what if?

What if for one day you could be anyone you wanted to be? Who would you be? What would you want to be? What would you want to have? What would make you want to be them? What do they have that you do not? Well, if I was asked that question I would say Alex Rodriquez. I would choose him because he is a bad a** baseball player and he is rich. He is one of the most respected and talented baseball players in the history of the game. Yeah, he lost a lot of respect when he got caught using steroids when he was younger but honestly I think that almost every single successful professional sports player has tried some type of performance enhancing drug. Sports these days are so competitive that players feel that they have to "cheat" which in my opinion is ruining the game. Anyways, back to the topic. Alex Rodriquez is a member of the New York Yankees, which by the way I hate with a passion. I have actually seen with my own eyes his penthouse on the top floor of a huge building in New York. Who would not want to enjoy that luxury? He also has a luxurious pad in Miami. I have always wanted to go to Miami but less live there. That would be so awesome. There is no telling where else he has a house/penthouse/pad. All I am saying is that I would not mind being A-Rod for a day, week, or even a year. Ever since I was a little kid, I have always ranted to be Alex Rodriquez. He has been my role model for the most of my life. However, I really lost respect for him when I found out about the steroids he had taken in the past. He also has a hot wife!

what if?

What if the world ended in 2012? I know that the whole “the world is going to end in 2012" is a gigantic hoax because the Mayan calendar says so. What if the world ended in 2012, would you be ready to die. Do you think that you would have gotten the most out of life that you could? Do you think you would have gone the places you've always wanted to go? Do you think you would have done the things you wanted to do? I personally do not think that I would be able to get the most out of my life in two years. I am an adventurous guy and there are a lot of things that I want to do before I die. One example is sky diving, I have always wanted to sky dive and plan on doing it when I get out of college which will not be until 2013. Just like everyone else, I want to be able to start a family and raise my kids until they are old enough to live on there own. That is what life is all about, passing on what you have learned to your kids and family? In two years that would be impossible to obtain. Two years is just not long enough to do the things I want to do and see and accomplish. I do not believe that the world will end in 2012, I am just speaking hypothetically. What are your thoughts on what if the world ended in 2012, would you be ready? It is like being diagnosised with a deadly disease and only having 2 months to life. It is just not enough to live life to the fullest.

what if?

What if robots were introduced into the world as service providers? We are already extremely dependant on technology such as cell phones and computers. Our technology is only going to continue to advance and I do not see where it is going to stop. Robots would be beneficial only to those that are too lazy to do things themselves. I would say it is like comparing the situation to a momma's boy. A kid relies on his mom to do everything for him: clean his room, cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, wash his clothes, etc. I am sure that things will be done faster and more efficiently with robots but it would in the end cause more problems. I know that this is a little far fetched but if you have ever seen the movie iRobot it shows a lot of problems that could be faced if robots were in our population. What if one was not programmed well enough and did everything wrong. What if one of the robots started to harm people, we could not exactly kill it because I am sure it would be much stronger and faster than a human. If one small mistake was made in the programming, chances are that it was in an assembly line that many were produced in. This means that not just one would be messed up but many could be dangerous. I obviously opposed the entire thought of robots in households. Many people would become lazy and not do anything themselves. People would lose the drive to better themselves. One other reason I oppose this idea is because robots could easily turn against humans, there is no way to know what they are thinking.

The Hot Zone Reflection

The Hot Zone Reflection

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a true story about two diseases Ebola and Marburg that are on a killing rampage and to make matters worse they were incurable. Both of the viruses originated in monkeys. Initially, the scientists did not think the viruses could jump species until they did right in front of them. The Hot Zone was surprisingly a good book and that takes a lot for me to say because I am not very fond of reading. The author often compare to some of these diseases to AIDS and how it is a problem in our world because scientific research has no supplied a cure merely treatments. The first victim in the book was Charles Monet. He had been exposed to Marburg and it began to control his entire body. Preston brought to my attention the horrifying effects of this virus. Charles’ face was almost as if it was absent, he showed zero personality. Preston even brought me into the book through my sense of hearing when he talked about Monet’s random sounds of struggle as he attempted to form words and communicate. I found that The Hot Zone really has a reality check type affect on the reader. The book reminds the reader exactly how powerful just a little tiny virus can be and how easily one can be spread throughout a population. I came across a scary thought that many other readers of this book probably did and that is what if this happened, what if I was infected, etc. Anyone in their right mind would be terrified of a level four biological agent being released to any host the agent wanted. The scenes in the level four labs kept me on my toes when I read them. The guts it must have taken to only have three layers separating someone from a ruthless killing machine.
One reason I liked the book was because there was a lot of suspension through out the book. The author would make it seem that someone was going to die again from the disease but they would not. This type of method kept me guessing. I liked that because I do not like to know what is going to happen next. If I had any one to compare Preston to it would be a type of writer that writes thrillers and/or scary stories such as Stephen King. Another reason I would compare Preston to King is because they are different writers. They are not the typical writers that have a “happy ending” and the reader never knows what is coming next. Preston used a lot of imagery in this book which really added to it effects. Some of the images put in my head were rather gory but had to be so that I could realize exact how destructive these diseases are. Naturally as a human, I began to have emotions toward the people that were being tortured and dying from Marburg. The author erratic word choice tossed images in my head and put me next to Major Jaax as she operated on the sick monkeys after they had bled out. When Nancy Jaax first asked if she could participate in the level four researches, they told her “This work is not for a married female. You are either going to neglect your work or neglect your family.”(60) Nancy was stubborn enough not to consider her boss’s precautions and she went ahead and did it. I began to be bombarded with thoughts of “oh she is going to die” and “what is going to happen to her kids and husband.” Once again the author had me guessing that the hole in her glove was going to be her doom, I was wrong. The glove had held but in the process of reading that part of the book I could tell she was freaking out and I could feel the bullets of sweat running down her face as she removed each glove. The author really tied in how unbelievably determined people are to help others, risking their own lives. The true facts from The Hot Zone struck as a shocker to me and a reality check and I am sure it had that same effect on other readers. The Hot Zone really opened my eyes to how people often over look important things and push them to back of their minds only to be forgotten.