rknapp

AFAIK, there is no tax on services, and engraving is considered a service. When I had my car in the mechanic (rare) to have a loud noise/vibration diagnosed and repaired, I saw the same tax oddity in the bill. Turns out the front passenger side wheel bearings were shot, so they had to replace the wheel bearings and the wheel hubs on both side of the front of the car. On the bill, there was a separate line for "Taxable items" and that amount covered the parts, not the labor (service). That's why a lot of mechanics do inspections and diagnostics for free, because the state doesn't tax that. As a left-handed and possibly gay man, I can say that this theory is not continuous throughout the whole spectrum. I survived the right-handed world only because my mom stopped my dad from forcing me to write with my right hand, as his dad had done to my uncle Freddy (still left-handed to this day). POWER TO THE LEFTY'S! *starts socialist movement against righty's*

I don't think I'm gonna go for a couple of reasons. First is that sounds like a crowd type of thing, and I HATE crowds. I would probably wind up following some of the people who are going so closely that it would be borderline buttsecks. Second is that I'm not a fan a cities. Cities are generally not car-friendly, and I hate being somewhere without personal transportation of some kind (my car or a friends car). The last time I went into Philly a friend gave me a day pass for the train. Well the pass didn't work, so the security person told me to just get on, and then dial 0 from the emergency phone to be let on and off the train. The whole time that I was in the city I thought I was gonna be stuck there overnight lol. That begs the question, what bullshit excuse should I give him next Wednesday for why I didn't call? lmfao.

Damn. I scared myself tonight by talking. The first hour of the meeting we had a guest speaker who showed us a slide show of a queer commune. The second hour was spent making signs for the Safe Zone workshop and for National Coming Out Day. I had to ask what the rainbow colors were lmao. But I confirmed it! The guy that I thought was in my calculus class was there and he confirmed. He brought it up actually because he said he recognized me from a couple of classes, or near the classes (he's an ENVL major, so a lot of science classes are grouped together and we all know each other). I've decided to attend the "Coffee House" thing that they're hosting on NCOD even though I have no coming story to share. I asked if it mattered if I showed up and stood there and they said they didn't care. Also it turns out that a few of them are going to Philly on Sunday for something called Out Fest and asked me to come along. I'm not sure if I want to go though, since I'm broke and "Out Fest" gives me visions of gay pride parades and such, and I'm not really into that stuff. What are you guys' thoughts? The President of the club gave me his cell number so I could call him with my decision later, but I have to make that decision by Sunday.

Meh, I know a couple now. Doesn't mean that they know me though.

Off topic? Pft, that's unavoidable and runs rampant on GA! Now, back off topic... Long hair might tip off some guys, but I've said before that he would need to be doing the horizontal tango with another man for me get even the slightest hint. You honestly think long hair would be on my radar? Laughable! lol Besides, he's cut it since I last saw him in that class. It was short when he spoke to me at the club fair, so I didn't recognize him until I went through the groups facebook pictures and saw one of him with short hair and one with the long hair. BTW the long appearance wouldn't even tip your scales Kev. He simply didn't dress like he cared. I've heard this term before and I still don't quite understand what it means. AFAIK this describes a gay man who checks out the ladies when he's with his straight buddies and checks out the guys when he's with his gay friends... and he dresses like a disgusting straight guy as opposed to a clean cut gay guy. I suppose it also means that he performs the former in public when he's the latter for real. But what throws me off is that I've been referred to as "straight-acting." I dress the way I do because I subscribe to the belief that "whatever's on top" is the perfect thing to wear today. In fact, the shirt I'm wearing today is the same shirt that I was wearing yesterday for two reasons: 1. It's VERY comfortable and 2. I woke up 10 minutes before class today, so I only had enough time to pee, wash my hands and face with cleanser (that's about the only beauty thing I do since my face is disgusting), throw on pants, socks, and shoes, and run. I don't check out hot guys with my friends because I don't hang out with the ones that do. I don't check out hot girls with my friends because I respect women and choose not to gawk at their titties. I also choose not to gawk at partially exposed ta-ta's because doing so encourages exposing them, and I think that it's inappropriate. I'm sure another facet to the straight-acting label is loving cars, computers, greasy activity, going fast and understand how fast happens, as opposed to loving shopping, the latest gossip out of hollywood, accessorizing, etc. If this is so... oh well. My most comfortable position is laying on my back on cold concrete in the garage underneath a 3600 lb full-size sedan sitting on jackstands while either watching oil drain from the oil pan or while beating the ever living shit out of a fuel line fitting that has rusted to the fuel filter. If I insulted anyone with my assumptions, good. Back on topic: Supposedly we're get craftsy tomorrow night, so we'll see if I speak more. I doubt it though.

Then there are the ones that totally throw you for a loop. Example: In the spring of 2006 there was a guy in my calculus class that I didn't really think much of. He was just an average guy (with long hair and hippy-ish clothing) and didn't stand out. After looking at some pictures posted on the clubs Facebook group I noticed that the guy from that class is the treasurer of the club, and was the guy I spoke to at the club fair. I perused the group a little more and found in the discussion that he had come out at some point (suggesting that he is bi or gay). I never would have guessed that. My first thought when I found who he was was that he was a straight ally. He doesn't fit any of the stereotypes, so no warning bells went off. It actually makes him more appealing that he doesn't fit the stereotypes at all.

I've overheard conversations between commuters that essentially the imply the same consensus. I also hear them bitching that they don't want to park in the vast residential lots because it's too far for daddy's princess to walk. This school used to be a community college, so it's a 10 minute walk from my building (borders the parking lot in question) to the center of campus. Additionally, there is a shuttle that busses kids from the apartment complexes to the Arts and Sciences building across the lake... so I have no idea what these little bitches are complaining about. If this was a big urban University, then I would tell them to go ahead and bitch. But I have to walk that distance sometimes several times a day, SO GET OVER IT! /rant /off topic

My sister once had a bumper sticker that said that.

What link?

I'm sure you can have that made at any t-shirt shop. At least, open-minded ones. Just be sure there are no copyrights on those slogans.

"gay? fine by me." is one of those donation organizations. All proceeds go to a group, I forget what though. The information is all at the website.

I've GOT one of those shirts You can get one at www.gayfinebyme.org

But Kev, don't you ever wanna go sleeveless and show off those guns? I can't do sleeveless... having to be semi-dressed almost every day in the summer gave me a farmers tan... damn retail and damn their dress code and damn them for overworking me!

That's not fair! You can't combine forums since I joined them all at different times. The biggest one I joined in 2003. The GP I joined a couple weeks before I bought my car. The local GP club I joined either at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. I joined GA around fall 2005... I've been with the GP club for longer than GA, but GA has more posts from me, so obviously I don't divide my time evenly. So there.

The president has class in my calculus room before my class, so I see him walking out while I sit in the lounge area outside the hallway three times a week. He's really hard to miss with a section of his hair died red. I also saw the "gay? fine by me." shirt for the first time on him... that's the only thing about him that clued me in to the fact that he has something to do with the GLBT community. I didn't think for sure he was gay until he said why he was in the club, lol. I hate my gaydar. He actually made the comment that he was there to meet other gay people, but he could tell sometimes when someone was gay, and I wanted to ask him to guess my sexuality. I might still ask that, for my own reference.

1. My Calculus exam is over. I'm sure I got a few problems right... I hope? At least it's over! 2. Police Chief Miller. If the appeals committee doesn't throw out my parking ticket, he's got my back. 3. I wasn't walked in on... again. Needs no explanation. 4. I have nothing to do for tomorrow. I haven't had a day off from schoolwork since it started except for weekends. The same is true for my friend Debbie, who plans on getting some alcohol into her system tonight lol. 5. Tomorrow is Friday!!!!!!111!!11!one I get to pick up my pre-order of Halo 3 and get a service manual for my car. I can't wait to blast the covenant while learning about how my engine comes apart!

Hence why you all see the real me. If it turns out that my worst fears come true online, I can just never return to the site. In person it's more difficult, I would have to transfer schools. Though if I f*ck up this year I don't care, I'm automatically transferring to another school next fall where I'll spend two years studying and then get my degrees.

Kevin's is hotter, lol. Me? Prolific poster? Please, I haven't even reached 1200 posts. When I hit 1000 posts on my GP forum I'll consider myself a prolific poster (it's at 800 now). My other car forum is well over 2200 though... damn.

Well it went as I had expected. I actually almost got there before the student leaders did. The VP was there already and the secretary and Pres got there literally 10 seconds before I did. The only thing I said was my name, year, major, and what animal I wanted to be (they all wanted to answer some random question and one girl suggested what animal everybody wanted to be... I wanted to be anything nocturnal hehe). As I expected the group was made up of mostly women. I was one of three guys, but the treasurer was not present, so I know there's four guys. What surprised the hell out of me was just how many straight people were there. There were three girls who admitted to being straight and were there to defend their gay brothers, sisters, uncles, friends, and the one girl was there for her bi-sexual boyfriend. She's the only one I spoke to, and that was to laugh at a couple things she said. Maybe I'll talk next week. I joined the Facebook group two nights ago and just posted a comment on how I think the night of Coming Out Day should be handled, keeping the fact that I have no coming out stories to tell, nor would I if I had one. Actually as I posted that I thought about GA and tried to make some sense out of why I am so nervous. Realistically there's no difference between there and here. I think what causes the paranoia is the fact that these people are talking to me face to face as opposed to through the internet. Some of them I even see in the hallways which means I can't simply close a window to get away (not that I ever would, GA's awesome!).

I wouldn't count the shirt as a step in any direction other than letting people know where I stand on gay rights. The smart people would figure out that the slogan on the shirt "gay? fine by me." doesn't at all hint my sexual preferences. Still, that didn't stop me from wondering what the other person was thinking when I saw them looking at my chest. I should mention that of the eight people I see regularly (friends and roommates) three of them know that I joined the club and none of them had anything negative to say. Before she knew about the club, one mentioned that she doesn't agree with lesbian sex at all on the grounds that "there are too many holes and not enough poles," but she and one other read the Safe Zone pamphlet appreciatively.

It's an artistic rendering of a proposed wind farm out in California. That big fat white thing is a cloud. Is it a bad thing that my stomach is upside down and my feet feel like they're in cement? I really shouldn't be as nervous as I am, but I guess it comes with being anti-social. I already know exactly how the meeting is gonna go... I'll slip in unnoticed, sit there quietly for however long it is, and then be the first one out when the meeting is dismissed. Nobody in my high school's GSA knew my sexuality and I doubt anyone in this one will come to find it either. BTW I wore the shirt all day

Damn, I don't know anything about foreign cars, other than that their reliability is atrocious. You're gonna have to have it towed to a reputable garage for a diagnosis. Then, go to Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds and get a free appraisal of the car. If the estimated cost of repairs (without towing charges) exceeds the value of the car, junk it. Especially if it has a lot of miles (more than 150,000). You could also figure in the cost of all repairs in the last year and work it out to a monthly payment (including the estimate for this repair), then compare that amount to a monthly payment on a new (or used) car. Again if that value exceeds that of a new car, junk it.

But there weren't any goats at the table today... Don't worry about it. I did the same thing LOL.

That was yessaday. Get with the times man! lol j/k\ EDIT: The first meeting (that I'm attending anyway) is tomorrow night, so I'm kinda nervous. I've met two gay people in my lifetime... one I didn't talk to, the other "introduced" me to some "things" which shall not be specified. I actually found the group on Facebook as well, including the guy I was talking to earlier today. I didn't notice it before, but I had Calculus I with him in the spring 2006 semester. He had long-ass hair back then so of course I didn't recognize him... did not even consider that he would be in a club like this either.