Peace out, car.

I'm gonna miss my car. We still have it, but after 4 test drives and more than 20 phone calls, a stand up guy put a down payment down tonight.

He's coming on Friday to pay the rest, and collect his car.

I got a ridiculous amount of action for it, here is the ad:

Up for sale is a 2001 Hyundai Accent in good condition. It is equipped with power steering, an am/fm radio with cassette deck, and air conditioning. The engine is a 1.5 liter 4 cylinder paired with a 5 speed manual transmission. The odometer reads about 125,000 miles.





Purchased new from Speck Hyundai in Pasco, we are the original owners. The car has been a commuter it's entire life, traveling from Meadow Springs out to the area, and to Richland High. For the first 8 years of its life, it was garaged year round. More recently, it has been parked in our driveway to make room for a newer vehicle. Cosmetically the car is in great shape, with only minor dings that are to be expected on a 9 year old car. The interior has its fair share of stains, but nothing large or horribly unsightly. If you wish, I can throw in a pair of seat covers at no extra charge.





Oil changes have been done regularly, and the car runs very strong. I consistently get 31-35 miles per gallon. Like I previously stated it is a five speed manual transmission, making it very fun to drive. It handles extremely well in all conditions, and parking is a dream due to its size.





Recent maintenance includes:


New air filter


Recent oil change


Front brake work





The only downside is the fact that the dashboard has a few marks leftover from duct tape that was used to hold speakers down. These are very minor and really don't get in the way at all, but I figured it was worth mentioning.





Below are several pictures, please email through craigslist if you more.





We are asking 1200 or best offer.

If you are interested, please call or text Sean at 509-539-4208, or email me through craigslist.





Thanks for reading!















Then there were about a billion pictures.

If you're reading this though, I'm sure you are well aware as to what my car looks like. I don't feel the need to post pictures of it on here.

The current plan is to sell both of my (our) cars, as in the Hyundai and the Avalon. I hope to have the Avalon gone next week, at which time we will acquire my Grandma's newer Avalon, which my sister will be primarily driving, but will get me around until I use some of the money made from selling both cars to get something for myself.

Before I speak of the future, I'm going to recap the past.



The 2001 Hyundai Accent was the first car I ever drove. I killed it more times than I can remember or would like to. I blame my Dad for being a lousy teacher, he blames me for being a slow learner. I'm sure its somewhere in between.

This occurred on our way back from shooting out in the middle of nowhere, Kennewick. In the long abandoned roads, my Dad pulled over. When I said "Huh?" he responded: Yer gonna drive.

My heart started racing, and we switched seats. I had been waiting for this moment for quite a while.

I slide the key into the slot, give life to the engine, and wait.

My Dad tells me to let the clutch out while putting the gas in. It sounds easy enough, and a few seconds later the car had moved about two feet, and the engine had died.

After the process occured far to many times, I finally got the hang of it and I was cruising, first, second, third, fourth, and finally all the way up to 5th gear at a whopping 50 miles an hour.

Fast forward a few months, and I'm in Walla Walla with my parents purchasing a 1997 Toyota Avalon for my sister and I to drive. I fall in love with the car immediately, and after a while it becomes my daily driver.

Then suddenly it's winter break of my Junior year. My sister is home for winter break, and she has the Toyota. I need to get to swim practice, and my dads car is all that is available.

So I get behind the wheel, and for the first time, I drive it a considerable distance alone. Suddenly I have a new favorite vehicle, despite its lack of power accessories, and power in general. I simply couldn't get over how fun it was to drive.

During break still, my Dad announces he has something to show me. We walk out to the garage where a shiny black 2009 Ford Fusion is parked, and he informs me that I will be driving the Hyundai from now on due to his new car-ness.

So it becomes my daily driver.

More time passes, and I get bored with it. I begin thinking of ways to make it more...Me.

Due to the fact that only two speakers work, I decide to upgrade the sound system significantly.

I take a 140 watt power inverter, plug it into the cigarette lighter, and then plug a power strip into the inverter.

What did I plug into the power strip you ask? A set of logitech speakers, complete with subwoofer. I wire it so that the sub is in the trunk, and the two speakers sitting nicely on the dash. I use a splitter so that I can play music over the stock speakers (through the tape deck) combined with the logitech set.

A tachometer is added, as well as a new shift knob and steering wheel cover. Buzz Lightyear and Patrick Star became permanent residents on my dashboard.

Over the past year I've developed a habit of browsing classifieds on craigslist, and picking random street races* with friends or complete strangers. These combined left me wanting more out of a car.

*Street race to me=Accelerating as fast as possible from a stop, and basically seeing who can get up to the speed limit the fastest. No weaving in and out of traffic running red lights while smashing over children.

I'm going to miss the quirkiness of it, and the unique look and feel that comes with it. I honestly had several good times in that vehicle, from sitting in the trunk through pounding rain and lightning, to drifting around corners in the snow, to when Josh taught me to peel out, to cramming 7 people inside just to go to Taco Bell, to tossing furniture in the trunk to its capacity for people to sit in in the parking lots on Fridays while music is played over the custom sound system.

I put about 15,000 miles on it. Driving from home to school, CBRC, the office, Kaden's, countless times.

I won't miss the crappy stock stereo. I will not miss the incredibly slow acceleration. I will not miss the whining of my friends when it is necessary to travel somewhere in it. I will definitely not miss it's strange attraction to sunlight, and how ridiculously hot it gets in even moderate weather.

We had some good times, and tomorrow I will drive it for the last time ever.

Keep in mind I'm a pack rat. I probably just got way to emotional over a stupid car, but screw you.

With the past out of the way, I'll move on to the future (on the same subject).

After both cars are gone, I'll start shopping around for a new ride.

Things I'm interested in:

1990+ Toyota, Nissan, Ranger, or S10 4x4 trucks.
1994+ Acura Integra GSR, Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, VW Jetta or Passat, Mitsubishi 3000gt or Dodge Stealth, Mercury Cougar, Mazda 626, Mazda MX-6, Hyundai Tiburon, Subaru Impreza (Heh,) or maybe some kind of BMW, but probably not.

I will not even consider something with automatic transmission. It's a complete deal breaker. 120,000 miles is my max for miles, and power locks/windows, cruise control, and A/C are all required on the cars.

I'm pretty excited.

Most pointless blog ever? You may think so, but I'm not altogether too concerned. I enjoyed writing it, I have a thing for reminiscing.

Feelin Bloggy

"Sean, get your ass out of bed, its almost 6."

"Mom, I don't need to be up until like 7"

She giggles, and walks away. Throughout this short conversation I had assumed it was already Tuesday, however upon glancing at my computer I noticed that it was indeed 6:02 p.m. on this stupid Monday night.

Today was sorta not bad, we're watching another movie in AP lit, though this one is severely less cool than The Matrix. It has a bunch of weird sort of naked people who tend to be dudes, and a lot of confusing symbological scenes that tax my brain far too much for there to be any hope of comprehension on my part.

I discovered that my final in 2nd hour will simply be pointing out 10 sensors on my car, and that will be accomplished this week.

So next week on the designated day of the final, Lynch said "Seriously guys, I don't want you here, so don't come..."

Third hour dragged on by, we are working on our final review, the class passed in a sort of daze.

Yearbook was eventful, as we unloaded all of the yearbooks into a super secret hiding place. Lifting 71 pound boxes ended up causing slight pain in my lower back, but some time in the hot tub at CBRC made it all better.

Finally, in fifth hour, I wrote an entire sports story during the class period while everyone was yelling at Mick to finish his 200 word blurb that I assume he's been working on for quite some time. Well, most people where yelling, Sarah ended up screaming...But only after he had finished his story.

After school I made the mistake of racing Matt Mcsomething in his BMW 540i.

4.4 liter V8 vs. 1.5L I4.

Yea, I get embarrassed a lot.

Cars I've raced.
Dodge Neon R/T
Camaro SS
BMW 328i
BMW 540i
Viper SRT/10
Ford Escort
Ford Focus

Cars I've beaten:
...



Oh yea, I was in California all weekend.

It was pretty cool for the most part. I left school after first hour on Thursday (I was at school just long enough to watch the end of the Matrix in first hour). We flew out of Pasco on 12, and landed in Seattle around 12:45 where we had about 2 hours to kill our flight to San Diego. We (My cousins Blake and Mason, and myself) wandered about Seatac desparetly trying to find a Panda Express, but eventually settled for Wendys.



This is Blake nomming with a cool view of one of the runways.

Finally, at around 3:30, we where in the air and on our way to San Diego. We landed on time, and where surprised at how smoothly everything was going.

Then Chelsea entered the mix. Or tried to.

We where to meet Chelsea (my older sister) outside of terminal 1 when we landed. Upon arriving at the meeting point and not finidng her, I called her and she claimed she was at the bus lot directly in front of us. So, we walk over...and she is nowhere to be found.

I call again, and she is still convinced she is in the right place. 20 minutes later we convince her she is at the wrong bus lot, and she finally makes her way over to us.

We then hop on a bus to go to Hertz to rent a Pontiac G6. Well, we were supposed to rent a G6, but the lady at the desk was a tad slow. After a solid 25 or so minutes of Mason and her babbling back and forth, we finally are given the keys to a black Mazda 3, parked in space 18.

Walking over, we see the shiny new car from a distance and things are looking up. We pile in, plug the desired address into the GPS, and head for the exit booth.

"Sir, you're in the wrong vehicle."

Our hearts kinda dropped when we heard this, we had to go park the car in spot 18, and hoof it to spot 318, where a different black Mazda 3 was parked.

So it was just kind of an unlucky coincidence.

But these where pretty much the only problems we had, unless you count trying to drive on I-5. Driving down there can only be described as "Scary as hell." The speed limit is 65, but people travelling at speeds below 80 are rare. The average speed was around 90, on a 12 lane highway, with people constantly merging and exiting.

We managed to make it to Stephanie and Calvin's house in one piece. (Stephanie is Blake and Mason's older sister, Calvin is her husband.) They are the proud parents of twins Hunter and Maddi, who are about 8 months old now.

Thursday night consisted largely of just chillin, eating burritos, and watching South Park. We where pretty fried and fell asleep around 11.

I was woken up by my sister holding Maddi a few inches above my face and having her sort of smack me a few times. I grumbled and said go away, which apparently is not an acceptable reaction for being woken up at 7. I don't care how cute you are, I don't like being woken up.

Anyhoo, the activities for the day where mainly walking down the pier and sittin on the beach. We got kinda bored, and I got buried.

Saturday, we went to the San Diego Zoo.



The highlight for me was seeing my Polar Bear brethren. He was laying flat on a rock eating fish. Minus the liking of fish, it could have been me with only slightly more hair.

On the way back, we hit up an In and Out. It was my third time eating there in my life, and it was rather awesome.



I look at this picture and it makes me hungry.

Saturday night, we played beer pong at the house.

By beer pong, I mean the people 21+ played beer pong, while me and Blake played with mountain dew in our cups. We also did mountain shots so we weren't left out. We kinda owned at beer pong due to the fact that we where completely sober.

Sunday morning, we got up and left the house by 9:30. Going through security at the airport, I was selected for a random pat down by a creepy asian guy. He looked at me and said "Congratulations, you get a free massage. Now spread your arms."

Arriving in Seattle, Mason gets a phone call with some bad news: Our flight has been cancelled, and the next one isnt until 6:30.

So we had about 4 hours to kill this time. An hour in a half is spent aimlessly wandering, walking backwards on the sort of escalators that go on flat ground. At this point we had spent entirely too much time together, and the three of us where beyond giggly while murderous at the same time. After spending 2 hours in a Sbarro, we shuffle to our gate and finally we are on our way home.

It was good time overall.

free web hit counter

I leave for cali soon

My arms are tired, and my hands reek of rope.

I just got home from the gym, I got in some hella cardio and then did some rockwall climbing with Drew.

It used to take me about 24 minutes to do 3 miles on an elliptical machine. That number has now been shaved to 19.5, which I think is cool. The fact that I can't run a mile in under 10 minutes is quite irrelevant.

So it's been a while since I've written. It's difficult to attribute a specific reason as to why I have not scribed words concerning my life in more than a week, though it's safe to assume it has something to do with my hopeless addiction to Lost. I'm currently on episode 20 of season 3.

Anyhoo, after a few blogless days Tristan decided to whine about it:



While I typically dislike positively reinforcing whining, I had to give in to that one. Also, I don't think that not giving in in this situation would really do anything to hamper Tristan's habit of whining.

Phi Hoang is a pretty cool guy.


My name is Sean, and I have hyperhydrosis.

HHHwat?

Hyperhidrosis- Hyperhidrosis is a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively and unpredictably. People with hyperhidrosis may sweat even when the temperature is cool or when they are at rest.

Basically, I run extremely warm 99% of the time, and as a result I usually appear as if I recently had been submerged in water.

Yea, I know, it's gross. But it's relevant to my story. Also, don't hate, it's annoying and embarrassing to the absolute extreme. I'm pretty it has something to do with my constantly red face.

Anyhoo, Sunday night, my house (according to our thermostat) is 80 degrees. Even with my window wide open, my room is absolutely boiling (according to me) and I can't stand it. Nowhere else in the house affords the luxury of coolness, so I pretty much said "Eff this, I'm sleeping outside."

So around 11pm, I retrieve a sleeping bag from a closet and travel upstairs to inform my mom of my plan. She didn't really try to talk me out of it, she simply called me dumb and told me not to get eaten by raccoons.

No seriously, we've had raccoon problems in the past. I think our grand total trapped throughout the years is like 7.

I plopped down in a sleeping bag in our side yard, and after about 20 minutes I was completely out, until about 4:30 when I was awakened by a motion light blaring into my eyes. I kinda have a spaz attack, attempt to stand up while still in the sleeping back, fall, spaz yet again, and look up to see the culprit of the light turning on.

Of course it's just a stupid cat. But for a few seconds I wholeheartedly believed I was going to be mauled by a gang of raccoons.

So at that point I'd had enough, and with my window open for the 5 hours I was outside, my room was cold enough to sleep in.

Monday passed relatively quickly, watching the Matrix in first hour and legitimately doing work in second. I actually possess a clue about what's going on in math, and yearbook and journalism passed quicker than usual.

After school I came home, watched an episode of lost, and then accidentally fell asleep for about 2 hours. I woke up, nommed dinner, went to PASME and took a math test (which i pwnd) and then went to the gym.

On my way home, I decided to stop at Albertsons.

PAUSE

About a month ago, I was given a sign saying "Yes I'll go to this dance with you" in a far more elaborate manner, and instruced to give it to mah buddy. After doing so, I asked what I should do with said sign, and she said that she didn't care and I could toss it.

I thought to myself that one day soon, this stupid thing would come in handy. So for the last month its been chillin in my trunk, taking of space and being crushed.

UNPAUSE

I enter the parking lot, see a familiar truck completely unattended, and something clicks that now is the time to get rid of that sign.

So I place it on Jared Broeske's windshield.

This morning in second hour I instruced Sean Kerr and Ben to congratulate Jared on being said Yes to.

He's still confused, and I'm still giggling.

Math managed to be rather entertaining. With about 10 minutes of class left, while taking notes, Mrs. Rader started zoning out, and when the class volume snapped her back, she made the sudden realization that she had cookies.

So she gave us the cookies. And thats what we did in math today.

Yearbook consisted of watching Forrest Gump: Yay. I had to contain my extreme excitement.

Lastly, I'm going to rant about yearbook t-shirts.

To the people whining about them non stop: Grow up, shut up, etc. It's a damn shirt, if you don't like it, don't buy one, and please don't complain about the design that the majority of people in the class (correction: the majority of people who stay in class longer than 1o minutes) decided upon.

KTHXBAI. Luvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv you all

Except you, Lucas. You're in trouble.

OH WAIT I'M NOT DONE RANTING.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: STOP LIKING PAGES ON FACEBOOK THAT REQUIRE YOU TO "LIKE" THEM BEFORE YOU CAN VIEW THE CONTENT.

One of two things are likely to happen:

A. You will be required to fill out some BS survey that will likely require credit card numbers

or

B. You will be given a lame, watered down version of the original content.

For example:

This: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-7-Most-Disastrous-Typos-Of-All-Time/117908881578586?v=app_4949752878

Versus this: http://www.cracked.com/article_18517_the-7-most-disastrous-typos-all-time.html

It's the same list, only without credit to the original website, and without all the funny.

So please, stop making yourself look like a tool.

KTHXBAi for real.

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Prom, senior skip day, etc...

This has been a ridiculously good couple of days.

Currently, it's 8:13 Sunday night. I'll begin my recap Thursday at around 7:50 a.m.

Entering my first hour class, AP lit, my brain is alive with wonder as to what will be accomplished in the class on this day, as the majority of the class will not be present due to the AP lit test that I didn't take.

For the entire 55 minute class period, we played Catch Phrase. I kinda hate that game, but absolutely love it at the same time. I think I won two rounds, but of course neither of them earned me extra credit like the first two rounds would have.

Second hour was average, and having spare time, I took a trip to Conoco to fill my dangerously low gas tank. 35 Dollars gone at this point.

During fourth hour, I went and got my prom tickets. Another 40 dollars gone.

Also during fourth, I bought a ticket to Iron Man 2 (more on that later) costing me 10.50.

Lunch cost 5.

Picking up my tux=81.

Total spent on Thursday: $171.50.

Ouch.

After school I spent time with Siara, and attempted to take a nap, for I would be seeing the midnight premiere of Iron Man 2 that night.

The nap completely failed, and at about 10 Jeremy and Ben showed up to carpool to Pasco for the movie.

We arrived at roughly 10:30, and met up with the group of loud teenagers waiting in line. We where there for about 10 minutes before the doors opened, and we entered Theatre 12 to wait for the movie to start.

Growing up, I ran into several groups of loud, annoying, rude teenagers that I hoped I would never be part of. Sadly, reality has crushed this dream on several occasions lately.

I don't feel too badly for being a group of annoying people that night, as it was just a big empty room with nothing going on for the hour we spent yelling.

We sang Happy Birthday to Sabrina at 11:45....It wasn't anywhere near her birthday, but we got most of the people in the theater to join in.

The movie was pretty good, but I wish Scarlet Johansen would have gotten more screen time. Hell, I would have been okay if she replaced RDJ completely.

After the movie, about 10 of us where still buzzing with energy, and so we decided to meet at Sherri's. I had a malkshake, and we were there until about 4. I was kinda delirious by the time we left, in a good way.

The night ended with Ben's motorcycle failing to start. Using all of our knowledge we gained from auto, we deduced he was out of gas.

Second hour this year was definitely well spent.

3 hours later, I woke up to start Friday. Again, I chilled with Siara for a while, and around 12 we took off to go the the senior skip day bbq.

When we first arrived, I was sort of annoyed at everyone there. The clique-ness was kinda sickening, but as the day progressed people seemed to actually step out of their comfort zones a bit.

It was just a friggin great time overall I thought.



Pictured is everyone at the BBQ except me...Because I took the picture. Oh well, I still think it's pretty cool how over 100 of us showed up.

The rest of the day was dedicated to working. It ranked as one of the more hellish days I've put in at CBRC. Kids where extremely hyper and bratty, one child went into hysterics every time another child touched him, I was functioning on 3 hours of sleep, it was just blah.

I went to bed around 11, and woke up at 11 on saturday. GG yall.

Saturday, or Prom, went by incredibly slowly until 5 o'clock when things started whizzing by faster than I cared for.

I got to drive a 2009 Chevy Silverado LTZ Crew cab, much to mine and Siara's enjoyment.

She had no idea I would be driving the beastly vehicle last night, and so I decided to make it into sort of a cool suprise.

At about 5, Blake and Pete met at my house. 20 minutes later, I drove the truck, and Blake drove my car to Lauren's (where Siara was getting ready). We parked a few houses down, and switched vehicles. I drove my car the rest of the way to Lauren's, while Blake stayed behind with Pete. When we got back to my car, I attempted to open the door for her, but it was locked....As was the trunk and the driver door.

I did this on purpose, and pretended I had locked my keys in the car. After minute of freaking out, I called my "Dad" (Blake) and said I need him to come unlock the car. Blake then drove up in the truck, parked in front of us, and I said to Siara "Eh, let's take this thing instead."

I opened the passenger door, and Pete handed her a rose, while giggling.

She was just kinda confused at first...But when she figured out I had planned the whole thing she thought it was "cute."

We got back to my house at 6, precisely when we told everyone to be at my place for pictures. Ozzie and Vanessa where the only ones there at the time, and I figured everyone else would be there soon.

Our entire group wasn't together until about 6:45, which was 5 minutes after our dinner reservations. Oops.

Group picture:



We didnt get to the dance until about 9, and waited in line for pictures until almost 9:45.

So we only danced for a little more than an hour.

PERFECT.

Three hours is beyond to much, in my opinion. So I thought we hit the sweet spot. After the dance we came back to my house to play poker (sorta) and watch Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs.

The night ended around 3am, and sleep began for me around 4.

Senior prom was a ton of fun, and more than worth the high price tag.

Yup, that's what has been going on in my life.

Friends, family, creepers, and readers in general, I am going to share a fun fact with you:

I have an addiction.



These 4 empty chocolate milk glasses are from today alone, and this picture doesn't include my glass which I consumed with my morning yogurt.

I peruse my kitchen in search of a quick bit of sustenance, and the while the damn Nesquick Bunny is taunting me with the powdery goodness he guards in his can, which transforms magically into the goodness known as chocolate milk.

I suppose there are worse things than ODing from chocolate milk.

We last met on...Saturday I believe?

I feel like not a whole lot has happened since then. This week has sort of whooshed by in a haze of sleep and chocolate milk school work.

I'm not taking any AP tests despite the fact I'm in AP lit.

Yea, I'm kinda of an idiot, I'm well aware. The whole class is sort of a waste, a lot more work with very little to show for it because I'm too lazy to devote 3 hours of my life to a standardized test, which, even if I did manage to pass (with a 4, required for credit at WSU) it would only mean a more difficult language arts class during my freshman year at college. So, tomorrow while the majority of my first hour class is racking their brains for multiple choice answers or essay material, I'll be zoning into oblivion in the classroom with the other slackers.

Tuesday. Tuesday went like this:

7-1:45: School.
2-3: Work.
3-4: Took pictures of Tennis.
4-5: Lost.
5-7am: Slept.

Yup, I slept yesterday, A LOT.

The sickest part is, when I got home from school today, I took a nap.

+I'm still tired.

I went tanning on Monday! After I was done with mah normal exercise rahootune at CBRC, I decided to give tanning a shot because it's free for me, because I work at the club.

It was pretty unexciting. That's all on that subject.



So obviously the bulk of this blog was kinda forced writing. I'm tired and not so much in the writing mood, so Mick/Blake, you can stfu :)

I'm excited for Prom and Senior skip day. That is all.

e15m

Enter my room, and the first thing that you are likely to notice is the increasing collection of laptops strewn about my floor. From there, your eyes may snap to the 6 or so desktop pc's that I have shoved in a corner. Turning left, the wall adjacent to my bed is absolutely covered in random trinkets from the past few years.

The paraphernalia across my wall appears rather normal, pictures, ticket stubs, posters, etc. Looking toward the top right of the collection, you'll notice a lone piece of paper covered in a strange red substance.

The sheet of paper was given to me by my Grandfather. Apparently, I looked rather unhappy the time I saw him before he gave it to me.

This piece of paper probably would have been tossed aside and eventually into the trash if it weren't for a night, in late 2009 that my Dad and I got into a rather serious disagreement. The paper was on the counter next to a glass of wine, and when I turned around to exit the house in a fury I knocked the glass over, spilling the wine onto the paper. The stain serves as a constant reminder of that night, and how we got past the argument.

Upon the sheet are a few short paragraphs:



I get the most out of the second to last line, life is 10% what happens, and 90% how we react to it.



A few months back, I was a friend's house, I didn't know anybody all that well but I assumed they were decent people. A few of them disappeared into a bathroom, and after a minute or two called for me to join them. I entered, and took a place near the back.

It was then I noticed a home made bong next to the sink.

They smiled, and one of them produced a small bag of marijuana from their pocket.

My parents were out of town for the entire week, and I could have just smoked that shit with no real consequences.

It was one of those situations we've been hearing about since elementary school, where peer pressure mounts up and it seems like giving in is the only option. Then, the 10/90 rule popped into my head.

I could have gotten high that night with the rest of them, and I probably would have had a dandy time doing so.

Peer pressure would have merely been my excuse for giving in. However, like I previously said, that would only have been 10% of the problem, and the other 90 would have been me.

So I laughed it off and said no thanks, and after a few more pleas, I exited the bathroom and a few minutes later made an excuse to go home.

I don't really hang out with that group anymore.

This year, I have lost count of the amount of people I know who have suddenly decided drinking and smoking are the coolest things to do, because everyone else is doing it as well.

I'm hoping that yesterday's Every 15 Minutes presentation helps everyone that they control a good 90% of their life.



A few short weeks following the incident in the bathroom, I found myself in Mr. Neid's room for an Every 15 Minutes meeting. The next few months seemed to race by, and suddenly it was April 29th: The day I died.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the e15m program, Ill give a quick overview.

10 years ago, someone was dying of an alcohol related traffic collision every 15 minutes. Nowadays, that number has been to about 45 minutes, partially thanks to programs such as e15m. The program is targeted directly at high school seniors. Near the end of the school year, 12 boys and 12 girls are selected to "die" from a drunk driver hitting them on the road. So, every 15 minutes of the school day, a student dies in the middle of the class. Dying, in this situation, means EMT's entering the room with a stretcher, and a man dressed as the Grim Reaper standing next to the dying student while their obituary is read to the class. After the obit is read, the student leaves class, has their face painted white and black, puts on a black cloak, and returns to class, dead.

For the rest of the day, dead students can't talk, or interact with their peers in any way. Cell phones are taken to really give the impression that they are no longer able to communicate.


So, on Thursday, April 29th, I was hit by a drunk driver and killed.


I didn't know what class I was supposed to die in. So, everytime the door opened during first and second hour, my heart started beating to the point where it was the only thing I could hear.

I died in the middle of my third hour class. While Mrs. Rader was going over homework with us, a stretcher was brought in and a girl read my obituary, all while the Grim Reaper stood patiently behind me.

My obituary:

Sean Kennedy, age 17 of Richland, passed away Thursday April 29^th as a result of a drunk driving collision. On his way home from work at the Columbia Basin Racquet Club, Sean was hit by a highly intoxicated driver in a large SUV on Keene road. After being rushed to Kadlec General Hospital in a critical state, Sean passed away in the late hours of the day.

Born July 22^nd, 1992, Sean is the son of Jennifer and Wallace Kennedy, and the younger of two siblings.

Sean began life at Kadlec General Hospital in Richland, Washington. From birth till death, he was a Richland resident, attending Marcus Whitman Elementary, Carmichael Middle School, and Richland High where he was a senior. During his experience at Richland High, Sean swam on the Boy's Swim team three out of four years. He made large contributions to RHS by working on the yearbook as a member of the Columbian staff, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Sandstorm. Outside of school Sean was involved in Bethel Church, always attending a Wednesday small group session. He worked at the Columbia Basin Racquet club, where his limitless patience let him excel in the field of child care provision.

Recently being accepted to Washington State University, Sean planned to attend the Pullman campus and study computer engineering, after which he planned to return to the Tri-Cities and find work.

Sean is survived by his mother and father, older sister, several grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

It is a tragic occurrence whenever such a young a person is taken in such an avoidable way. Sean's easily embarrassed attitude, quirky sense of humor, and generally kind lifestyle will be missed by all who knew him.

Silence was never so loud to me as the few seconds in which my obituary was read. I walked robotically to the stretcher which transported me to the library to get makeup and a cloak.

The rest of the school day passed incredibly slowly. I stared at the white board during the remainder of math, getting strange looks from classmates every once in a while. Yearbook was dreadfully boring, Kramer and I sat in our usual places and acted...dead.

Fifth hour was probably the hardest for me. People made comments about how they would have nothing to do that night, because I wouldn't be writing a blog while dead. Things like that where sort of nice to hear, but at the same time it made it apparent that no one was really taking it seriously...Yet.

Obviously, I wasn't the only one who died. About 20 other students had similar experiences, many of which where far more emotional than mine. All of us had become a team by the end of the day, and to everyone involed: You did an amazing job. When I saw other dead students in the hall, all I could think about was how they looked freaky as hell with the makeup.

After school, the team met up at the auditorium and removed makeup. At this point we began to practice the skit that was prepared for Friday's assembly.

From school, we went to the Red Lion for the night. Everyone ate their weight in pizza and Famous Dave's, and then we did a few stress relieving games.

After this, the night took a turn for the depressing.

We first listened to a woman who lost her sister to a drunk driver about 8 years ago. By the end, most people had began to tear up a bit, I was on the edge of losing it throughout her speech.

Directly after her presentation, our school's police officer, Officer Clark, gave us the play by play of her trip to Megan and Hayden's houses, where she informed their parents of the death.

The parents and police both knew that it was a staged event, but that didn't turn out to mean much when it came time for the police to inform parents that their children had died at the the hands of a drunk driver. When she had finished, there were a total of 2 people in the room not crying.

Hayden and Megan, following Clark's speech, where to write letters to their parents to read on stage the next day. Jed Morris, the guy in charge of the e15m program at RHS, told us that we should do the same, and gave us all a paper and a pen.

I ended up writing a letter to a different family member, and I finished before the other people in my hotel room. It was about 10 at this point, and the room was absolutely silent. I couldn't handle it, and so I wandered the hotel for a bit, eventually stopping in a different room of guys from the group until around 12. Throughout the course of my time in there, most of the male group members also ended up in the room, and we all just sort of talked for about 2 hours about nothing in particular. It was nice, and I think it managed to bring everyone's spirit up significantly.

Finally, after 12 had passed, everyone was back in their rooms. Roughly five minutes into laying down, I was in an extremely deep sleep until I was awoken at 5:45 to start the day.

After breakfast and packing, we were whisked back to the school to practice our skit a few more times.

I have to say, again, to everyone involved, we did great. It was the first time a lot of us where on stage. I want to especially thank Tyler, Tasha, Bailey, and Rachel for giving me goosebumps during their time on stage, you guys did great.

After the skit, a lot of people in the audience felt uncomfortable. The next item on the agenda was Hayden and Megan reading their letters to their parents, and their parents doing the same to their children. This was the point when most people began to have tears stream down their face.

Last, the mother of Sami Semmern, a young lady who was killed by a drunk driver in 2002, gave a speech to RHS's senior class.

By the end of her speech, the amount of people in the audience without tears in their eyes probably could have been counted on one hand.

Officer Clark then went on stage, and asked the students who wished to pledge to never drink and drive to stand.

At this point, the group of students who had died was in the audience, and we arose first and faced our classmates, who in turn stood as well.

This concluded the program, and we where free to go and talk to our peers.

The auditorium became messy with emotion, in a good way.

At this point we got our phones back, and we all sort of came back to life.

The rest of the day passed quickly and pleasantly.

By the time I arrived home around 12 last night, I could barely keep my eyes open. I got into bed, and as soon as my head hit my pillow, my nose of course began spouting blood.

All I remember thinking is "Great, now I have to get up and stop this before I can sleep."

But I never got up, by the end of that thought process I was out. I woke up this morning with dried blood on my sheets, but I think it was worth it for the extra 10 minutes of sleep I got before work this morning.


So out of this short novel of a blog, I'd like all of my friends who have delved into the practice of drinking alcohol and/or using drugs, to please remember that when you are offered these substances, the choice is 90% yours to turn them down.



Once more, I'd like to congratulate the group who participated in the Every 15 Minutes program. We did great, we pulled together quickly and efficiently and made an incredible team, and I really think we had a strong impact on our classmates.

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