RadThad DOT COM

History

2008-11-05T17:12:26Z

Whether you voted for Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, or wrote a name on the ballot...you cannot deny the fact that history has been made. It's amazing to know that when my parent's were growing up, that African Americans were fighting for equal rights, and now the first black president of the United States is Barack Obama. It's amazing to know that my kids will be reading about what I'm witnessing in their textbooks. It's amazing to know that what I'm watching on television will be a question in their history exam. It's like holding your breath and watching the sunrise come up just before dawn breaks.

On September 11th, 2001, I was sitting in Mr. Larry Gardner's AP US History class at Burns High School.

On November 3, 2008 I witnessed the electricity of Barack Obama speaking first hand at UNC Charlotte.

On November 4, 2008 I watched history in the making as Barack Obama became the first black President elect of the United States.

I know many people have watched this election tonight with a sense of dread, believing that everything will go into ruin. To those people, I would have to remind you that over the 20th century, our economy was usually at its strongest while a Democrat was in office. For whatever reason, some people think that abortion and gay marriage is going to run rampant and the traditional family is going to die as we know it. Isn't abortion already legal? Isn't the rate of divorce over 50% already? And to ban gay marriage in the Constitution is...actually unconstitutional. Marriage is a state right, not a federal one.

I also know many people have watched this election with great hope and pride, ready for a new direction in our country. I am one of those.

I love my country. I love our constitution. The United States of America is only 232 years old, yet our Constitution is the oldest living democratic document in the world. It has stood the test of time. Our country has always overcame the issues of racism and division. From counting slaves as only 3/5 of a person to guiding the way for a minority to become President of the United States, our Constitution, albeit vague and ambiguous, has been our guiding light.

From the racism and prejudices that our country showed to the Irish, Eastern Europeans, Catholics, Japanese Americans, and African Americans, I believe this inspirational moment outshines all of those dark pages of our short history. Whether your ancestors came to this country on the top deck, in the bottom of a slave ship, or passed through Ellis Island, whether your ancestors lived north of the Mason Dixon line, seceded from the Union, or came across the border...one thing holds true; you're American. You may be African-American, Asian-American, Japanese-American, Italian-American, Mexican-American, Hispanic-American, or whatever-American...it doesn't matter what comes before the hyphen. It's what comes after.

And in the words of John McCain, "We don't hide from history, we make history." And tonight I got to witness it.

This isn’t supposed to happen to me

2008-10-31T19:38:06Z

The past 21 hours have been a cyclone of emotions and turmoil. At 11:31PM last night I got a phone call. My dad's brother was shot and killed last night by his own daughter. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this situation. Due to legal reasons and advising from the family's attorney, I am not divulging any additional information on this matter. No funeral arrangements have been made yet. Please remember to pray for me and family, but especially for my cousin's husband and three children. This is the kind of thing you watch on the new or see in a movie…not experience firsthand.

Thank you for your ongoing thoughts and prayers.

Politics and money…sigh

2008-10-29T15:29:31Z

Where's that $780 billion bailout money McCain STOPPED his campaign to rush to Capitol Hill for? And what about that $80+ billion dollar our precious gov't gave to AIG?

How much FEDERAL money has Obama used to finance his campaign? $0. PAC financing? only $1030.

McCain:
Federeal money used: $84,103,800
PAC contributions? Try $1,375,110

What is a PAC? Political Action Committee...usually formed by representatives from organizations and large corporations. Why is McCain accepting so much money from them? Because big corporations that send their jobs overseas and pay their CEO's ungodly amounts of money while they lay off workers benefit from a traditional Republican economic policies...and not small family owned businesses that stand to benefit from Obama's policies.

Yes Obama has spent ridiculous money in advertising. But where did it come from? It came from private contributions.

Obama….the largest spender in advertising in American history

McCain…the same old traditional Republican candidate that knows NOTHING about the economy but promises he can fix it. Why didn't he pick Mitt Romney who's a self made man who knows more about the economy than Sarah Palin, John McCain, and George W. Bush combined!

Darn you Huckabee! Why didn't you win the primaries L

Sarah Palin…I told you so!

2008-10-22T15:52:53Z

Republicans reduce spending....except on themselves...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gN2UuEbyF64GtuHQfJzWDqDg7PqgD93VNPAG3

This made me laugh.....Anybody who has heard me personally rant about my theory of Sarah Palin knows that I believe the Republican Party picked her because of her image...And most people disagree with me...Now I can say I told you so!

My theory: Everybody associated McCain with George W. Bush. Granted, the Dems and Obama have tried to push the envelope on this issue ("Vote McCain, vote for the same"). So how do the Republicans attempt to change this mental connotation shared by a large majority of the American people? Easy! Find somebody they can use as a pawn to sell their image…[Enter Sarah Palin].

Hillary Clinton drew A LOT of attention this year. Whether you like her or not, you saw her face every single night on the evening news during the primaries. Sarah Palin was a perfect fit. Get that adorable smile, her improper English and astute refusal to properly pronounce words that end in "-ing," and spend $150,000 dressing her up!

Politics is nothing but marketing. Whether your Libertarian, Republican, Democrat, Green, or Independent…if you can't market your image, you can't win. Whether you like Sarah Palin or not, if you can't see past the fact that she's nothing but a marketing ploy by the Republican party, you're sorely mistaken. Maybe in my next installment I'll rant about Barack Obama…the largest spender in political advertising ever.

McCain vs. Obama

2008-10-21T21:03:46Z

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080609/NEWS02/376069889

Somethings to point out for my gung-ho conservative friends...

McCain does not oppose gay marriage or stem cell research.

But on Education/Health Care...I'd have to give it to Obama....Economics...I'm undecided. Both plans have their strong points and both plans have points they fail on.

Please don't vote Republican because you're afraid you'll lose your right to own a gun or think every "queer will come out of the closet" and everybody in your church congregation thinks Barack Obama is a muslim (he's not) and Sarah Palin is the greatest thing to happen to politics (she's not). I laugh and scream in outrage when I watch her try to debate...and her stupid wink makes me wish Hilary Clinton would smack her.

MTV needs to bring back Celebrity Deathmatch just to watch Clinton vs. Palin.

Pease don't vote Democrat just because you're a far-left, liberal hippy in your 20 somethings who think voting for Obama is the cool thing to do, or if your like my grandparents who grew up during FDR's reign and believe that Democrats can do no wrong.

Vote because you make an educated choice based upon your well informed, researched opionions. But above all...just vote.

Neglection

2008-09-28T18:29:05Z

I apologize for the lack of recent activity. Life has been to busy/crazy/chaotic/hectic/ridiculous and my poor little blog has been neglected for the past few weeks. Hopefully new life will spring back into this thing soon.

Too strange to make up

2008-09-13T11:17:58Z

Yesterday at work I came down with a bad case of hiccups. After about 45 minutes, the frustration was to high and I decided to consult my good friend Google. I came across this site...and it worked. My mind is still reeling from the sheer weirdness and awesomeness of that little pressure point trick. Maybe it's all a mind trick. But the only thing I care about is that it worked!

w00t

2008-09-07T21:27:18Z

Chromed Out

2008-09-03T15:06:04Z

So I'm currently using Google's Chrome over my beloved FireFox. Alas, parting is such sweet sorrow.

In other news:

I saw two commercials last night that just really made my day...or night...or whatever.

1) A "Smokey the Bear" commercial! I haven't seen one of these things in ages...at least they updated him to some fancy (but not too fancy) CG animations.

2) A pregnancy test ad with the slogan that went something like "The best piece of technology you've ever pee'd on."

I don't know about you...but I've peed on some really nice computers before...that little stick better be something serious. I'm thinking about buying one just to pee on it...i'll let you know if the slogan if all the hype is true.

This going to be rough…

2008-08-27T21:35:42Z

You know it's going to be a bad semester when:

You have Russian teacher for Calculus II that is used to teaching the course in Spanish (yeah…I know)

You're Discrete Mathematics teacher keeps reminding you how hard the class is going to be (and he's never taught Discrete Math before)

However…I look forward to my Chinese micro economics teacher. Her English is pretty good and her accent is funny (she tends to introduce new topics like a sports announcer). She also has a great sense of humor. There's just something to be said about Asian humor. I would insert a link to Young's page, but he's gotten slack on his blogging. If you're reading this Young…get to it yag.

Indescribable

2008-08-17T23:23:42Z

I really don't know how to title this because I can't really describe what I'm feeling.

I am so in love with my church and so thankful I'm able to be a part of what's going to be known as the one of the biggest moves of God in the country. Elevation held a 'preview' service at our new uptown campus, at the McGlohon Theater in uptown Charlotte. During the worship I couldn't help but remember everything God has brought me from and couldn't help but get excited about what he's doing.

Elevation exists "so that people far from God will be filled with life in Christ."

That's our mission statement. And tonight, I was reminded of how close to church I used to be, but how far from God I really was. I sang in the choir, filled in on bass, occasionally taught Sunday school and Wednesday night bible study, and served on the Student Leadership team of the Youth Board. I neglected most of high school social life to be involved with church. I grew up in church. I was raised in church. And occasionally, I would get excited about church. But looking back, I never truly got excited about God.

Revivals? They were OK, I guess (even though I dreaded going to church every single night.) And youth retreats, and summer camps, and Church of God 'Shabach's and 'Winterfests' were a fun way to get away for a few days and get loud. But even the most energetic of those services...wouldn't compare to Elevation. I mean seriously. Does your church start yelling, and clapping, and jumping up and down...BEFORE THE SERVICE EVEN STARTS? SERIOUSLY?! Elevators are FREAKS.

I don't know if I've ever told anybody about this or not...but for a major part of my 'church life,' I questioned God's existence and wondered why I was wasting so much of my time in a fairy tale. Eventually, I just quit caring at all. I visited other churches, to no avail. I began to think that it wasn't me...it was God (who wasn't real after all) and church was just a nonprofit organization to take people's money.

And then I moved to Charlotte...and on my first Sunday in town, I decided to visit this little church I had been hearing about (Thank you Tim O. and thank you Michael W.) and my world...my heart...my mind...my soul...was changed.

A few months later, at Cricket Arena, my pastor made a statement that still rings in my heart. "What a life time of religion could never do, God did in a moment." What 21 years of 'church' could never do, God did in an 80 minute church service.

Tonight, at McGlohon theater, I realized just how lucky I was and I couldn't help but cry and get excited all at the same time. What God is doing in Charlotte through Elevation is just freakish. 1044 baptisms in two weeks.

Elevation barely broke 1,000 in attendance after it's first YEAR. And we had 1044 public, spontaneous, unannounced, and unplanned professions of faith in two weeks.

If you have a regular church you attend, great. You still need to visit just one Sunday to let God flat out blow your mind.

If you haven't been to church in a while, or you're looking for something "different," come and see.

John 4:29

Come see a man who turned my world upside down. Come see a man who makes an educated, lifelong church going, unbeliever believe. Come see a man that does impossible things in impossible ways and be amazed.

What does your email say?

2008-08-13T10:13:14Z

As a summer student at UNC Charlotte, we get the benefit of checking in early to our fall assignment if we lived on campus during the summer. A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail detailing our check out information. Here's an excerpt with all the pertinent information:

INSTRUCTIONS ON FALL HOUSING CHECK-IN

You will be able to pick up your key to your Fall housing assignment on Wednesday, August 13 from 6:00pm - 9pm at your assigned residence hall. You will be given door access immediately and will be able to move into your Fall 2008 assignment at that time. Please make sure that you bring some form of photo identification with you in order for us to process your check-in.

INSTRUCTIONS ON SUMMER HOUSING CHECK-OUT

Please note that you must be moved and checked out of your current summer space no later than 9:00pm on Wednesday, August 13. Remove belongings and all trash from the apartment before you leave.

What makes this so ridiculous is that we have only three hours to get our stuff moved. After the Spring semester, we had an entire WEEKEND to move our stuff to summer housing. Essentially, my moving time has been reduced from 72 hours to THREE hours. So….I called the housing office at UNCC to verify the check-in information for summer students that will be living on campus this fall. The response I received, in a very sweet, sarcastic tone:

"Well what does your e-mail say?"

A hundred different expletives raced through my mind…some I've never heard of before…but I assure you…they were expletives. I'm thrilled (really thrilled) to know that I attend what's supposed to be the fastest growing university in North Carolina and they pay their staff to be sharp mouthed A-holes.

News and new stuff

2008-08-10T22:47:49Z

Summer classes go by so fast, which is a two-edged sword. On one side, it's a relief that they go quick. On the other, it's a pain when you're studying topics like 'data structures' in Computer Science and studying computer networks in depth (please see "suicide"). My first final exam is tomorrow at 8:00AM. And then at 12…dundundun…I start a new job.

I know you're thinking "Another job? Already?" Settle down. I began talks with my previous supervisor about transitioning over to more an IT position because I need to start focusing on my career and building a resume that has more to it than just sales. All of my education points towards "Computers" and all of my work experience points towards "Sales / Retail." Due to the large size (and bureaucratic nature) of my previous employer, that transition was moving very slowly, if at all. I decided to put my résumé online to see what kind of responses I would get. After a week, I got a phone call that reflected my goals. The person on the other end of the line had a strong interest in me but they weren't originally planning on bringing any one in until October. An interview got worked in…and I got a job offer!

I'll be doing a little bit of everything…general IT support and help-desk type stuff, general office support, designing email newsletters for the company's clientele, etc. Eventually, I'll be helping the company convert its legacy VB6 code to VB .NET and help with new software projects! I'll also be required to get a passport because I'll be making trips to Canada to meet with one of the companies partners! This job is going to be what gets me through the rest of my collegiate career. And who knows? Maybe I'll have a full-time position waiting for me when I'm finished with school!

Fantasy Football:

I have 6 positions left in the league. If you want to play, send an email to radthad [AT] gmail [DOT] com and I'll send you an invite.

It’s that time again!

2008-08-07T21:15:59Z

FANTASY FOOTBALL!

I created a custom team on Yahoo. If you want to play, send me an email: radthad {AT} gmail {DOT} com with your email address, and I'll send an invite and password for you to join.

Because the IEEE says so part deuce

2008-07-30T16:25:24Z

I got FULL credit for my answer! Wooo.

Because the IEEE says so

2008-07-26T11:03:29Z

One of the questions on my ITCS 3166 (Computer Networks) exam was something like:

What type of network uses 8B/10B encoding and why?

My answer: Gigabit Ethernet uses 8B/10B encoding because the IEEE says so.

Technically…that's A correct answer…but not THE correct answer (even though it is pretty funny).

Friday evening couldn't get here fast enough. I rode up to Boone, NC with my girlfriend to see her brother's apartment. We went out with Shane and his fiancée, Amy, to see Step Brothers last night. It's a hilarious (but foul) movie. Most of Will Ferrell's movies aren't that bad, language wise, but Step Brother's really stepped it up in the potty mouth department. That being said…it's probably one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. You should go check it out. It's sure to make for some clean, quality, family fun.

You’re known by the company you keep

2008-07-24T21:53:01Z

It's pretty sad…but the guy in the tank top is one of my bro's :/

Tortilla Soup

2008-07-23T22:29:40Z

…is great. Especially this kind….but dang. And that's all that I really need to say about it. Ugh.

In other news…Dark Knight was amazing.

Batman and tighty-whities

2008-07-17T17:17:22Z

Dark Knight opens this weekend and I'm going with some friends Friday night to see it. I think I might even sport some Batman tighty-whities like I used to wear when I was kid.

He's Here!!!

2008-07-13T21:44:34Z

Our baby Godson, Ross, was finally born on Saturday July 12, 2008 at 6:04PM. It's been a long wait (and it seems like a longer weekend) but he's finally here! Check out some of the photos at photos.radthad.com