The World of Stuff .com

The ring

Ah, I’ve begun my junior year of high school, and you (might) know what that means: it’s class ring time. (I didn’t either.) The other day the class of 2007 gathered in the auditorium to hear this guy from Herff-Jones, which makes class rings. He impressed us by saying that they also made the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 winner’s rings, the Heisman Trophy, and the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Anyway, he went over the seemingly infinite designs and options for rings. These ensure that your class ring is unique (and expensive). Then we got the catalogue/booklet/brochure things, complete with order forms and price lists. Let me tell you, these things are not cheap. Except the cheap ones. But they don’t look very cool.

Just about every part of the ring is customizable. With several ring designs and sizes (of course), you choose metals, finishes, gems (real or fake), inscriptions, and more (I guess). It’s practically too much to think about in a week. If I do order a ring, I’ll have till Thursday to decide how I want it. That’s the last day they’re taking orders. If I decide to get one, I hope I decide on the design by then.

A class ring is a symbol of how much you love your school. And I don’t really like my school that much, but I will after I graduate, so maybe I should spend all that money now. Sure, I don’t wear rings or anything, but it will still be a nice keepsake, unless I lose it after the warranty expires. I’ll have to ask my friends and see what they’re doing.

If I’m listening to music while I’m on the computer, do not — I repeat, do not — just come up and touch my shoulders from behind. It really freaks me out. It’s just like if you were to go up and tap someone listening to their… Walkman tape player… while they weren’t looking. Actually, it’s exactly the same thing, and it’s highly inconsiderate. Both my dad and my mom did it yesterday, and then they didn’t understand why I freaked out and got really mad at them.

I just noticed that this is the ninth post in a row that has a two-word title. The last eight are Fresh Prints, Hearing Things, Go Figure, Hurricane Miscellany, Clearing Up, One Decade, Getting Better, and Getting Worse. And there are more to come!

There’s no doubt that gas prices are on the rise (as usual). You’re paying more at the pump than ever, I’m sure. But how much would you save if the gas taxes were repealed? Here’s a chart of gas taxes for U.S. states. The situation here in Florida is very confusing — I couldn’t make sense of it — but apparently we’re paying at least $0.45 per gallon in taxes.