Due to a recent promotion at work, I've had to study my ass off so that I could be certified in what was requested...

Soooo....

BBBAAAAAAMMMM



Crammed, crammed, and crammmmmmmmmmmmed to get this certification.  I am now a Microsoft Certified System Engineer.  Now, I can get back to what I love.  World of Warcraft xD  Almost level 74 (two more bars away!)

Wow it's been a while since I've last posted.

Anywhoo.  For the first time in my life, I felt the need to cast my vote.  And I barely made it to the voting booth yesterday because I was thinking about it till the last minute XD  But yes, what I thought and believed, I'm glad I was able to partake in this.

Right now, work's driving me nuts LOL.  Just got promoted to a much higher position and to keep it, I need to get back to studying and finish a few more Microsoft tests.  So that oughta keep me occupied...  damn it...  and Wrath of the Lich King comes out next week but studying and getting my certifications has the priority right now.

You jerks continue to level past 70 without me :(  I'll catch up as an MCSE!!!!  XD

So I finally picked up Spore and started playing it.  I was thinking "okay, this is fun here and there but whatever...".  5 hours later...  I realized how deep I got into the game.  The same shit happened with me and the Sims back in the days xD

Anyways, there's a site called www.antispore.com.
See, what Spore is about is the evolution of species.  The progression of life.  You start off as a bacteria, all the way up to exploring and designing a universe.

The site starts off with telling people that this game is evil.  The work against god.

There was some serious arguments going on regarding the site and the authors view towards this game.  And I mean serious.  Some people were honestly PISSED.

And guess what?  This site grabbed a ton of attention.  And thus, this was today's post:

But the Bible teaches us that God was not done with man. For we were His creation and He then spoke to Noah in Genesis 8:21-27 after the flood. “21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”

Well done sir.   Well done xD  You have successfully just rick rolled in one of the most unique ways. 

For those of you who don't know, I used to live in New Orleans, Louisiana.  I once had a life that I've lived in the south where I dealt with the nasty humidity, the endless swarms of mosquitos, and some of the best foods in the world.  On August 29th, 2005, all of that changed.  From what was once called home, it became a disaster zone that was completely destoryed by Hurricane Katrina.  I took on a job working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to setup networks and provide IT support for all of the locations in Louisiana.  And because of all this, I am now employed up here in Virginia.

To think that in just three years, Hurricane Gustav is getting closer to landfall and estimated to hit on a Monday as well.  Currently, this hurricane is a category 4, bursting speeds at 135 and expected to get stronger as it hovers over the Gulf of Mexico.  It is very ironic that it will make landfall in Louisiana, once again, on a Monday.  It is expected to reach Category 5 status, and slowly heading northwest towards possibly New Orleans, Baton Rouge, or more towards Texas.  Until Sunday, we will not fully know the exact direction that it will hit.

New Orleans is not prepared for another direct hit.  The levees are still damaged, there are still homes that were left destroyed, and the city is far from ready for another hit.  The east side of a hurricane is far more dangerous then the west side because that is where all the rain is at.  This is expected to hit the east side of Louisiana.  Now for some reason, the east side of New Orleans is called the Westbank (there's a long story to that lol).  There is a mandatory evacuation (it means gtfo).  Seriously...  if this storm follows the path it's expected, the Westbank will be wiped out.  Underwater.  Destroyed.

It really saddens me to see that this can be happening again to what was once my home.  Luckily, my mom and my little sister have already evacuated and are heading up north.  I have contacted all of my friends and they have already left (or in the process of leaving).  This time around, all the preparations of assisting people leave the city is going smoothly.  I have high respects for the governor to force a mandatory evacuation and give the speech essentially saying to leave and that if you stay, that will be the biggest mistake of your life.

I am currently working every night, providing support and monitoring the storm myself.  I will gladly go back to assist FEMA in Lousiaiana if I am allowed to go.  Let us all hope that everyone will have evacuated on time.

And another note...  New Orleans and the surroundings have always known that living in that area means they're vulnerable to hurricanes.  The city is like a bowl, with the city being in the middle.  The land is already under sea level and right in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.  Unfortunatly, New Orleans has always been one of the worst places possible for a hurricane to hit.  Katrina showed that this could happen and Gustav is showing us soon that it can happen again...

Looks like it's gonna be a busy hurricane season this year. 

 http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2782339449_5774c74ee6_o.jpg

LOL.  I just love how that came out.  Rin is so smoking (har har har)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2782339317_bc13cb7dcf_o.jpg

And Saber just looks badass in this shot.  Not bad.  Not bad.

Poo.  Blizzcon tickets are sold out and trying to purchase one was next to impossible yesterday (servers kept going down).  Guess that means I'm going to AUSA this year :lol:

 Anyways...  Otakon...  ummm...  I can't remember too much of it.  Thinking...

Ah yes!  Friday morning I went off to Summit Point, West Virginia again.  Audi was sponsering their brand new car, the Audi A4.  *German accent* A perfect blend of luxury and sport for your mind and soul.  The Audi A4 with it's Quattro all wheel drive system will deliver the excitement and comfort to your life" *End German accent*.  Actually, the whole event allowed people to test drive their new car for free on the track.  They had two seperate events which allowed you to "experience the A4".  The first being a floor the throttle, slam the brakes, turn stupid hard, and feel the stability test.  A Lexus IS250awd, a Mercedes C320, and a BMW325xi were up for comparison.

Impressions?  The Lexus is sooooooooooooooooo comfortable and the interior is just screaming luxury and comfort.  The Mercedes and BMW just...  were depressing to drive.  Their interiors were bland, the cars weren't that fun to drive, and I just felt like...  I would be a BMWanker for driving one of those.  The Audi was the sportiest with an excellent ride and solid handling.  I'd still say I would pick the Lexus though...  I love Japanese cars too much.

The next test was to hop into an Audi A4 and actually go around the track.  We would all get in our groups and do "follow the leader".  Very impressive with how well Audi handled this event.  We actually got to push the cars around (not too fast where everyone could be in danger but fast enough where it was fuuuuun like whuuuuuut).  Some people...  (my friend) didn't stomach it too well...  and either got motion sickness or some even threw up xD;  The track does have a lot of elevations and the sharp turns...    anyways, conclusion is that the A4 is very impressive and it definitly reached their goal.  Comfortable for daily use and a fast car to tear up the track.  Plus just the whole presentation of this event (free food, free drinks, and it all felt high class) AND they let us push the cars like this?  Audi, you get my thumbs up seal of approval.  I will seriously consider an Audi one of these days when I need comfort and practicality in my life.

After this event, I went to Otakon (hence why I didn't get to the con till like...  llllaaattteee Friday).  Got in, checked into the hotel (Holiday Inn which was very nice and close to the con), and hopped into Mao for a bit.  For some reason, I really didn't care to go to Otakon this year (kinda feeling like that about all cons right now actually).  Still, glad I went.  Got to run into everyone, some new faces and old.

Poo, can't remmeber much right now xD

 For some reason, I'm just not feeling the Otakon love this year.

Too lazy to finish anything, and certainly not motivated to even cosplay at the con.
Maybe I'll just take pictures this year.

So back from Hyperfest 2008 out in West Virginia!  It's a combination of a car show, drifting events, time attack races, and stuff.  Essentially Fast and the Furious stuff except legal and not stupid cheesy.

I really want to keep racing but it's not cheap.  The cost to participate in the race, on top of driving out to West Virginia, plus the gas to race.  My car gets a great 30 mpg on the highway but in racing mode?  Maybe 8 to 10?  So yeah, and with gas being $4.30 a gallon, youch.  But yes, I did sign up for two Hyperdrive events so I did get to open my baby up on the roads.

They sit you in a class and lecture you on how the rules go.  No passing except when given permission, no rough driving, pay attention, blah blah.  What's really important is how you corner, when you brake, when you turn, and paying attention to certain points of the turns.

My rear tires were near bald so yeah...  my first run was horrrrrrrrible hahaha.  The second turn...  woop, slid off the track.  Then later on, wooop, off the track again (took out a cone this time).  My car was telling me real quick that I have no control right now and that she'll bite me for trying to push her beyond the limits.  I was feeling pretty miserable so I wasn't too sure to what to think about the next set.

Next set however...  I pwnnnzzed that track.  I picked up the rhythmn, the turning points, and understood my tires limits.  So  yes siiiirr, I had a great time.  

In August, Redline Time Attack is having another event I'm considering.  Don't know if I could afford that and Otakon :/

Hmmm

*Crosses arms* Bwhahahahhaa!

After a month of constant studying every night (and I even gave up WoW for an entire month!), I finally passed all my Microsoft tests!

I am now the following:





WOOT :)





Oh!  And I want to thank my sponsers that helped me cram all night long:

 

http://www.crunchyroll.com/group/CRSeries_-_My_Boss_My_Hero

"My Boss My Hero"

Anyone who wants a great laugh and cry should check out this Japanese show.  Essentially, it's a story about the son of Yakuza who is also a complete idiot.  His father forces him to go to high school if he wants to take over the gang.  Japanese high school life is shown very well and honestly, this series got to me goooooooooooood lol. 

WOOT

I'm finally gaining weight!  I was struggling and stuck at 130 lbs but the right combination of protein shakes, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, eggs, and chicken, I'm finally gaining!  Aiming to be 140-150 before kicking up my cardio more.  The doctor actually told me to stop doing so much cardio because I was burning too much calories lol.

140 lbs., here I come!