Author: Serg

Personal Response to Romeo and Juliet

After first hearing about Romeo and Juliet in Grade 6, I was always curious about its meaning and intent. This year, I finally had the chance to watch the play, and it left a strong and tragic impression on me. More than just a love story, it made me wonder about several aspects of the characters as well as their surroundings. One of the first things that shocked me was how young Juliet was! She is only 14 years old and already expected to marry. It was strange to think that this was considered normal at the time. Despite understanding that times were different back then, it is still wild to see the little control Juliet actually had over her own life. As the story progressed, another moment stood out to me, the fight between Romeo and Tybalt. When Mercutio was killed, Romeo’s grief quickly turned into rage, but even then, there was hesitation. He didn’t want to kill Tybalt, especially since they had just become relatives through his secret marriage to Juliet. However, in his emotional confusion, he acted without thinking, and Tybalt’s death was inevitable. This was frustrating for me because, at first, Tybalt was portrayed as an aggressive character, almost a villain. Could Tybalt and Romeo have eventually become allies or even friends if there had been no bloodshed?

This moment led me to several questions: What would have happened to Tybalt if he had killed more than one person? Would he have been arrested, tortured, or executed? And what about Mercutio—if he had lived long enough to find out about Romeo’s marriage to Juliet, how would he have reacted? Would he have felt betrayed by his closest friend for falling in love with the enemy, or would he have supported him? Overall, Romeo and Juliet left me with more than just emotions; it made me think about the characters’ choices and how different things could have been if they had made even one different decision. The  tragedy of the story lies not just in the love between Romeo and Juliet but also in the way fate and impulsive actions sealed their doom.

PW#7 – Boot Polishing – The End? Or a Beginning of a New Challenge? (Polish Vlog P.3)

Welcome back to the Polish-Vlog 😁! A lot of stuff happened since the last blog, so I suggest you read through the last posts to ensure you know what is the main issue, my goal, and how I plan to solve it. I bet those of you who kept track of my Polish-Vlog are probably eager to hear whether or not my idea has worked or not; The thing is, I have both good and bad news about this situation. If we consider the fact of using the method introduced earlier (polishing in areas where there is no high stress, and in places where there is that I should reduce the amount of layers to preserve the shine), it was a great idea, at least it seemed like it. You see, the thing is that my cadet boots are kind of like Poodles – yes, the dog – because they, like their counterpart prefer to be treated in a very high standard, and not everything you introduce to them is always in their liking; the same thing can be said about my boots; any polish that was put on to high stress parts (no matter the amount) was always, and I mean always cracking. This was annoying as I thought I have already relieved the issue, but apparently not. This is very annoying, as it leaves my boot diverse in colour, texture, and smoothness, which is very, and I mean VERY visible from a 3rd person’s perspective. But, I do have some good news, too. For starters, the boots are coming along pretty well (aside from the struggles mentioned earlier) and I can start to see the growth in the depth of colour with every additional layer (what I mean by that is the more polish is put on to a boot, the denser the coat and it absorbs more light). Another good news is that the boot is getting close to competing with people that have the same generation (version) of boots as me; this is especially good for competition, however, I am still yet to get to that level of boot polishing on these boots. 

So, what are my solutions to the problems faced? I have a plan, however I am afraid to experiment in case I have to take off the polish again. Top keep intrigue and interest to my posts I will make sure to let you all know of my method/ new Idea. Once again, any questions, comments, or concerns can be left below; Stay safe, and see you in the next one!

IRJE #6: Down and Out in Paris and London

Throughout the book “Down and Out in Paris and London”, written by George Orwell, we are continuously reminded of the poor working and living Conditions in Europe at the time. Since this Book focuses on his own experience throughout the Great Depression, we get a first hand understanding of the miserable lives these people were living in. To get a better understanding, we don’t have to go very far and look extensively; it is all right there, early on in the book: in particular the events of chapter 2 and the end of it especially;

“And so, just for one instant, I captured the supreme happiness, the highest and most refined emotion to which human beings can attain. And in that same moment it was finished, and I was left – to what? All my savagery, my passion, were scattered like the petals of a rose. I was left…it was dark and bitterly cold… All my money was gone, I had not even the price of a taxi fare. I walked back alone to my cold, solitary room.” (p.11)

This is a quote that leaves you speechless, as you realised Orwell has spent all of his money (on a bad deed), but his desperate description of the events did make his story kind of tragic. Having no money was bad, especially in Paris – you know, only the Capital of France (with very expensive stuff) – so to hear him have this realisation of losing almost everything was a pretty shocking thing to read. I think we can all learn from this guy, and the best thing to do – is not to let our emotions get over our rational thinking, which will save you trouble in the long run.

PW#6 – Did It Finally Work?! (Polish Vlog P.3)

I am sure that those of you who are actually interested in my goal – or at least somewhat follow what I am up to – you are probably interested if my hypothesis and solutions were right and could actually solve my issues. but first, let me share with you the recent events that transcribed so that you can understand the full picture; Ever since the start of this Year, I wanted to get my boots up and looking as shiny as they were before; the only setback being the boot polish cracking. My best guess as to what was happening was that I was applying the boot polish in areas of high mechanical intensity – in other terms, those parts were under constant movement – meaning the polish, when it dries up, gets exhausted and eventually falls off. Among the world of Boot Polishers this event is called “Polish Flaking”. This believed to be true, however, the problem was not only in figuring out the issue, it was also in solving it. As the cadet boots I have are mismatched, my left boot is super shiny (as it does not have that much intensity zones) whereas my right has tons of areas with these spots. My solution was to only polish the “toe” of the boot (the part where it is hard and stays stationary) as well as the sides of the boots. This, however, made the boot look uneven and ugly compared to the other. This is where my next phase comes in to plan: I planted a small layer of polish of the areas which have high intensity – which minimizes the visibility of the peeled shoe polish, as well as creating a slight shine which under certain angles can look similar to the one on my other boot. The “toe” of the boot also got several layers of polish, and with the addition of Sapphire Polish (top tier Polish: Very expensive) which my friend gave to me as a present I got to a pretty good shine, however there is still a lot of stuff that needs to be done to create the shine I once had. If you have any questions on how to polish your boots make sure to leave a comment and I will reply with a solution to your problem. That’s it for this time, and my progress will be posted here soon, see you all in the next Polish Vlog😊!

IRJE #5: Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Salman Rushdie)

In Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a quote I have personally found interesting is:

“To give a thing a name, a label, a handle; to rescue it from anonymity, to pluck it out of the Place of Namelessness, in short to identify it—well, that’s a way of bringing the said thing into being.” (p.63)

This quote shows us the power of naming, as well as how the language shapes reality as we know it. By giving things names we can truly understand them, as it gives existence to concepts ato the objects and places we name. In the book, naming is a big part of the plot as it highlights the significance of language and how it affects our perception of the world. 

PW#5 – Boot Polishing – Another Idea? (Polish Vlog P.2)

As you may (or may not) remember from my last pw post, I had trouble with polishing my boots; This was because I intended to use polish in spots of the boot that were always under physical stress (bending) and this is why it quickly cracked and fell off (a process known as Flaking polish). I have been stuck with this problem for a long time, as my other boot was all polished up and shiny in the areas where the other boot’s polish just fell off. Last week, however, everything changed, when I looked t one of my senior’s boots and got an idea. The solution to my problem was so obvious I even laughed at myself for not coming up with it sooner; It turns out that if the polish doesn’t stick there, I shouldn’t force it to! simple as that! This meant I could remove the polish from those areas and focus on the areas which are more prone to be seen (the front of the boot, heels). I am currently in the process of building up more polish layers to catch up to my other boot, and after that I may start to build up the layers more and more to make an even shinier surface on the both of them. This is not the end of the Boot Polish Series, so, if you are interested in how to polish your boots you may always use my previous PW posts as a guide and if you have any questions please comment down below, I will answer them in the next blog post.

Personal Response- “Brave New World”

In the book “Brave New World” (by Aldous Huxley), we are introduced to a concept/theoretical future society, which brings up many questions and feelings along the way, for example, the feeling of unease, especially towards the end of the book. I have personally got this feeling because at the end of the book the “Savage” breaks the laws of this society; Everybody lives without knowing what pain, reality, or freedom is (at least not in its full extent) and when the news spread to London about the Savage I was even afraid that he was going to be captured, held in some sort of institution and forcefully treated so that he would forget about his wills (drugged). Along with the feeling of unease came the feeling of empathy, as the people didn’t understand the full concept of reality, they came to his house on the hill, bothering him, and leading him to commit suicide in his home; that last part especially gave me chills as not only was I not expecting him to commit suicide, but I thought he was going to move to another place, so seeing him do that to himself was rather disturbing. Going back to the beginning of the book, I was disgusted at society’s standards, but also I was pretty interested in the structure of the aforementioned society and how it worked on the inside. To avoid a society like this I believe it is right for us to balance our life between controlled and democratic governments; this means that while the people have power and may always vote out/ kick out the Leaders who become to controlling, and make sure that the government always supports their ideas, but it is also important for us to understand that the labour that the lower classes did may be done by robots, meaning we may have a good society – with all of the freedom and will – while being modern and efficient. Moving forward, I have personally had a couple of questions circle my mind throughout this book, for example; Why are all of the main characters named with russian names or names that correlate to russian people? (for example: Lenina, Bernard Marx), how did society become like this? Why was the use of drugs condoned and perhaps even encouraged by the government? This book turned out to be a roller coaster of feelings for me as I believe it not only proposes insane ideas, however it also plays out a whole melo-drama at the end which was sad to read about. I want to say that although the book had some disgusting moments its overall motive was understood by me and it makes sense on how it is relevant to us today; that is just one example of a modern world, and who knows if the future will be worse.

IRJE#4: The Overstory

In the Book “The Overstory”, written by Richard Powers, we are constantly reminded of the importance of wildlife and how humanity is dependent on it. In the case of this book, the attention centres around the trees, and we get clear evidence of this from the first pages of the book. This following quote is something that left me outright speechless, as it not only indicates that we are the guests here, but that the trees are the main inhabitants, whom have been supressed and used by humans ever since we inhabited Earth. Additionally, this is a very important quote because we get to see the true impact we have caused the trees once we think about context; For example, the Industrial Evolution is one of the main human creations which supressed trees; not only did we use wood to create power, we also produced (and still produce) loads of Carbon Dioxide, which, combined with us cutting down massive forest territories, creates a toxic environment for us and the trees, who are struggling to convert that harmful gas into Oxygen once more (keep in mind that is just one example);

“This is not our world with trees in it. It’s a world of trees, where humans have just arrived.”

(P. 4)

Now, as I said previously, this quote describes the perspective of the wildlife on Earth; We, although being here for a long time are not the original settlers, but rather we use and tend to overuse the resources provided to us. This quote describes how we are dependent on the wildlife around us in particular the forests. This is relatable in the modern world as we need to learn to respect not only our wildlife, but also the ancient forests.

PW#4: My Winter Vacation

Going into the now passed Winter Break, I was ready to dive head first into the relaxation and quality family time I don’t usually get during normal school weeks. This Winter Break was a little different however: As you can already tell, I usually don’t do anything special for any holidays, which means that any event which is normal to others is more valuable to me; Now this is not because we’re poor or anything, however it is due to the fact that our family has very few times where everyone in the family is free to go somewhere for a day. So, I thought that I would be able to just do normal at home relaxations. I was, however, proven wrong; Unlike many people my age I was pretty active this winter holiday; I always took care of the dog and her necessities, cleaned the house on a frequent basis, got an upgrade to my computer (more than 15 times performance boost from one upgrade) and also, unexpectedly, went on a trip. Since I don’t have enough time nor the will to write about my whole winter break, lets focus on the last 2. Let’s begin with the Winter Trip; On December 30th, my mom and dad called us into a discussion at the family table – right off the bat you either know you are screwed or its a good news – and they told us about their plans of going to Cyprus Mountain on the 2rd of January of  this current Year. To say I was surprised means to say nothing, as not only a trip in general was a rarity, however, I haven’t been to Cyprus in 8 years. Fast forward to January 2nd, my family and I awoke – at 4:40 mind you – and began the road trip towards the Ferry Terminal (took us around 2 ish hours to wait and get on the fairy. By now it was 7ish, and my sisters and I decided to step out and walk around (it was really cramped in the back of the car with 3 people). We wandered around for what seemed like one of the longest hours of my life until we finally heard the “you have arrived” speech from the captain. Rushing back, we buckled up and continued our journey up until downtown Vancouver: There we stopped, and got ourselves some snacks from Starbucks before continuing our journey towards the mountain. The service was terrible, so make sure you have a good service provider if you plan to go to any high elevation/distant region such as Cyprus Mountain. When we got there, however, we were pretty disappointed to find out we couldn’t even ride our sleighs there as everything required the lift pass (stacks fast when you have a family of 5). Despite our disappointment, we found another mountain around an hour away – can’t recall its name – and we went there instead. There we were greeted with nice views, less people, and most importantly, no need for a lift pass. And so we spent our day there; riding our sleds and walking around. At around 5 ish we headed back, grabbing some A&W as well as some more Starbucks before our 4 hour journey home. at 10:28, we were home.

In regards to the magical component of my pc, it is important to note that prior to this upgrade I was using a 2.5 Inch 256 GB SSD, with a max transfer rate of 250 mb/s (for write) and 230 mb/s (for read) speeds. for a long time I have wanted to not only upgrade from that to a faster disk, but also to have more storage in my PC. this is where the M.2 NVMe SSD comes in place; this is a basic 256 GB SSD, which cost me 20 bucks used from Facebook marketplace. This ssd (solid state drive) is a disk drive which plugs directly into your motherboard (NOTE: before rushing to get this technology: Make sure your motherboard has a slot for this device!! Not all motherboards support this form of data transfer, so look for a sideways port with a screw nearby – the port on the motherboard should have 2 lines (one long one short), and if it has 3, tough luck, as this means your motherboard only supports a SATA and not a nvme ssd (nvme uses the same technology as the Graphics card in your pc meaning its ultra fast and usually beats the sata ssd ) and after you determine the slot (it may also be done by googling your motherboard ports) you need to check the generation of the port (this will help you decide the right ssd for you).and since it uses the same   After you figure out the generation of the port, make sure to get a ssd of that generation or lower (unless your motherboard only supports up to gen 2 speeds). After you insert it, make sure the disk shows up in disk manager before getting ready to clone it. Next, clone device (may be done through the terminal or Balena Etcher (Balena is what I used since it’s easier), and after you clone your drive, you may then wipe the old one, restart the computer, go into bios (making sure your new disk is the boot disk (or has boot “priority”). I would recommend leaving the other (old) disk as additional storage in your PC. Press F10 (or save and exit setup in bios, and boot back into windows; open Disk Management (on windows) or Disks (on Linux Mint), and format the disk into NTFS (for windows) or ext4 (for Linux). Boom! You are now set! To double check that the disk you installed is now your main drive open up Task Manager (on Windows) and after clicking on the performance tab click on your new disk and make sure its called “C” (or disk 1) and on the bottom right it should say System Disk.. You may now Copy all of your old files and put them onto your old drive. Bonus Tip: If the old drive doesn’t show up at all after format go into Device Manager (On Windows), click “ATA/ ATAPI Controllers and right click each one and disabling them. Reboot/restart and your old disk is visible and may be used now!  This is how I spent my Winter holidays, where I not only got double the storage in my pc for 15x the performance boost, but also got to spend time with my family.

IRJE #3 – Kitchen

In the book called “Kitchen”, we are Introduced to a young lady named Mikage Sakurai, who, after the loss of all her relatives, may not afford to live at the family house, and so her days there are numbered. Fortunately for her, she meets a young man, Yuichi Tanabe, with whom she bonds pretty quickly over her families tragedy. Her Grandmother has an unfortunate passing, and since it was her last relative, she was really sad, however, when she looked at Yuichi, she started to to think herself that her love for her grandmother was nothing compared to his;

…his eyes were swollen, from crying. When he saw my grandmother’s picture on the altar, again his tears fell like rain. My first thought when I saw that was that my love for my own grandmother was nothing compared to this boy’s, whoever he was, he looked sad. (p.7)

Overall, this mutual trauma helped bond these two characters together. Yuichi later invited her to stay at his house for as long as she likes, even proposing for her to move in with him and his mom. This excerpt perfectly outlines the kind and passionate character of Yuichi Tanabe.

PW#3 – My Constantly Cracking Boots! (Polish Vlog P.1)

As you all know, I am a Sea Cadet, and keeping uniform up to it’s best standards is one of the major responsibilities, especially when you are a senior like me. The boots I have are from the late 1950s; this means that there is organic leather which makes the boot easier to shine than it’s new counterparts. This leather allowed me to polish the boots up super fast and make them ready for cadet nights in 1 to 2 and a half hours. However, I was faced with a constant problem; the polish would flake, creating uneven surfaces on the boot, also known as boot cancer. To fix this, there are two routes; you may either strip the boot (take off the layers) which will take you a long time to rebuild the layers, or polish over and smooth out the surfaces. From my 6+ years of experience in Cadets, it is best to strip the boots and to build them up from the ground again. This however, didn’t help the issue, and the polish kept on flaking and falling off. I decided to try the other method out as well, where I build polish on top of the cancerous areas. This too didn’t work, in fact it only worsened as the dried out polish didn’t stick well to the more humid polish.

This brought me back to the drawing board, as I wasn’t sure of what to do at this point. I was ver desperate at this point, even thinking about leaving my question on Reddit when I remembered about something; My Friends! Being very desperate I shot them all a message, hoping for the best. They went with me to the Summer’s Military camp, making them a reliable source especially since I knew all of them personally. I have showed them pictures of my boots and asked about their opinion, and sure enough they pointed out one detail that I failed to notice. The boot was dry! They joked around saying “how about you offer it a drink or two” and even “ain’t you a sea man?”, “ain’t they supposed to be hydrated 24/7?”.

They were right; I was too concentrated to look good which caused me to not pay attention to the minor details. Using their help as a guide I stripped the boots (it took ~20 minutes for each boot) and applied the one thing the boot needed; The Moisturizer. After that, I buffed (term for building up layers of polish, in this case I have built up the first the 3 layers with a buffing brush) the boots and left them out to dry. This will create a so called steady base layer on which the whole polish relies on. This process is currently in the making and I can’t wait to share any future results/personal experience with what happens next.

IRJE#2 – The Overstory

In the Novel “The Overstory“, by Richard Powers, we are introduced to a couple (and later a family) which has moved out into the Rural area of Prospect Hill, Brooklyn. The Head of the Family, Jorgen Hoel, plants 6 chestnut trees; These trees provide people with not only wood but also a food source. It is mentioned that if the ground were to shake a bit the food would come to the ground “..by the shovelful”, (p.5). This gives us a feel for the importance of these trees. These trees, however, seem to have a tie with the main character’s lives. For example, when the first new born dies during infancy:

“Their Firstborn dies in infancy..”

“One of the six chestnuts fails to sprout.” (p. 7)

After these devastating blows we are informed that Jorgen does not give up, and he keeps them up to prevent this source to be taken away from them. Overall the beginning of this book shoes true power of will, where after such seemingly hard hits the father does not give up. It is also pretty interesting and symbolic to see the nature aspect tie in with the humans. One last interesting part that I noticed would be the way they all depend on this tree. This shows how dependent we are on nature as well as raises questions based on how close are tied to nature today.

Reflection on the 2 Texts

Personally I believe that the first text demonstrates a good idea for the future; In the text “The Moral Equivalent of War” we are proposed an idea that men should be conscripted to do service and labour; This is not a bad idea, as this will only benefit our society; we may see great change in construction and corruption today. This however, might change as the leaders may use them as a labour force, and disputes/wars may happen over this as well. From a limited point of view, this idea is not terrible and may work if we remain at peace with one another.

In the second text, “Can Real Men Live in a Peaceful Society”, we are proposed an idea of a world where the real “Tuff” men are too violent/aggressive to the other people, hence they present us to Castration. This is not a bad thing necessarily, however, there will always be the other perspective; People that are ill or may not comprehend what they are doing may be wrongfully accused of terrible actions and may be castrated. You furthermore realise that this is a negative idea when you start to understand that people plan to use drugs. The “calmness” and “slowness” from this drug may lead to unintelligent decisions and cause a lot of trouble in the modern society.

Overall, I believe these texts made me realise how vulnerable society is, and how people may be redirected today. Despite the texts being centred on the 20th century, I can still see their concern and support some of these ideas.

PW#2 – The Realisation and Reflection

Do you recall my last PW? The one in Which I talked about my Summer PC Build? Well, over the few months of usage I have my own feedback and whether I recommend a PC like that (PC Specs Below)

As I mentioned above, I have had time to experiment on this Budget System; This was a tremendous upgrade from my old computer, which had a Core 2 Quad, a 17 year old CPU. Despite me not doing any serious intensive tasks, the age of the hardware was felt by me, as the computer had micro stutters, and ran at an average of 60 degrees Celsius. With the new Computer, I am rarely able to load it above 50% CPU Usage, and under load it barely hits 30 Degrees Celsius. Another thing I have noticed, is that Linux is a way lighter Operating System compared to Windows, meaning that an actual “Stress Test” would never cause any stutter. Considering the Applications and my PC usage in general, I am not able to use it to the fullest potential, unlike Windows Users. My computer is surely a bang for the buck, I mean; Custom built (By myself), has modern parts (GTX 1650 Super), and it came at a low cost (instead of $500 I had a trick that put the price down to ~$150). This, however, doesn’t mean that I can’t find a good use to this computer; The Xeon I use is clocked at a slow 2.2 GHz, however, its 6 Cores and 12 Threads make up for it, allowing me to watch 4K Videos without stutters and a comfortable 60 – 180 Frames per second in Benchmark Runs.

There are also some setbacks, as this Xeon has a low Clock speed, it causes stutters sometimes as it is not able to catch up to the GPU, however this is partly my fault, as Overclocking will cause instability of the CPU, and it won’t work as long as it will in stock. I also found that the Cooler can be a bit loud, considering it has 2 fans it is not surprising, however un-plugging 1 is not an option, as it may get toasty quick (underload). Turning down the RPM is impossible through BIOS as well; it seems like this one is kind of on me, however it should be mentioned any ways.

Lastly, I would like to reflect on my overall thoughts on ” The BEAST” (name given to it by me do to it’s loud roar when the fans spin). “The BEAST” is a wonderful computer, which I craved to have since I was little; Powerful to run any task thrown at it, and the inability to overload the system, I mean, it’s a true dream! However, this Computer’s CPU is meant to be a server CPU, so in the next couple of years, with the coming of newer and more recourse-taking applications and websites this machine may need a full upgrade. Using Linux on this machine has proven to be a smart choice, as it fills up only 1.5 GB of ram on the Desktop, leaving an additional 14.5 GB at my disposal. Unlike the basic Version of DDR3, ECC Ram finds and fixes mistakes in code, allowing for a more secured file transfer (essential safety measure in Servers). I should clarify, this RAM is a little slow compared to its successor, DDR4, which goes up to 3000 MHz (in comparison to its predecessor’s 1899 MHz). This setback is only clear when you use a DDR4 system under load and come back to DDR3.

In the end, I believe “The BEAST” is a computer which I theoretically do not need (as I do not use it fully), however, it is a nice space heater and and a good Multimedia station for movies/shows (perfect combo for Christmas Eve!). If I had Windows, I would be able to find out it’s limits in a day, however, it’s ability to surprise me every day allows for intrigue and expectation rise. To conclude this PW, I may not need this computer, but it is a great addition to my room, being a so called artifact which stands out (due to its roar).

(PC Specs:

Intel Xeon E5-2420v2, GTX 1650 Super, 16 GB DDR3 ECC (Error Correcting Code Memory), 500 W PSU, 256 GB SSD (I have a storage server, 256 GB for apps is plenty), X79 Chipset Motherboard, and Cooler Master double Fan Cooler; This computer runs Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon Edition: Total PC Cost: $150 (instead of the planned 500))

IRJE #1

In Tony Hillerman’s The Shape Shifter, we are introduced to a now retired police officer of the Navajo Tribal Police Department – Joe Leaphorn – who is called upon to investigate a crime scene with a so-called Mr. Totter, involving a presumably Burned Rug, which shows up on a magazine Joe looked at. Later, he goes to see his coworkers, – whom have just arrived from their honeymoon-. He soon realized they were no help, as in the end this was his own personal case which went unsolved.

“To tell the truth, we think we know what happened to Mr. Totter, but we never could have proved it

“I’ll bet this is going to be interesting”

“…I’ve got to start it way back by reminding you both of our origin stories… One version translates into English as Skinwalkers. Another version comes out as shapeshifters.”

“Fits better sometimes. The last time someone told me about seeing a skinwalker bothering her sheep, she said when she went into the hogan to get a rifle.. it turned into an owl. Flew away”

“Well, keep that in mind when I tell you about Totter, and so forth.”

“Okay”

“For me it started about the time when you two were enjoying yourselves in Hawaii. I had a call telling me I had mail down at the office.. I went down to see what it was…” (pp. 5-11)

Next, the book transitions into a first person perspective, where Joe opens a envelope with a page from the magazine called Luxury Life, where he saw old furniture by a fireplace, which had antlers and a rug hanging beside a fireplace – one which reminded him of the one from his previous case, 

This dialogue outlines the way that Leaphorn is intrigued into solving this crime, as well as showcasing the mystery within. 

Personal Response: WW1 Readings

When first introduced to this term’s readings I honestly did not expect much; I have a tendency to not take things on paper seriously, as I am not easily tolled by information without photographic evidence; However, to my absolute shock, when I opened these passages (All Quiet on the Western Front, World War 1 Prose 1 and 2), I was instantly plunged into the horrors and grief of war. It is no secret that what happens on the front, no matter it’s significance, will never be understood by civilians; For example, when Paul Baumer returns from the Front home on Leave, he is re-introduced to the life he left behind: His Family, his room, and his books. When he interacts with them, they are living a positive life, his mother even questions him if it was bad out there. When he goes out to eat with his father, Paul puts on civilian clothing, but he knows from his father that he would’ve much preferred him to be in his uniform, he takes Paul to the Bar and shows off to his friends, as well as ask him a lot of questions, however, Paul is more upset by this, as he knows that there is nothing ‘cool’ about seeing people fall all around, never to get up again, around yourself constantly. Paul described his Leave as a regret, he should have never come home.

“I Shake my head and say: No Mother, Not so very…” (Paul Baumer, p. 161, All Quiet on the Western Front)

“My mother is the only one  who asks no questions. Not so my Father… I no longer have any contact with him… So I confine myself to tell him a few amusing things…” (Paul Baumer, p.165, All Quiet on the Western Front)

“I ought never to have come on leave” (Paul Baumer, p. 185, All Quiet on the Western Front)

The next 2 Prose’s really add on the grief of war, as there is a whole compilation of stories from different authours, making for a tragic story telling; In the First Prose, I got to read about and personally understand about the struggles on the Front, as Barthas describes him and his team creating a shelter against rain, and after it stops and the temperature drops below freezing, they are to stay in this shelter with tons of water coming down on them:

” My friend Coutage and I managed to unearth a German overcoat splattered with congealed blood.. draping it over two broken rifles … Worst of all was the thirst which tortured us, in spite of the cascades of water falling from the sky.” (Barthas, p.33, Prose 1)

The second Prose, at least in my opinion, had way more detail about the war. The most absurd thing that I read in this Prose was that the soldiers had a choice; either to sleep on the five filthy mattresses or hard wooden planks of the camp beds, which were both contaminated. this was, softly speaking, an unacceptable aspect of war; I get that hygiene status was not well maintained on the Front, however, changing/ cleaning out the mattresses every so often wouldn’t have been a bad idea:

“When you wanted to lie down on the five filthy mattresses… or simply on the planks… you had to be completely overcome with fatigue so as to fall asleep before feeling the stingers…” (Barthas, pp. 11-12, Prose 2)

In conclusion, these readings took a toll on me; using these 3 sources I was able to further understand what our ancestors experienced during this Great War, how it affected them, as well as shows us a lesson in modern times as to not repeat the mistakes which caused this great Meat-Grinder of a War.

-Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

 

PW#1 Summer PC Build

Throughout many months, prior to the summer of course, I have been looking for computer parts which I could use to build a budget friendly but also powerful computer. Using different online shops, I was able to find a combo of computer parts (Motherboard, CPU, as well as Ram), which all together came at an affordable price of $59. Not wasting any time, I have ordered it, and it came during June this year. At this point, all I really needed was a case, as well as some other parts, like a new GPU as well as a Power Supply. After finding a $5 office computer case on Facebook Marketplace, which had all the necessities I needed (a CD drive, CPU Cooler vents), I quickly decided to buy it, which took an hour trip on the car. Next, I needed the CPU cooler itself, as I was now rocking a 6 core 12 thread CPU, and I needed an obese cooling system for it to run smooth, especially the more demanding tasks I would expect it to run. Hopping on to Facebook Marketplace, I was able to find an affordable cooler ($20), which was not only compatible with my cpu, but also came with 2 fans ready to cool the beast down. Using my vast knowledge on PC building, I took the Power Supply from My old Computer, and assembled my new PC (it took me 3 hours of careful work). However, even after this, my PC wasn’t finished, as I was using an 11 year old GPU with 5 year old parts, so I decided to switch it out. After coming back from Vernon in August, I was able to find a deal on a GPU for only $80 (it sells for $160 on the Market), and I was able to finish my computer, which due to it’s fan roar I have named: ‘The Beast’.

PC Specs:

Cpu: Xeon E5 2420 V2, GPU: Gtx 1650 Super, PSU: 500W, RAM: 16gb DDR3 ECC (Error correcting).

 

Introduction to Myself – Iaroslav (Serg) Pyrozhok

Hello, my name is Iaroslav (majorly known as Serg), and I am a Ukrainian who Migrated to Canada in 2013, a couple of months prior to the Maidan (21st November 2013), and the Hybrid war Between Russia and Ukraine (began 20th February, 2014). My parents guessed that something negative and major was about to occur, so we decided to move out. I have moved around the country for a bit, until eventually coming to British Columbia, a beautiful, and life-full province. I am a competitive Water polo Player, as well as a Royal Canadian Sea Cadet; these two after school activities have shaped me into becoming a better, more endurable, respectful, and responsible person. I also used to play a musical instrument: the trumpet, which I used in both the School and Cadet Bands. This year I set a goal for myself to try a new musical instrument, for example, the Accordion, as it is not only challenging, but also ties in with my culture a lot, as even my grandma used to play one and still owns hers’ from a long time ago. I hope this post gave you a little bit of context to my life, and I hope I will also learn about you all as well.