When does technology go too far?

As I posted in a previous blog, I love technology and what it has to offer. However, how far is too far?? When does "just because we can" cease to be the reason to invent something?

A group at MIT came up with a device that they are dubbing 'SixthSense'. It allows you to get more information about anything you look at and rather than requiring you to have a specific screen to use to see the information provided, any screen will work. It's crazy!

Click here to see the TED presentation and demo of this new piece of technology.

The genius behind this is Pranav Mistry.

Until next time...

When is it okay for kids to stop respecting their parents?

There is an infamous saying that goes "you always want what you can't have". 

As I've been growing up, it seems like everyone wanted their friend's family or something to be different about theirs. Not giving second thoughts to just how well they had it. It always seemed that everything could get be better, and never worse. 

More money. More clothes. More freedom. Less rules. Less intrusiveness. Less responsibility. 

The other side of the coin was never considered. What would happen if everything you had and were used to disappeared? What if our parents randomly decided to cut us off completely? What would we do? 

Which leads to the other infamous quote, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". 

Can children ever stop respecting their parents? Is there ever a time when your opinion is far greater at all time to that of your parents? Would there ever be a time when utter disregard for feelings is appropriate? 

I would say no. 

I'm sure their are many children, teens and even adults who have lost their parents and wish they could do things differently. Much differently. 

Just some thoughts. 

Until next time...

Advice from the Rolling Stones

"You can't always get what you want..."

Wear pink to "save the teachers"?

So Friday the 13th was "wear pink day" to "save the teachers"... are you kidding me!? These same teachers who think the solution to a 9.4 million dollar budget cut shouldn't be that big of a deal. I'm sorry but that's not just chalk and pencils. That's entire programs. The speech & debate program that got me into the private school I graduated from, is most likely GONE next year.

I watched the news coverage of the day's events and I'm so annoyed at the teachers who say they don't understand or they supposedly have the "cure" for this crisis.... are you kidding?!

I'm so sick of getting Facebook invites to "save the teachers". WRONG IDEA! It needs to be "save our SCHOOLS" and teachers aren't the only people that make schools run. Not in the LEAST bit. They are very valuable, I get it, but so are the cooks, the janitors, the payroll people, the IT people, the secretaries and the bus drivers. Everyone plays an integral part in making a school district function. 

Lodi School District in California already said they were cutting all sport programs. Could you imagine AGHS without their precious football team? Yeah what a shocker!!

Some people are like "well LMUSD is the lowest paid out of all school districts".... well doesn't the idea of rankings mean someone has to be first and someone has to be last? Yeah, thought so. That argument just makes me so mad. These teachers should be thanking their lucky stars they even HAVE a job right now in this economy. I know what it's like to try and find a job right now, and let me tell you it's HARD. I work 8+ hour days, 5 days a week with only 2 weeks vacation per year. Teachers on the other hand... work 7ish hour days, 180 days a year and get 3 MONTHS off EVERY year and 3 WEEKS at Christmas EVERY year. If they don't really have something to teach that day... remember random movie days? Yeah... I wish I could pop in a movie at work and tell my boss I didn't really feel like doing much that day so I was going to watch a movie.

Ughhhhhhh I'm so sick of hearing about the school budget "crisis".

I don't have a solution to this problem, and I'm sure no one knows exactly how to cut 9.4 MILLION dollars from an already strapped budget, but it has to happen and people just need to put their big girl panties on and deal with it. 

*sigh* I'm done with my rant.... for now.

Until next time...

This is my mom, me and my dad in Sydney, Australia.
BEFORE she worked a ridiculous amount... 2001

Future thinking

As many of you know I work for a tech firm, but I have always been interested in the future of technology. I stumbled across this from a friend on MySpace. 

Won't it be crazy when even half of these gadgets exist!?

Watch this and lemme know what you think!

Free fries and a coke!

Well Jack Box is back and he's giving everyone free fries and a coke... print out this coupon and check out HangInThereJack.com for information Jack's recovery. 


Maybe this means this overdone campaign is finally coming to an end. Check out my previous blog about the start of this campaign.

Until next time...

I'm not digging God's sense of humor...

**Warning** those who don't want to read a sappy, depressing, "wow this chick is ridiculous" blog, quit reading and read a previous blog... 

My last blog was about how my life as become SO grown up TOO fast. It's the weirdest feeling. I haven't had a true panic attack in a while. Until tonight. Ughh it was AWFUL! I didn't have just one either... that's what is the worst about it. 

First, my mom tells me I have yet another thing to pay for... awesome. My entire first paycheck is already gone and it hasn't even hit my bank account yet. How come I can't go out an reward myself with a sweet purse, or a pair of jeans or something fun? Like a Friday night out with my boyfriend... Nope. I'm paying bills. That's fricken great. No fun for Noelle. Just get to sit at home and watch my credit card bills pile up. Awesome! Not like I have been having fun or anything recently. Nope!! I've been sitting at home reading or watching DVRed shows. If I'm making such awesome money, why do I feel MORE broke than I did when I was a student...!? this is fricken awesome. 

Then, my cat that I got in fourth grade (I just finished "sixteenth grade" so he's old, do the math) is most likely going to be put down in the coming week. Great! The one being I want to be around right now (next to Ryan) is no longer going to be walking around this planet and existing this time next weekend. Could it get much worse? 

Yup! It could!! I want to move out SOO bad because I feel like it's impossible to make friends when you live in sleepy AG and especially when you live at home. And I hate the fact that I graduated early to move home... it sucks! But my social anxiety is preventing me from seriously looking because I just want to live with people I know... my first choice is Ryan, but that's not going to happen until I have a ring on my finger (parent rules). Oh and the fact I'm flat broke doesn't help either... ughh!!

I am fortunate to have this wonderful job with and amazing company, but it's like one of the only things going for me right now. I do have an amazing boyfriend who loves me very much, but he's in school in Santa Barbara Sunday-Friday and it sucks. I just want to have someone comfort me when I'm having panic attacks and though text messages are great, they aren't the same. 

My dreams for 2009 would include:

1. Move out


2. Get a puppy


3. Pay off my car


4. Get my student loans under control


5. Save as much money as possible


6. Take a vacay with my love, Ryan


7. Get engaged/married... 09/09/2009 anyone? haha :o)

And SO much more... I just need a change in my life.

Right now my cat is locked in the bathroom and probably so confused as to why he's locked away and not allowed to sleep on a comfy bed and is being forced to sleep on the hard, cold linoleum floor. I want to be able to talk to him and tell him to stop trying to pee everywhere. Those who have cats know that that's when they have completely lost it and when it's typically time to put them down. I can't handle the thoughts of not having my cat around. I saved him when I was in fourth grade from the bushes behind our house. Every since he could fit into one hand, and then he got to the mid-twenties in weight and then now he's real skinny and really confused all the time. When I plucked him from the bushes, he was the one that wasn't scared of this unknown giant peaking her head in the bushes and I also thought he was gray. When we took him to the vet, and he got a flea bath, he was pure white. I'll never forget how confused I was when the vet handed him back to me. 

All of this is hitting me within DAYS of each other. ughh sometimes I joke about God having a sense of humor... well right now, this isn't funny God. There's only so much one can handle when trying to adjust to a new life. 

ughhhhhh so much shit going on right now. I hate it. 

Until next time...

When did my life get so adult?

I'm starting week three at work and I'm absolutely loving it. The end of my first week was payday and so I missed it. Bummer! However, I get paid this Friday (Friday the 13th dun dun dunnnn) and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait to start getting used to being paid every couple of weeks. And it'll be a consistent amount. How incredible!? Yeah... I'm excited.

However, my excitement is short lived. I just wonder when and how my life got so adult SO FAST... my friends at PLNU are on Spring Break this week, my boyfriend goes on break in two weeks and my best friend in three weeks. When's mine? Yeah that's right... nope I don't get one anymore. *sigh*

Though I LOVE my job and I LOVE not having to go home and do homework and sit in boring classes I couldn't care less about, I do miss the vacations and the friends. Don't get me wrong, I have been making friends at work (the people are truly awesome) but I just miss my roommate at PLNU and my best friend in Redlands.

A part of adult life I haven't had to deal with to a major extent is bills. Well let me tell you, it's smacked me in the face recently. Though I'm stoked for my paycheck Friday... every penny of it is pretty much accounted for. Awesome! No fun for Noelle with her first paycheck. *sigh* From my car breaking down, DMV registration, credit card bill and who knows what else that is on the horizon. ughh!

I wouldn't trade my job for school any day, but it's still just annoying. When did I grow up? And how come it happened SO FAST?

*sigh*

Until next time...

**Disclaimer** This is NOT directed at my boyfriend... NOT AT ALL!!
He's the BEST!!

How much is "too much"?

Today marks the first day that I have used my gym membership provided within my perks package from work. My membership is to Kennedy Club Fitness and they have five different branches throughout the county and the San Luis Obispo one is right by my work. So I'm able to get off at 5:15pm and make it to the gym, change and into the 5:30pm class by about 5:35pm. I am pretty stoked about that!!

Well tonight I am a newbie at the SLO branch and so I don't really know what is okay and what isn't. However, I'm looking to my blog readers for some opinions.

How much skin is too much?

I went to the gym tonight with every intention to have a great time and no intentions of being weirded out or having a "WHOA!" moment. Well, tonight I had a few.

**Disclaimer** I have no problem with nudity. It's fine and dandy. We all have the same things in terms of anatomy, just some look better than others. Nudity. Whatever. But walking around the locker room in nothing but your birthday suit? Is that necessary?

Let me explain two instances tonight.... so I'm sitting on my bench right in front locker #155 (randomly chosen) and chatting with my mom real quick to tell her and my dad I wouldn't be home right away because I'm at the gym. Anyway, so I don't really notice the chick behind me who is fresh out of the shower. Well when I'm done with my phone call I turn my head and yup, got a FULL naked booty in my face. I don't think it could have been any closer without touching me. Let me tell you it was nice and dimply. It was quite awful. But hey, at least she wasn't prancing around the locker room like my next example.

After I did some exploring to see what this SLO branch had and where things were, I decided that I was hungry and so I wanted to get home. As I'm getting my things out of locker #155, I noticed this 60-year old women (give or take a few years) walking around the locker room with a towel on, but it's wrapped up on her head. Nothing else. Literally this woman with a full head of white/gray hair is just walking around, apparently drip-drying in the locker room. Props for being at the gym at her age, but it's not like she had a body to show off her hard work! Talk about an awkward double take!

I left the gym thinking about how awkward my two encounters in the locker room were but also wondering why they felt like that was okay. I am -- as I'm sure many others would agree --  fine with the quick drop of the towel facing your locker while you're making sure you're dry and then making it priority numero uno to get clothes on, but letting it hang out to dry? Yikes! Especially into the more "mature" years...

So I guess my question isn't "how much is too much" but more "when do you say when?" Or is it a combination of the two?

Questions? Thoughts? Concerns? or am I just going to have to accept this part of a gym membership?

*sigh*

Until next time...

I ♥ photoshop!

Today at work I got one of the COOLEST programs added to my computer. *drumroll* PHOTOSHOP!! I don't know why I love it as much as I do, but... I do! 

So to "get acquainted" with it, I decided to design a background for my desktop rather than just having a single picture with a boring background. So within about 15 minutes I had produced this background... 

I love it!!



Until next time...

Week one as an advertising coordinator...

Friday at five marked the completion of week one at Experts-Exchange!! As I posted in a previous blog, I was totally stoked on day one and had a blast!! The rest of the week definitely didn't disappoint!

Experts-Exchange has such an amazing environment to work in and the way you can tell how all the management staff truly care about your progress and understanding of your job and the company itself is an amazing feeling. I love the way that when I'm there, though I don't feel like I fit in perfectly quite yet, I know it's coming. Gradually people are talking to me more and I'm making friends. It's such a relaxed environment, but I get the feeling that everyone works very hard and LOVES their jobs. I already love my job, and so that's a blessing right there.

The first few days of my job were full of questions... How do I do this? Where do I find this? hmm I wonder what snacks are in the drawer today? How do I run this program? I still think this snack drawer hook-up is going to disappear one day, but it's honestly too good to be true! 

I finally did to the new employee orientation paperwork, and the non-disclosure was intense. It was LONG and very legalistic. *yawn* I did read it word for word and pretty much can sum it up like this... "don't tell anyone, anything." Done. Signed and turned in.

After a few days with the training wheels, I was pretty much off and running. I got to work with our agency representative and email him without any help. It still feels weird to not being like "am I doing this right?" to a boss or a higher up. I'm not an intern and this is my job. Crazy!

I think one of the most amazing aspects of working that I didn't think I would feel, is the fact I don't stare at the clock all day and want time to move faster. I only look at the clock when my tummy grumbles and I'm wondering when it's lunch time. Then I check it every once and a while if I have a meeting coming up before I start a project. However, near the end of the day, I notice others shutting their computers down and I'm like "whoa! It's time to go home!" It's so nice not needing to stare at the clock alllllll day!

Friday is free lunch day and we get these INCREDIBLE sandwiches from a grinder shop in SLO. I thought this was a joke when people were telling me about it, but then Thursday a call for orders email was sent around and it looked legit. I was shocked! So I ordered my sandwich (Sando is what the co-workers call them) and waited in anticipation for a day and a half for my highly hyped up sandwich to arrive. And amazing it was!!

Ryan came into town this weekend and so I gave him a quick tour of the office on Friday and then we went to lunch and split my sandwich (it was HUGE) and then I went back to work.

Friday was a really fun day at work because the Marketing and Creative teams meet and have a brainstorming session. It was cool to be able to get away from the galre of the computer screen and be able to sit in big comfy chairs and meet with the two teams. We learned about a new software program we're going to be using and then talked about how we would describe Experts-Exchange with only the size of a napkin to write it on. I came up with "Experts-Exchange is the #1 online help desk where you can get all of your IT solutions. Fast." A lot of the others were along the same lines, but all very different. It's hard to describe something so big and amazing!

That's a recap of my first week. Keep checking 20 Something Blvd for more updates on Noelle Seybert as an advertising coordinator.

Until next time...