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I hope this rain stops soon

I am sick of it raining out like three times a week. Today was my only day until sunday and it had to be a wet cloudy miserable rainy day. Everyone is in a bad mood when it is like this. There is nothing to do. The rain basically ruins everything when it comes on your only day off. It makes everyone depressed and just sucks. It seems to rain everyday that I get off, I am getting sick of it. Its like my boss checks the weather and puts me on the schedule for my days off being the worst days out of the week. I am going to start checking the wether at the beginning of each week and try to request days that are going to be nicer out than this. It is sad but I would rather be at work than sitting indoors all day. Hopefully I can begin to escape the rain on my days off.

Thats why I dont follow the Bruins

I mean come on. The bruins were up 3 games to none against the Philadelphia Flyers. All that they had to do was win one more game and they actually let the Flyers come back and beat them in four consecutive games which is absolutely ridiculous. It is the biggest upset in Boston Bruins history. Never before has the Bruins been up three games to none against any team in the playoffs and then allowed the opposing team to come back and win the next four consecutive games against them in the history of them being a hockey team. I am so glad that they decide to let that happen at the end of the first season I start really following them and watching the games. I feel like this was there one chance to be as big of a team as our other three the sox, the celts, and the pats, but after this bad of an upset I cant imagine them ever getting respected as much as our three other teams. Oh well, thanks for letting us down again Bruins!

ahhh... my last class is tonight!

Finally I can take a breather. This has been a very long semester! I am used to taking only four classes at a time and that can sometimes be a lot depending on what your classes are. This semester I took five classes and the classes that I took were all very hard except for one. I was really hoping when I was registering that the classes would be easy and not have too much of a work load. well it was just wishful thinking because they all ended up being hard and there was a lot of work and reading to do for about 4 oout of the 5. Taking on this much work as a student as well as working full time is extremely hard when you end up in some of the hardest classes that you have ever been in and I only have one more class left now, I had no idea that I was leaving the hardest for the end like this. I would have planned it better had I known it would be this hard on me. Oh well, it is basically all over. I have one more class til I get my degree and i was thinking of maybe taking one or two more so that I can raise my gpa a little more. I cant wait til I am done for good which will be in December

deep sea fishing trip!

I was literally thinking of somewhere to go on a trip for a night or two that wasnt going to cost too much and wasn't too far away that the ride there and back would take away too much time from such a short trip. Then I get a call from my buudy saying that he has been trying to book a deep sea fishing trip but needs two more people. It is almost perfect. it is only gonna be about a hundred dollars a piece for two days on the boat and will only take about an hour to get to where it is leaving from. It was perfect timing. Now I just have to find a way to tell my girlfreind that I am going without her. I will probably have to make it back up to her because she wants to get away as well but that is no problem. We have a pretty good relationship and I think that she will understand that I just need a night away from everything after all the work I have put in over the coarse of this past semester as well as what I have been doing at work. i am really looking foward to it and hope that everything goes according to what is planned.

TV has gotten much better!

I havnt stopped laughing all week. I dont really watch much TV except for when I go to my brothers to watch one of the games. This past weekend I had got there like an hour before the game started we were board so my brother had asked me if I have ever seen the show Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I told him no so he pulled up one of the shows on demand. It is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen, Seriously the writers are basically comedy genuises. I went out the next day and bought the first two seasons on dvd so that I could see more of the episodes. I think it has become my favorite show after just one week of knwing it exsisted. I bvelieve that there is a third and maybe a fourth season that has come out as well so as soon as I get paid I will be picking those up from the store as well. I actually cant wait to see more of the episodes. I have been watching hors worth each night. I hope it doesnt take too long for the new season to come out after I finish catching up on past episodes.

It sucks not having a car!

After totaling my car about two weeks ago I am still waiting for my car to get paid off so that I can get it off my credit and get into something new. I am so used to walking out the door and going where ever I want that I keep forgetting my car is not parked outside and I walk out about to go to the store like I dont have to walk there. I tried going to the dealership but it was still coming up that I have two cars in my name, mine that I totaled and my girlfreinds. Somehow I dont have a rental covered under my insurance policy, I dont know how I dont with the full coverage that I have on it. It wont be much longer though I have been calling my insurance adjustor everyday and I think he is getting sick of me. Now all that I am waiting for is Chrysler Financial to get the check from my insurance company and that will be that. I just wish everything didnt have to be such a headache but that is the way of the world, If your not all over everything people and companies will try to take advantage of you and do what is best for themselves.

The Celtics are looking like they could win it all again!

The Celtics have been playing amazing lately. Everyone on thier team has been contributing in every game in a big way. They ran through the Miami heat and I think beat them by more than 20 in two of their wins. Now they are already up on the Orlando Magic by two games which means if we can just beat them two more times then we will become the Eastern conference champions and more than likely face the LA Lakers in the NBA championship. I know our team may not be as well put together as it has been in previous years but I dont think that the Lakers are as good as they were when we beat them the last time for the Championship so we could definitely do it again and take it all. I cant wait to see the look on their faces when we win it all and take away their dreams, ecspecially Kobe's. I am not gonna say that i hate the LA Lakers as much as I hate the Yankees but it is starting to get close.

I need a new phone

My phone has been dropped so many times that I cant believe it still works. I used to get a new phone every couple of months when I worked for my cell phone carrier so I was never that careful with them. I could just buy a new phone but the problem is that I was left on an employee rate plan when I left them and I hardly have to pay for the monthly service. I can remain on this rate plan for as long as I choose to do so, but if I upgrade to a better phone my plan is too old to support the technology in the new phones or so they say. So if I get a new phone I will lose my current plan and have to change to something much more expensive. there would be a difference of atleast 60 dollars and right now I just cant afford to have my billed raised at all. I guess I should start taking better care of my phones Because I am not looking foward to losing my plan and paying $60 extra for the same thing I have right now.

I feel like taking a road trip

I need a vacation. This has been a long and hard semester for me. Taking five classes and working full time can get very aggravating and hard. You almost never have any time to yourself and when you do get some time to yourself you never end up doing what you want to be doing. Today was my first day off this week and I spent it doing laundry. I have been waiting for school to end so that I can try to plan out a trip but I dont want it to cost me an arm and a leg so I think I will be driving where ever I end up going. You can go to plenty of places that are within three or four hours from here and can make the trip surprisingly cheap if u plan it right. As long as you map out the best route there and back and leave at times that you wont run into any traffic you can save a lot on gas. Also pack a big lunch so that you dont have to stop and spend money on food before your trip ever starts. Those are too good tips on saving a little cash during a road trip, you'll have to figure the rest of them out on your own because I dont know anymore.

Lowell Is really starting to come along

I have noticed many new sites of construction around the city. I am very glad to see this. there are just too many abandoned buildings around the city that tend to be the stomping grounds of young punk teens, gang members, drug dealers or the homeless. These are the areas where most of the crime is happenning in the city. By getting rid of all these areas not officially watched or surveilled it is just asking for something bad to happen. Not only does it clean up the city but it also will add revenue in taxes at the end of the year. These lots are just sitting there and our city is in a deficit why on earth would it have taken so long to get these vacants moving in the right direction. I know it has a lot to do with permits and other city ordinances but come on it only makes sense that they would either tear them down or rebuild them into something. I am very glad to see that they are finally doing something about all the vacants that are around the city. Lowell has a lot of potential as well as a lot of historical significance but it will take a lot to make it show.

Boston Sports are at their finest!

The celtics just murdered the Heat last night! The Bruins are finally showing improvement as far as how they have played in the past. I think that both teams have a huge chance of winning it all this year. If they do win it all the parades are going to be off the hook! I just hope no one gets hurt like the tragedy that happened to that girl after the Redsox won in in '04. For those of you that dont remember after the redsox won the wwwwwWorld Series that year the crowd poured into the streets of Boston and would not disperse after multiple attempts of police intervention. Long story short the riot police were called into action armed with the guns that shoot the bean bags. Well some poor girl got hit directly in the eye and died later on that night. I just hope that through all the joy and excitement of winning a championship which I am sure one of these two teams will everyone can just keep it as civil as we can. The last thing that I want to hear is a tragic story of someone being hurt after such a momentus occasion.

Seatbelts will save your life!

I just got to class and found that one of my fellow classmates was in a crash similar to the one I was in. The only difference between our two crashes was that I was wearing my seatbelt and he wasnt. My crash involved me driving at about 70 mph and hitting a guardrail which is made of metal, I escaped the crash completely unscathed and honestly had no signs or reasons to go to the hospital other than to be on the safe side. His crash involved him driving a truck at only 45 mph and he now has a piece of his skull missing as well as having to get his head shaved so they could apply the stitches to the places which needed them on his head. I am not god and maybe I just got lucky but I cant help but wonder was there someone watching over me that night or was it the seatbelt that completely stopped me from being injured. Either way I am not and will not drive myself or with anyone else that is not wearing their seatbelt. It is just not worth taking the chance... WEAR IT!!!

I cant stand some of the required classes at UMASS

I am so sick of having to take classes that dont have anything to do with my major. I am a CJ major but for some reason they think it is pertanant for me to have to take all these electives that dont seem to help me much at all. On top of that these are the classes that I seem to do the worst in. I dont know wheather it is just that I dont find the material as exciting or that it is just not what I want to do so I get board. The elective classes always seem to be the most work in and out of class and I am so glad that I have them all done and I am graduating in fall of '10 because I honestly cant take one more history or math class ever again without losing my mind. I know that they are important and that is why a bachelors degree would be held higher than those who get certificates from trade schools so I guess I am just complaining but hey, got nothing better to do!

Binary America: Split in Two By a Digital Divide

The impact on Marcella Morris and her family not having the Internet is that it basically shuts them off from so many resources. It makes everything so much harder for anyone without internet access. They miss out on all news and events unless they hear it on TV or a freind tells them and even when a freind does tell them whatever the story may be there is ofcaorse going to be valuable info left out or Forgotten along the chain. I could not even imagine doing school work symply from text books or Encyclopedias. They are never completely up to date on everything, how could they be when this world moves a mile a minute.
The free wireless internet access project in Charlestown, SC seems to be a great step into the right direction but statistics show that it is not being utilized by the audience it was intended for so u could say it has failed. Statistics are all that matter in this case and if it is not making it any easier for those less fortunate to get on the internet then it is a waste. the only ones that seem to benefit from it are those whom can and could already afford the internet or whomever can afford a cappacino for $2.99 so they can get some free wi-fi. I would suggest that instead of just giving internet to the whole city they should set up some time of little to no cost programs through the pre exsisting internet producers and just give those who qualify something like a 90% to 95% break on their bill.

I totaled My Car

I knew I should have just stayed home and went to bed, but my freinds had kept calling me hoping to talk me into driving to Foxwoods Casino in Conneticut to spend the night where they had purchased a room for the evening. After arguing as to why I couldnt make it for about an hour, I ended up saying screw it, got in my car and hit the road at about 11:30 pm. I made it about 20 miles away from Foxwoods to a town called Oxford while traveling down interstate 395. I dont much remember what happened after that but My car end up going into the guardrail on the right side of the highway. I ended up on the median facing the wrong direction and my engine was nearly pushed onto my lap with no signs of the hood left. Both airbags deployed but it must have been a miracle because I was almost completely unscathed. I ended up being taken to the St. Vincents hospital where I was discharged shortly after. Needless to say I had no ride home and my freinds were no longer answering their phones thinking that I had just went to bed or they had forgotten about me. I had to walk around worcester from about 5 am til 9 am when my mother finally woke up and came and got me. The whole night sucked!! Ecspecially when all I kept thinking was that I could have just stayed home like I had planned!!

The Weather

This weather is beautiful! I have been playing basketball for the past 3 days, which is one of my favorite things to do on a nice hot day. Finally the rain stopped and dried up a bit. It was getting unbearable. My basement flooding with about four inches of water and after getting all the water out it would have taken weeks to dry but thanks to the beautiful last couple of days it is basically dry now. If the rain didn't stop soon we were on our way toward a state of emergency like RI. We really did deserve it though, I just hope it keeps up like this for atleast another week or so just to get rid of all the rest of this swampy muck which has riddled all of our lawns with any type of dip in them at all. I would love to own a pump company. They must be getting 10x's the business at times like this. Their profits must skyrocket at times like this. Well atleast someone is making out in all this. I am just praying for some more nice, hot where I can get outside and do something days like this and less gloomy rainy days where i stay inside and get pissed off.

Internet Media for Education

This guy Criss Angel is amazing. Dont get me wrong I know that there is an illusion of some sort going on but is a very good preformer and puts on one hell of a show. I went to one of his shows when I was in Las vegas recently and usually I am not the one to get excited over a couple of magic tricks but these were no ordinary magic tricks. Everything was new, different and preformed perfectly. He did everything from simple small thing such as making things disappear and reappear all the way up to levitating himself as well as a child from the crowd with absolutly no signs of any cables or wires of any sort. If anyone goes to Las Vegas anytime soon I would definitely reccommend going to see his show providing that he is still there preforming. The tickets were reasonably priced, I believe that it was somewhere around $120 for my girlfriend and myself to go. If you take my advice hope it is a good time and you enjoy yourself! I have included some links to youtube just to give you a taste of what this guy does. I have also emmbedded a video which describes one of his tricks is done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HoTKXwXDHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBQLq2VmZcA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIGpZ6cukl4

Internet Communication Impact in Education

I think that the Internet has had a great impact on education. Students can find and utilize materials much easier and faster, teachers can ask students a larger scope of questions and expect them to be able to find the answers without spending 2 hours in a library.
Social networks have played a large role in education as well. It allows students to to reach out to thier peers and find someone who may be able to help with questions they cant seem to find the answers to. This may also hurt a bit considering how much time is spent by some teens on sites such as facebook and myspace. There are so many resources out there it is almost endless. Wikipedia can basically tell you anything you want to know without going into to much detail about anything that you want to know. Other technologies that we sometimes overlook is Microsoft office. Could you imagine using a typewriter to prepare important documents? I couldn't. I am glad that we live in an age that spell check is only a click away.

School is so long!!!!

Evertime I turn around I have to either take more classes, drop classes, or retake classes. You see I am trying to get into Law School when I am finished at UMASS.
This means that I have to continuously improve on my GPA. So instead of graduating with an average GPA in may I am now forced to drop two classes that were not even requisites for my major because I did poorly in them and I have to go to another semester in that fall in order to get rid of those poor grades and get better ones which will do what I need to be done and imporve my GPA. I sometimes wish that I just went to one of the CJ trade schools so I could have avoided all of these useless classes like my electives and science classes. Those are the classes bringing me down and I will never use them at all in my professional career. Sometimes I just get fed up anf frustarted bvut i know it will all pay off and i will be very happy once I have that degree in my hand.

Introduce Myself

My name is Eric Leach. I am currently attending the Univerisity of Massachusetts at Lowell as a Criminal Justice major. I hope to graduate and pursue Law School and become a successfull criminal defense lawyer. I enjoy playing basketball and working out as well as cooking. I am a senior this year and hope to raise my GPA a little higher in order to make it easier on myself to get into Law School, It is not an easy task where some of my classes are proving to be a lot of work but I think I can do it if I really buckle down and give it my all.

Please finish the road work being done to 495!

I risk my life everytime I get on the highway! I am getting sick of it. I have already been forced into the gaurdrail by an eighteen wheeler. Since the work has been started I try to limit the use of interstate 495 or atleast drive an exit up from where I would normally get on. The work being done was started about 8 months ago, and they say that it may be up to a year before they are finished. It would have been smarter to just close down the onramp at exit 37 because leaving it open is much to dangerous. What makes it so dangerous to get on the highway is that they closed down the fast lane as well as the breakdown lane at exit 37, so the only two remaining lanes are the slow lane and the lane to the left of the slow lane which used to be the middle or traveling lane. They have also made the two lanes into unbroken lines which means that you cant switch lanes or go over the lines. You must stay in the lane you are in until they become broken again. They have also added a Yeiled sign at the end of the onramp at exit 37. On top of all this the street you are traveling on which leads you to the onramp is not the same level as the highway so the onramp is on a hill which you are traveling up to get on the highway. The only time you are able to see the oncoming traffic is at the very top of the onramp, so almost everytime you get to the end of the onramp you have to basically come to a complete stop. You cant use your mirrors at all in order to see the cars coming you have to turn your body around to see what is coming in your lane. All these things wouldnt really be much more of an aggravation to me except for the fact that atleast 50% of the drivers out there should not driving at all and most of the truck drivers operating the eighteen wheelers really dont seem to care for the safety of anyone other than themselves and they know they will be safe if they get into an accident with a car, so dont expect them to slow down or do anything else that you would call courteous. I would reccomend being very careful geting on 495 at exit 37 because they have left it a very dangerous entrance to the highway.

Superbowl Champs baby!!

I cannot express to you how happy it makes me to know that I did not only get to see Peyton Manning lose his fight for the perfect season but then to lose in the Superbowl to the New orleans saints was just pure delightfulness. I am sick of all the commercials and hype over his brother Eli and himself, you cant turn the tv on without seeing his face within the hour, each hour. On a better note I am really glad that new orleans was able to bring a World Championship to their city. After the devasatation that Hurricane katrina left on their city it is nice to know that they will atleast get the satisfaction of feeling like world champions, even if it may only be for one night. I know that the greatness of the Superbowl could never compare to the hurt and pain caused by Katrina, but I know that as a Patriots, Red Sox , and celtics fan it is nice to get that feeling even if it only last that one night. So ha ha Peyton and congrats to the Saints! I am just sorry that they will not be able to go back to back, The Pats are due!

"Who Am We?"

There are definitely both positive and negative impacts on those who choose to spend too much time on these virtual sites like MUD. For some that may think they are not up to societies standards of looks or personality it gives them a way to be more open, less shy and let their trueselves come out, saying things things or doing things that they would not do had the been in an actual public setting. On the down side at some point it has to end, and their online friends wont be there for them to help during a sickness or health issue like a REAL life human being would be. There are just some things that cannot be appropiately shared over the internet such as Weddings, Baby Showers, A Child's christianing and of coarse Bachelor/ Bachlorette Parties. Although I am probly wrong and 10 years from now I will be invited to a virtual wedding...lol. I hope not, because you can count me out . I guess I am just a more traditional type of person. I like to see faces and scenery when I interact with others. I cant imagine how anyone can stay physically fit spending that much time on the computer, with eating and sleeping, where is all the time for the physical activity? It is amazing how people wonder why we are one of the most obese nations!
As far as thier identies are concerned, which is the "real one"? I would say that both are . A persons identity makes up who they are by how they spend their time, who the interact with and how they see themselves, so how can it not be both?

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links to other sites

Scottrade.com

Anunnziato.org/moodle

Yahoofinance.com

ebaumsworld.com

I cant wait to get my hands on the new IPAD

I cant wait to get my hands on the new IPAD from Apple. I had up until recently thought that I would not be able to get my hands on one until the price came down. I was not willing to pay the previously projected price of $1000 but I read an article in the Lowell Sun over the weekend stating that The prices will only range from $499 to $699 considering that the IPhone was selling for about $400 when it was launced and the IPod was retailing for around the same I am surprised that they did not put a much higher price tag on the new IPad. I got to give it up to Apple, they could easily get nearly double what they are asking. As soon as the IPad hits the stores you can guarantee that I will be selling my Laptop on ebay and rushing to the store before these puppies are on back order which we know will be happening most likely within the first week! I can only imagine all the applications that will be available. Life just got a little bit easier thanks to Apple!

Stop talking about the losses!

I am sick and tired of hearing the same stories over and over on sports radio. It seems like when my team wins it is very short lived and only talked about on 98.5 The Sports Hub for maybe a day or two and then they move on to talking about the upcoming game but when my team loses they go on and on for a week about what each individual player did wrong as well as what the staff and caoches faults were. I wish they would just get over it and shut up already! They lost and that is it! I dont want to hear about it every time i get into my car or turn the radio on. It has gotten to the point where I will actually avoid listening if my team loses because I dont want to listen to all the mistakes that were made over and over again. Not only do they make us listen to it over and over again but every time one show ends and the next announcers come on they completly reiterate what was said the previous hour or two. Get some new material or get off the radio.