Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Work, work, and then...

Transportation plans on working me like a dog this week. We're down several staff drivers and lost many student drivers to graduation, and I feel like I've been picking up more than my share of slack. From Tuesday to Saturday alone, I'm working 33 hours. I'll admit, that's not even quite full time, but I'm a freaking full time student! I've sworn off full time job and full time school ever since EchoStar. Three nights this week, I'll have gotten less than 5 hours of sleep. If this bullshit doesn't clear up right quick, I'll have an earful for my boss.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Another Semester Started

Well, yesterday was the first day of classes at CU. So far so good. I think this semester will be good, as long as I don't get bogged down with work. So far, I've got about 20 hours this week, and thats really more than I want to handle. I've got about 9 hours bus driving on a permanent basis, but a bunch of people are still figuring out their schedules, so I've pick up some of the slack. Oh yeah, and I'm working the CU vs CSU football game this Saturday. Wish me luck. I'm thinking about taking a flak vest or my Kevlar helmet, because it's going to be absolutely nuts.

As long as work settles down to about 12 hours a week, I should have plenty of time to get with study groups and office hours and the Arabic Speaking Club, and use so many more resources that I never thought I needed. This semester, it's time to figure out how to be a good student again.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Laptop!!!

I've been mulling it over for weeks, and I decided that a new laptop really would help my endeavors this semester. My old laptop is a bit slow at this point, but I could live with the dated technology. What really prompted me were the bulk and weight of the machine, and the fact that it has a 2 minute battery life. It's impractical to try and use that laptop very often, since I'm forced to sit near an outlet and take a few extra minutes for setup and tear-down.

So today I finally took the plunge. Armed with some leftover student loan money, I headed to Best Buy. I had already shopped around and picked out the machine, so the transaction was fairly quick. I am the proud new owner of an HP Pavilion dv2415nr. It's fairly small and light, and looks great with their Wave pinstripe design. It's got Windows Vista, an AMD Turion dual-core processor, comes with 1GB of RAM (I'll probably upgrade that posthaste), and built-in NVIDIA GeForce graphics! Not to mention the internal wireless network card (revolutionary for me), DVD burner, and built-in webcam that I don't know how to access yet. W00t!!!

The jury's still out on Windows Vista, as I'm having to relearn the locations of many utilities and interface features. It's pretty, sure, but how does it perform? Does it make me more efficient? Time will tell. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Either way, this is my first brand-new brand-name never-touched perfect-battery-condition laptop! I'm totally geeking out here!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Broke Bus

Well, just got back from my first major bus break-down. Several other drivers and I were taking a group down to the Denver Museum of Natural History and the Denver Zoo. The drop-off was uneventful, and the other drivers and I wondered around the museum for a bit, taking in the dinosaurs exhibit. When I went to start the bus back up, however, I noticed a large puddle on the ground, near the engine compartment in back. Upon further investigation, there was oil leaking all over the transmission block, and it had been the entire time I had been dropping students off. It was a severe leak by this time, but my only conclusion is that a hose was severed while I was coming off of the highway.

Luckily, there was enough room to take all of the students back on the other buses, with a few standing. I waited for a while for the enormous tow truck to get through rush hour traffic, then had a pleasant ride with Brent, the tow truck guy, back to Boulder. I'm just thankful that this wasn't worse.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

New Mexico for the Holidays

With summer break coming quickly to an end, I decided to head down to New Mexico last Saturday. It was optimal timing, as I was in attendance for Jeannie's birthday dinner and the big day, her first day back to LAHS, and Zach's last few days before he heads off to his first year of college at New Mexico State. My dad and I also got to go hiking and geocaching, but we didn't find our chosen cache before the weather forced us to move along. I also saw The Simpsons Movie with Dad, and Rush Hour 3 with Zach. Decent, funny movies in both cases, but I think the company was better than the movies themselves. And for Mom, we found Photoshop Elements 5 to help her compile her many family photos digitally. It was just the break I needed before I get back into school mode. Oh, and on the drive back today, I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on audiobook. Great read (or listen, in this case), I highly recommend the entire Harry Potter series now that they're all done.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Sick of Being Sick

The past week hasn't been the mad cleaning fest I had planned. After Jackie moved out, I had planned on doing my best to get myself and Ashley better organized, and find everything that was left behind. Instead, Sunday I developed a nasty pain in my abdomen, and it just got worse. I went to the doctor on Tuesday, and based on the location of the pain he suspects some form of colitis. The pain peaked Wednesday, and I spent most of Thursday asleep or in agony. But after many antibiotic pills, the pain finally let up Friday. I didn't feel well enough to get to my Army drill, so I'll have to make that up soon. By today, I'm feeling mostly normal, and thank god for that.