Friday, February 20, 2009

Welcome to America...

Okay so my little rant this week is about people coming to this great nation of ours and not knowing, well a lot! I am not saying we should lock them all out and keep them from coming here, especially since almost all of us are decedents of immigrants. I just think that they should have a firm prior experience with the English language. Trying to communicate with someone who has had little formal English education is extremely difficult.

I am mostly speaking from an educational point of view, meaning that they are coming here for to get an education and live for an extended amount of time. My roommate claims that he took English classes before coming here, he may have but they were not effective. Having communicated and had friends from around the world through foreign exchange student programs I have noticed that students from Europe almost perfect English and adapt to not only traditional English but our slang terms as well. Then there are people from Asia and the Mid-East, who have obviously had a less then stellar English education.

As I previously stated I don't mind that they come here just that communicating with them is very difficult. Several times I have tried to communicate simple things like "light switch" with my roommate and he had no clue (he actually started looking under his bed, I tried not to laugh). Then the other night I was already in bed and my phone needed to be charged so I asked him to hand me(he was still awake) the cord for it which was laying on the floor. He had absolutely no clue, so he handed me my hat that was laying by it. So I tried saying cable, that didn't work either. I eventually said black long thing and he handed it to me saying, "Oh you mean link". I tried not to be a jerk, so I kindly said "In America it's a cable or cord." He looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about. I don't mean to say that I am not adapting to help him learn, because I am. I just don't think that me calling everything by how he learned them will help him when 99% of Americans will never call that object that in their lives, myself included its just how we are. So now I am not going to baby him I have decided to be as blunt and nice as possible because it is the only real way to learn at this point in the game.

Okay enough of that rant. Classes are going pretty well. The first round of tests are over now and professors can start reporting midterm grades tomorrow. The only class I am struggling with is English, I like to write just not in "academic format". That's about all I have for this week. I am interested in knowing what you guys think of my writing, and maybe suggestions for future posts. I am also on twitter follow me at twitter.com/jbgcook if you follow me you can see what I am thinking and doing everyday! Very stalkerish! Haha anyway I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend. GO STATE!!! GOD BLESS!!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

What goes up...

Must come down. Okay I am sorry but that is all that I could come up with. I feel bad for writing that after the event in Buffalo last night. I found out about the crash via twitter at around 11:20, I turned on CNN and saw their coverage, they mentioned that it was snowing at the time so I pulled up a website that I like liveatc.net and someone had already posted a recording from buffalo tower around the time that the flight went down. On the recording you hear the pilots (specifically the first officer since it's a commercial flight) contact the tower like normal. The controller then gives them new vectors, and they don't respond. After several call outs you can tell by the tone in the controllers voice he is fearing the worst and opening up that binder with emergency procedures. He then asks other flights in the area if they could see the aircraft, none could due to their position in the air and reduced visibility with the snow. According to the controller he went down around the marker (it's an aviation term referring to something that pilots use to navigate). He then asked other flights about the icing conditions in the area, all flights reported icing mostly on the descent.

Although the exact cause will not be determined for some time, my guess would be icing with a possible engine problem. The biggest mystery at this time is that the flight crew never called out any mayday or notified the tower of any icing or problems at all, they just crashed. Thee FAA and NTSB were able to recover the flight recorders this morning and were going to start working on them this afternoon.

Being an aviation geek I have never been afraid of flying. Everyone always hears that it's safer then driving to the grocery store, it is though. There are thousands of flights every single day just in the United States, not many crash at all and even less have fatal endings. Commercial pilots are required to go to "school" every nine to twelve months to go over emergency procedures and practice them in the simulator. These tests go over everything from engine failure on takeoff to no thrust landings. If they don't pass they don't fly. Pilots are also required to go through a through physical every six months (or something close to that). Overall the next time you step on that plane you can feel at ease these are not just some people that were taught how to push buttons and manage an autopilot system, they are trained professionals that take great pride in transporting you and your family while give you a taste of what they love, flying.

There are several things that I love about flying. I love being up there, the view of everything form above is amazing! I have never been on a commercial flight but have been on several private planes. My uncle owns a Beechcraft Bonanza V-tail, I love it! I also enjoy the challenge of flying, landing is simply a controlled collision with the earth. I hope to one day get my pilots license and own my own plane, we will see on that. Here are some good aviation jokes, you may need some knowledge aviation knowledge to get some of these. http://www.retzer-land.co.at/flyamphibs/pg-fun.htm

The Iowa legislature is considering a new law that would completely ban the use of cell phones while driving. I believe that a complete plan is stupid, a better option would be a hands free only law. I am one of those people that finds it easier to text while driving then eat, and it is easier. My parents of course greatly frown upon this, ooppss. If we ban cell phone use while driving we better ban eating, listening to the radio, using a GPS, looking at scenery and talking to others in the vehicle as well. I find those things no less distracting then talking on a cell phone.

Guess what!?!?!?!? MY CYCLONES WON!!! Okay so the men finally won, I don't care if it was against Colorado and we lost to them (somehow) already. I was in the pep band for that game and I am starting a petition that I need to play more so we will win, I have gotten a few more games. The women's basketball team has won two big games, and barely lost to #2 Oklahoma earlier this week. On Sunday they host #14 Texas at Hilton for the Pink out game. The team will be wearing special Pink uniforms and shoes, I imagine they will later be auctioned off in the auction section of cyclones.com

I had two tests today, one next week in meteorology. I am going home this weekend as well to see some people. I hope everyone has a fantastic valentines day weekend! I will try and update next week. GO STATE!!! GOD BLESS!!!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

So many things...

So little time. Sorry it has been awhile since I have posted, school has kept me very busy. Tonight I am playing in the pep band for the men's game against Colorado, then I have a Kappa Kappa Psi meeting. Tomorrow is filled with two classes and studying for two tests on Friday. I hope to have a real update posted this weekend, hopefully from home. Sadly though due to the weather I may not make it due to the predicted snow, however I did drive home for Christmas with near blizzard conditions at times so who knows. Feel free to follow or just stalk me on twitter at twitter.com/jbgcook I am always posting stuff on there. That's all I have for now. Have a great end to the week and I will talk to you on Saturday! GO STATE!!! GOD BLESS!!!