Hoobastank - The Reason

The Bobcat Digger

NOTE: Picture not taken by me... taken from some other website... not the actual Bobcat digger I got a chance to use. Looks exactly like it though.


I drove a digger yesterday. Did some digging and loading with it too. I think I did well considering it was the first time I did anything remotely similar (if you don't take driving a fork lift into account).
How, you ask?


Opening scene:

A cool summer's day. Evening is approaching (late afternoon). Clear sky. Sunshine. A weekend place. Two strapping men carrying boulders around. Sweating substantially. Seems like they're trying to clean up a strip of land of rocks and rubble. One younger, in his twenties, one older, reaching 50. A truck carrying a digger is seen slowly making it's way through the forrest, up a slope, towards the weekend place.


Scene 1:

The owner of the diggger unloads the machine, equips it with the bigger of the two "spoons" he brought with him for the digger, cleaning up rubble as instructed by the older of the two men, previously clearing rubble manually. He's loading the dirt and the rocks onto his truck, previously used to transport the digger, which he, when full, unloads a few meters away, using the material to level the terrain.


Scene 2:

The owner of the digger suggests he has one of his employees come back later with his digger to finish the job.
The jounger of the two men, previously carrying rocks arround, suggests, in a humorous manner, he could finish the job himself in about 15 minutes.
The owner of the digger, not being clear, if he's amused, annoyed or just tired from a long day at work... or all of the above, accepts the humorous remark as a challenge and decides to give the strapping young lad a go at it (the owner was later decided, by that strapping young lad, to must have been temporarily insane, to say the least).


Scene 3:

Ironically, the kid cleans up the rest of the mess within 15 minutes without causing any damage to the "log cabin", the digger or the truck he was loading (...pure ownage).


Note to self:

1. word "previously" used too much in scene 1
2. sentences too long and complicated
3. too lazy to correct/rewrite


Epilogue:

It took a few mintues to master the monster... the two joysticks used to manipulate the "spoon", the joints and the rotation of the digger around it's axis (2 joysticks, each has two functions).
It would take years to master it as well as the owner (what he could do with the thing was simply sick... Darth-Vader-Yoda-master-jedi-using-the-force kind of stuff).
Driving around is fun, since you control each of the two caterpillar wheels separately (... for steering).
There is a sort of a "sweeper" placed in front of the digger (see pic) that can be lifted up or lowered down and is used to balance the machine on unlevel terrain and/or to push stuff around in front of the digger.
It doesn't have a milage meter, it measures it's useage in actual ammount of time (hours, minutes...) it has been used.
It's fun.


Note to self 2:

1a. knowledge of english deteriorating at an alarming rate
1b. start reading books in english to improve and reach former master jedi english skills
2a. would help you in school as well, considering that in the 17 years our country has been independent, there hasn't been a single expert in most of the fields we have to cover in different classes, that would have sat down and wrote a peace of educational literature in our own language and according to the demands of the class he/she is teaching (most of our literature is in english). The few classes that have literature available in our own language, generally have that literature additionally equipt with a booklet including all the (gross) mistakes that can be found within it.
2b. annoying...


Lessons of the day:

The beauty of life can be found in many little things that don't always capture one's attention at first glance.
People don't seem to want to do things, if the only purpose of those things is to help other people (out), without any personal (financial or other) gain (refering to Note to self 2, point 2a).



Peace out,
Spawn

Eurovision 2008

I believe no comment is neccessary. There even were a couple of decent songs. And the one that won was... well... never mind.

Here are two songs I liked:





Good night.

Another proper update

Well, I haven't done any proper posting here for a while, and that's due to the fact that I've burried myself into booklets and books and charts and graphs and diagrams and pictures of limbs, disected under different angles and at different locations.
What can I say? I have two exams left, and if I finish them by the end of June, I'm free for the summer, which would be the first time I'd have a free summer since I started college. And damn do I want to have a free summer.
That might sound odd, due to the fact that I'll most probably spend the summer working... to earn money, but I'm getting tired of constantly not having any money and so I figured the way to solve that was to, well, get a job... or two.


Other than that, my designing things have progressed quite a bit. The mansion I was drawing got set back a little when my SmartDraw trial version expired, but soon afterwards I realised that I can download models for Google 3D Sketchup (like furniture and stuff... all drawn up and ready to use... and in 3D) and since I was more fond of Google 3D Sketchup to begin with, I can only say screw Smart Draw, and I promise that I'll upload my work once exams are done and over and no more.

Another novelty item is my newly acquired obssesion for owning and fixing up that same kind of car I drove in the post about the infamous road trip. Since they're not exactly expensive this obsession might actually come true for a change.

Lastly, I might have mentioned I'm into motorcycles. Not that much of a big deal. The big deal for me is the idea I have for the kind of motorcycle I would be happy to own. I was thinking about posting some sketches of that as well but so far it seems like it'd be a complicated thing to draw in Google Sketch so that might not happen. Or maybe it will. We'll see.


That'd be pretty much it for now. Life is stressfull and busy, as it has been for years now but everything comes at a price. And considering that there's not all that much I can complain about at this point in my life, I guess stress and an intimidating ammount of studying is an easy price to pay.

Until next time: Take care of and love one another. Oh, and eat healthy. And try to excercise a bit. It does wonders for your brain's oxygen supply... and your figure... and your weight... not good for your joints though... but I guess plusses outnumber the minusses... so go for it.
And don't stress out over things that don't deserve it. And don't be afraid to be yourself... and... Do better things with your time than reading this blog. ;)

Best song ever!

Knjigu piše vitez roda moga
U dalekoj zemlji okovan
Pa je šalje svojoj vjernoj ljubi
Pod zidine grada bijeloga.

Ej, ljube moja, moga oka vilo
Idu dani, ode godina
Da uza me nije tvoje tilo
I da su me braća izdala.

Sude mi, zato što svoje volim
Volim najviše, što sam branio
Moje najdraže.
Sude mi , dušmani moja ljube
Ali ne znaju da je istina,
Voda duboka.

Ej, djeco mila, vite grane moje
Upamtite što vam govorim
Ej k'o ne ljubi i ne čuva svoje
Božjeg lica neće vidjeti.

Sude mi, zato što svoje volim
Volim najviše, što sam branio
Moje najdraže.
Sude mi, dušmani moja ljube
Ali ne znaju da je istina,
Voda duboka.

Good Times!

Nostalgia

Gastarbeiter weekend and Fićo-trip

Wooohooo! A badass end of a badass week!

I spent this Friday and Saturday working at our weekend place (pouring concrete foundations for a roof extension (if that's what it's called in english) that is going to be put up soon, for those that want to know).
It was a learning and a frustrating experience.

Learning because I had only done this once before (foundations for a field toilet, or as we call it in Slovene, "WC na štrbunk" which would translate into something in the whereabouts of "free fall toilet"). My brother and my dad were in charge of preparing the concrete and I was in charge of building the wooden model that the concrete is poured into.

Pic 1: Left side of the pic: The two concrete foundations for the wooden pillars that will carry the roof extension. On top of the foundations, the wooden models, filled with concrete. The one in the back was the first one made (the one that split). In the front left, the second one, heavily reinforced.

What did I learn? That concrete is a sneaky and powerful m***** f*****. If you don't construct your model properly it gets bent (if you're lucky) or split wide open on top of that, as if it were made of paper and not 1,5 inch wood... which was the frustrating part of the experience. Why? Well, the model was about 25 by 25 cm and 40 cm high. It took a lot of time to position it properly and make sure it was standing perfectly upright. And once it was positioned right, and we started to pour in the concrete, the whole thing started falling apart. Not because it was constructed poorly, but rather because the wood used for it was, as it turned out, in really bad shape.
Heck, the concrete was already half way in, so what to do? Reinforce the model on the spot, which resulted in shifting it out of position...
I did learn my lesson for the second one we did though. Made it indestructable. Don't know how we're gonna remove it once the concrete is dry but at least it won't split like the first one did.

That was the gastarbeiting.

After the work was over, arrangements for lunch turned into a party that lasted pretty much all night long (barbecue, lots of alcohol... that sort of a thing). Before the party started, being starved and realising that the supposed lunch will most likely be a dinner, I went to take a nap.

Pic 2: An improvised fireplace/grill.

Waking up, I was told that my dad and a guy that is helping us out with the work prepared a surprise for me. The surprise was a red Fićo as it is called in my language. A small, red beautiful excuse of a car. So I took it for a test run... that turned into a road trip. That turned into a legend.

Pics 3&4: The beaute.

So, the roadtrip:
I realised whether I wanted it or not, I was stuck at our weekend place to attend the party, since I couldn't drive home: If I took our car home, I had to come back, since my mom wanted to stay at the party for a while but had to go home later, since she had to go to work in the morning. If I took the fićo home, I had to come back, since it doesn't belong to me.
In the end, I took my brother home with the fićo, picked up my sweetheart and my sister at home and drove back. Later we drove home with our car...

Pics 5-8: Road tripping.

To make something clear, this particular car dates back to 1985, so it's not exactly a kind of car you get to see on the road every day. It has 4 gears and a maximum speed of about 100 km/h. The engine is in the back, the fuel tank in the front. The pedals are a bit too close together but that is because they are next to the left front tire. The safety belts have a fixed length (which sux, if you weigh over about 90kg). No servo stearing. Does about 150 km on one tank of fuel.
Feels like you're travelling at light speed even at low speeds.
All in all, pure fun.

The car itself draws a lot of attention... obviously. Honking, waving and smiles. The one person, who's inescapable attention it captured most, was the driver we passed on the way back. He gazed with his mouth wide open, while a small lunch box of a car was giving it its fullest to pass him at its glorious 90 km/h.

Last but not least, I will never forget the look on my sweetheart's face, when she realised, I wasn't kidding about comming to pick her up with a fićo.

Stressed?

Are you stressed? Have trouble concentrating? Can't sleep properly? Feeling down?
Well, there are several things you can do: sports, meditation, medication... Not having time to do sports or meditate, I do... medication.
Seems to be helping. We'll see.

Music

To me music is a link to the past. Honestly, I don't think I could name a favourite band... a band that is constantly on my playlist. I think the band that got the closest to being it was and still is Iron Maiden.
By a link to the past I mean that my favourite music changes constantly. I fall in love with a band and with their music for a week or two and listen to nearly nothing but that band. After that, I hear something else that immediately attracts me and move on to that, and so on and so forth.
The connection to the past is established when I listen to that music after the period of unreasonable craze takes place. It immediately flings me into the time period during which I was into that particular band and sometimes even recalls a specific memory, which, for me, can be quite an adventure, since I don't have the best of memories.
But a familiar melody doesn't neccessarily evoke a memory. Sometimes, which I believe is a more common response amongst people that like listening to music, it evokes a feeling. Not in a way that listening to a sad songs makes me sad and so on but rather recreating a feeling I felt at some point in the past, while listening to that song.

I think one of my favourite songs of all time would be Wasted Years by Iron Maiden. When it goes off, I am taken back into that bus, making its way to Flekke through the night, on those small Norweigan roads. It brings back the excitement of something new to come. The expectation of a great adventure and at the same time the saddness at leaving the old life behind for an indefinite ammount of time. This description might sound sad but I think nostalgia is the preffered term I would use here, not saddness. The kind of nostalgia that lead into a lot of both beautiful and painful moments.

The music I am currently listening to is Jimmy Eat World.
Here's links to some of their songs I like:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Eh5Ww01cg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZD8Dnd40EF8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AViBFyyBSG0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wU3KBI5qyEY&feature=related

P.S.: Just realised that my trial version of Smart Draw expired. Need to come up with another way of finishing my project. Annoying.