Pic-a-nic baskets

I've been thinking lately that I need to have more things to do during the week that are me-time, to give me a break from the seemingly always-on-call nature of taking care of mom during the day. My initial thoughts were toward doing things in the evening, after my shift, so to speak. But looking around the kitchen today, searching out some lunch, my prospects weren't that great, so I pondered where to go out for lunch. I could borrow Andrew's car and drive to KFC for their sauceless hot wings I've been meaning to try, or maybe try the Greek food shack at 6th and Peninsula. I also thought of walking to Avanti's to try them out, seeing as I've lived a block and a half away from them for 20 years and could probably count the number of times I've eaten there on less than one hand. As I pondered, I recalled a craving I've had the past couple days for chili dogs, and it dawned on me that I could walk to Country Fair, acquire said chili dogs, as well as a slushy and a bag of chips, then go eat across the street in Frontier Park, taking a little walk through the park afterward. This accomplished four things: 1) got me a little break from caretaker duty 2) got me walking, I could use the exercise, after all 3) got me a little treat for lunch, and 4) got me out of the house, breaking the rut I've been in lately, and into the world. I think of this was a step toward working again.

About quarter to one, I let mom know of my plans, and took care of what needs she had before I left.. Right as I stepped off the porch, a rain shower started, but it only lasted until I got a block or so away from the house. Shortly thereafter, the sun came back out again. As I walked along the south edge of the park and neared the line of parking spaces, I noticed a dark blue van with a familiar-looking person inside. As I came alongside, I saw that it was indeed my dad, who had a similar idea for lunch, and stopped at the CF and enjoyed the scenic park while eating. He and I chatted a little about his work, he's having computer issues, having difficulty getting some software licenses to work. After I said goodbye, crossing the street worked out really well; right as I pressed the walk button, the traffic light changed so that it was walkable in my direction. The store was active, not busy, but enough activity so that the employees were working diligently, and my food was ready quite quickly. I was able to get my lunch for under $5 which was a nice surprise.

Traffic was in my favor again, crossing back to the park, and I headed toward a little gazebo with benches near the creek to start eating. As I ate my first dog, I could see a bit of the creek, but lots of shoreline vegetation left me a little underwhelmed. I decided to head over to the sideways tree, and nearer the creek to look for a rocky spot to sit on, right on the shore. I found a really nice spot right across from where I came down. Balancing on the slick rocks with a tray of food in one hand and a slushy in the other was a fun challenge, and I perched on a nice rock in the sun to finish my meal. In the distance, I could hear kids playing in the water, and I spent several minutes watching the water pass over the gravelly creek bed and scattered rocks. It's hard to explain, but the enjoyment I got from watching a little canoe-shaped leaf drift along the water, around the rocks, and past my feet was a lot more that you'd probably expect. I really am an outdoorsy person, and having such a great park with woods, a marshy area, grassy fields and a creek running down the center isn't something to take for granted, not to mention the Peninsula just a couple miles away as well, but I fear that familiarity does breed contempt, and I haven't been taking full advantage of my surroundings the past few years.

As I finished up my lunch and walked home I realized that I could adapt this excursion into a regular lunch break, not necessarily every day, sometimes walking, others biking, and not always buying lunch, most times just bringing something from home out to the park Maybe Fridays I could eat out, from CF or Avanti's, and the other days “brown bag” it. Being outside, in the rain and the sun, getting to walk through the park, and having a tasty, if not especially healthy, lunch really made this a great experience, worth doing more often.

Adventures at Justin and Sally's Wedding

Saturday, July 19th was Justin and Sally's wedding. Since Andrew was his roommate at Behrend for so long, he got to be one of the groomsmen. Leading up to the wedding day, I wasn't specifically invited, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to attend the wedding and reception. I wanted to go since I'd gotten to know Justin a bit through seeing him when I'd visit Andrew, and also at church. After talking things over with the rest of the family, and believing that the dinner was a pre-ordered affair, I decided finally that it would be acceptable to attend the wedding ceremony, and pay my respects, then not crash the reception.

So I got all dressed up in my dark khakis, blue oxford shirt, with blue tie and suspenders, and drove to the church. I arrived about 15 minutes early, so I sat in the van and listened to the radio until it was time to head in. Walking through the parking lot, I met up with James and Andrew Law, which was a relief, since I could sit with them and didn't feel so odd to be by my lonesome. In the church foyer, Sky and Melanie were greeters, and in charge of the guest book, which people were signing as they entered. I forget now if I shared hugs with the girls then, but at least I recall that I was greeted warmly Sitting nearby on the groom's side were many other Behrend folks, including Meghan Gearhart, Nicki, James and Andrew Law, Brad and Ashley; Sky and Melanie sat behind me once everyone had arrived.

As the wedding party processed in, Andrew looked really sharp in his tuxedo, with amethyst/purple vest and bow tie. The groomsmen were Aaron Wood, Andrew, Brian Baldwin, Brandon, and one other relative/friend. The Bridesmaids were Liz, Amanda Placek, Meg Marong, and Sally's sister, and one other woman. John Wagner's daughter Hannah was the flower girl. Justin was quite handsome in his tux with white vest and bow tie, and Sally wore a beautiful, flowing gown with quite a long train. Pastor Lynn wore a dark suit to officiate. The mothers lit the tapers on either side of the unity candle, Justin's dad read a scripture. The newlyweds lit the unity candle after taking their vows.

At the receiving line after the ceremony, I had an awkward convo. with what turned out to be Sally's dad when I introduced myself, but Justin's parents remembered me from move-in days. As we waited outside for the tossing of birdseed, Meghan G punched me in the shoulder a couple of times, until James turned up. It was decided that several of the IVCF folks would go to Dairy Queen for a little ice cream while we waited for the reception to start. Without really being invited, I decided to tag along, to hang out with the folks I knew.

I had a peanut butter cup Blizzard, and sat with Nicki, Megan G, and James. Brad and Ashley sat at a table behind us. Nicki and Megan kept stealing James' fries and later his Blizzard. They egged me on to take a bite as well, starting a chant of “Do it!” which some teenagers at a nearby table picked up on, so I took a bite, to much laughter, and probably some surprise. Earlier, as we were giving our orders, then again as we were finishing our snack, I made mention that I wasn't planning to attend the reception, and asked if it would be okay if I came. When I first asked, there was a general affirmation of the acceptability of my attendance, the second time Nicki said that she wanted me to be there. Therefore, I decided to go, and see what happened, maybe I could get an extra meal if someone couldn't attend or some-such.

As we entered the reception hall, there was a table with name cards arrayed over it, with each individual's name and table number. All the IVCF folks were sitting at tables 13 and 14, and Brad found a card with my name on it as well, sitting at table 14; the size of our group worked out though, we could all sit at one table. Our table was in the last row from the table(s) of honor, but alongside the dance floor, so I got a front row seat for all the cool stuff like the procession of the wedding party into the hall, the fathers' speeches, the toasts, the first dances, and the cake-cutting.

Dinner, it turned out was buffet style, Andrew probably got confused about the rehearsal vs. the reception. The menu included sliced ham, meatloaf or fish; side salad or antipasto-like salad; cheesy potatoes; and dinner rolls. There was also a table with a variety of large and small cookies; and coolers of water, juice, pop, and coffee. For the toasts, each table got a wine-bottle of sparkling white grape juice. It would have been nice if that had been able to be served cold, but one takes what one can get. Speaking of warm things, the weather was quite warm that day, with only a slight chance of showers, but the hall was nearly stifling, even with all the windows and doors open and three large fans blowing. After dinner and the ceremonial activities, the tossing of the bouquet and garter took place. Melanie caught the bouquet, and Brad got the garter.

The extended families/friends of families/Grandview church people left pretty quickly into the dancing, so the college folks made a large circle where one of the viking helms from the bachelor party made double duty as a selector for dancing exhibition. Anyone wearing the helm entered the circle and did a little dance, then passed it off to another for their turn. I ended up doing a little John Travolta finger-pointing disco maneuver, which got some surprised compliments from a few folks afterward, and Andrew did a really great Robot, and Sky and he did a little gun-slinger number. Dan and Aaron were among the better guys, with someone I don't know doing a lawnmower that I got a kick out of. Meg Marong did some pretty good semi-pro dance moves among the better lady-dancers. Amanda dragged me out to do the Electric Slide, and the dance from the BK commercial, as well as something else similar. Later I joined the YMCA circle on my own. My slow dance card included Melanie, who asked me to dance, which was nice, and later I even got up the courage to ask Megan G. to dance, which was fun too, I think I danced with her at the Valentine's day dance earlier in the year as well.

Around 8 pm, I'd guess, things started winding down, tables and chairs were broken down, leftover food was packaged. I was putting away chairs when a jazzy tune came on, and I started head-bobbing, shuffle-stepping, and finger-snapping, to see if anyone noticed my fun-having-ness, plus it was just fun to do. Brian asked if I would be able to drop him and his leftovers off at the church, where his truck was, and I, being the helpful white knight, immediately accepted. Goodbye hugs took longer that I would have liked; I've got to be a bit more assertive, less afraid to interrupt, I think, without being too aggressive. Eventually we got the van loaded and took off. There were a few cases of pop, trays of food, and a bakery box with an extra cake. Brian asked if there was anything there that I'd like to take, and I selected the cake, since Mom requested I bring her home a piece, but hadn't. It turned out to be a large 8” round, with a pretty purple flower on the top-center. It took about a week to polish off the whole thing.

From a personal growth standpoint, this was kind of a coming out party for me. I'd been sort of familiar with these folks for a couple years, hanging out with Andrew at Behrend, and in the last year, becoming closer to them at church. It's been close to a year for me attending Grandview Alliance, and the social aspects of dancing at the reception let me show them a bit more of my personality. The snapping of my suspenders, and being on the receiving end of Megan's punches are physical signs of my being accepted into their social circle, and Nicki saying she wanted me to come to the reception was another highly evident sign of my being accepted and included into their group. Comments at the reception by Brian, and afterward by Amanda, alluding to my joining the dance circles and otherwise becoming more comfortable around those folks, are a sign to me that they notice a change in my mood and comfort level around them, so the counseling and medication are working.

almost graduated

When I picked up my cap and gown, and graduation announcements at school today, it finally began to sink in that I’ll be graduating in eight days. I mean, yes, I saw the days of the term ticking down on the calendar, and yes, I knew when graduation was, but holding the wrapped and folded gown in my hands was a tangible sign that the graduation is almost here, it’s not just a day on the calendar. I’m still stressed out about how much I still have to do with my COBOL program, but I’ve gotten all of my other homework done; all that I have left are chapter tests in SQL and systems analysis, and a final in tech writing. By approximately 7 pm Thursday, December 15, I will have received my diploma for an Associates’ Degree in Specialized Business, with a concentration in computer systems. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, I’m still too involved with classes to look at life after graduation, but that will come, I’m sure.

Looking back, the past two years began with a new year’s resolution to go back to school, with my first class in February of 2004. I wanted the practical education from an associates’ degree that I could get in two years’ time, without all the enriching classes and extra time of a four year degree. I would like a bachelor’s degree or higher in computers, but I wanted to take a step that would get me into the programming world in as short a time as possible, to ensure that was what I really wanted to do. I’ve learned a lot about programming, what I enjoy doing, and what I do not, and I look forward to working and honing my skills. My ultimate goal is still a job in the gaming industry. I’m not there yet, but I am much closer than I was.

We Are... Penn State!

I got to go to the Penn State game against Minnesota on Oct. 1. Now that it’s been over two weeks since the event, I thought I’d better get to writing about it, since I had such a great time. Things didn’t get started too smoothly, but everything worked out in the end.

Thursday morning, my mom woke up with trouble breathing, and the symptoms of high blood pressure. She went to the emergency room right away, and after several tests and hours of waiting, and a cocktail of blood pressure medications, she was stable that evening and improving all day Friday. The rapid improvement of mom’s condition, while very much appreciated, made arrangements for going on a four hour drive to a football game challenging. The good news was that the doctors wanted mom to continue her adjusted dialysis regimen at the hospital for another day, and would be able to come home on Sunday.

After confirmation of this plan by 9 am Saturday, dad and I were on the road by 10 am. We stopped at Country Fair for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, then took the non-Interstate, old school highway route to State College. I mentioned the fact the when I think of highways, I think of the Interstate system, while my parents, who grew up in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, thought of the state routes as highways. I must say that the older system is much more enjoyable to drive through, scenery-wise, and the shorter mileage made up for the faster speed of the Interstate. Around 12:30, we got to the traditional half-way stop, the MacDonald’s and truck stop just off I-80.

We took I-80 the rest of the way to State College, and followed the electro-signage onto some new-to-us interstate, and cruised down nearly-empty roads to the parking areas near the stadium, arriving shortly after 2 p.m.

We sold the extra ticket we had to a scalper, wandered through the Centre County Visitor Center, dad bought a PSU hat with the ticket money, and we made our way into Beaver Stadium (*snicker*). Just inside the stadium, we stopped to inspect the curious nature of the stadium’s architecture. Back in the 70’s(-ish), the existing bleachers were jacked 10-15 feet into the air, and in place of the running track, new seats were built to meet the newly raised bleachers. Over the years, additional decks and suites were added, as well as two large end zone scoreboards.

We made our way up to our seats, which were in the corner of one of the end zones, not too far above the Minnesota cheering section, but far enough to be surrounded by Penn State fans; it made for some entertaining moments, though. We arrived early enough to watch much of the pre-game warm-ups, the two head coaches meeting and shaking hands, and the various and sundry exercises and drills both teams performed. I especially enjoyed the one where a line of players stretched across the goal line, who proceeded to maneuver in a cross between goose-stepping soldiers and the Rockettes. When the first line got five yards away, a second line began moving in the same fashion, followed by a third and fourth.

The game itself is a blur. There was much standing, and sitting, and yelling. It was truly inspiring to hear a stadium with over 100,000 people in it chanting, “WE ARE!… PENN STATE!” We probably did that a dozen times. It was an amazing game, with good offense, great defense, and opportune scoring. PSU won, 44-14, moving them to 18th in the polls (they’re 8th now, WooHoo!). After the third quarter, I was getting sore from being crammed into the bleachers, as well as repeatedly swapping between sitting and standing, so dad and I walked to the other end of the stadium, and stood at the base of the upper deck of the student section until there were about five minutes left in the game when we returned to our regular seats.

After the game, the Blue Band came back onto the field, having also performed during halftime, and performed again, a tradition at PSU and presumably at other universities as well. They were quite entertaining, and a good way to complete an official PSU football game. All that remained was to walk back to the parking field, err… lot, and find the van. The parking wasn’t as far away as I had feared, and was easy to get to after the game. What was difficult was finding a silver minivan in a dark field, among hundreds of cars SUV’s and silver minivans. After 15 minutes of patrolling the lanes of vehicles, we were able to find our car and make our way to the road. Traffic on the way out went as smoothly as I could have hoped, since the police here have been managing football crowds every fall for decades now, and had it down to a science. We drove into State College proper, looking for a place to eat that wasn’t packed to the gills, and found a little sports bar with outdoor seating right on College Ave.

Dad and I had cheese steaks and split an order of onion rings, and watched the cars and people go by on the street and listened to a guy argue with his girlfriend over a cell phone and drinks. I kept thinking about missed opportunities and how my life could have been different had I gone to college right out of high school instead of after a few years of diving a depressed and grief-stricken life. To get back on track here, I am glad to be where I am now, and look forward to my opportunities, but do feel that I missed out on a great collegiate experience.

After dinner we sought to make our way toward our hotel, some 30 minutes away. Due to the darkness of night, and the fact that we’d been on the road since this morning, then experienced the exhilarating event that is Penn State Football, road signs were misinterpreted, and we ended up a winding two lane road going down a mountain. An intersection was reached, which led to the proper road, and we were safely ensconced in our hotel room without further incident. Some teevee was watched, then we slept, for the road was beckoning us on the morrow.

Sunday morning we awoke to a dense fog, which made the drive back to State College and adventure. We intended to partake of the institution that is the Waffle Shop, among other stops. The location next to Scott’s motel was as packed as we remembered, but the dining area was slightly larger. I had a blueberry waffle and coffee; dad had a sausage and cheese omelet and coffee, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Once could taste the absolute freshness. After the Waffle Shop, we located a grocery store where mass quantities of the delicacy called Tastykake were procured. Our odd shopping selection was marked upon by the check-out girl, and was answered by my favorite traveler’s phrase, “We’re from out of town.” Our next stop was the Creamery, via a short driving tour of the campus, where three half gallons of ice cream were purchased, with complimentary dry ice to preserve our catch through the journey. Cones were reluctantly bypassed, due to the recent taking of breakfast. Our last stop in Happy Valley was Penn State Sub Shop #1 for three traditional classic Italian hoagies to eat for lunch as we drove and as needed later.

The Interstate was chosen as our route home, and the drive was begun before noon. Around two, we reached Cook Forest, where we ate our subs in the company of the park office cat. I slept for a time during the drive, and we got back to town at a quarter to four.

end of days, monitoring things, game on!

There’s lots to talk about, relatively speaking. I’ve started my final semester at EBC, and begun working as a computer lab monitor there in the evenings. The Otters’ season began last weekend on the road. This weekend’s the home opener; that Saturday, I’ll also be attending my first ever Penn State Nittany Lions football game in Happy Valley. You can’t imagine how excited I am about that. I’m also looking forward to watching the Pittsburgh Penguins (The NHL’s Back!!!) on tv in just a few more weeks, and watching Sidney Crosby make his way among the pros.

The end is in sight, for my programming degree. December 14th is my last day, with graduation closely following. I’m going out with a bang, language-wise, Advanced COBOL, and SQL, with Advanced Systems Analysis and Tech. Writing rounding things off. It’s not a bas schedule, but my COBOL class is and independent study course, which makes finding computer time a hassle, as only one room of computers has a compiler on it, and I don’t want to have to buy a suite of software for home, which I should at least give a little thought to, I suppose. I’m enjoying SQL, since it’s quite intuitive to code, and making charts and graphs for tech writing is fun. I’ve definitely seen my courses come together in the past year, using programs and skills from earlier courses to complete projects for later ones. It also seems that I could get a job with Erie Insurance as a COBOL programmer pretty easily. I should get a resume out to them soon, as a matter of fact.

Working as a lab monitor is going well so far. Fourteen hours a week at minimum wage. So, I’m not in it for the money, more to get experience solving computer problems, and to say that I held down a job while at school for at least one semester. As for the work itself, I’m pretty much left to my own devices, and get paid to do homework. We’ll see how that goes as time goes on, and more people are in the labs asking questions, and I’ve got bigger projects to do myself.

The Otters Season opened as well as could be expected, with a win on Friday, and a loss on Sunday. They’ve got a couple overage players too many, so the next few weeks or months will be exciting to see how the rosters shake out, and how we do with trades.

sunset walk

Went for a walk with the dog as the sun was setting this evening. As I was standing at the bluff, admiring the colorful glow that remained after the orb of the sun crossed the horizon, the firefighters from the station a few blocks away drove up in their pumper. Four men got out to view the fiery sky. Shortly thereafter, a family of mom, dad, infant son and grandmother reached us. I walked Russell over and he got his head patted, and sniffed the knees of everyone. As I walked away from the bluff, another pair of women walked by, one of which asked to pet Russell. Now I just have to take Russell for a walk near a college campus or something, and I'll make all sorts of new friends. :) I've got to keep up on my walking now, I'd done quite a bit while my brother was home for the summer, and we walked together; the air and exercise perk me up after school days.

Momspital

At 5 am on Monday, February 28^th, I was woken up by my mother, whereupon she said that she was having difficulty breathing and dad would be taking her to the emergency room to get checked out. The initial thought at the er was that fluid had built up and dialysis would help settle things. In the course of coming to this decision, a CAT scan was taken, and after mom finished dialysis at the regular clinic, the hospital called, saying that a second doctor looked at the scan and thought he saw something on mom’s brain and would like mom to come back to hospital for an MRI. Mom and dad waited the rest of the day for the MRI, and when it didn’t look like it would happen that night, dad stayed at hospital with mom overnight, hoping to get the MRI in the morning.

Eventually, the MRI was taken Tuesday afternoon. I was called at home around 3:30, with nothing resolved. It’s now quarter to 8 pm, and still nothing new to report from the hospital from dad. Monday evening, the words “mild stroke” were used to describe what the doc might have seen in the CAT scan, but no other symptoms of stroke were evident. Mom’s been oscillating between resting and vomiting at the hospital, though I think her breathing did improve.

As of 9:30 pm Tuesday, no evidence of stroke was found in the MRI, the prime suspect now for what happened is excessively high blood pressure (like over 200, normal around 120). They’re giving her some new medication for that, and depending on how that goes, she may be coming home in the next day or two. So, good news: no stroke, blood pressure can be managed with medications. I’m feeling much more in control of the situation, now that I know a little more.

New Hitchhiker's Guide movie trailer out today!

I can't wait for the movie to come out. Must go to theater and stand in line... now...

NHL Announces Cancellation of 2004-05 Season

Yeah. It's official. I'll talk about it after a self-imposed cooling off period has elapsed.

Learning a valuable coding lesson

The expression “Couldn’t see the forest for the trees” may be clichéd, but it’s certainly accurate, and can be used in the reverse. Especially when you’re a beginning VB programmer and you’ve been asked to find and fix an error in a code sample. Two weeks ago, I was given a program that had a number of errors involving the logic used to navigate an array to display the array’s records. One of the bugs was the code to navigate the array, which improperly used the index numbers as well as used values outside the array. The program created a function to get the items needed to display, and used sub procedures to call that function when I issued a command to move to the next, previous, first or last records.

For the past two weeks, when I had class time, and time at home to work at this program, I kept trying to alter the code of the procedure to step forward and backward through the array. My brother, who is also studying VB and other programming languages, came home for this weekend, and I had him look through the code with me, to see what I had to do. We looked at the code for the function, and at the sub procedures, translating into English the code statements. It turns out that the line of code that needed changed was not in the function that displayed the array record, but in the sub procedure, that used the value determined by the function. The call statement to display the Next record displayed the record with an index number of the current record, and did not increment that value to get to the next value. The simple addition of a “+ 1” or a “- 1” to two lines of code fixed the bug, when I thought I had to rewrite the DisplayRecord function.

Having my brother there, to help decode what the program was really trying to do, helped me see which tree needed to be trimmed. I had been looking at a forest of lines of code, totally lost, and without a clue what needed to be done. Seeing what was wrong flipped a switch in my head that was so big that I’m still baffled by my earlier confusion. Anyway, this is a good example to remember next time, to carefully translate code into common language to diagnose what is happening and what should be happening.

EA corrupting game industry

EA corrupting game industry - Washington Square News

Reading news like this concerns me about working in the game industry, but it also is a call to arms, to do my best as a programmer, and try to fight the good fight against the big quasi-monopolies like Electronic Arts. Companies like Cyan, which created the Myst series of games, began as a small entity, and changed the way people thought about computers and gaming. As much as I would like to work with a big, famous software company, I would relish the opportunity to work for a small, dedicated group of people who have a dream, and a desire to accomplish that dream.

checking in on myself

The past week and a half to two weeks have been exciting on the weather front, with temperatures dropping into the single digits, heavy snow and winds dumping a good bit of snow, and when it wasn’t snowing, one day I woke up to freezing rain and a serious layer of ice to scrape off the car. Having the sun out and temps in the twenties for a change helped clear the roads quite a bit, so I’m ok with the weather for now.

School’s zipping right along, with week four wrapping up Thursday. I’m taking classes in C++, business communications, HTML, Excel, and advanced Visual Basic. I’m really soaking up all these programming languages, and the web course is tempting me to take the Web Development degree program after I finish my Programming degree.

I’ve been opening myself u and talking a bit more to a few people that are in my classes, but the guy I was talking the most with had to withdraw this semester. Hopefully, he’ll be back for spring term.

My desire to try to meet some more new people from online has been waning, enough so that I’ve completely stopped chatting with someone I began emailing a couple weeks before Christmas. I think I need to get some help getting over my fear of talking to people, and gaining confidence in myself so I’m not so afraid of rejection.

Maybe tomorrow, when I’m rested, I can put my thoughts on the Steelers’ collapse, and the Otters’ schizophrenic playing style into words, but that’ll have to wait for now.

www.yetisports.org

Lately I've been spending insane amounts of time smacking penguins upside the head, or tossing other polar creatures up glacial canyons. What strange games can be found at www.yetisports.org!

‘Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky

I’m feeling quite a bit sleep-deprived, but energized, listening to old Cake albums on Rhapsody, on this day-after-Christmas; a little chicken-shit on the side too. I don’t understand why I’m so afraid of chatting with girls online, that’s gotta be one of the lowest-pressure situations out there. (I’m feeling rather hyphen-y tonight too, it seems)

Me, cropped from a photo taken July, 2004 at Mysterium: Toronto. To be used in my profile.

Merry Christmas!

Creating a Paper Trail in the Snow

So…Yes. The term is ending Wednesday, and I’m writing my final government paper tonight that’s due tomorrow morning. This will be (I’m fairly certain) the first multi-page paper I’ll actually complete for a college class. So, that’s good. I’m just afraid that I’m quoting a bit too directly and will get an F for the course for plagiarizing. I’m not really able to care that much, because it’s only a business school, and I’m hoping standards may be a bit lower than a state University. I’m a pretty good writer, but I need to balance having something to turn in
against doing my best not to plagiarize. I’m fairly certain that I have enough extra credit points in this class to offset the two zeros on the papers. Anyway, it’s an elective class, so that’s enough of that one.

In my programming class, I’ve got no clue what the final’s going to be like. My teacher set no due dates for programming assignments, and didn’t follow a schedule for the class at all. It’s going to be either creating a new program, modifying a working program, or fixing a broken program. We didn’t do any fixing broken programs per se before, so I don’t know.

We ended up only spending about two weeks on the last chapter, when the previous ones got at least three weeks. I could probably get the gist of whatever programming we have to do, but am I sure that what I do will be mistake free? Absolutely not. This is my first programming language course, and I could have used a bit more structure in my teaching environment to feel comfortable.

Over the weekend, I complained to my brother that we hadn’t seen appreciable amounts of snow yet this year, so what happens last night? Lake effect snow moves in, dumping near a foot
of snow by my house, well over that much not far away. Digging my car out after class and then
shoveling the driveway was not quite the welcome to winter I would have liked. So, my fingers are cramping, and I need to add a few more paragraphs to my paper, so, time to go.

Short Shifts

Friday evening…went to Andrew’s and installed Visual Studio there…Watched Foster’s…had
institutional-style chicken strips and fries…went to improv, had a decent time, and almost
participated this time…ran into someone I knew while I was a student there…watched Anchorman, was funny if you enjoy Will Farrell…came back home.

Saturday…got up at 12…went to brunch with dad and Andrew…listened to PSU football on radio as drove Andrew back to dorm…mildly surprised to lose 6-4…did some homework…mowed lawn and raked leaves…smells of fall on the air…went to hockey game…Otters played well enough to win 4-3, several fights, some penalties not called that should have been, some called that should not have been…Saw the Hanson brothers…of Slapshot fame, not the teenybopper singers…announced their appearance as mock trade of three otters players to chorus of boos…Hanson’s proceeded to mock-fight with referee and backup goalie of visiting team…glorification of violent hockey, meeting with my disproval…came out again after 1st period, pulled by Zamboni, did laps to applause, then shot t-shirts into crowd…not that big a deal…line for autographs extended full length of one wing of the arena…played Syberia 2 and watched end of world series game 1 and Sox win.

Sunday…more Syberia 2…watched some NASCAR and football and baseball…lots of homework to do tomorrow, but will manage…END TRANSMISSION…

Sunset on the Bluff

This is a 15 minute free-writing exercise I had to do last week for my composition class. The prompt I chose to write about was to describe the special place you go for rest and relaxation. I thought it turned out pretty well, and I haven’t posted anything here in a long time, so here it is.

Just two blocks from my house is a steep bluff that overlooks a bay on Lake Erie made by the Presque Isle peninsula. A street goes along its length, but back from the bluff far enough to provide a small, pleasant grassy area to stroll along, gazing at dandelions, or chase lightning bugs, or quietly watch the sunset. The face of the bluff is covered with trees, their tall, stately trunks reaching straight up to the sky for every last ray of sunshine. As you look across the water of the bay, the peninsula stretches its long arm across the horizon, a demarcation line between water and sky.

The most relaxing time to come to the bluff is fifteen or twenty minutes before sunset, so you can watch as it slowly sinks down from its perch in the sky. The sun by this time is a glowing, golden orb, and the sky around it is splashed with colors. Deep red, majestic purple, pink and orange are spilling from the sun into the sky. It is a performance more emotionally powerful than any fireworks or laser show a person could dream of. Seeing this play of light is most restful and relaxing.

© 2004 phaedrus220 (a pseudonym)

There and back again.

Today marks the beginning of week three of term two at EBC for me. Spring break has come and gone; now I’m in full swing, taking five classes this term. Mondays and Fridays, I’m taking classes on operating systems and computer concepts, as well as Intro to Business. Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s Accounting and Keyboarding/math and English skill development. My toughest class is accounting, since that’s brand new to me; all the rest are fairly straightforward, putting a decent amount of work into completing the assignments for as many points as possible and gleaning what little new information is available. My intro to business prof came out and said the first day of classes that students had to work hard to fail his class. It’s amazing how little I’m doing in there compared to my other classes. That’s not to say that my computer classes are hard. I’m just going through the motions at present, but the teacher’s actually teaching for 90 minutes in my computer classes.

I’ve been stressed about money lately though. I’m still not quite sure how much of this term’s bill I’ll be paying now or with loans and grants later. Supposedly, the money I’ll be getting for fall term will also roll back to pay off my summer term, but the forms I filled out were for a school year ending this August. Oh well. I’m not even really the one footing the bill for what I owe right now; I’m borrowing money from my dad for school which is stretching the family’s already tight funds pretty thin.

The medical insurance industry can go suck eggs for all I care. For the past few years, my dad’s insurance had been supplied by a Blue Cross-related company, and mom’s kidney transplant treatment has been overseen by the Cleveland Clinic. Now, for whatever reason, at the beginning of this year, the company’s switched to UMPC, based in Pittsburgh, and all of mom’s progress has been effectively rubbed out. Now she’s gotta retake many of the tests she took in Cleveland in Pittsburgh. Then there’s the question of which of the doctors we’ve been going to are also covered in the new plan. Major headache, that.

I’ve started pursuing orthodontics and/or oral surgery to fix my teeth. Well, dad’s got a bug in his bonnet to pursue it, and it’s not a bad idea. I’ve just been going along with how things were. It wouldn’t be bad to get this fixed, I’d just have to pretend I’d broken my jaw playing hockey to make having my jaw wired shut seem less than depressing. Plus two or so years of braces. We’ll see how this goes, I haven’t committed yet.

Speaking of hockey, Erie didn’t get the 2005 Memorial Cup. Surprise, surprise! London, Ontario, and their 2 year old 9000 seat arena will get the honor. I know we need a new building before the city gets serious consideration for a tournament of this importance to the Canadian people. Still, it stung a bit when we didn’t get named. We’ll just have to play our way into the tournament, and see how those northerners like us then.

So anyway, things are pretty steady, all things considered. I’m working on the things I can do something about, and letting everything else settle itself out. Goodness knows, this won’t be anywhere near the new character limit, but it’s what I’ve got to say, and I’ve said it.