Any idiot can drive fast in a straight line

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Survey
* General stuff...
Full name: Michael Paul Bibik Jr
Age: 23
Place of birth: Southfield, MI
Birthdate: 08.04.1980
Nicknames: M.
Current residence: Bellevue, WA
Previous residences: Livonia, MI; Ann Arbor, MI
Occupation: Program Manager, Critical Response Team, Windows Mobile, Microsoft
Previous jobs: Dishwasher/icre cream scooper @ Rebecca's, clerk/photo tech @ Rite Aid, cook @ South Quad Down Under, system administrator @ UMich Student Publications, intern@Yazaki North America, CTO @ Buzzhost.com
Parents' names: Cheryl, Louise and (to some extent) Michael Sr.
Siblings: NA
Pets: Well, I have three cats at my parent's house: Buster, Lucky and Ty (all kitties)
Eye color: Hazel leaning toward green
Hair color: dark brown
Hair style: Short, clipper side and back, usually combed forward
Height: 5'11"
Weight: Pushing 190lbs.
Piercings: NA
Tattoos: NA
Shoe size: 11-13 depending on the shoe style
Race: Caucasian
Religion: NA, I have no faith either
Zodiac sign? Leo

* Favorites...
Favorite food: Spicy chicken pad thai, grilled salmon
Favorite restaurant: P.F. Chang's, Macaroni Grill
Favorite fast food: Arby's, Wendy's
Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Diet coke, decaf vanilla latte
Favorite alcoholic drink: Bass ale, rum and coke Favorite actor: Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt (yeah, yeah, I know...)
Favorite actress: NA
Favorite movie(s): The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Se7en, Fight Club, American Beauty
Favorite tv show(s): SportsCenter, 24
Favorite singer/group: Radiohead, Aereogramme, Sparta, Hot Snakes
Favorite song: Hot Snakes - If Credit's What Matters, I'll Take Credit; System of a Down - Chop Suey!; Bad Religion - Give You Nothing; Belly - Superconnected; Blackalicious - Chemica Calisthenics; Coldplay - Trouble; Esthero - Breath From Another; Mudvayne - Death Blooms; Sunny Day Real Estate - Guitar and Video Games; The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
Favorite color: Midnight blue, fire engine red, dark silver
Favorite animal: Cats, degus
Favorite teacher: Dr. Steven Easter, neurobiology
Favorite toy: Computers, Pocket PC Phone Edition, Smartphones
favorite place to shop: Best Buy, Home Depot
Favorite websites: slashdot.org, fark.com, google.com, slickdeals.net
Favorite month: NA
Favorite season: Fall
Favorite candy: Peanut M&Ms, Snickers
Favorite fruit: Just about all of it
Favorite thing in your room: Super comfortable bed with 1000 (yes, three zeros) thread count sheets
Favorite radio station: 107.7
Favorite flower: Tulips
Favorite sport(to play/to watch): Racquetball (play it every day), football, hockey
Favorite halloween costume: NA
Favorite bible verse: Definitely NA
Favorite roller coaster: Raptor
Favorite vacation: Well, my vacation with my family to San Fransisco was interesting because I had never been in California, let alone that area; Palo Alto is everything Ann Arbor wishes to be. My spring break trip down to Florida with 7 girls was also fairly amusing
Favorite memory you wish you could relive: Almost all of college, other than the studying and exams part
Favorite concert i've been to: Hot Snakes @ The Magic Stick
Favorite activity: Playing on the computer, working out, crying about not having a fast car
Favorite board game and/or card game: Euchre, Trivial Pursuit, Scattergories
Favorite magazine: Motor Trend, PC World
Favorite thing to do on the weekend: Sleep in, be lazy around the apartment, go out at night
Favorite soundtrack: NA
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Favorite day of the week: Saturday
Favorite quotes: "One must have chaos within to give birth to a dancing star" - Nietzsche
Favorite number: 4, 12
Favorite jello flavor: Strawberry
Favorite salad dressing: Fat free zesty italian
Favorite perfume/cologne: Allure

* Random Questions...
What is your dream car? Rally spec Focus RS WRC '03 or Evolution
How many times did you fail your driver's test? NA
What's your dream job? CIO of a Fortune 500 company
Who is your best friend? Jeff, Jamie, Jenn, Chris, Eric
How about your best online friends? Alicia
What do you think of ouija? NA
What's your bedtime? Usually 12:30 PM
What toothpaste do you use? Crest Whitening
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Six feet under
What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? Let's just sleep in a bit longer; I took a shower last night so I can skip that this morning
Do you get motion sickness? Ocassionally when I haven't been in a car for a while (weeks)
Roller coasters—deadly or exciting? Exciting.
What are some future son names? Alex
Future daughter names? Julia
Do you like to drive? I adore driving. It used to be my primary source of stress relief, but now I just sleep or workout
Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? NA
Thunderstorms: cool or scary? Cool. Why would they be scary?
What do you wear to bed? T-shirt or undershirt and boxers
What is your method of falling asleep? Make sure I'm tired enough to fall asleep, hop in bed. The overwhelming comfortable nature of the bed takes care of the rest
If a guy asked for the shirt on your back, would you give it to him? Yes
Have you ever been in love? Yes
What's on the walls in your room? Right now? Nothing. I haven't had a chance to finish decorating my room
Do you type with your fingers on the right keys? Yes
When you meet a person of the opposite sex, what do you notice first? Overall dimensions, facial structure, hair, eyes
When you meet a person of the same sex, what do you notice first? Build, facial structure
Do you eat chicken fingers with a fork? No
If you could be a garden tool, what would you be? Napalm
What's under your bed? Two under-the-bed boxes (surprise surprise) filled with random stuff like extra PS2 controllers, duct tape, sewing kit, etc
What color is your toothbrush? I think it's blue and purple
What's the best advice you've ever gotten? Communication is key.
What's the best advice you've ever given? Ask whomever received said best advice because I certainly do not remember.
How many books of the bible have you read? None, thank god (pun intended, haha)
What is the last thing you ate? The 520 Special (BBQ pork sandwich with a hot link) and lemon cake at Dixie's
How many of your buddies are online? 25 on AIM, 10 on Windows Messenger (Microsoft internal messaging)
What's your ideal guy/girl? Easy to talk to, intelligent, filled with common sense, practical, exciting, funny, attractive, ambitious
What's your dream date? Anything that revolves around an in-depth, revealing conversation
Do you collect anything? I used to collect Akira manga, maybe I should finish off the series
Who is the perfect couple? NA
Where do you want to live? I'm happy here in the Pacific Northwest, but Chicago and Boston are both intriguing
Where do you want to honeymoon? Japan
How old do you want to be when you get married? Sometime before 29
How many kids do you want to have? Two
What's the best gift you've ever gotten? A huge wad of cash from my parents for high school graduation
Do you get along with your parents? It's better now that I am no longer dependent on them. If they start to get pissy, I simply threaten to leave. That solves just about everything
If a tree fell in the woods and nobody is there, would it still make a sound? Yes
Most embarrassing moment: Honestly, I feel the most embarassed when I call people the wrong name.
Pet peeve: Washington drivers, people insisting they are right when they are wrong, inconsiderate people in general

* Have you ever...
Been attacked by a big dog? Yes, and I have a huge scar on my face to prove it!
Been to africa? No
Been toilet papering? Yes
Been toilet papered? No
Been in a car crash? Sort of. We were the third car in a chain of five cars that was hit at a stop light when the brakes went out on someone's car
Had a boyfriend/girlfriend? Yes If so who? Jenny Meek, Jeni Borrusch, Emily Lahtinen, Jamie Adamson, Katherine Herbruck, Laura Washnock-DiPietro and Leah Trzcinski (last names included in case you wanted to google them)
Been kissed? Yes
Been asked out? Yes
Said yes? Yes
Asked someone out? Yes. Ok, let me see if I can figure out who asked whom for each of the people previously listed: JM, she asked; JB, she asked; EL, I initially asked and was turned down, later she asked me and I accepted; JA, we both sort of revealed that we liked each other and it developed from that; KH, we both knew something was developing but I ended up making the first move; LWD, we both knew something was developing but she made the first move; LT, I asked
Smoked? No and I never will
Been arrested? No
Been to another country? Canadaland
Made prank calls? No
Stayed up all night? Yes
Ordered from qvc? No
Called a psychic? No
Had detention? Twice. Once for tripping a kid in middle school and once for goofing off in chemistry in high school
Taken a picture of yourself with a milk mustache and sent it to the milk people? No
Gotten into a fight with your pet? Buster and I play fight all the time
Been to new york? No, but i'm going in like 10 days!
Been to Florida? Yes
Been to California? Yes
Been to Hawaii? No
Been to Mexico? No
Been to China? No
Danced naked? Yes
Wished you were the opposite sex? No
Had an imaginary friend? No
Had a dream about something really crazy and then it happens? No
Stalked someone? Yes
Had a mud bath? No

* Do you prefer...
Oen or pencil? Medium pen or thin mechanical pencil, depending on what I'm working
Rain or snow? Rain. I live in Seattle!
Day or night? Night
Chocolate or white milk? White
Cookies or cake? Cookies
Coke or pepsi? Diet Coke
Sprite or 7up? Diet Sprite
Mt. dew or surge? Diet Mountain Dew
Chocolate or vanilla? Milk Chocolate
Type or write? Type. Have you seen my handwriting?
Summer or winter? Summer
Coffee or cappuccino? Coffee
Shower or bath? Shower
Boxers or briefs? Boxers
Hot or cold? Cold
Apples or bananas? What type of apple? If it's something tasty like a fuji or gala, then apples
Condo or house? House
Santa or rudolph? Santa
Math or english? Math
Wal-mart or Target? Target
Chocolate or vanilla cake? Milk Chocolate
Croutons or bacon bits? Croutons
Two doors or four on a car? Two
Coffee or coffee ice cream? Coffee
Mud or jello wrestling? Jello

* Who was the last person to...
Call you? Jeff
Sleep in your bed? Jamie (not as bad as it sounds...)
Spend the night? Jamie (also, not as bad as it sounds...)
Share a drink with you? Jeff, Russell, Lee, Dan, Anna, Aaron
Go to the movies with you? Jeff and his girlfriend
Accompany you to the mall? Jamie
Yell at you? Leah
Send you an e-mail? Test lead of my team at work

* Which one of your friends...
Have you know the longest? Chris
Knows you best? Jamie
Is the loudest? Dan
Is the quietest? Jenn
Is the most funny? Chris Z.
Will be famous? Unknown
Will have the most kids? Unknown
Will get married first? Unknown
Will invent something? Unknown
Will be on t.v.? Unknown
Will break a record? Unknown

* Do you believe in...
god? No
Aliens? Other life forms, yes
Heaven? No
Hell? No
Yourself? No
Love at first sight? No

* What's the first thing you think of when you see the following words...
Red: The color of my bathroom
Blue: Sky
Green: Grass
Pink: Cotton candy
Purple: Underwear (what can I say; I'm a freak)
Black: The Evo I almost bought
White: Shoe laces
Sheep: Wool
Dog: Stench
Cat: Buster
Winter: That soy sauce stuff that UMich used one winter to remove ice and snow but ended up staining all of the buildings
Summer: Driving
Spring: Laying out in parks
Autumn: Running through leaves
School: Textbooks
Church: Weddings
Socks: My stuffed drawer full of them
Friends: The meaning of life

* Last question...
Did you have fun filling this out? It was a great way to kill time at work

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Jeff and I have started an actual honest-to-goodness workout routine. We are shooting to work out at least 5 times a week (more depending on work load and possible visitors) and we are going to track our progress. Currently, we take a notebook with us to record the exercises, weight and reps. When I get back to work the next day, I update an Excel spreadsheet with the data. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the information, but never fear. I'm a huge dork; I'm bound to make charts and graphs representing our progress.

Since we also play racquetball every day, we sometimes don't get enough time to do as many exercises as desired. Yesterday we were able to get through bench press, leg press, rope tricep pushdown, lateral pulldown, left and right obliques, hamstrings, and abdominals.

In the past two days, I found out that a lot of people still check this site at least a few times a week for updates. Maybe I should give the people what they want!

Monday, August 18, 2003

More pictures!

Sunday, August 17, 2003

I think I'm going to adapt certain automobile terms from the UK. Here are some proposed changes:

  • Hood = Bonnet
  • Tires = Tyres
  • Gas = Petrol
  • Sedan = Saloon
  • Wagon = Estate

My car has barely 2,300 miles on it and I already have to make an insurance claim. I was driving on 520 from my apartment to the good Target in Redmond. I'm following behind a Red Ford Expedition at a decent distance. Out of nowhere, I see that he is about to run over a 4'x4' piece of plywood. The SUV drives directly over it so that it goes between his wheels. The downforce air pressure from the SUV causes the wood to fly up into the air.

It flips slowly and at just the right angle so that when I PLOW into it, it is like hitting a wall. Most of the board shatters into hundreds of car-scratching pieces but one 1.5'x1.5' chunk sticks to my bumper since I'm driving 60 MPH. I pull off to the shoulder, slow down, the piece slides down and I run it over (possibly causing unseen tire damage).

I just called the insurance agent and thankfully it will be covered. Unfortunately, the adjuster is booked until next Saturday and I will have to pay my $250 comprensible deductible. Oh well, I'm not that upset. If I had bought a sports car, I would have been a bit peeved.

Here are some pictures of the damage: