The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

[Ken]

Brow passed The Well to me. I've been looking forward to this stint.

Fire away, lads and lasses!!

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Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

what handsoap do you use, and does it have a scent?

[LesStrat]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Why do we keep painting rooms 'til after midnight for our renovations?

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

I would like the full story of how you came up with the now legendary COFFEE POT BONG.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

what handsoap do you use, and does it have a scent?

The generic version of Softsoap's Aquarium Series. I can't exactly identify the scent...it's pleasant, not overpowering or girly. My bathroom is done as an ocean theme with photographs and seashells from beach vacations. Presently, the big refill bottle for the smaller dispensers is Equate (Walmart's generic branding). Had I purchased the soap, it would be Meijer brand. I don't purchase anything at all from Walmart. It costs me about an extra $2 a month, and I'm okay with that. My parents, apparently, would rather have the $2 and perpetuate Walmart's atrocious business practices.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Why do we keep painting rooms 'til after midnight for our renovations?

Well, for me, a large part of that issue is start time. I repainted my bedroom in my first college house because it needed it badly. I moved in as a subleaser in the summer and took over the lease in the fall, so I had the summer to get it done. If left to my own devices, my natural sleep pattern seems to have me in bed around 2:30am or so and waking up sometime between 10:30am and noon. So... I wasn't even starting the project until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Compounding it with the fact that I hadn't painted a room in 7 years or so, and it was my first time doing it by myself without any experienced advice or assistance, and yeah, it took a while.


As for why it takes YOU so long, I figure you Nahleans types have the extra trouble of an added step of pumping hurricane / flood waters out of your house first.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

I would like the full story of how you came up with the now legendary COFFEE POT BONG.

That was during a phase in my life when I used occasionally... I generally DIDN'T post to the forums during those bouts because the few times I did, stuff that sounded nothing like me was posted.

The idea just popped into my head, I don't recall overthinking it too much, honestly. When we moved into our house last August, we found a plastic bin full of drug paraphernalia (huffing and smoking) from the previous tenants in the attic. Among the gems thrown in the trash immediately was a reusable waterbottle that had been fitted with a metal stem and gas mask (I'm not kidding!). It was kind of creepy to see, to be completely honest, but there was that element in back of my mind. In the game, after mentioning a feat of engineering, the test tube and coffeepot were what set the wheels in motion... the rest was stoner MacGyverism at work. I've never actually assembled and used makeshift paraphernalia. I was scouring the internet for different designs just because the ingenuity/desperation of other people was funny to me.

So....

The COFFEE POT BONG idea was mainly borne out of an ironic fascination with what I saw as a desperation of people to get high... proper paraphernalia isn't cheap but it isn't prohibitively expensive, and one doesn't need worry about things like paints, plastics and adhesives that would be found on normal household items. I also wanted to see what your/the forum's reaction would be to something so utterly ridiculous and out of left field.

[BigJoe77]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

How exactly are Meijer's practices better than Walmart's?

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What's your education background?

What's your vocation?

What's your relationship status?

What kind of car do you drive?

What kind of car will be the next car you drive?

Do you have plans for more education?

What kind of guitars do you have? Pedals? Amps?

Do you play out of the house or are you a bedroom rocker?

Do you mod guitars a lot or do you mostly keep them stock?

What is your greatest athletic strength?

What is your greatest mental strength?

-Hunter

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

How exactly are Meijer's practices better than Walmart's?

From what little I've gathered from acquaintances who are employees in either camp, Meijer treats theirs better. The staff at Meijer always seems a bit brighter too. The quality of the grocery, especially the meat and produce, completely destroys Wal-Mart's, and there's a greater selection to be had as well.

So far as actual business practices, Meijer is a lesser of two evils. There aren't many mom & pop or even local chain groceries in my area...the few that are are both overpriced and not better quality. Maybe being large, they have the buying power to lock down higher quality stuff than the locals do... If there were a good butcher nearby or farmer's market that was open hours I wasn't working, I'd love to support them. There was a local/organic co-op back in my college town, and I'd pop in every now and again. Unfortunately they were kind of a niche operation because they were just getting started, so I couldn't do all of my shopping there.


When my options are basically Meijer or Wal-Mart, Meijer wins everytime. I pretty much *only* buy groceries, toiletries and my Dickies work stuff there. If I want camping/outdoor equipment, home goods, etc etc I tend to go to a department or specialty store.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What's your education background?
I have a BS in Physics from Ball State University as of this previous May.

What's your vocation?
Currently I'm working part time for an express shipping company that favors purple and orange company colors. I stack your express boxes into flight containers, and for doing it only two weeks, I'd say I do a darn good job of being respectful of the contents. Everyone I work with is okay... I can work with them, but this isn't a career move for me. I'm still looking for a job where I can apply my degree.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What's your relationship status?
Single and fairly happy about it. I've been dating a girl this summer who's very good to me, she leaves in a week to finish school in Texas. An old crush happened back into my life about a month ago and we've really hit it off. She's settling into a new apartment about 90 minutes north of me for vet school and I'm pretty stoked to spend time with her. I'm at a point where I'm okay with casual dating, and if I decide I do want to get serious it's because I can see there being a future with that woman. In the past (being as recently as March/April), I was consumed with having a girlfriend and dated some real lemons. Now I look out for me first, and am actually having better luck finding women I'd be more compatible with as a result.


What kind of car do you drive?
I bought my first car this past November. It's a 2004 Honda Civic LX. Black 2-door, in near pristine shape for being 6 model years old. I'm the third owner, and the previous two barely drove it (it had about 44,000 miles on it when I got it). Since it's mine I obsess over taking care of it. I don't rice it out or try to be flashy in it. It has a hookup for my iPod that I really love. It's a 5-speed manual, has cruise control and working heat & A/C. I didn't want a whole lot more than that. It treats me well, I've been pulling close to 42 miles a gallon out of it the past few tanks by not being a leadfoot and doing a little hypermiling.

Prior to this, when I was driving (didn't have a car at college until this one) I was in my dad's 94 Civic CX. It's the old hatchback deal, still runs but is showing its age. I had some good times with that car in high school, but was in it yesterday going around town and MAN it rides rough compared to my 2004.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What kind of car will be the next car you drive?
Very likely something similar... preferably hybrid if the technology is worth it by that time. I wouldn't mind having a BMW or Mercedes for going out on the weekend, but I'd rather have a car that gets me from A to B and does so as easily on the wallet as possible. If I'm buying a toy, I'd rather it be a motorcycle.


Do you have plans for more education?
I do intend to get my masters for sure, and possibly a PhD. The thing is, right now I'm completely turned off by the academic world of physics. I love the science but I lived that life for the past 4 years and academic research is not for me at all. I'll likely end up in some other discipline so far as further education goes, and I'm okay with that. I have a lot of irons in several fires right now, so we'll see what direction I end up taking before going back to school.

That being said, I never intend to let the classroom get in the way of my education. I've been re-reading some of the literature from my undergrad studies and have been REALLY enjoying that I have the time to dig into them at my own pace. For school, it was a lot of skimming and quick notes, whereas I prefer to be a bit more thorough. I've been reading Machiavelli's "The Prince" before my shifts start and have really enjoyed it.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What kind of guitars do you have? Pedals? Amps?
So far as guitars, I have an LTD EC-300 with an A2P bridge and Cool Rails neck. I'd intended to put a cover over the Cool Rails but never got around to it. I really like the combination, especially with the spin-a-split wiring on each pup. It was a great setup for back in high school, going from jazz to rock to funk and pop with my high school jazz/pep band.

I still have my first electric and intend to keep it. It's an Epiphone telecaster from the 80s. Picked it up in a pawnshop. I gutted it and installed a Fernandes Sustainer system. It's a fun little rig, but a one trick pony. I completely abused the body of the guitar, rough sanded it, heat gunned it, threw it on an open grill. Put it back together with a hot-rod chrome bridge with flames. Drove two eye-rings in for strap "buttons" and use a heavy chain as a strap. Prior to all of this, this was the guitar I played on the 2001-2002 WGI Indoor Percussion circuit where my school won the world championship, and posted one of the highest scores in competition to date. Obviously the guitar has a huge sentimental value, and I'd never part with it anyway, but so far as monetary value goes it's a junker for sure.

I also have a Tradition 5-string neck-thru bass. I love that instrument and will have trouble finding something to stand up to it. It just fits me really well. I consider myself a bassist, so that one gets played the most.

I have two acoustics...one the first I bought and will probably pawn soon, the other a decent solid top that I picked up on the cheap when I worked at a guitar shop.

For amps, I just have a Kustom KGA-65 digital amp. It's okay. I plan to sell it and the LTD soon, put that money toward a bass amp.

Pedals: I was a huge pedal nut when I was younger. Currently I have a Tech-21 NYC Tri-AC that I think I'll keep just because I do love it. A Tech-21 Comptortion that I didn't appreciate as much as I should have when I first bought it (I was into the "scooped" sound...SDUGF turned me on to mids). Dunlop wah, a Digitech SynthWah, DigiDelay, Bass SynthWah and Bass Compressor. The two bass pedals and delay I'll probably keep for bass work, the rest I'm looking to part with as I don't get much out of guitar playing anymore.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Do you play out of the house or are you a bedroom rocker?
I hardly play at all these days. My last gig was a weekend thing like two or three years ago playing in an orchestra pit. I miss performing a lot, was never much of a bedroom player. Basically when I stopped having an outlet for performance, I stopped playing. I want to get back in, especially as a bassist. I've noodled around here and there, there's definitely some rust but I can tell the chops would come back very quickly.

Do you mod guitars a lot or do you mostly keep them stock?
As seen above, I modded my electric guitars...one for fun/show, the other actually met the purposes of performance I needed.