SPlog

A toothbrush that sings…

Justin Bieber Singing Toothbrush

You heard it right, if you saw Groupon’s ad yesterday, you would have noticed this Pop star’s face on the cleaning device for you teeth. So you won’t ever lose a beat while brushing your teath, they’ve created a tooth brush that plays 120 seconds of some of Bieber’s top hits. The reason of the120 seconds is to get you to brush your teeth for the whole 2 minutes, which was recomended by the American Dental Society. I guess the old fashioned “ABC” song or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” wasn’t good enough to time yourself with. Now you don’t have to make a sound as your tooth brush does it all!

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-justin-bieber-singing-toothbrush

If you talked with me about my career path within the last 6 months you would know that my eyes were set on Missouri S&T in Rolla. For the last several years, my focus has been on civil engineering; I have taken several physics and mathematics courses along the way. I’ve toured the campus 2-3 times already, and even had a job lined up.

I had my classes lined up, a job secured, and even found a local church of like faith. The only thing that I needed was my living quarters. It seemed that everything was lining up perfectly. It was clear that God wanted me to go, or was it? For the last two months, I fought with doubts, and kept going back and forth. Was this move actually good?

I was considering the field of structural engineering, possibly even a focus on earthquakes. It was all very interesting. I enjoyed learning about it. Enjoyed the physics applications that were taught in calculus, and even enjoyed the real life situations that were brought to me in Mr. Berry’s physics classes.

I enjoyed learning it, however, I didn’t enjoy actually doing it. The more I immersed myself into it, the more I found that I disliked it. Yes it was really cool to learn about the science of forces, measuring how much energy and mass an object would have at any given location, and the rate of acceleration. But actually solving the problem was not my cup of tea. Yes, I liked knowing that if the ball’s speed is given as it rolled toward the stairs, that I could calculate what step it would bounce off of. But I didn’t like calculating it. I thought to myself, do I really want to be doing this my whole life?

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Physics is very interesting, and I do think that it has been beneficial to me. But lately I’ve been questioning myself on my future. I understand the problems, I can solve the problems, but it doesn’t appeal to me, neither do I enjoy the process.

I have been very interested in programming for a long time. It started out with building my first website. I taught myself all the basic website programming languages. I have been working with websites for so long, that I generally keep to directly coding it myself, from scratch. It has been an interesting journey. But it is something that I work in every day.

Lately I’ve been learning to program and develop Android apps, but I soon realized that I need more knowledge of programming before I can make a successful app. The more I researched, the more it dawned on me that the science of programming was what I needed to study. It appeals to me, I understand it, and I can actually do it.

The more I researched, the more I was convinced that it was the perfect match. I finally found something that I really enjoy doing. But there was one problem, I was already registered for classes, and everything ready to graduate this spring, then transfer to Rolla in the fall.

So I prayed for a whole week, trying to find out what God wanted me to do. I was given peace about this new career path, something that I had not had these last 2-3 months. I went ahead and signed up for the extra classes I needed at OTC. I will say that I was never so excited to go to school as I  headed to my first programming class. I couldn’t wait for the next class. I even read two chapters ahead of the class schedule. I had not been so enthusiastic about classes since my first college class 5 years ago.

Right now I am working on a technical degree in Computer Information Services. I will be learning website design and software programming. This can then be put toward a degree in Computer Science, or Software Engineering.

My degree that I am now working toward is software engineering. It is very similar to computer science but different too. Although the shady boundary line is crossed from both sides, and both degrees do the same type of work, CS is generally approached from a mathematical standpoint, fun algorithms and analyzing problems, while SE is more hands on software programming.

I view it like this, computer science is like the civil engineer, software engineering is like the architect, and graphic design is like the interior designer. The civil engineer lays out the ground rules of what can or can’t work. The architect draws up the whole plans and architecture, creating how the user’s experience will be. And the interior designer works on the eye appeal of each area, taking special care as to how things are presented.

Was all those classes of physics and math wasted? I surly wasn’t supposed to take them, right? I don’t really have a great answer right now. I do know that I did believe it was God’s will at the time, and maybe I WAS supposed to take those classes for some unknown reason. Maybe somewhere in my future I will be thankful for those classes. I don’t know. What I do know is that, it is all behind me, in the past. I can’t change it, and it doesn’t matter now. Most of the classes will transfer over to my new degree, so there is no loss academically. I know that before me is a career that has been given to me. A new goal, one that I am very excited to embrace.

Can't Wait for Snow?

This letter was scheduled for yesterday, …however it is kind of irreverent since we got the cold weather and snow yesterday. (So when you read, pretend we didn’t get any cold weather yet…lol)

Living in the Ozarks region, one must get used to the weather, or better put, the changing weather. One must not get used to the current weather because it chases so quickly. There a saying around here, “Don’t like the weather? Just wait a few days, it’ll change.” The weather changes so often that our area was dubbed the hardest weather for meteorologists to predict.

One thing is for sure, our weather is never the same all year round. We experience temperatures in the 100s with the humility just as high, and then in the winter we have ice storms and snow with temperatures getting down to 0 degrees. Although we can have a few snow fall, most of our snow occurs in the months of January and February.

With all that being said, this year we have yet to have a hard winter frost, or snow, or ice, or any cold weather. We did one small snowfall in late October, but nothing significant. Lately our temperatures have been as high as 65 degrees. Some enjoy this pleasant version of winter that is occurring now. But I’m very disappointed, and a little concerned. I’m not worried about the weather, we’ve had warm winters before, nothing new. But I’m concerned for the coming spring and summer.

A good hard frost prepares is really good for our area here in the Ozarks. How? It kills off the tics, fleas, mosquito, and other pests. I’m not one for freezing weather, but I would sure rather have that than have mosquitoes and ticks biting me all over this spring. So bring on the cold weather, and let the pests die! Mwahahahaha!!!

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It is already the year 2012, and time has really flown by. This year a lot has happened. Especially in the last few months.

School has been really crazy lately. I can’t wait to graduate and head on out to Rolla, MO to finish at MO S&T. I am really excited. The last few weeks I had to work on a formal report in a group. The report had to be at least 25 pages long with a minimum of 20 sources, 6 of which had to be primary interviews. My group was given the hardest topic, “How the occupy movement affects Springfield, MO”. My group pulled through it, regardless of the 2 week deadline, with an oral report (and power-point presentation) at the end. We got an A on the whole project, which was the biggest stress reliever all month.

Are you ready for 2012?

I’ve still been busy with church events as well. I volunteered to direct the children’s Christmas play this year. It was a really fun experience. We simply did the whole Christmas story, which had not been done for a while. The kids did a great job, and the play went well. The only thing I noticed was that the kids sang a lot louder during practice than they did when it came to to actually perform the play. Overall it was a really good play. I had a lot of help from other teachers, and even had a friend work on all the costumes. She did a wonderful job, as the costumes were awesome! We had more kids participate this year than ever before, so it was a little bit more difficult to direct them all.

I’ve been working on building android apps lately. I am still in the middle of learning to program them. I following a book that leads you through each step, learning new skills and concepts n each chapter. Throughout the process of the book, you build a game app. It really has been going very well, but I’ve only been averaging a chapter a day, and the book has 24 chapter.

You will eventually see app reviews, and such on my blog as well. I decided to start reviewing apps that I thing are worthy. I am very picky about my apps. Whenever I am looking for a particular app function, like for instance a twister spinner (in case you lose the one that came with the game) I will download all 8 apps that are on the Market, try each one out, then choose the best one. I did that for a music player once, and had a lot of interesting results, but that is another topic for another post.

Last October I had my 21st birthday. There were so many reasons that I was excited about turning 21. The fact that I can now purchase a handgun is still at the top of that list.

Plans for this coming year include life guarding, moving to Rolla, Summer Camp, and TaeKwonDo instructor certification.

I plan to look for a part time life guarding job this summer. I’ve been really wanting to lifeguard, but was too busy last summer to do so. But this summer I really am going to try for an evening shift. I got my lifeguard certification last year but missed the lifeguard camp that is required for the Public Parks Pools.

Since I plan to go to school at Missouri S&T in Rolla, MO, I will be looking for an apartment this summer. By God’s grace, I already have a job lined up. My current employer is willing to keep me on as a remote employee. I hope to find an affordable studio apartment that I can use. Personally I want it big enough to have room to stretch and work out a little.

For the last two years, I’ve been going to Bible Camp with my church as a counselor. I love it and try to clear my schedule each time. I am planning on going this year, so far. I am excited to get to help the kids get their talent and sports ready. It is something I look forward to each year, and if the Lord allows it, I plan to attend every year that I possibly can.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I am currently a second degree black belt in TaeKwonDo. I am also an instructor trainee. Unfortunately during college, I was unable to attend regularly due to homework and such. However this coming semester I plan to work on obtaining my 3rd degree, and also get my instructor-ship papers. My idea is to then instruct TaeKwondo while attending school in Rolla. This is to keep me healthy and fit, while also keeping the knowledge fresh in my mind.

The year 2011 ended with a lot accomplished, now I await for the events to unfold in 2012.

Last year for English 101 at OTC I wrote this essay about my sister. I thought I’d share it with everyone. Hope you enjoy.

Abi and I

Samuel Paasch

Matthew Brunson

ENG-101-147

February 2, 2010

The Joy of Having a Sister

Every morning, after I wake up, I stumble my way toward the restroom. With perfume in the air, and facial makeup around the sink, I am constantly reminded of the fact that I live in the same house as a teenage girl, and that my life has been impacted so much, that I can’t imagine what life would be like without her. The birth of my sister, Abigail, has been, without a doubt, the most influential event that has made the most impact on my life. Ever since she was born, there were drastic changes that affected my life. The change didn’t come to pass in one day of my life, but rather took several years of growing up together.

Now as I look back, I see three time periods of how this entrance of this girl to the world changed my life: before my sister was born, when my sister was born, the years after she was born.

Before my sister was born I was your happy-go-lucky child. Nothing could really get me down. Since both my brothers were at least six years away from me, they really didn’t want me following them around everywhere. But I thought I was just like them, and had to do everything they did. I never grew angry quickly, and I rarely ever hit or intentionally harmed any of my brothers.  I had a real carefree lifestyle, as there was never any competition for me for anything. I had all the fun, love, and care that I wanted.

Being the youngest I had grown accustomed to getting all the attention. There was always a family member to play with or to do something with. Whether I wrestled with my oldest brother, or played cars with my dad, most of the day there was someone to have fun with. The highlight for me was whenever we had company over. This is when I became the main event. My grandparents were my favorite people to visit with. Since I was the youngest, they would pay more attention to me rather than anybody else. I enjoyed getting so much attention, and at the time I really didn’t want to share any of it.

Although the idea of having a sister sounded like a lot of fun at first, I was really in for a surprise when she did come. I thought I’d have someone to play with, someone to have fun with, since both my brothers were at least six years away from me. But when my sister finally came, things were definitely not as I fathomed. For when my sister was born, she came out angry at the world. She constantly cried and pouted, and it seemed as if she was always angry. Anytime my brothers or I got close, she would throw a fit. The idea of having fun with my sister quickly changed into thinking that my sister would never have anything to do with me.

I soon found out that my parents were no longer the authority in the house. The baby took control of the house, as she decided when we got to sleep, or get up. Everyone, including me, was running to and fro, trying the best they could to make accommodations for the baby, which proved to be almost impossible, as my sister was never pleased. Going through each day, if you wanted something, the unspoken rule was, “The baby is always first.”

As mentioned earlier, I had all the attention I needed. But then after my sister was born, I was forced to share my attention with her. As with any mother with a baby, my mom had to continuously care for my sister. I didn’t mind at first, but I had grown used to my mom being there every time I wanted her. I soon wished I could take my sister back where she came from. My mom constantly had to deal with my sister, so she ended up with the bulk of the attention.

My brothers and I were introduced to Barbie, and other “girly” toys. Our first impression of Barbie was, “whoa, look at all the accessories she has.” I quickly learned the fun it is to take a Barbie doll, decapitate it, and then add ketchup for effects. The toy box became overflowed with dolls joining with the GI Joes, and stuffed animals with the hot-wheel cars.  Play jewelry was soon mixed with the army guns and accessories. Although strange at first, I believe we finally got used to the presence of “girly” toys around.

Since Abigail and I were so close in age, we had to do stuff together, and ultimately share with each other, which sounded easy, but in reality, was one of the hardest lessons to learn. At only three years apart, Abigail was the only one around to play games with, or watch cartoons with. When it came time for cartoons, we each had our own favorite shows, which always conflicted with each others’. Also, Abigail was the only girl in our family, and with three older brothers, she grew interested in most of our toys and games. That didn’t seem fair to me, since she liked to play with my toys just as much as I did. When we got along and played together, we had a great deal of fun. But many times it wasn’t very long before we got tired of each other, or one got upset with the other, and then Abigail or I usually got angry and threw something, or hit one another.

As Abigail grew, my brothers and I quickly found out that she had an amazing throwing arm, with accuracy that would make a baseball pitcher envious.  She was also like a sharpshooter, making most of her hits a head shot. Once, while I was chasing Abigail into a room, I entered the doorway, and all I saw was a bell flying through the air, toward my face. From then on, my mother made sure her throwing habit came to its end.

During the first several years growing up together, we were mortal enemies. It seemed like we always fought every time we did something together. Whether we went swimming, playing outside, trips, or even spending the night at my grandparents, there was sure to be a fight along the way. The strife between us was so bad, that my grandparents would only let one of us stay the night at a time. It even accelerated to the point where I purposely annoyed my sister, playing mean tricks on her, and plotting out every detail. Although we were enemies at the time, I wasn’t too long that we finally changed our behavior, and became really close to each other.

As time has flown by, the tide has turned, and although once enemies, we now get along just fine. We still do so much together, since we both still have most of the same interests, and friends. The difference now, is that we no longer fight with each other like we did when we were younger. The older we became, the more we got along with each other.  Since I’ve come to college, we both came to realized how much we really miss each other. Several times, last semester, she would get angry with me, because I wouldn’t go do anything with her, for I was too busy. We have now both concluded that life could have never been as great without having one another.

I now see how much I actually like to spend time with my sister. Looking back, I realize the good that having a sister has brought to me, and the joys that came too. Although we both had our fights and scars, I wouldn’t change anything, even if I could. Abigail has made life more adventurous for me, and each adventure contains a great memory that lasts forever. And so every morning, as I smell the perfume, and clear the counter of makeup and supplies, I am reminded of the joy and blessing that was given to me when my sister was born.

Abi and I making funny faces

My dad found an article that I had wrote for our annual Christmas newsletter back in 2002. It was very interesting to read, and so I thought I would share it, and also give an update.

The letter said…

“My name is Samuel William Paasch. I’m in the 6^th grade and 12 years old. Can’t wait to be a teenager.

“I am in Tae-Kwon-Do, a yellow belt and play the piano. I love to sing with my older two brothers. My hobbies include Lego blocks, baseball, basketball, and playing on the computer. I have a girlfriend, but wont tell anybody her name.

“I have a dog named Daphne that sometimes sleeps with me. I can’t wait till I’m bigger than my brothers so I can boss them around.

“I also love to go to church, don’t you?”

Okay, now it is time for a long awaited update.

My name is still Samuel William Paasch, no change here. William, after my grandfather Taylor. I am currently in my second year of college and am getting ready to graduate with an Associates of Art Transfer degree. I am now 20 years old, and miss being a teenager!

Although I am not currently active in TaeKwonDo, I still occasionally attend. I am currently a 2^nd degree black belt. I still play the piano, and have added more instruments that I am learning: the banjo, mandolin, guitar, violin, and viola.

I still love to sing, although I actually prefer to perform the music instead. (Especially since I can play a song much better than I can sing it.) I still sing with one of my brothers and also my sister, but now with the Steppin’ Out Quartet. I also sing at church occasionally.

As for my hobbies, I still like to build, but my Lego blocks are currently packed in the shed, waiting for my own kids to play with them (whenever I have kids). Also, I no longer play baseball or basketball except for pastime occasions.

As far as the computer goes, I still enjoy a good game on the computer, but it seems like forever since I’ve played one. I don’t even have them installed on my new laptop yet. Instead I am constantly on my computer for work, church, and school.

Now for the moment you’ve really been waiting for. The actual reason why you kept reading this update. Who was this girlfriend? Well in all honesty I can’t remember. IT’S THE TRUTH! I was surprised myself when I read it. We were never allowed to engage in any relationship until our late teen years, so I imagine it was most likely a girl that I liked at the time. I will say that I have narrowed it down to two.. I know sounds bad, huh. But like I said, they were only crushes as nothing ever transpired. I can say though that one is now married. As for the other, I have no idea where she is or even what she looks like. She must have been about ten years old then?
Now about the update. I have not been in any girlfriend/boyfriend relationships yet. I really don’t have the time, and am waiting for college to get over before taking anything serious. (I’ve actually posted an article about this.) Although there are some I have liked. And just like 8 years ago, I might have a crush (for lack of better wording) on someone. But also like 8 years ago, I am not telling anybody her name.

Daphne died not too long after that year. It was a Sunday morning, when someone knocked on our door and asked if we could identify the dog collar they were holding. She had been hit by two vehicles that morning and died instantly. But I still have a dog, Pal, that sometimes sleeps with me. Actually he sneaks onto my bed after I am already asleep, because he knows I normally don’t allow him on my bed with me.

I am finally bigger than my brothers. But since they are both out of the house, married, and have kids of their own, I can’t fulfill my wish to boss them around. Hey, somethings not fair here! Actually I have a quote that its the older sibling duty to tease, boss, and be mean (in a nice way) to their younger sibling. Of course that comes with the fact that I have a younger sister!

I still love to go to church. That is my highlight of the week. Most of my trusted friends are there, and my wisest council. There I get my spiritual needs met, and also wise advise about anything in life from experienced people what are willing to help and be there when I need it. Above all though, my greatest joy is to get to worship my Lord with others, unashamed, freely, and without any fear. To be able to sing praises unto him, lift up his name, and adore him for who he is and what he’s done for me. DON’T YOU???

Not A Thru Road - Your GPS is Wrong! - Dead End

With the modern day of GPS, it’s a wonder people buy maps anymore. Especially since most smart phones now have a GPS locator build right in. It means stopping and asking for directions is officially out of style, no matter how far you drive.

Well even though the great GPS is showing the way of the future, it doesn’t mean that there may be a few speedbumps along the way.

I own a android phone as most know. And with that I have Google maps leading my way when I need to get somewhere unknown. But I’ve found out really quick not to trust the GPS completely. Especially the phones are bad because they rely on a local cell tower to give their location, not a satellite. So if there is no service, there is no GPS. Pretty bad if you drive in a dead zone and don’t know how to get out. Not only can you not call someone, but you can’t load up your maps to find your own way out.

The first problem is the maps not showing correct roads.

Let’s hear about this story http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/gps-mishaps-trust-tech-leads-trouble/story?id=10013723 This is the famous story about a lady who followed the directions of the GPS right onto a railroad track into the path of an oncoming train. Rare you say, well not when it happened several other times. GPS leading people into danger is actually a pretty common problem. Do a Google search and find out yourself.

The second problem with GPS is the places in the wrong location.

Did you know that Hammond’s Field (a local baseball field) is only a couple hundred feet away from my home church. Actually according to Google maps, it sits right on top the church parsonage, when it’s supposed to be downtown.

Take my problem just last year. I was in Oklahoma with my Dad, and we were using my phone to lead us home. Well I decide to wait until the next town to get gas hoping it would be cheaper. Well I waited to long and the gas light blinks on. I started to panic a little since the next town was about 30 miles away. So I grabbed my cell and typed in to search for near gas station. It found only one.

So we took the next exit and began our search. Well the GPS lead us to a back road, that winded around for a couple of miles, then said to turn onto a dirt road. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t have enough gas to go back to the highway, and the dirt road winded some more. It was bad. Deep holes and big rocks made for a bumpy ride.

Finally we made it to the gas station. Or at least that’s what my phone said. It led us right into someones back yard. Bummer! I was nearly out of gas and the only way out was to go the same way we got in. Luckily there were two people with chainsaws near the road (if you can call it that – it looked like a trail to me). They sent me to the nearest gas station just on down the road another mile.

Although I can laugh now about it, it has brought to my attention that if we follow blindly, we are going to eventually be led right into a trap that we can’t get out of.

It reminds me that as people, we need to be careful of what or whom we follow. We can just as easily be left stranded, or lead right into harms way. I am reminded of the verse Psalms 27:11 “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.” If we aren’t aware or careful, our enemies may be able to lead us right into danger.

That is the question I was asked by my Grandma last Saturday night. I really didn’t understand the reason for such a question, and my puzzled face showed it. “Well you look like your expecting cold weather with how your hair looks.”
   Oh now I understood her reasoning. She just had to go there, huh.

Let me go back a couple weeks and explain.
   Just a few weeks ago I was planning on going to a Men’s Advance with my Church. I had planned to get a haircut before but just didn’t have the time. It was not long, but certainly not the leangth I care for. I just put it off thinking I’d have time later the next week.
   Well the next week I was busy with school and work so much that I didn’t get around during business hours. Same with the following week.
   I had gotten to the point that I had my dad trim up my neck over a week ago. And just last Saturday night I trimmed the hair off my ears for Sunday Services.
   Also I have been growing a small beard with sideburns. This is for a costume idea I had. It now is finally noticeable (I have blond hair so it takes a a while before people notice).
   So now you can see where my Grandma was getting at. Well I decided that I didn’t start my beard early enough, (I was trying for the Uncle Sam look) and have moved on to a new costume idea that requires hair to be the leangth it is now.
   So I still haven’t got a hair cut, but hopefully the week of elections it will be short and I will be clean shaven… at least until the whether really does get cold…lol then I’ll have an excuse again..haha.

This Christmas kind of snuck up on me. With college and work up until the week of Christmas, I didn’t have much time for most of the family traditions that we normally did to prepare for Christmas. Also not to mention that my best friend got married the Monday before Christmas. I have been so busy, then I realized “On no, only 4 days until Christmas” time to get the Christmas shopping completed. Anyway, this Christmas I tried my best to remember the real reason we celebrate, not because of shopping, or gifts, or even the manger, or the angels. The real reason I tried to focused on was why he came in the first place. I think that this could be the best Christmas for me after all, even though I didn’t do my regular “traditions” I kept my attention to the cross, and what Jesus did for me.
We still had a great Christmas day. It snowed all night, and we had our first “White” Christmas in over 5 years. Our Church had a candlelight service the night before, and my quartet was privileged to sing two of our songs. The whole family came over for Christmas Dinner, including both brothers, and their family. We then opened all our Christmas presents. Our main gifts were given by playing the “Dirty Santa” game. It was a blast! I ended up with a $15 gift card to Subway. YUM!!
The family stayed until late that evening/night. We played video games, and board games, computers, and iPods. It was fun. My mom and dad got each a ipod touch for Christmas, that we got to play with, getting it working for them, and showing them how to work it. My mom literally jumped up and down when she found out she can access all her facebook stuff from her touch.
I enjoyed spending a lot of time playing with my niece and nephews. They are so much fun and joy. We ended the night by watching the Disney Pixar movie, UP.
Now Christmas is over, just as fast as it started, and as I end the day, I sit back and thank my God for all his blessings He’s given me… A wonderful family, Time to spend with my niece and nephews, great in-laws, the peace and joy we shared today, Heat from the cold outside, but most important for the sacrifice that makes Christmas worth Celebrating, not because he came, but why he came, so that I could have a personal relationship with God.
<!–Sam Paasch–>

This Thanksgiving fell on my Dad’s 50th birthday. So we went to his home town, Garden City KS, to celebrate with his twin brother. Everyone.. even all my cousins, aunts, and uncles on my Dad’s side were there (for the first time in about 10 years). It was amazing to see everyone in the same place. We spent all day Thanksgiving with family, and were able to take wonderful pictures of the whole family, and even put on a concert. It was very nice.
The following day we also spent there. Spending time with all the family. It was kind of weird now being older and watching the little kids play around with the stuff that we used to play with. It made me be thankful for what great memories I had with my family.
<!–Sam Paasch–>