, which is a tall, large vehicle. (Recall that it’s a Toyota Previa) Blown around like a leaf on the freeway.
Now a driver seeing me get blown all over Interstate 81 could say, “I am lacking a conception of what the operator of the conveyance ahead of me is attempting to accomplish.” Big words. Compare, though…
This is what we say when we use the little filthy ones instead: “D—! What in the f— does this a—— f—ing think he’s doing?” That gets the point across just as well.
Oh, and by the way…
< 1 minute read
November 11, 2003, 2:01 PM
Today is the one-year anniversary of Big Mavica. It was one year ago today that I gained the capability to shoot high-resolution images, as well as the ability to shoot movies. So what did I do with my newfound photographic power? I shot pictures around Potomac Hall, and took some movies. Now on the year anniversary of Big Mavica’s arrival, the camera has a day off, since I’m at JMU, and the camera’s at home…
Categories: Cameras
Ever feel a little swamped?
< 1 minute read
November 11, 2003, 1:44 PM
I feel a little bit swamped today. I do want to get a new quote up to prevent the current quote from running for three full weeks, but when I will get to it is another story entirely.
But it’s good to be busy, because it means things are getting accomplished.
Categories: Schumin Web meta
I saw Monty Python for the first time on Friday, and…
< 1 minute read
November 9, 2003, 12:45 AM
Yeah, I saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Friday night. The whole family is all like, it’s a great movie and such. I saw it for the first time, and they insisted I not see it like I see most movies I watch – while doing something else on the computer.
My review of it, after having seen it for the first time? It did not live up to what the rest of the family promoted it as. According to them, it was like the movie to end all movies, and incredibly funny. I found it to be somewhat “eh”. It had its amusing parts, but I didn’t enjoy it like they did. Not my type of humor, I guess. The first scene involved a long, drawn-out argument on a technicality. I don’t know… it just got old rather quickly for me.
However, I did find out where Battle Chess got the knight-on-knight fight idea, where the winning knight cuts off the losing knight’s limbs. Lifted straight out of the movie.
Categories: Movies
You are looking at an EMPLOYED person!
< 1 minute read
November 8, 2003, 12:10 AM
Finally! I have a job!
So you may ask: What, pray tell, will I be doing? I will be working “front end” at Wal-Mart. Front end is things like people greeter, cashier, service desk, etc. Now, I will have a job while I’m finishing up at JMU and deciding what to do with my life, plus I can finally replace the Previa.
Which Wal-Mart? The new one in Waynesboro that’s currently going up on Lucy Lane, off of Lew Dewitt and US 340. It’s going to be GREEN! However, until the Waynesboro store opens in January, I will be working in another area Wal-Mart. Where, I don’t know. All I know is, I’m excited! I have a full-time job again!
And before you ask, no, those Schumin thongs do not make me enough money to get a car.
Categories: Walmart
Who’s worse? Your run-of-the-mill spammers, or JMU?
< 1 minute read
November 6, 2003, 1:15 PM
It’s a toss-up. JMU likes to spam its students on a regular basis. Sure, it’s not anything like the run-of-the-mill spammers who want to get me a mortgage, a supercharged sex life, stocks and more stocks, and porn out the wazoo, but JMU is really getting on my nerves with their school-wide Emails, which really should only be reserved for emergencies. Look at this one:
Now is the time to grab some great deals for the holiday.
Support JMU’s Adult Degree Program’s online auction. Go to
http://www.bisauction.com now! Get registered and then have
fun bidding on some fabulous items like a 2 night stay in
Williamsburg, some great JMU items including a JMU Gumball
Machine, and a cute puppy dog. The auction will continue
through November 21. For more information, e-mail adult-
degree-program@jmu.edu.
There you go. Unsolicited commercial Email from JMU. Let’s say it together: SPAM! The subject even started with the word “Adult”. It’s now really now a case of the pot calling the kettle black, because JMU’s IT department on one hand has all kinds of weird spam filters that eat all kinds of legitimate Email, and then on the other hand facilitates almost any JMU department or organization’s sending its own spam out…
This “indian summer” is just unpleasant…
< 1 minute read
November 6, 2003, 11:52 AM
My cold weather is taking a breather! Frustrating, it is. I don’t know about you, but for some reason, I love the fall and winter much more than I do the spring and summer. But that’s just me, I guess. Still, we got some rain, which has served to cool things off a little bit, though not by much. What we need is a good cold front. Drop the daytime temperatures to the 50s at best, and into the 30s at night. I definitely enjoy the cold…
Categories: Weather
Fixed!
< 1 minute read
November 3, 2003, 12:22 PM
Well, my car’s exhaust problem is fixed. Basically, my car was running very loudly for the last few months, since, as we found out, the “flex pipe” was shot. I have no idea what that is, but I need one in good condition to pass my inspection.
It was very strange to drive the car after it was fixed, since now there’s no roar when I accelerate. It’s quiet!
Categories: Toyota Previa
And the story comes back from my first college party…
3 minute read
November 1, 2003, 5:04 PM
Well, I went out with a number of former Potomac-ers, like Patrick, Chris, Jackson, Jason, Will, and Adam, as well as several others. You’ll of course recognize the people from College Life. Since it was Halloween, I wore the scariest thing I owned, which is how I describe my “I Bleed Schumin” shirt. Patrick went as a crocodile (in an inflatable costume no less!), Jackson went as a lifeguard, Chris as a pirate, Jason was… something else (hard to describe), plus we had a hula dancer, road signs, a cop, Billy Joel, and much more.
I think all in all I had like five beers, maybe four or five shots of vodka, plus a trip with the “ice luge”, which is basically where you put your face on the end of a groove in a big block of ice, and people pour alcohol down the groove into your mouth.
Needless to say, I was blasted. Totally smashed. However, I was a happy drunk, getting very friendly, even as I was kind of running into one wall after another and leaning on everyone and everything. I would dare say I was hanging on everyone at least once through the course of the evening. Still, I felt so light on my feet! My legs felt like rubber as I tried to maintain my balance. My face also felt like rubber, which was an interesting feeling. But yes, I was very drunk.
Categories: JMU
I’m going to my first college party tonight!
< 1 minute read
October 31, 2003, 6:19 PM
Yes, it’s halloween, and I’m going to my first ever college party. Oh, I feel like such a freshman, but unlike the freshies, I’m legal to drink.
I feel like such a nerd… I’m 22 years old, and a fifth-year senior, and only now am I going to my first party.
Categories: JMU
Wilson Hall is starting to look like a campground!
< 1 minute read
October 30, 2003, 8:36 PM
The night before Halloween, there’s bunches of people camped out in Wilson Hall waiting to sign up for Alternative Spring Break trips. From what I understand, there are limited spaces on these trips, and so if you want the one you want, you really have to get there early and then camp out to hold your spot.
Alternative Spring Break trips, for those of you who don’t know, are basically community service trips to different areas both in the United States and in other countries. And it has quite a history of high involvement at JMU.
I did something similar quite recently – an alternative fall break trip to Pittsburgh about two weeks ago, where we worked at a soup kitchen, a drop in center, and Sojourner House.
However, the camping is where I draw the line. With the LPCM alternative fall break trip, we took as many as wanted to go. All I had to do was fill out the proper paperwork, which took five minutes. But there is no way in HELL that I’m camping on the floor of Wilson Hall, no matter how noble the cause. There’s just something about a cold, hard concrete floor that doesn’t go over well with me.
All in all, I commend them for their dedication to service, but I’ll pass on the floor, thank you.
Categories: JMU
Guys want to support breast cancer awareness, too, but not all of us are secure enough in our masculinity to wear the shirts…
2 minute read
October 30, 2003, 6:56 PM
Look at this picture, an LPCM file photo that I took way back in fall 2002:
The girl on the left is my friend Laura from LPCM. She is wearing the pink “MADISON” shirts that a group on campus is selling in regards to raising money to fight breast cancer. Now I’m all for supporting medical research. Anything that gets people to the next birthday is great by any means. I just think that pink alone is limiting their market just a little bit.
Spam seems to officially be crippling Email, but not how you would think…
< 1 minute read
October 30, 2003, 11:21 AM
Yes, spam, as in unsolicited commercial Email, is crippling the Email system. But not how you think. It seems that as a result of people and their overzealous spam filters that nowadays I’m more astonished when Email DOES arrive than it getting eaten.
It used to be so easy to get Emails through to people. Address, message, subject, and voila. Done. If I need to send a file as previously discussed, I attach it and go.
Nowadays, there have been cases of all kinds of messages being eaten. Kathleen, the LPCM campus minister, recently sent me a whole bunch of stuff that never showed up, eaten up by the Email monster. I Emailed Dr. Teske a sound that we had previously discussed. Never showed up, though interestingly enough, it did show up for the friend I CC-ed it to who’s on the same server. I Emailed Dr. Skelley a paper recently, and it never showed up. Very frustrating…
At least I got the spam filters taken off of Schumin Web. You send something to my Email address, and I can assure you, I will get it. This after I nearly lost some domain names because the spam filter was eating my confirmation Emails.
It’s sad when I can say that the spammers are winning in destroying Email, but not directly due to their own activities, but rather some overzealous filtering techniques that will eat more Emails than they let through.
Categories: Internet, Schumin Web meta
Strawberry Pocky!
< 1 minute read
October 27, 2003, 2:40 PM
Yes, another one of those quizzes. This one about the Pocky crunchy cookie-sticks. I’m strawberry Pocky. Good stuff, that Pocky. You can get it in places that sell Asian products, or just slide on down to the Chinatown nearest you.
Categories: Netculture