Evaluate your T.V. viewing/internet/phone/video game use. How much time do you spend in these activities and what is the effect on your life?

T.V. viewing?  Oh, yes!  I see these quaint anchors for armchair attendants, magnets for munching manikins, and even tube-timers--99% of households have 1 television.  Whereas 78% of America’s population is exposed to, or has access to, the Internet—moot point.  Then there is the combination between fixed phones and cell phones, with a whopping 103% demographic in favor of mobile units.  Another moot point.  With more women playing video games, at nearly 40%, the average in 2011 is 67% of households play video games, with the greatest concentration between the ages of 18 and 49, with males spending the most time in a given week—8 hours!  To be fair to those of us that do not watch an anchor, nor have a cellphone stuck in our ears for hours on end, choose to defer to video games connected to the internet.  Yes, I am a video gamer and find this vice relaxing and distraction from life—.  Personally, catching a rerun from a day long past, such as Perry Mason, or Get Smart, or even Hogan’s Heroes, is a novelty, rarity, and justifiable opportunity.  Unlike the National average that reflects a growing coach-potato mentality, the time investment on my part is negligible, perhaps less than 1% of a 168-hour week.  My statistics for my phone are not even on the radar—1% of 1% of my tube visits.  As for gaming, my usage is fairly close to the National average, though not epidemic, nonetheless so purported to clinch this topic’s focus.  Yet, society is engaged in another ideological battle over electronics, and how it is robbing us of our time, while the other camp debates the net benefits, be it relaxing and decompressing. Oh, we will avoid the evil word—entertainment.  To be categorized with an industry heavy into robbing the public of their time in exchange for dollars, shame on us for investing our time in pixel-propriety.  And, I would counter that bowling, football, golfing, hunting, shooting pool, or any number of other entertainment venues could be thrown out there for scrutiny.  Oh, I realize this topic asked a very generic question.  Sure, let us reflect on our time allotments, until someone takes issue, gasps, and takes us to task.  It’s all good, with the question and answer is just me reading it.  It’s entirely a different animal when we put it out there for the public to see.  And I revel in my vice, and stand out among critics, the outspoken, and soapbox antagonists, ready to prance, stomp, and cling to my Internet Video Gaming.  Get back!  I can’t see my game.  Is there anything else??? Nope?  Okay.  Do you mind?  I’m trying to level up here—scat!

TIME TO PLAY!

Did high school, your previous education or work experience prepare you for college?

Whether my dismal grades in high school, or my academic excellence in the army, that positively affected my college success, either in whole or in part, is a matter of speculation—at best.  Early on, right out of high school, I purposed to avoid any higher education, mostly due to my special educational experience growing up.  As for the military, I excelled in Advanced Individual Training, not because I had too, but because I enjoyed what I was doing.  Many years later, and with a family to support, I would gravitate to necessity to find a balance in trucking to maintain a budget.  It would be a stretch of my imagination to find roots, in either experience, which echoes a hint of recognition to which college success is a kin.  No, I would have to point out that the recession was the great equalizer, removing my options and giving way to desperation.  Moreover, being a homeless full-time student is much more attractive than being homeless and unemployed.  Necessity is a powerful motivator, that without alternatives, pragmatic that I am, college offers a viable solution, albeit a gamble for the future, with some normality of financial stability, it is not hard to see why I, and many others, pursue a higher education.  For me, the choices were far and few between, and with the recession far from over, retooling for the future seemed a necessary and plausible path to undergo.  However, I would point out that I have found that my own advice to my children has made life as a student bearable, even enjoyable in classes that I otherwise would have never guessed I would take.  That advice is to have fun, laugh, and enjoy the experience.  In this way, the learning curve is not so steep, and the challenges not so difficult, and the rewards are that much more sweeter.  Admittedly, my experience in the army could be the catalyst for this mindset, wherein my efforts to be the best technician, were undoubtedly connected with my sense of adventure.  And so this adventure in the wonderful world of higher education is my journey, the path of choice, so I had better enjoy the trip for as long as I can.  In the not so distant future, academia will open up doors, through which I will either sprout wings and soar—or flop, relegated to being homeless and unemployed.

Defend, refute, or qualify: pirating music is morally and ethically wrong.

To qualify an opinion regarding this topic, whether pirating music is morally and ethically wrong, it would be prudent to see how the majority, that being society as a whole, has enacted rules of law to protect digital media.  The simple answer is that music published with copyrights is governed by the owner, or in this case, the artist.  While society stands on the rule of law, it is interesting to see the very constituents violating this law and crying fowl.  And pirating is rampant across the board, from kids to the elderly, irregardless of race, status, or circumstance, pirating music is a growing industry.  Here's the rub for the artist, where traditional stamps (records), or now CDs and DVDs, are produced for distribution.  There are costs involved, passed on to the consumer, that impact the artists investments for these products.  However, the traditional delivery of the media is fragmenting, where vinyl was replaced by cassettes, and now CDs/DVDs, there is still a cost involved.  And when these units do not sell, it is considered sunken costs, money lost and irreplaceable by the artist.  So when someone takes a purchased copy and produces copies for personal use, that is one thing.  However, reselling a copy of an original takes away from one of the produced units.  That is theft.  Imagine for the moment you walk into a music store, pop in a CD and make a digital copy, then put the CD back.  Is that legal?  Would the store owner allow it?  Would the artist condone it?  Obviously, the answer is no.   Thus, digital piracy is also morally and ethically wrong.

What should America’s role be in the world?

Can you say, hot topic? There are many that cling to the ideology of our forefathers that continental independence is as much about the right to speech, as it is to bear arms, and everything that falls between these two.  As America evolved, however, either out of necessity and/or design, we are allied to nations that are also in a struggle for their own independence, and lays the foundation in which provides a means to and end.  In this regard, others cling to America as being a global custodian, per say, that is underpaid and overworked, and the last to be thanked for cleaning up other conflicts.  Yet both camps depend on resources that neither can do without, nor would be willing to entertain, such that America as a whole depends on oil imports.  The bottom line is driven by our own sense of security wherein oil is a national resource, one that this nation would grind to a halt without it.  So, while both debate this issue into the next Presidential debate, both are keenly aware that our role abroad is to maintain, secure, and even defend this resource.

How is "On Dumpster Diving" a definition essay? Do you agree with Eighner's conclusion about consumerism and societies obsession with obtaining things?

The author uses many instances, examples, and comparisons to create an understanding, albeit Lars' understanding of a definition "On Dumpster Diving."  However, Lars' text speaks more to me about the survivalist guide for the homeless, or even how to safely salvage dumpster refuge.  Even so, I noticed that Lars' makes the statement, "Something like this drives the obsession to collect junk", this statement refers to the authors own distaste for wasted food thrown away.  And though I would agree with the question of whether I agree, I do.  However, indirectly stated, Lars' piece doesn't strike me as a conclusion, as much as an personal position that justifies dumpster diving.  Of course, I'm reading between the lines here, but this entire piece screams, "So What? I'm a scavenger.  Leave me alone!"    Or, "I'm too proud to visit a church, or eat at a soup-line."  Here again, my rhetoric is self-serving, probably only appreciated by a fellow vagabond that has walked this walk, not for one year, but for many years.  Even now, though I eat little during the day, scavenging for food is a luxury, not a necessity--not yet.  With the mission serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, their is no shortage of safe, clean, and free food.  Beyond this, their are churches, a diner, and activities that cater to the homeless.  Even so, I still find myself peeking into a trashcan, or food receptacle looking for that freshly discarded appetizer between meals. 

Have you ever found anything valuable in the trash, or do you currently have something that others would think is junk?

One warm morning, while driving my tractor-trailer, I pulled up into the service driveway of OfficeMax.  Turning the corner I noticed the doors to the refuge area ajar.  Slowing to maneuver around the dumpster area, I noticed a software package strewn around other miscellaneous papers.  It was enough to peak my interest for a look, after the trailer I was pulling was backed up to the dock.  Pulling the air brakes, exiting the cab of my truck, I strolled over to the litter about the base of the dumpster.  Sure enough, there on the ground was a sealed, though roughly scoffed, box for a game.  I don't remember the title and vaguely remember if it was a sports title or adventure game.  I picked it up and thought I should survey the dumpster for other titles.  Climbing up and looking in, nothing.  It was empty.  Obviously, the remnants of a dump that missed the dump trucks intake, and were less than a passing thought for the operator to even consider picking up.  My social duty complete, that game made its way to my home, where my kids enjoyed playing.

Based on David Sedaris's, "Me Talk Pretty One Day," write about a time when have you been in a situation that was new and frightening because you felt alone, new, or did not understand the rules.

In early 2009, with the economy a shambles and being out of work, I found myself doing what unemployed fathers do when their wives are working.  At first, her part-time job gave her (and us) discretionary funds towards our meager budget.  This was a time of doing with less, even without, a condition that we had endured years ago as newlyweds, here we were again pinching pennies, sometimes only enough to rub two nickles together.  At times, the fear of having nothing to put on the table, pay the bills, or have the resemblance of stability was scary.  For a family of means not a year ago, being humble and asking for help was hard.  There were times we had nothing to eat and taking the family to a church to eat was a bitter chore when my wife refused to be seen as needy.  The complexity of life, work, and budget (or lack of) created an environment that built resentments, stuffing of opinions, and ultimately the collapse of our marriage.  In 2010, my wife left me, taking all I had and asking for child support, despite the kids being over 18 and younger than 21.  To add to this my unemployment ended, and I was essentially both homeless and destitute.  The reality of being divorced, homeless, and no prospects towards work, the strife created a vacumn in which I learned to horde everything, share nothing, and accept poverty as a new normality.  Along this path, I learned to accept my situation, do my best with what I had, and the anxiety eventually lessened.  Even today, creature comforts and luxury items have very little value to me.  Being alone in these circumstances were scary.   Only after living among others in similar circumstances, did I begin to feel less alone, nonetheless.  Two years later, I have manged to adapt to the condition known as being 'homeless', and have learned not to fear labels.  With this experience, I learned the rules of being a vagabond, and though I don't see myself as one, nonetheless.