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August 16, 2003
2003-12-15 14:57:21
8-16-03
Today was a freakin' awesome day! First I woke up and I played Final Fantasy III for the original Nintendo.
Oh ya, I forgot to mention something. Around December of '02 I really got into the Final Fantasy role-playing
games. I started when Thomas got Final Fantasy 8 for the Play Station. I played it a little at his house and a
little at Cole's house. After playing for twenty cumulative hours I found a Play Station emulator for my
computer so I could play it at home. But I had to start over because I couldn't get my saved game of of the memory
card. Anyway, it only took me a week to beat the game. But my total time at the end was around 50 hours! I played
for 50 hours in one week, with school and everything else. I loved that game.
I then started on FF 9 a little while after that. That wasn't as good, but I beat it. I then started on
FF 1 for the original Nintendo. I had to get an emulator for that because there was no way I could find a working
NES and an FF 1 cartridge. After that I started on FF 10 for the PS2 up at Cole's cabin. Since I didn't have a
PS2 or an emulator (no PS2 emulator exists now because they are illegal and it takes time for people to figure
out how to program it) it took me a lot longer, but I still beat it.
Then I beat FF 2 on the Nintendo. Final Fantasy II on the NES was never released in America, so the
version I got was translated into English. Same with Final Fantasy III for the NES. It was never released in
America, so people had to translate the whole thing. All of the old Final Fantasies I have are in ROM format. I
don't have the cartridges. ROMs are just files that act like cartridges for the emulators. In case you're
wondering, this is all illegal, so let's keep it on the DL (down low).
Anyway, I was playing FF 3 and I thought I was fighting the last boss, but when I beat him, there was
some more stuff I had to do but I couldn't because I had to go to work. I didn't start until 12:15 today, but I
left really early because I had to go to Echo's house to ask her parents if it was alright if I could take her to
a concert for her birthday. Ofcourse she couldn't be there because it's got to be a surprise. Anyway, I got there
and no one was home and I was going to be late for work, so I just left, planning to do it on another occassion.
Well, I got to work and I looked at my schedule for the day to see what parties I would be working at, and
I had to work at four different parties today! Usually we only get one or two, but today was really really busy.
So I went to my parties and worked and everything. It was really boring and routine until I went on break. I got
an hour break after all my parties at 7:30. So I go in to the employee's kitchen and I get something to eat.
Lately the kitchen has been showing Disney movies because they have T.V.'s in there and they don't use them for
anything, so I was watching that, but I can't remeber the name of the movie. It was the one with the foxes and the
story was a lot like Robin Hood.
Anyway, after about a half hour, Echo and her brother Aaron came in, so we were talking, and it seemed like
Echo was having a rough day. So I tried to cheer her up, but I don't know if that helped at all. Then this other
girl came in, and we've both been trying to get each other wet the past couple of days, so as she's walking out the
door, I get my mug and go after her and she dumps all this pop on me and we get water everywhere and the kitchen
manager gets really mad and makes us clean it all up, and then she calls the GFS (group foods) manager and rats on
us. All this time Echo and Aaron are just laughing at me. So maybe that cheered Echo up a little.
But then we go back to the building and Tom, one of the managers, tells me to go return all of the grills
we used today. Since it was a really busy Saturday, there were grills at almost all of the terraces at Lagoon. So
I grab this kid named Casey to come help me and we're talking and everything because we're pretty good friends.
Well we're at this one terrace and there are a ton of cans of pop in these big ice bins, so we asked the guests
there if we could have some and they said it would be fine. So we stocked up on some pop and went back to the main
building.
When we got there, one of the cool supervisors name Lindsay was gathering stuff up to return to the
warehouse (like crates and stuff). And she told us to sneak out to the employee's parking lot to help her seran
wrap another supervisor's car. So Casey and I sneak out there and we're waiting for them and they cruise by on
an electric car we use to haul stuff around and she gives us a roll of seran wrap. So we start wrapping it up,
but there was only enough to go around the car twice, so it wasn't that great. So Casey and I just sneak back to
the building and then Tom sends me to do some more errands.
When I got back from that, Casey told me that Sasha, the head honcho in GFS, gave them some foil to wrap
someone else's car, and they did while I was gone, but they were going back to take pictures, so I got on the
Pope-Mobile (It's what we call one of the little electric cars because it's white and it has a wierd storage thing
on it that make's it look like the Popemobile). Anyway, it only seats two people and we had four people piled on
there. When we all get off to take pictures, I got in the driver's seat and Lindsay didn't really care, so I took
it up to warehouse with supervisor Ashley sitting shotgun and Casey and Lindsay in the back shell. It was so cool
'cause I was just flooring it and taking really sharp turns and stuff and I wasn't even supposed to drive it.
Anyway, we got back to the building and I finally got checked out at 12:30 at night. So really the date on
this should be the 17th, but oh well. Anyway, I had Tom call my parents because I didn't think that they would
believe I worked that late. Then I gave Echo a ride home and she had had a really stressful day she said. I kind
of tried to cheer her up, but it was one in the morning, so I don't think I really helped at all.
When I pulled up to her house in Layton, her dad was waiting outside, and I thought he was waiting for her
because it was so late but it looked like he was working on his sprinklers. Anyway, I got out to open her door
(just like I always do, so I wasn't doing it just because her dad was right there), and I said hi to her dad, and
then she went inside then I pulled out. Then about a block down the street I pulled a U-turn and stopped back at
her house to ask her dad his permission to take Echo to that Evanesance concert coming up. She absolutely loves
them, so I thought it would be a great present for her. I just wanted to make sure it was alright with her parents.
But her dad didn't see anything wrong with it, and when I got home my parents didn't see anything wrong with it, so
it looks like I've got her a birthday present now. I just have to get the tickets, but other than that it's good
to go! -
August 15, 2003
2003-12-15 14:57:01
8-15-03
Alright, that was kind of a strange way to end my last entry, but I'll try to pick up where I left off.
Spanish class was really challenging for me, I never seemed to pay attention. However, I did pull of a
pretty good grade, and I got college credit for it.
Eighth period was AP Calculus taught by the best teacher in the world, Mrs. Heiter. That class was a good
challenge for me. Even though I got really far behind on my homework, I aced the tests, plus I earned a 5 on the
AP test! (The AP tests are graded on a scale from 1 to 5). As for my other AP tests, I got a 2 on the American
History test (3 is passing) and a 4 on the Computer Science class.
The only other thing worth mentioning from last school year is spring break. It was me, Dave, Cole, Nate,
Justin, Chris, Joe, and Mark. We went up to Cole's cabin with all our computers and had a four day LAN party. It
was great. Except for the first night because I woke up at 2:00 AM (after going to sleep at 1:30 AM) vomiting in
one of Cole's beds. It was everywhere. I spent the next 24 hours pretty much just sleeping. I had some Pepto
Bismol, and that helped, but I couldn't move without having searing pain pound in my head.
The next day I felt just fine, but I started playing Final Fantasy X on Dave's PS2. I sat and played that
for sixteen hours straight. The only breaks I had were bathroom breaks and eating breaks. That record still
stands amongst my friends.
After spring break nothing much happened in school except the AP tests, and my little run in with Pfister,
because he thaught I was hacking. At graduation the Acapella Choir sang, so I had front row seats to that. It
was kind of cool to see what was in store for me this year. I can't believe I'll be graduating soon. It's just
so weird.
Anyway, this summer I'm working at Lagoon again. It's all pretty much the same stuff, except I don't have
to ride the bus. Unless ofcourse I get in trouble, then my punishment is having to ride the bus to work. That's
how much I hate it.
With last summer's girl being a realy bad experience, I promised myself that I wouldn't date anyone from
work. I stuck with my promise up until about last month. Her name is Echo (no wise cracks about the name, she
really hates that). I met her last year, but she was just an acquaintance. She is a really quiet girl, so it was
really hard at first to talk to her. However this year we just saw each other alot around work and we started to
talk alot. Then one day when I was driving out of the employee's parking lot I saw her walking towards the
entrance. I stopped and asked if she'd like a ride. She declined and said that she had already called her dad and
that he was on her way. A little disappointed, I left. But, the next day she came up to me and asked if she could
have a ride because it took her dad a long time to get there. So after that I pretty much became her ride home. It
turns out that Echo lives just a couple blocks from Joanne, from last year, but I didn't say anything. Echo lives
in Layton right off the freeway, so it's not really out of the way for me.
Echo and I became pretty good friends after a while, then she asked if I wanted to come on a date with her.
The plan was that I'd bring a friend and she'd bring a friend and it would be like a double date. Well, none of my
friends ever made it, so I ended up just going down to Layton on my own. But it was worth it.
I met Echo and her friend Rachel at Echo's house and then we went to Rachel's house to watch a movie. On
our way over we picked up some stuff for root beer floats. When we got to Rachel's house we just played some board
games and then ordered pizza. After we went and got the pizza, we came back and watched "How to Loose a Guy in 10
Days." The movie was okay, but it was enjoyable because it was with Echo.
After the movie, we played some more board games and then we just sat and talked until about two in the
morning. It was really fun and I learned alot about Echo. It really weird, the more I get to know her, the more
I like her. Usually when you get to know people better, you start to pick out little things that bug you. But
it's not that way, it's so cool.
Anyway, that was June 25. I remember because it was also Cole's birthday. On my way home I stopped at
Cole's and he was having a little LAN party with Dave and Chris. I ended up staying the night and I didn't get home
until 7:30 in the morning. But strangely my parents didn't care. It was really weird. Usually that would have
gotten me grounded for two years, but maybe they were just glad that I was finally socializing with girls. See, my
whole junior year I didn't talk to any girls, I didn't go on any dates, and I didn't go to any of the dances. So I
think my parents were just relieved.
About a week later we had another date. This time Dave could go, too, so Rachel actually had a date. We
ate at Chili's and then saw "Johny English." After that we just all played in the park across from Layton High.
That was a really fun date also.
Then about a week after that, on a day we both had off from work, she wanted me just to come and hang out
with her and go to her cousin's wedding reception. So ofcourse I flew down to Layton just to be with her. We
watched Men in Black II, then went to eat at the Burger Stop. I believe this was Thursday, August 7. While we were
eating she asked me if I was in to knives and swords. I said I was because I am, and she told me about this place
that has some really cool stuff across the street. She took me over there and we just looked around for the fun of
it, or at least that's what I thought it was for. Anyway, we then took a stroll around the block and then went
to her cousin's wedding reception, which was okay. It was really fun because I was with Echo, but other than that
it was just like any other wedding reception.
Five days later on my birthday (August 12), I was working at Lagoon when she shows up (it was her day off)
and she gives me a present. I opened it, and it was a really cool knife from that shop we were at. I was so
impressed. She actually put alot of thought into a gift for me. I thought it was really nice. Well, her
birthday's coming up (August 26), so I've been trying to come up with something to get her that she will like as
much as I liked her knife. I was talking to her brother, Aaron, who also works at Lagoon. I get along well with
him and we're pretty good friends. Anyway, I was talking to Aaron about what I could get Echo and he said that
she really likes dolphins and candles. So I figured I would get her a candle, but that just didn't seem enough.
Then Aaron starts talking about the Evanescence concert coming up and how he wants to go. So I ask Echo if she was
going, and she said that she hadn't heard anything about it, but she would love to go. So it hit me like a ton of
bricks, I'll get her tickets to go to the concert. But, I've got to get permission from her parents just to see
if it's alright with them. I'm going to do that tomorrow on my way to work since Echo will already be at Lagoon.
Oh ya, I forgot to mention our best date. It was two nights ago on the 13th. (Who said 13 is unlucky?)
I gave her a ride home from work like usual. When we got to her house she invited me in to see her new puppy,
Storm. So we went inside and I saw the puppy, which was pretty cool. Then since we had gotten off a little earlier
than usual, we decided to go over the burger stop and grab a shake. The only bad part was that I still had my
uniform from Lagoon on, and I had nothing to change into. But, that wasn't too big of a deal. We sat and talked
for almost an hour straight. We talked about so much stuff, it was so nice. Then I took her back home, and I
opened her door for her, then I got back in my truck (really my dad's truck) and waited for her to go inside. But
it looked like she was locked out. So I got out and she said that she thought her parents had left and she was
locked out, so we walked to her neighbor's house to get a pair of keys, but just as we were walking back her parents
pulled up so she didn't need the keys. Anyway, her parents unlocked the door for her, and right before she went
inside she gave me a hug. It doesn't sound like much, but it was so nice coming from her.
Then I gave her a ride home today and we hugged again. I probably sound really pathetic but I think it's
so nice. It just feels so right. I just hope I don't do anything stupid to ever screw this up. -
August 14, 2003
2003-12-15 14:56:29
8/14/03
At my last bishop's interview, I admitted that I hadn't been keeping a very up-to-date journal. He
suggested that I type it on the computer since I'm on it so much, so I am.
I'll start where I left off in my journal. May 1, 2002. Well, I think it was May 3 when we went to the
Pop Disaster Tour. It was a pretty fun night. Me, Dave, Mark, Justin, and Tyler Woods (an aquaintance from
school) went down to the E-Center to see Jimmy Eat World, Green Day, and Blink 182. At the time I hadn't heard
much from Jimmy Eat World, but I still liked it. We had General Admission tickets, which was the floor right in
front of the stage, no seats. We were so close to the singers and we were jumping around in the mosh pits and
crowd surfing, it was really fun. Up until I tried to crowd surf. I got lifted up onto the crowd and was surfed
towards the stage when some jerk yanked off my right shoe and threw it at Billy Joel (lead singer for Green Day).
I tried to get it back, but the secruity didn't let me near the stage. So I got seperated from my friends and I
searched around for anybody willing to sell their right shoe to me. Needless to say, nobody took the offer. Well,
the rest of the night went pretty good ... whoa, I lost my train of thought. See I have the T.V. on right now,
and I saw a toothpaste commercial and I felt a strong urge to brush my teeth. Anyway, ya, that night was okay.
As I remember the rest of that school year was pretty uneventful except with my run in with the
administration. See, all the seniors were pulling of these gutsy stunts since school was almost over for them. So
I figured I would pull one off and blame it on a senior. I actually got the idea after watching an episode of
Recess one Saturday morning. I conjured this extravagant plan to drop eggs from the ceiling of the auditorium on
one of the administrators during an assembly. I got together with one of the seniors on the tech crew who could
get me into the school after hours and who had extensive knowledge on the auditorium. Well, we set up the
scafolding and duct taped a bucket to the light grid above the stage (the bucket's still there amazingly). We put
eggs in it and attached a string that ran through the ceiling to the catwalk where we could pull it and get out
quickly. If you're ever around Weber High, you should check out the auditorium and see what I'm talking about.
We did all this on a Friday because we thought the assembly would be on Monday. Well, the assembly wasn't Monday,
it was later in the week, and during that week, someone found the string, pulled it, and eggs went all over the
stage. A friend of the techie that helped me ratted me out and I had my first encounter with Mr. Pfister, the vice
principal. He is not a very pleasant man. I hate him with a passion still today. I was suspended for two days,
during which I had to work with my Mom one day at Primary Children's, and with my Dad the other day at Living
Scriptures in the mail room.
More of my punishment was that I was to be put on in-school suspension during yearbook day (the last day
of school) and I was not to get my yearbook until later. Well, I wasn't about to sit in the office all day, so I
had my friend Chris buy me a yearbook, and we just dodged Pfister that whole day.
During that summer I worked down at Lagoon in the Group Foods department. We catered to parties there.
I had to ride the bus there everyday for two hours because I wasn't sixteen until August. The bus rides in itself
were little adventures. There were transients, drug addicts, alcoholics, and fellow 'Goonies (Lagoon employees).
Work was okay. When I was fifteen I was only paid $4.55 an hour. Minimum wage is $5.15, but apparantly, since I
was under sixteen, and it was a seasonal job, they didn't have to pay me minimum. The first couple months are kind
of a blur because it was so impersonal. In Group Foods there are hundreds of kids running around following the
supervisor's orders. At fifteen, I could only work eight hours a day, five days a week, and I could not work past
8:45. However, when I turned sixteen, everything changed.
First, I'll talk about my sixteenth birthday. At the time I was seeing a girl from work named Joanne. I
thought it was pretty serious but I guess it was just another one of those mindless flings I have with girls. We
only went on one "date," and it was to Lagoon, so it wasn't that great. All we did was make out in the lines for
the rides. She seemed like a nice girl, but I didn't find too much in common between us, and I could never really
talk to her. This date was before I turned sixteen (sinner!) so we had to ride the bus there. I really only saw
her at work and talked on the phone with her (she lived in Layton so it was hard to get together, especially
without a driver's license). After our Lagoon date, things kind of just fell apart and we just stopped talking to
each other.
Anyway, I was supposed to be talking about my birthday. In the morning I took the bus down to Lagoon just
so I could see Joanne, actually I think I had to hand in some paper work too, but I'm not sure. Anyway, later that
day, I had to go to court to testify about this fight I witnessed at school about a year before. Then, as soon as
I got home from that, I left for scout camp.
Our young men's leader, Thayne, put together this amazing backpacking trip through the Tetons. We started
near Driggs, Idaho and hiked up into Alaska Basin. We then descended the other side and ended up at Jenny Lake.
This took around three days, and we sure showed it when we arrived at the tourist-infested Jenny Lake. We decided
to take the ferry across with all our gear from the trip. We looked very odd with our 40-pound backpacks when
everyone else looked like the were out for a stroll in the park.
We then stayed in a camp site in Jackson Hole and our fathers drove up. Even my dad my it. We rafted the
Snake river with Bishop Arrington (who wasn't the bishop back then), he knows that river better than he knows
himself. He is up there every weekend going down that in his inflatable raft.
We rafted Friday and Saturday, each trip took a couple of hours. My dad and I headed home in the middle
of the day Saturday. He drove up in the Red Geo Metro. It's a manual, and he had me drive all the way home. It
was scary because it was the first time I had driven a stick. Anyway, on September 12th, I got my lisence and my
parents bought a minivan so that I could drive the Metro. But I'm getting off the subject, if there is one.
Anyway, when I turned sixteen I had the opportunity to work later and longer hours. After 8:45, only a
handful of "black-badge" employees are left. (14 and 15 year olds had their names printed in red on their id cards,
those 16 and older had their names in black.) I socialized a lot better with the supervisors and the other black
badger employees and made a few friends.
But then school started and soon after my job at Lagoon ended. My junior year was pretty good. I suffered
academically, I really hope that won't put a damper on my application to the Air Force Academy. My classes included
AP American History, taught by the insane Mr. Wayment, who must have been at Weber High for longer than it's been
around. That year was his last year of teaching because he retired. I believe he had the same mentality towards
teaching that year as a senior has his last year of school. He seemed very out of it and didn't really care too
much about anything.
After History was Acapella Choir, taught by Mr. Wood. That was a class of over 120 students. Mr. Wood is
Kory's dad. Kory and I used to hang out alot in 6th and 7th grades. Choir was okay. It took alot of time and
effort and I didn't really feel satisfied with the results. Weeks of practice for a particular concert wasn't that
great.
From Choir I went to AP Computer Science taught by Ms. Murphy. That was the funnest class. We learned how
to program in C++ and how to goof off on the computers. I learned so much stuff from that class, not just about
programming, but about getting around computers. I actually got accused of hacking in that class. The charge was
completely bogus, and Pfister didn't know what he was talking about, but he still tried to screw me over, but thanks
to Ms. Murphy, I was safe. I owe a lot to her.
After Computer Science was lunch, and after lunch was English (at least for the first semester, my schedule
got rearranged, but the classes stayed the same.) English 11 Honors was the worst class I have ever had this
misfortune of taking. The neo-feminist fascist Ms. VanOrden was the supreme being of that class. She was a very
liberal left-winged feminist who always tried empress her views on us. I sincerely believe that she teaches in Utah
just to cause controversey. She absolutely loves discussing politics with the very conservative students. I hate
her almost as much as Pfister.
On B days (A days are periods 1-4, B days are periods 5-8) my day started with Seminary with Brother
Pendergast. He is the only seminary teacher I have ever disliked. I swear he was half Jewish. He had a Manora in
his class and he often wore a Yamuka (I don't care for Hebrew spelling). He was always such a bore. This was his
first year teaching, and luckily after the first semester, he was gone. I almost always slept in on B-days so I
wouldn't have to sit through his class. I still have 11 hours of make up to do, though.
After seminary I went to the easiest science class ever - Physics Principals of Technology (POT). Mr.
Rhoades taught this class, even though there was not much to teach. I was surrounded by idiots in that class. I
enrolled in this class because somehow it gave me college credit through the concurrent enrollment program. I
thought it would be much tougher.
Spanish IV came after POT. Mrs. Wood taught this class. (NOT Mr. Wood's wife) She was a very young
teacher (my dad mistook her for a student at Parent Teacher Confrences). But I shared that class with Cole, so it
was alright.
I fell asleep, and now I have to go to work, so I'll pick up where I left off later today.
JOURNAL: squall1986 (J.J. Montgomery)
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