Plus…
Wed Feb 09, 2005 19:20 (UTC -5)Yesterday I took FCAT Writing+, the state standardized writing test. It’s only given in fourth, eighth, and tenth grade, so this was the first and last time. It’s called Writing+ (note the plus sign) because it includes not only an essay, but also some painfully easy multiple choice questions to see whether you know basic grammar and how to write an outline and things like that. I didn’t have much of a problem with that.
Hmm… Valentine’s Day (that’s St. Valentine to you!) is fast approaching. It makes me sick. The day (I wouldn’t call it a holiday) means nothing to anyone except almost no one. Little kids are obligated to buy cheap paper things, each with a blank for a person’s name, and give them to everyone. What’s with that, huh? And then there was this massacre or something. I don’t know. Oh, right, I’m a confused teenager. And something about something or other like that.
I’m actually quite content right now. I just don’t like the watering down of love — the very thing for which the human race lives — to perforated sheets of paper with cartoon characters on them.
One of my hobbies, as you may know, is Where’s George?, a site that allows you to track where your money goes after you spend it. Yesterday I posted the following message to the Main Public Forum under the subject “Oh dear…”:
How do you know when you’ve been a bit obsessive about a hobby? Is it when you’ve spent 32.1% of your life at it and you’re not old enough to drive yet?
I remember it well… actually, I don’t. But I do remember it. It was February 8, 2000: I was in the fifth grade, and my teacher told me about a dollar bill she had received with a web site address stamped on it. She told me she found where it had been: “New York and some other places.” The site was www.wheresgeorge.com. I decided to check it out that night.
So, yeah, that means today is my fifth Georgeaversary [anniversary of the date one registered at Where's George]. Yikes. Has it really been that long? It sure does feel like it. And I’ve come a long way. WG was my first (and pretty much my only) online community. Besides having fun tracking my bills, I sort of “came of age” within these green frames [the forum windows are split into a top frame with a list of messages and a bottom frame where you read and post messages]. While others flamed each other and called each other 10-year-olds (some things never change, do they?), I could kind of get away with it because I was 10 years old. I’ve grown up a bit, and I quickly learned to appreciate all the great people who post here. You all are great (well, most of you, anyway).
It’s just now dawning on me: five years! Half a decade! One-twentieth of a century! Has it been five years well spent? Yes, without a doubt. Will I be gone anytime soon? No. I may lurk a bit more, mainly because after five years you often don’t have a whole lot to say. Also, I’m being driven into the ground by schoolwork (I’ve often used this as an excuse for things, but for the first time it’s actually true). But I’ll still be here, just so you all know. I’m not going anywhere, even though this whole production of a post might make it seem that way.
Thank you Hank [creator and webmaster], my fellow Team Aqua [administrative group with forum moderation privileges, etc.] members, and everyone for making Where’s George what it is and making me what I am today. Love, peace, etc. to you all.
Happy Georging,
Jordon (“Slowpoke”) [Slowpoke has been my moniker on the site since shortly after I got hooked five years ago.]
P.S. By the way, on May 22 I will have spent a third of my life as a WG user. [I made an Excel spreadsheet to figure that one out. J-Walk would be proud.]
The idea of cameramail is simple. Send a camera through the mail. Ask everyone who comes across it to take some pictures. In some cases, your recipient may end up with some great pictures of, well, mostly postal workers and stuff. I guess it just goes to prove that they’re not all nuts, and that this might be something fun to try. Only I would use a disposable digital camera rather than a film one (my scanner is not the best in the world). The site includes tips on sending your own cameramail as well.
4 comments
#1 by Gordon: Thu Feb 10, 2005 07:24 (UTC -5)
Yes that’s fairly obsessive. We started Georging about the same time so I’ve got a much smaller percentage of my life involved in the hobby (~9%). On the other hand, I’ve been involved in rocketry about 77% and I’m on my 10th driver’s license. BTW, I used a sliderule to get those percentages.
#2 by Jordon: Thu Feb 10, 2005 08:19 (UTC -5)
Sliderule? What’s that? :)
Actually, I really am not exactly sure.
#3 by Todd: Fri Feb 11, 2005 23:31 (UTC -5)
Hah…Smart idea…camera mail…people can think of any wacky idea these days.
#4 by Gordon: Sun Feb 13, 2005 09:49 (UTC -5)
A sliderule is a device used for calculations which was widely used before calculators became commonplace. The first calculator I ever saw cost $400, would run on battery for about an hour and wouldn’t do half what a common $20 scientific calculator will do today. Here’s a good link if want to know more. http://www.sliderule.ca/