Happy Thanksgiving! technically it isn't until tomorrow, but I'm excited because it's my first Thanksgiving since 2005. The last two years I spent the holiday in England one year and in Ireland the next.
A couple of years ago Thanksgiving surpassed xmas and became my favorite holiday. I'm not sure what it is about the holiday that I really like so much but I will never complain about having 4 days off from work or school.  ¶ 11:01 AM

  San Diego, the city that I have called home for the past 5 months is considered one of the top 10 largest cities in America. I became pretty interested in the statistics that make a city large according to the census bureau, what I found was that population within the city limits is the only thing that it goes by.
San Diego's city limits cover 325 square miles, which if you aren't a geography geek like me is extremely large. New York City is only 302 square miles, and almost every inch of that is covered with residential, or commerical property. The area that is included in the 325 square miles of San Diego includes mountains, dessert, forrest, a small downtown area, and some residential neighborhoods surrounding it. After having looked at this information I think maybe it is time we redefined what is considered a city.
I looked the population density of the 10 biggest cities according to population in the country and what i found was that almost none of them rank near the top in terms of density. The one except is New York City, it is the biggest city no matter which way you look at it. Without further ado here are the 10 most densely populated cities or towns in America.

1.) New York City - 26,403 people per sq. mile

2.) Paterson, NJ - 17,764 people per sq. mile

3.) San Francisco, CA - 16,632 per sq. mile

4.) Jersey City, NJ - 16,111 per sq. mile

5.) Cambridge, MA - 15,836 per sq. mile

6.) Daly City, CA- 13,634 Per sq. Mile

7.) Chicago, IL - 12,752 per sq. mile

8.) Santa Ana, CA - 12,471 per sq. mile

9.) Inglewood, CA - 12,371 per sq. mile

10.) El Monte, CA - 12,079 per sq. mile

  ¶ 3:24 PM

 
I'm writing this post from work. In the past few months I have been extremely busy, especially when I am here at work. The days and weeks have just flown by. Before I know it the year will be over and we'll be in 2009. There are a few things I would like to accomplish before 2008 is over however, and here is the list.

1.) Save $2,000 for a down payment on a car

2.) Purchase a plane ticket from San Diego to London for March

3.) Begin my 2010 World Cup Savings fund

4.) Start playing either basketball or tennis on a regular basis

In Case you haven't noticed most of the things I want in my life right now involve some form of money, if only i could get more of it quickly, I would be all set.  ¶ 11:46 AM

  I started working at Ashford University in June, and it has been 5 months now. In those 5 months we have only had the 4th of July off and Labor Day in Sept. Compared to when I was in Ireland there would have been about 5 days off in that same time span. There was a Bank Holiday Monday just about once a month in Ireland and on top of that there were other holidays which made me feel like I wasn't spending my life at work. Since June I have also had to work a significant amount of Saturdays. This past Saturday was the 5th or 6th one I have worked since starting there. In my opinion the only time working a Saturday is a good thing, is if you own your own company and you want to earn extra profits. When you are working for someone else's company, helping them live thier dream, Saturdays are too valuable to work even 6 in a 5 month time span.
In essence what I'm really saying is that I still miss living in Europe, where people don't live to work, but only work to live.  ¶ 12:08 PM

 

I would be a fool not to write a post today. This is perhaps the most historic day of my entire life. I think that somehow between 2000 and 2008 liberals in America became accustomed to losing. Beginning with the election in 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote but somehow lost the election to George W. Bush, it became the norm for the conservatives to get there way. For 8 long years they got what they wanted, they voted for war, they increased taxes for the middle class, they helped big businesses get bigger, and eventually the people got tired of it. Today was election day and i have to say that for the first time in my life I am proud to call myself an American. I'm neither Democrat nor Republican, but from the trends I have seen in my 25 years on this planet when there is a Democrat in power in America things are better for the people I know. The people I know are middle-class, the people I know are below middle-class, the people I know don't own the giant corporations but they work for them in entry level positions. Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, and I'm not sure it has sunk in yet exactly what that means.
10 years ago, my friends and I laughed at the notion that a black man could be president in America. 5 years ago my friends and I thought it would be another 50 years before there was a minority president in America, 1 year ago I started to think it is possible we could have a black candidate for president, but never believed he could win. Today I stand corrected on everything I have ever known to be true.
You have to understand that my amazment is more than the simple fact that Barack Obama is a black man who has become president. There have been black men who have become president/prime minister for more than 40 years now all over the world. My amazement is in the fact that Barack Obama became president in the United States of America a country that I was sure would not be ready for a change like this for another half-a-century. Today I am proud of Americans all over this country for doing the right thing and electing the best candidate out of the slim pool we had to choose from. There are still many imperfections that we have to fix, but this was a giant step in the right direction.  ¶ 1:45 AM

  I'm finding it harder and harder to make the time to write my posts on this blog. I spend roughly 12 hours a day at work now-a-days, which sort of prohibits me from doing alot of things. I knew that I would need a car before I moved to San Diego, I didn't realize how badly I would have needed one until I was here however. I should have one in the next few months which will make my life a bit easier.
I turned 25 years old on October 19th and had a pretty good weekend to celebrate the milestone. Me and a couple friends from work went to Dave & Buster's which is pretty much the equivalent of Chuck E. Cheese for adults. It's a giant arcade, with beers, food, and lots of immature adults having a good time.  ¶ 1:44 PM