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Welcome To The Home of Chris Patterson

Hated that retreat, but it's a good pic.

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13 Aug 2007, 0146 hrs

Okay, so I had one of those Civil War conversations with one of my friends today (well, yesterday, now that it's after midnight), and, yeah, it's still pissing me off.  Okay, so here's my problem with all those people that still support the Confederacy; all those people that still name high schools after Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis; all those people that fly the Confederate flag; all those people that say the "War of Northern Aggression" was about "states' rights".  Here's my problem especially with those people that do this and wear the uniform of the armed forces of the United States.  It's a matter of loyalty.  My loyalty is to the Constitution.  Period.  Dot.  I, and often times they, took an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic."  Anyone that falls into the categories above is not loyal to the Constitution.  They honor Lee, and they honor Davis, but these men were nothing less than traitors to the Constitution.  They led a rebellion against the government established by the Constitution.  Period.  Dot.  Let me say this again.  They were traitors.  Further, the people that support these traitors continually make the claim that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, but rather that it was fought over "states' rights."  First, this argument is inherently flawed.  I will grant that the underlying issue of the Civil War was an economic issue.  However, this economic issue was slavery.  The North did not want the South to have slaves because they represented cheap labor that the North could not compete with.  The South, in turn, did not want to lose their slaves, not only because of the cheap labor, but also because slaves represented a significant financial investment.  So, no, the Civil War was not about slavery's moral aspects as some people like to believe, it was about slavery's economic aspects.  Second, the argument for "states' rights" is in direct violation of the Constitution!  The Constitution is about compromise.  It is about a democratic, representative government.  Inherent in the Constitution is the idea that all Americans and all states must abide by the laws set forth by the federal government.  The "states' rights" that the South was fighting for was specifically undermining the purpose of the Constitution.  They wanted to be able to pick and choose which federal laws they had to follow and which they could ignore.  The threat that this posed to the Constitution is so blatantly obvious and dire that over 360,000 Americans gave their lives to oppose it.  Make no mistake about it: they were fighting to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.  Those they fought were doing no less than opposing the legitimate federal government, denying the Constitution, and protecting the institution of slavery.  Although I judge those men harshly, I recognize that I have the benefit of hindsight that they did not.  What is truly amazing, however, is that, even with this benefit, there are still those that support their decision, and (this is the truly terrifying part) would make the same decision themselves.  This disturbs me to the very fiber of my being.  Men and women who have sworn an oath to the Constitution of the United States support those that directly opposed it and are willing to do the same.  They honor Lee.  They honor Davis.  They rebelled against the Constitution and the United States over 140 years ago, lost, and still can't get over it.


21 Oct 2006, 1824 hrs

So I've been reading some books lately that my dad's wanted me to read for quite some time.  Wait, let me catch you up on some stuff before I go on.  In the past year he and my mom have both retired and I've graduated and am, really for the first time, out living on my own.  These books are the pearls of the dozens of books my dad's read in his life and he wanted to pass on that wisdom to me and my sisters.  Anyway, since my parents have retired and I've become (according to the little sister) a "full fledged adult," I've come to realize how wonderful parents they are and how wise they are.  Anyway, I started another one of the books today and ran into some quotes I think are really profound, so I'm going to put them up in the quotes section.  Also, I hear a lot of people complaining that America doesn't export stuff anymore and that because we don't export our economy is going to crash.  Well, these quotes help explain why those people are wrong and don't understand the Information Age.


1 Mar 2006, 2337 hrs

So in case you haven't noticed, I've taken to staying up till 1 AM watching TV.  Well, I've come to the conclusion that I get pretty philosophical during this time.  I think it's because I'm starting to get tired.  Like, for instance, maybe the reason I like Will and Grace so much is because it's the one show where the girl is friends with a guy that she likes but can never have.  Usually it's the other way around. 


17 Feb 2006, 1626 hrs

Just wanted to put this up really quick.  From one of my four digs from her MSS teacher from who knows where.  Squids read and heed.


6 Sept 2005, 1505 hrs

Ok, so I just got done with my last AFT ever, yay.  Anyway, I go and check my sister's (the little one) profile and here's what it says: "i find out yesterday that Patterson, New Jersey is named after my ancestor!!! how cool is that?" Anyway, I got a friend from NJ so I IM her and talk about it.  Apparently in New Jersey Patterson is spelled with only one t so whatever.  Point is, I'm talking about my name and I write this, which I think is worthy of remembering:  "its carved in stone with 2 Ts in panama/ on their big carved in stone history of panama court/ apparently the first guy to go "hey, this would be an ok place for a canal" was a patterson/ which is why i have so many good ideas/ unfortuneatly, they wont be implimented until hundreds of years after im dead."  OK, that's all I have to say.  Hope everyone (yes, both of you) got a good laugh out of that.  If not, I hope you at least enjoyed the change of colors.


28 Aug 2005, 1215 hrs

Sweet, I finally got FrontPage to work on this site again.  So anyway, I'm back at USAFA and back in the swing of things.  I'm not really sure where I'm going this semester.  I've decided not to do a FOCUS bible study for sure, and I'm pretty iffy about choir right now.  So with that comes a lot more time to sit around and do nothing.  I am liking being a firstie though.  I definitely have the firstie mentality of not caring and not wanting to do any work.  For three of my classes (bio, law, and OR), I'm the only firstie in the class.  That's good because they're easy classes and I let the two degrees remind me of when I have homework due.  Anyway, I got a WalMart run to make and then I got to do scholarship stuff and a Law paper.


16 June 2005, 1424 (Eglin AFB)

Okay, so here I am on summer research. It's been a pretty good time, I guess. Work is really slow, especially because this week both of my supervisors are gone. I've learned a lot about neural networks, so that's good. I've been to the beach twice so far, which isn't all that much, but oh well. Tomorrow a Lieutenant Colonel USAFA grad is giving us the day off to go water skiing with him, so that should be cool. Saturday we're going deep sea fishing. That should be sweet too. I'm not really thrilled about fishing, especially cause it's 120 bucks, but we should see some pretty sweet sea life (like dolphins), and I'm really just looking forward to getting back on the water. I defiantly got spoiled at Navy. I figure since I'm going to be a developmental engineer and there aren't that many Material Command Bases, I'll probably end up back here a lot. I've been considering buying a sail boat, but they're really expensive. Apparently a cheap one is about as much as a car. Maybe after I pay off my cadet loan, if my Jetta's holding up well I'll get to make it happen. We'll see. Anyway, I'm off to go find something else to take up my time.


22 May 2005, 0105 (navy)

Ok, so I just got done with Navy's Ring Dance a few hours ago.  Here's how I'm feeling.  First, I'm realizing that I'm leaving Navy in less than a week.  I don't like leaving places, it means saying goodbye.  Plus, I'm not so sure how I feel about going back to Air Force.  I miss it a lot, but it's definitely going to take some getting used to and fitting in again.  Second, I realize yet again that I got a lot of great friends... that are girls.  I really don't have many good guy friends, and I sure don't have a girl friend.  Those would be nice.  Finally, I got a ton of stuff to do tomorrow (today I guess) that I'm kind of stressing about, but not doing anything about.  Anyway, I'm going to see if I can get this damn Prop & Wings thing to print one last time, then I'm going to bed.


4 May 2005, 1635 hrs (navy)

Ok, so the month is getting a little better.  Yay finals, I love being given hours on end to study when I don't have a test the next day.  Anyway, way to go Bob, great site.


30 Apr 2005, 2306 hrs (navy)

Ok, first I'd like to add Maryland to the list of states, not sure how I missed that one.  Second, does anyone remember the end of Lord of the Rings?  I mean the part where the hobbits return to the shire and realize they just plain don't fit in anymore?  I mean, the shire has been like the light at the end of their tunnel, and they come back and it sucks.  The shire's different, they're different, life just isn't what they wanted it to be.  I feel that every time I go home.  Now I'm worried I might feel that when I go back to USAFA.  Anyway, it's been the month from hell, so maybe it will get better.  Let's hope.


29 Mar 2005, 2249 hrs (navy)

Yeah, so this is the last time I do anything different from everybody else.  I should have realized that in basic when I showed up wearing a blues belt in BDUs, but I guess I'm a slow learner.  BOHICA.  I want to go home (to USAFA).


22 Mar 2005, 0033 hrs (navy)

Yeah, so it's a Meeganism this time.  Does anyone else remember when he was talking about these two presidential candidates.  One hickish and the other more on the educated side.  Well, someone asked some big professor who he was going to vote for, and much to everyone's dismay, the big professor answered that he was going to vote for the hickish one.  His reasoning, was that he'd never vote for a candidate that had crossed the Atlantic more than the Mississippi.  To that, I'd like to respond with the following:  New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New York, Hawaii, Kansas, Ohio, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, and soon to be Virginia, Rhode Island, and Florida.  Compare that to Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia.


21 Mar 2005, 2145 hrs (navy)

Yeah, so thanks for the week reminding me why I chose a service academy.  Integrity, Service, Excellence, Honor, Courage, Commitment.


21 Feb 2005, 1719 hrs (eastern)

So glad I wear Blue.  Naval Academy's Great, but I love the Air Force.  Read this.


12 Dec 2004, 0312 hrs

Someone said this to me a while back, I think it was either Sara or Boo.  They said the Academy had changed me, and they didn't like how.  Well, its taken about two years, but I finally realized they were right.  I guess I've noticed for a while.  Here's what I'm going to hope though.  I'm going to hope it's not as much the institution as some of the people.  In less than a week I'm going to be headed home, and then to Annapolis.  Point is I'm getting away.  Hopefully I'll be able to take that time away to remember what's really important.  I don't know why, but I have faith in the institution.  This is a good place to go to school, and it's got a good mission.  I don't know how well it achieves its goals, but for some reason, I have faith in it.


7 Dec 2004, 2157 hrs

I think the reason I like the ACLU so much is because they're willing to defend the KKK as much as they are willing to defend the African American.  Being an American shouldn't be easy.  Advanced Citizenship, remember?  We really need organizations like that to really push us and make us question whether we really value things like freedom of speech and freedom of (and from) religion, or at least I think so.


1 Dec 2004, 1814 hrs

Look, I fucking know when I'm not wanted.  Give me two weeks and I'm fucking out of your hair


29 Nov 2004, 2020 hrs

Hey, so for all of those of you that haven't heard, I got an exchange slot to Navy for this semester.  I'm pretty excited about it.  This whole Commandant's Challenge thing has got me pretty down about this place.  It keeps getting worse, so I might as well have it all thrown on me at once as opposed to continually being punched in the face.  Thanksgiving had me feeling a little better about USAFA though.  That was an interesting time.  If you weren't there or if you didn't hear about how things went, let's just say that Megan was the one I got along with the best.  And yes, that goes both ways.  Anyway, one of the big reasons I'm looking forward to getting out of here for a while is that I've been really fed up with the community here.  With the election and FOCUS and again with Thanksgiving, I'm ready to get away from all the judgmental people and their overly conservative (a.k.a. Catholic) attitudes.  I know Navy will be just as conservative politically, but I'm hoping to get in with some less judgmental, less traditional people.  We'll see.  Later all.


31 Oct 2004, 1241 hrs

So I've never been so depressed from going to Mass.  Anyway, I got a question.  How can people who don't even think certain freedoms should exist be the ones charged with defending that freedom?  It just seems problematic to me.  For all you who aren't at USAFA, I'd start looking into moving to Europe, because it looks like this place is going to be going down hill soon.


28 Oct 2004, 1318 hrs

Take a look at these.  Look 1Look 2.


23 Oct 2004, 2305 hrs

I've always said there were people in high school that I knew and that were a lot smarter than me.  To prove it, look what one of them found.  If you don't believe AIM is completely insecure, take a look here.  Yes, that's right folks, all it takes is a simple download and anyone can scan the network for any AIM messages. 


15 Oct 2004, 0034 hrs

Ok, so far I've gotten a handful of comments.  Pretty much all of them have included the fact that I shouldn't have posted the convo.  Here's what I say.  First, if I were to summarize the conversation, no one would have a problem with that.  I've done that before to pretty much everyone.  By posting the convo, we save everyone's time, and ensure complete accuracy.  I don't want your opinions to be biased by the person summarizing what happened.  Second, I find that my side of the story isn't getting said, for whatever reason.  My claim is that I am continually verbally attacked, and that my beliefs are continually attacked.  This is simply one such instance.  I think it supports my claim, and will help people see my side of the story.  Third, I really, honestly want feedback on my actions.  Without a firsthand knowledge of how I acted, that's not possible.  The only way to provide that firsthand knowledge is by providing the convo.  Either way, it's posted now and there's no getting it back.  If you think it's personal information, then don't read it.  As I said before, it is, word for word, as recorded by GAIM, the conversation. 

I'm also going to take this opportunity to mention that nothing said over an instant messaging client should be considered secure (unless your client supports encryption).  Especially on USAFAnet, all instant messages can be monitored.  I've even heard rumors that ALL IMs on USAFAnet are recorded.  If you are uncomfortable with this, I don't know what to suggest except that you stop using IM.


14 Oct 2004, 2310 hrs

Ok, so I just had a nice conversation with Megan.  Apparently my side of the story isn't getting out.  Here's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to post the conversation.  I'd like you to read it and give me some feedback.  Am I being a hypocrite?  Am I being immature?  Am I being irrational?  Did I do anything wrong?  Then I'd like you to tell me what you think of Megan's side of the story.  It could very well be that I'm judging a little too harshly.  Let's get this in the open, let's talk about it.  Hopefully I won't come off as the total jerk, even though I am so often called that.  Anyway, here's the convo.


11 Oct 2004, 1225 hrs

Ok, so I've been meaning to put this up since Rosary on Thursday and here it is Monday, but whatever.  Here goes.  I get a lot of hack for not letting my faith affect my political opinions.  Abortion is the big issue there, homosexuality is used a little.  Not really the point.  Anyway, here's what I got to say.  As members of the military, we are supposed to carry out our orders whether we agree with their political motives or not.  People ask how I can separate my faith from my politics, well, the answer is in the same way as I can separate my politics from my duty.  I guess people don't recognize that fact anymore since the military has gone from 50ish percent independent to 15ish independent and from 35ish percent republican to 55ish percent republican in the last twenty years (ask 1Lt O. for the official stats).  Either way, though, I got my bible study taken away from me, so whatever.


30 Sept 2004, 1222 hrs

So, we got the Navy game tonight.  I'm hearing a lot of "Go Air Force, Sink Navy."  Well, let me explain to you something we figured out my 4* year.  We don't want to win football games.  The more football games we win, the more football games ESPN wants to televise.  That means games later on Saturdays and in the middle of the week.  So if we don't win, we leave earlier Saturday and don't lose our ACQ.  Just a thought.


18 Sept 2004, 2319 hrs

GUNSLINGER -- According to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney if Bush is not re-elected there will be a devastating terrorist attack. "It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice," Mr. Cheney told a crowd of 350 people in Des Moines, "because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States." Is he going to hit us or is someone else going to? How does he know this? as long as we stick to the facts i guess...?--Pascoe's profile.  Let's vote for freedom, not terror eh?  (That means Kerry)


16 Sept 2004, 2352 hrs

And yet again, I get to point out how stupid drinking is.  Yay for making statements to SF an hour after TAPS.


16 Sept 2004, 1117 hrs

So they got me working 6 hours a day, about 16 hours a day, and somehow Toby Keith makes me feel good about that.


31 Aug 2004, 1335 hrs

Here's what's so great about baseball.  You can fail 6 our of 10 times and still be considered a hero.


30 Aug 2004, 0010 hrs

Why can't I just avoid her?

0020 hrs

You ever notice that when someone says "don't call the police" that's usually when you know you need to call the police? Isn't it also true when someone tells you something and they say "don't tell anyone" that it's usually because if people found out that said someone would have to face something that they know they need to face up to but would really rather not?  But then again, if they didn't want to face it, why are they telling you in the first place?


29 Aug 2004, 2240 hrs

Yeah, so I just got back from a retreat.  Worked my ass off.  Feeling unloved.  Wonderful weekend all in all.


24 Aug 2004, 1534 hrs

Ok, I got another one for ya.  What if 9-11 had happened on, say a Sunday instead of Tuesday, like, say... Pearl Harbor?  Or a Friday or Saturday night even?  What if our Air Force had been slobbering drunk?  Or our Fire Departments?  Point is, we need to be ready for duty 24-7.  We shouldn't be getting to the point where we can't perform our duties because of a little chemical called alcohol, no matter how old we are or where we are or when the next time we're scheduled to be at work is.

Point two for the day.  When you get to the point when you should stop drinking, you're already buzzed enough to not realize you're at the point where you should stop drinking.  It impairs decisions.  Period.  So maybe you have the greatest of plans, but there's still a lot of risk involved with drinking.


18 Aug 2004, 2236 hrs

When do I get my PMS!?


17 Aug 2004, 1828 hrs

I Say Again


14 Aug 2004, 1346 hrs

How True


13 Aug 2004, 2254 hrs

It's a good thing I know how to make anyone mad in the span of about 2 seconds.  That skill's bound to come in handy...someday.


12 Aug 2004, 2251 hrs

Just don't fuckin try to tell me girls don't have two ladders.

So I've been here a month, had the whole of two days off.  That's really starting to wear on me.  Not to mention the worst trade off of my life:  I got 1 meal, they get 7 years of my life.


7 July 2004, 2251 hrs (cali time)

In case I haven't made it abundantly clear, I HATE ALCOHOL.  Don't worry, that's not cause of anyone in particular, but lots of people in general.

2257 (cali time)

Ok, guess that needs some clarifying since I was made aware of the fact I said that exact same thing about a week ago.  Here's the premise I'm going off of.  I know a lot of you might not agree with it, but if not, talk to me, cause I could start further back but I'm just too lazy to.  Ok, here we go, the premise:  DRUGS ARE BAD.  Ok, that probably wasn't quite so controversial, but I also include weed in there.  Ok, now here's where the argument starts.  A lot of people argue that alcohol is just as bad as weed.  I agree.  They then say weed should be legalized like alcohol, but that's stupid.  In case you weren't aware, the difference between weed and alcohol is that there is something called "social drinking" in which one just has a few drinks, doesn't get drunk, etc.  I mean, it's been in our history forever, that ain't going to change.  Anyway, weed doesn't have that social aspect.  People smoke weed to get high or for the buzz or whatever.  There aren't people that smoke weed and don't expect to get some physical... enticement shall we say?  Ok, so what I've pretty much said is that alcohol, when used like a drug (i.e. to get drunk, or for the buzz, or whatever) is just as bad as weed or any other drug.  I don't mind social drinking as much, but here's my problem.  I don't see social drinking existing all that much, especially with people under 21.  It's just not worth the risk to have a glass of whine or whatever.  Or there's not enough risk to make it fun, or whatever.  The people I know that are my age and drink, drink to get smashed.  So anyway, at least with the people my age, I hate alcohol like I hate drugs.  People that drink (as always, IN MY OPINION), are putting themselves in bad situations, situations that aren't worth putting themselves in, especially if all you get is a buzz.  Not only that, but it's illegal.  And it's not a little law like jay walking or spitting in public or something, it's serious.  So if people are stupid enough to go lose coherency and break the law over a stupid little chemical, I'm not going to exactly be a fan of that chemical.  Anyway, not quite as coherent or convincing as I would've liked, but maybe you can start to see where I'm coming from.

2322 hrs

Not to mention the fact, that if you're drunk and the shit hits the fan and I need to count on you to do do a job, I can't if you've been drinking.


30 June 12004, 119 hrs (cali time)

Five and Dive?  Yeah Right.  Let's give it up for Bush and the draft!

Oh, and in case you haven't figured it out, I HATE ALCOHOL.  What I wouldn't give to find some good little boys and girls to hang out with.


2 June 2004, 0014 hrs

I've found that there are a lot of things in life that I don't like, and that what bothers me isn't what bothers others and what bothers others doesn't bother me.  Anyway, point is, instead of pouting about it and refusing to accept it, it works a lot better to just accept that's the way things are, work in that system, and if you really care that much, try and change it.  So for the two of you that read this (I'm being too optimistic aren't I?), that's what I got to say about the ladder theory.  For now.


29 May 2004, 0048 hrs (cali time)

Well, Its way late, but I decided to put this up.  I'll probably regret it, but oh well.  So everyone knows that I got my theories, well, here's one of someone else's.  Don't go yelling at me, I don't agree with it 100%, but it provides an interesting prospective.  Anyway, check out the Ladder Theory.


28 May 2004, 1732 hrs (cali time)

So I'm home for my little sister's high school graduation.  It's nice to be home, but I gotta go back to USAFA so soon and there's so much to do for grad that there's not too much time to relax or hang out with friends.  On the other hand, we did play an awesome joke on my sister (almost made her cry).  Check it out here. -- Gotta go, I'll put it up later.

1120hrs (cali time)

Ok, got that link put up.  Here's the deal yo.  I sure hope my sis doesn't check this till I get back to the Academy or she'll kill me.  Anyway, the little sis didn't do so hot in math this year, and since she's evil, my older sis's BF decided to play a little joke on her.  We spent about an hour after her baccalaureate mass at Kinko's.  We forged up some CB letterhead and wrote up the letter that's linked to above.  We expected her to get pissed and throw one of her tissy fits, but that didn't quite happen.  When Mom sat her down to "talk about something" and showed her the letter, she got really upset (like almost cryin).  After she read the letter Mom was like "you need to talk to your boys" at which point she knew it was fake, but Robert and I were in a fair amount of trouble.  Luckily our dress clothes and quick feet kept us from getting hit.  So it was pretty funny, but Mom wouldn't let us boast cause Boo was actually in a descent mood and Mom didn't want to spoil it.


24 May 2004, 2124 hrs

Apparently I shouldn't be going to mass.  Apparently I'm unworthy of the Eucharist.  Apparently I'm supposed to vote how the Church tells me, not what my conscience says.  For those that are wondering, it says that I shouldn't use the law to force my faith on others.  And yes, I believe that abortion is wrong, and I believe that marriage in the Church should be reserved for a man and a woman.  But that's a FAITH BASED OPINION, and as such, I cannot use the law to force that on others.  Apparently that's a pretty grievous sin.  Oh fucking well.  You want to talk about the right to life?  People die.  Deal with it.  You want to talk about the sanctity of marriage?  Why don't we get the divorce rate down to something less than 1 in 2 instead of preventing 2 people that love each other from getting married.  Come November, I'm going to vote for John Kerry.  I'm going to vote for him because he's pro choice and because he's not against homosexual marriage, but that's not it.  I'm going to vote for him because President Bush lied to us.  He lied to us to get what he wanted.  He lied, told us we were in danger, and then used our fear to overthrow a government.  We didn't declare war.  We didn't have UN support.  And now our people are dying.  Why?  Not because there was any threat to our constitution, no, Bush is the bigger threat.  They are dying because little Bush wanted to finish what Daddy started.  You show me one thread of evidence that Saddam had WMD or that he was sponsoring/sheltering terrorists and maybe I'll reconsider, but until then, I'm gonna go to mass every day.  (What brought this on)

2145 hrs

Not to mention the fucking patriot act.


23 May 2004, 2300 hrs

So the other day, a very smart, beautiful, and forgiving (luckily) friend of mine noticed that I have a theory for everything.  I guess that's kind of unusual for people, but I'm proud of it.  I try to take things in and analyze them.  It's kind of like thinking practice, and we all know what I think about thinking.  But it also helps me understand the world around me.  And once I understand that world, at least a little, I can start affecting it.  I hope I'm affecting it for the better.  I'd challenge you all to do the same.  Be aware of what's going on and how that's affecting people.  Come up with your own theories for everything, then see if you can't make things just a little bit better for everyone.  OK, I'm out.  Peace.


20 May 2004, 0953 hrs

OK, so I guess I've been intentionally trying to keep this site a little controversial.  May not seem like it to some, but whatever.  Well, maybe not my site as much as my life here.  In case you hadn't figured it out, I'm a Democratic Californian living with more Republicans and more Texans than I'd have thought possible.  So today I found Michael Douglas' speech from the end of The American President and put that linked from the quote page.  One thing I've tried to avoid, however, is all the military/patriotism quotes we get flooded with around here.  But today, as I was coming up the stairs from the mail room, I saw the Code of Conduct on the wall, so now I've been reconsidering.  Oh well, that's not a link yet, so we'll see.


19 May 2004, 1840 hrs

Ok, so some people have taken offense to my choice of classes I used as examples.  Well, I don't mean to bash fuzzies.  It's just you hear about a lot more people flunking EngrMech then you do Geopolitics.  The same principle applies to fuzzies though.  Learn to think in that particular framework, be it Math or History, English or Engineering, whatever.  If you learn to think in that particular way for class, you will have a much easier time in that class, and you will actually take something away from it.  No one expects that in 10 years you'll be able to draw a Production Possibilities Frontier graph cause you took the core econ class, but they do expect that you'll be able to understand how free trade increases wealth.  Hope that clears some stuff up.  Also, I get pissed off sometimes, so please don't hold that against me.  Like I said, take my arguments or leave them, but at least give them an honest chance. 


16 May 2004, 1218 hrs

Also learn to listen to stuff you don't want to hear.  Listen to the argument and judge it based on its merit.  Don't just dismiss something because it makes you look bad.  Most of the time a friend calls you out on something, it's because they care and want to help.  They aren't just trying to belittle you, so don't accuse them of that.

1245 hrs

People ask me how I do it, so I tell them and I'm sure to point out that it's not that hard, that they can do it too.  Apparently that pisses people off.  There's no gift involved, it's a learnable skill.  You think that since I do better than most people would trust that I have it figured out a bit more than most.  Guess not.

1946 hrs

Yes, sometimes I intentionally get people mad at me, but they always come back, so I must know what I'm doing.


15 May 2004, 1534 hrs

So it's finals time and everyone's studying.  Waste of time.  Here’s why.  Dean mandates our finals are at a minimum 25% of our grades.  So everyone’s there sitting thinking, “wow, this can move me up or down 2 letter grades.”  Wrong.  Let’s say you got a 75% in the class.  So out of a 1000 point class, you’ve had the opportunity to take 750 and have earned 562.5.  Now, let’s assume you get all 250 points on the final.  That’s still only 812.5 points.  So it can move you from a C to a B-.  Now lets say you blow it off and don’t get any points.  That would give you a 862.5/1000 or a nice big F.  So you can still get anywhere between an F and a B-.  Basically a final being worth 25% of your grade means it can raise you 25% of how much there is to go up and it can lower you 25% of how far there is to go down.  Here’s the thing though.  Neither of these cases is going to happen.  Why you ask, because the final is comprehensive.  That’s what finals do.  Yes, that’s right people, you’ve already been tested on most of this material, and you’ve proven that you know 75% of it.  Now what on earth makes you think that when you get tested again, you’ll know any more or any less.  I’ll tell you what it is.  I’m using the word know.  Well that’s the wrong word.  I should be using the word understand.  If you didn’t understand it the first time, there's no way that memorizing more catch phrases and key words is going to increase that understanding.  But why use “understand” instead of “know”?  Aren’t they testing how much Electrical Engineering, History, or what not I’ve learned?  Well, some do, but no one should.  Yes, that’s right people.  You are not here to learn History, Management, Computer Science, or even Aero.  Let me spell something out for you since you obviously don’t understand.  You aren’t here to learn how to write code or break a beam or design a plane.  No, you’re here to learn to think.  You went through high school so that you could learn to learn.  You’ll go to grad school to learn to research and you’ll get a doctorate to finally learn to pull it all together and contribute to our body of “knowledge.”  We “teach” aero, history, management, economics here because what that does is expose you to different models, different frameworks.  Think about it.  What makes an officer different from an airman?  It’s not their level of technical expertise.  In fact, often the airmen have a better technical knowledge than their officers.  The difference is that the officers know how to think.  What’s the difference between a mechanic and an engineer?  A mechanic can fix something he’s been taught to fix.  An engineer picks up a book and teaches himself how to fix the thing.  He knows how to learn.  He knows how to think.  Apparently there are a lot of high schools that don’t actually “teach” how to learn, so people come here and spend hours in front of books trying to remember what’s in them.  Luckily, though, I went to a high school that not only taught me to learn, but also taught me to think.  You think I validated English 111 and the English 211 final because they taught me how to write or that I’m smart?  No.  I got out of those because I know how to think and to convey that thought and to back it up with fact.  You think I was in Math 243 my second semester here because I knew how to integrate coming in?  No, I was in there because I knew how to think in mathematical terms, how to break something I’d never seen before down into simple steps and how to attack those steps.  You think I slept through both physics courses and validated both finals because I’d seen every topic before?  Well I hadn’t.  In fact, there were often times on the Web Assigns and even the GRs that I had no clue what was going on, but could think through it based on what I did know.  If all you do is regurgitate facts or regurgitate your teachers’ opinions and arguments, then you're in for one hell of a shock once you get out of this place.  Yes, that works for most teachers and most departments here, but not all, and it certainly wont work out in the real Air Force.  So if you haven’t learned to learn yet, catch up, and if you haven’t learned to think then get on that too.  I’m a full testament that it’s not how much you know that matters, but how much you understand.  Still don’t agree, ask me about history.


25 May 2003, 2047 hrs

Well, geocities wants me to update or they'll turn off my page.  So guess what I'm doing.  Good news, school is over.  the firsties graduate on Wednesday and I can legally own a cell phone.  Recognition was a few months ago, but I still dig being able to walk around and talk and go to other squadrons and actually have friends.  This place is undergoing a lot of change in case you don't own a TV or radio, so it's actually becoming a lot cooler.  So I got to get up at 0 dark 30 so I'm going to head off, sorry I don't update this much, not that you stop by much, but what the hey.  Goodnight--Chrispy


Hello everybody.  I am Christopher Patterson.  I am currently a fourth class cadet at the US Air Force Academy, lovingly referred to as Camp USAFA or the best prison in the world.  That above would be me and some squadron mates of mine.  We went up to Flat Iron and rearranged the sheets up there into a 9.  Yes, that's right, I am in the one and only CS09--Vikings--the first squad to be put on training restriction.  To me, back home is Sacramento, California.  I'd lived in the same house all my life till I came to USAFA where I moved twice within a month.  Yeah, big change, that goes without saying.  Right now home's looking real good, but that's only cause we never get to sign out of this place.  I guess that's about it, on to the meat of this page:

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Wow, life is so bad here I'm finding myself making a wire coat hanger stand so I can cook on my iron and made one of those little quizzes.  Go ahead and take a shot at it here.

 

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