So it begins...

Hey guys, heard of blogging? It's kinda stands for "web-log" for those of you old folks who aren't so good with computers. Basically you just post your random thoughts about things to the internet, where millions and millions of people will read them. That's cool, right? I love the internet, did you know that you can buy stuff on it? Anyway, this blogging thing is really catching on these days, and call me crazy, but I think the internet really is the future.

Anyway, BK4 is finally catching up to the times. We're taking this floor into the year 2000 with our very own BK4 blog!

Inspired by one of Viv's old projects (kids these days are so good with technology), we have seven bloggers, seven colors, and seven days. Some of our identities are secret, some of them won't be, but all of our posts will be bursting with fascinating information and joyous comedy each and every day.

Anyway, I'm not just gonna blog about blogging all day (way too meta), and I wouldn't dream of taking the chance to blog about BK4's beach trip away from some of the more material strapped bloggers (who want to quit, and know exactly who they are), so instead I will tell you all my favorite things about california in celebration of being back here.

The obvious: WEATHER! but that's boring. I don't know why I'm wasting pixels on that. Instead, I'll explain one reason why it is so much better (other than warm).
We can leave windows open literally all the time here. Back in Hartland, we open the windows on a nice summer afternoon, only to be assaulted by dozens of tiny flying bastards that have been just waiting for you to make that mistake all day. Mosquitoes suck. Literally. (bad-um, ching!). Ya, sure, screens will keep them out, but screens get holes, and they absolutely will not stop a child from falling out, so a whole lot of good they are. Anyway, even once you've got your screen up and you've stopped the bugs from flying in one way and the curious toddlers from spilling out the other, you STILL aren't free to explore all your wildest desires to leave the windows open and go to sleep or leave the house. Why? Because it only takes 20 minutes for that sunshine to disappear and all of a sudden it's a downpour and your carpet is soaked, your wood is warped, and your paperwork needs to be redone. What follows is a mad dash around the house to close all the windows as fast as possible, but it's too late, and you'll always forget one anyway.

Onto the more subtle joys of this state:

-Freaking toilet seat covers in every single public bathroom everywhere! Sounds silly, right? No, it's not silly at all. Imagine this: you're at a baseball game, it's the 7th inning stretch, everyone has enjoyed their hot dogs and beer, but now it's time for the bathroom. You get there, get in line, and file into the stalls one after another. It's your turn, the stall door opens, and you reach for a toilet seat cover so you don't sit on that warm ceramic disk that 50 other dudes just placed their nasty cheeks on... oh snap, you live in a state where they haven't heard of toilet seat covers? Tough luck: make sure nobody missed the target, then go for it. Basically we have three choices:
1. Place your butt directly where the last butt was (and they did miss the target, btw)
2. Squat and hover (viable, but requires regular lower body workouts to avert disaster)
3. Make your own toilet seat cover out of toilet paper (this is the best option, but sometimes there just isn't time).

A germaphobe I may be, but my next favorite (and related) thing about this place (though it might just be USC, not the entire state) is the ubiquitous hand sanitizer.

Finally, the most subtle joy of all: when you have to fill out your address on internet forms, you can just hit C once, and california comes up. It might sound minor, but just think about it next time you save 2 milliseconds scrolling through states. Maybe (probably) nobody can relate to me and my keyboard-shortcut obsessed, anti-mouse elitist tendencies, but this is seriously annoying. Wisconsin is usually the third, sometimes the second state to come up, depending on whether Washington D.C. is in the list or not, so you just hit W a few times and then you pass it up, and then you hit it a few more times, and you pass it up again, and it repeats and repeats and repeats until you finally give up and grab the freaking mouse or use the damn arrow keys. Well, now I've lost you all, since nobody else in the entire world cares about this tiny non-problem, but this is my blog dammit, and I'm going to type about whatever the hell I want, because this is the internet, and I can.

- Steve, sworn defender of the Floorby