Cleaning Ashley's Room: Day 1

A path has been cleared from her door to both closet doors, and her office chair is able to roll around. The living room looks like a dumpster got tipped out, and her bed is only slightly piled. Day's outcome: moderate success.

Bliss... Mostly

It's been a very nice Christmas indeed. Ashley got me an extremely nice leather jacket, and my grandma didn't get me an ugly patch-work leather jacket at Big Lots (sigh of relief). I'm still waiting for a new mattress from my parents, but that's coming tomorrow or Tuesday, and that will be very nice. I got a bunch of little stuff from everyone, including cordial cherries and IBC Root Beer, some useful things like scissors from Marcy, money of course, and and kinds of other cool things. I guess I didn't make out like a bandit, but I got what I wanted so I'm happy.

Ashley got a couple of very nice gifts as well. I gave her a pea coat and purse she wanted from Old Navy. Also, her Grandpa Bob gave her a little shotgun patented in 1900, to match her .22 rifle from the same year. She's gonna end up with an antique gun collection if Bob has his way!

I'm a little ashamed for trying to unsuccessfully jump Ashley's car. I jumped it backwards and probably ruined at least the battery. To be fair, her battery wasn't marked well! Somewhere on the positive pole is supposed to be a red marking, and there is none. Anyway, now I get to help her fix it. Maybe we can get her turn signal fixed as well, finally.

Almost Christmas!

Yes indeed, and I'm excited! I'm still enjoying break by being as lazy and leisurely as possible. Last night, Mike, Bryan and I had a LAN party, but it kind of flopped when Mike took 4 hours installing all of his mods for Unreal Tournament 2004 on all 3 computers. Still, it was better than sitting around at home, and I had an excuse to stay up till 5 AM. Sweet!

I guess the past few days hasn't been all fun. I've been bugging Ashley to clean her room ever since she got her fish tank, and she actually got a little bit motivated. Just at that moment, her grandmother decided that nothing should be in the front room since there were "only" 5 days until Christmas. We had it bagged up all nice and neat, so it wouldn't take more than 5 minutes to move them all. Oh well, that's life. After Christmas we may get more chance to do something with the room.

As for the Army, I got a call from my dad's best friend, who gave me the advice that it may not be the best time to join the service. He was active-duty Air Force, so the fact that he's trying to dissuade me is pretty unsettling. He agrees that if I find the right job that it diminishes my chances of getting shipped out. I get the feeling when my dad told him I was joining the Army that Mark got the idea I was joining as an open job description, which would pretty much condemn me to the worst jobs the Army has to offer. I like to think I have a little more sense than that.

Oh shoot, I forgot to find out what books I needed for school, and the school's closed now until January 3rd! Oh well, guess that just means I'll need to pay for relatively fast shipping when I get them on eBay. I sold a couple of my textbooks on eBay and made decent money off of them, so that's cool.

If I don't get back to everyone, Merry Christmas! Love you all!

Ashley's Fish

Today has been decent I suppose. I had an in-progress weigh-in at the recruiter, and despite not working out enough, I'm still down half an inch since last week. I headed over to Ashley's for a bit after that, and found out she had gotten a 20 gallon fish tank and base cabinet from one of Pattie's firends. Where in the world does she have room for a 4 foot cabinet and a good-sized fish tank? I hung around for a little while, but pretty quickly I got fed up with the idea and left.

I think that mood inspired me to shift my room a bit, so I moved around the boxes and the bed a bit. Now there's room behind my computer chair, and I can actually scoot back and stand up. I even have a good chunk of uninterrupted floor space.

After Ashley got off of work, I decided to go back. Ashley now has the tank in her hallway, and it acutally looks pretty good there. We spent most of the time setting it up and filling it and transfering critters.However, she realized she'd need to clean her room and make room for the junk she was storing in the hallway. We cleaned a little, but while we took a break Ashley was admiring the tank and her goldfish. I can tell she's really excited, and if cleaning her room is involved then I'm happy too.

When I got home 30 minutes ago I found a pleasant suprise. My Half-Life 2 stuff that I ordered with the game finally arrived! It came with a baseball cap, a few posters, the strategy guide to the game (too late), and even a postcard from one of the cities in the game! I'm so happy!

Chris the Grinch

I'm harboring a lot of negative feelings tonight. I don't know why, I just wish everyone would stop bugging me. The day was going fine; I was having fun with my new computer game, then Ashley came over and we laid down for a little while (nothing sexy whatsoever), then I went for a workout. I felt fine about everything.

I guess I noticed something when Nancy came home and started bitching about work. About how they're gonna fire her any time now. She's been saying that for two months, and she hates that job anyway. That kinda put me in a bit of a bad mood. Then Ashley called and said she was done with work. I asked her if she wanted to come over, and she said she'd rather me come to her house. I start thinking about how we've done everything at her house for the past couple of weeks and its getting really boring, but I go anyway. When I get there, she has me wrap her packages for people, all off of the dollar rack at Target. Tiny, irregular packages. And Cassie is being a nuisance to no end.

I think I might be depressed tonight. I can't tell. I need sleep. I still need to submit my CU transfer app. I wonder if my grades have been posted yet? Sigh. I need to binge.

End of Semester!

The semester's finally over! Actually, compared to high school it was extremely quick. I think I'm going to enjoy this college thing (or at least until the classes get hard). I took the Spanish final last Wednesday, and it was pretty bad. Math and Chem weren't as bad, but I'm sure I passed all three. I just wish the website wasn't broken so I could check my grades.

Thursday afternoon I was finally free! I went for a workout with at the recruiting station, but no one showed up to lead it. All of the recruiters were in their fancy Class A uniforms as usual, so they couldn't lead a workout even if they felt like it. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were pure leisure for me. Saturday night I went out with the usual crowd (Ashley, Jackie, Kristen and Jeff) to CB & Potts for dinner, then to see Ocean's 12. It was quite an evening. Sunday night we all hung out at Kristen's house again, and Jeff made piña coladas for everyone. I had half a glass, so I guess that's basically the first time I've had any drinks.

Oh yeah, and I found a nice place for my little 1-foot tall Christmas tree from Marcy. It's very cute on top of my desk. I just need more miniature ornaments. Ooh, and my A-10 Warthog model is getting very close to done. I just painted the cockpit, which came out pretty good. All that's really left is the ordinance (missiles, bombs). Rock on!

Gung ho, but overweight

I've kinda been slacking, but here's the update. I had an excellent weekend of friends and dieting. Ashley, Jackie and I went to Flatirons Mall and Boulder to get gifts for Christmas, and had a right good time. The girls usually hate to have Kelly along, but they seem to be missing her now that she has a boyfriend to hang out with. I know its not just missing her company; there's also a degree of concern, but I think they actually miss her company, too.

Monday morning I woke up at 4 AM to go down to MEPS (the Military Entrance Processing Station). After many rounds of the "hurry up and wait" game, I got thru all of the medical examinations fine. Everything seemed to be perfect, except my vision which was correctable. The last step in the medical exam was the height and weight measurement, and this was the only part I was worried about failing.

I've been on a pseudo-Atkins diet and wearing plastic wrap around my waist for about 4 days. This was all following the recruiting office sergeant's ideas. I was a little skeptical, but I was pleasantly suprised when I actually lost about 5 pounds and an inch and a half off of my stomach.

At the weighing, I was 6 pounds over standard, so they taped my neck and waist several times for accuracy. One round of "hurry up and wait" later, I had the paper saying I was 1.18% over the fat composition standard. That means I can't complete any more of the entrance processing until December 23. Was that perfect timing on their part or what? Maybe my family will be in town to see me get sworn in. Its possible.

Anyway, I've got final exams this week, starting with Spanish tomorrow. I've got a lot of studying to to in the next two days! On the bright side, I think I'm going into these tests looking pretty good grade-wise. Wish me luck!

More prodding

A good deal of today was spent getting more info on this whole Army Reserve idea. I liked a lot of what I heard yesterday. It wasn't anything terribly new, but I got some actual numbers. $450 a month plus tuition assistance sounds good to me, especially for the majority of the time working 2 days a month.

Today after class I went down to the office again and had them give me the official entrance exam, the ASVAB. They took me down to downtown Denver to take it, and it was frickin' long! It was fairly easy though, and I got a 99 percentile of all armed forces recruits that take it. I can basically get any job opening the Army has to offer.

I'm still considering the pros and cons, but I'm leaning toward joining. As a comfort to everyone (and myself), it sounds pretty difficult to be deployed, especially as a student. Even if I were deployed, I'd be in a desk job. I would not be general infantry, and would not be anywhere near the front lines.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Registration, Finally

I went to school this morning, slipping and sliding my way there, and I realized something. My school had finally opened up registration! I sat thru a thouroughly boring Spanish class, came home and registered. I decided to go with my earlier plan, and signed up for 3 classes. On Monday/Wednesday I'll have macroeconomics from 10 - 11:15, then calculus from 1 - 3:15. On Tuesday/Thursday, I'll have C++ from 10 - 11:50. I'm very pleased with my schedule, and I'm really anxious to start C++. Not enough to go in before the term starts, but anyway...

I should get going, I'm going to go talk to an Army Reserve recruiter that called me a few days ago. I definitely won't do anything drastic today, but I'll get some information to go off of. Army Reserve could have its pros; the college money and training would be my primary focus, but the physical training would be a definite plus. We'll just have to see if those are enough to overcome my contempt for the military and fear of getting mobilized...

Don't worry, I'll definitely talk to everyone before I get the slightest urge to sign up.

Hoidays are Fun!

Yes indeed, hoidays are truly the joy of life! My car came back from Cooper's running like a brand new Civic, and no more clicking while turning! The week was mostly uneventful, besides a small LAN party. I started building a new model aircraft, an A-10 Warthog. It's going together very nicely, but for most of the week, most of my tools were in New Mexico.

On Thanksgiving Thursday, I had a piece of pie at Ashley's before I left for New Mexico. The drive was uneventful, except for my insanely improved gas mileage. I've started to compile the Harry Potter Book-On-CD's onto MP3 CD's that my new car stereo can use, so I can get all 10 hours of The Chamber of Secrets on to one CD! That made the trip nice.

I got to spend all of Friday in New Mexico, and we had our turkey and all the usual sides, and everything was excellent! My parents and I got caught up on life and business, and we spent most of the day watching the CU-Nebraska football game and Spike TV's Bond-a-thon. I also helped Zach get Half-Life 2 on his computer. My parents "kicked me out" on Saturday, because the weather was supposed to turn nasty. Indeed, just as I got back home, the snow was beginning to collect.

Saturday night we gathered at Kristen's house to celebrate her 21st birthday, and after food and cheesecake we went out to see a movie. We drove to a couple of theaters and weren't able to get into the movie we wanted, so we played mini-golf in Colorado Mills Mall.

Today I went to chruch with Ashley and then just hung out around her house. We ate leftovers, watched The Musketeer, fixed her computers and even did a little room-cleaning. It was a good Thanksgiving break, but back to the flurry of school tomorrow. Two weeks left, and then I'm free for a month! I still need a job though...

Good Times... and Almost Thanksgiving

I'm doing very well, glad to say. I've gotten a good chunk of Half-Life 2 done, and it's such a sweet game! Nova Prospekt is an especially fun level; you get to storm a prison with the help of these Starship Troopers-esque bug things that like to kill enemy aliens. Right now I'm leading the resistance movement against the evil alien opressors. I still hate headcrab zombies...

School's been good. I didn't do quite as well on my Spanish test as I would've liked, but a B is still good. I'm still confident of passing all of my classes with B's or better. I'm still contemplating classes for next semester; mostly thinking about whether to take macroeconomics or chem 2. The chem class would count towards my major, but so would calc-based physics next fall, and I'd rather have the physics in that slot. Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that chem 2 would be more involved than economics. Either way I'll be full time, so I'll keep considering, but I'm leaning toward the economics.

Still psyched about C++ next semester. It'll probably be boring for the first half the class since I know the basics, but it'll be a good refresher. On that line, my program is fully functional and does the basics of what I was aiming for. It takes class info like the course name, credit hours, class days and times, and the prof's name in a dialog. It shows all of the classes in a tree view, like Windows directory listings. (AKA, open up My Documents or My Computer and hit the "Folders" button at the top.) When everything's entered, it'll save to the hard drive in a format that my old program can read. It's pretty simple, but from here I can expand it to show a whole bunch of different views and even replace the old program. In short, I'm excited about programming again.

Things with Ashley are good. She's got the entire week off of school, but that means extra time at the Animal Doctor. Oh yeah, and she's house-sitting Patti's house, so there's another job for her. Her family's gearing up for Thanksgiving, so the house is starting to look more like a normal house instead of a packrat nest.

Putting in my car tomorrow at Cooper's, and hopefully they'll have time to fix the CV joints or whatever's messing up. I need to drive Thursday!

HL2!!!!!!

So I ended up staying up until about 1 AM on Monday night to try and wait for Half-Life 2 to unlock, but 1) I didn't realize that to unlock it I'd need to restart the update program, and 2) I think I left about 5 minutes before it actually did unlock. But that's ok, because I had class the next morning.

So Tuesday morning I turned on the computer and let HL2 unlock while I was in class. Then I raced home (as fast as the speed limit would allow, of course) and sat down and got my first taste of the finished product. The anticipation was definitely worth it! Aside from eating and class, it's been almost my sole activity for the past 2 days! Let me just add, I HATE HEAD-CRAB ZOMBIES! But its still cool.



Oh yeah, I got a B on my last Spanish test that I took Monday, but I still feel pretty comfortable. I've been keeping my overall grade high enough that I should be OK.

FRCC finally released their spring schedule yesterday, and aren't starting registration until the 29th! Most of my college friends have been registered for a month! At least now I can choose classes. Along those lines, I asked the Computer Science teacher if I could skip the Intro to Programming class and just go strait into C++, and he said it would be fine, so that'll probably be on my plate next semester. Still deciding on other classes, but most likely it'll be Calc 1 and Macroeconomics. All three of those will transfer to CU, so I'm gonna get some credits that way at least.

Let the good times roll

The weekend was pretty good overall. Saturday Ashley was at another craft fair, so I did quite a bit of nothing. I worked on more programming, and I'm actually getting somewhere now! still lots to work on. Today I did some homework, like the huge take-home test for trig. OK, its not that huge, but there's some strange problems mixed in there. I finished most of it then realized that it's not due until Tuesday and said "screw it." But you can bet I'm gonna finish it early tomorrow because...

Tomorrow is the 15th, the day before the 16th, which is when Half-Life 2 is going to be released worldwide! You can bet I'll be on my computer tomorrow at midnight waiting for my copy to unlock. I splurged and bought the game a couple days ago and pre-loaded it over the internet, so when it unlocks it'll already be on my computer! And I got the deluxe pak, so in a few weeks I'll be swimming in HL2 paraphernalia! Its gonna be so sweet!

No New Mexico for Me

Life's been good for the past week. Nothing huge I guess. Oh yeah, the chemistry exam was tough, but I think I'll pass well enough. Turns out we didn't have a trig exam until yesterday, and it's a take-home test. Guess I'd better take a look at that, huh? The susbsitute we had in trig made it sound hard, but who knows if he even looked at it.

I was planning on going to New Mexico this weekend to see my family, but the weather seems to have killed that. I'm sure I'll see them all soon, because Thanksgivings coming right up. I don't know if I'll be down there or if they'll be up here, but we'll find out soon enough.

Last night, Ethel (Ashley's grandma) and I made pecan puff cookies for my trip and for the holidays in general. It was kind of fun to just sit there with her and get a cooking lesson. I think she enjoyed it as much as I did.

Most of today I spent programming. I'm trying to put together a helper program for my Schedule Creator, so that you don't have to enter classes into text files by hand. Unfortunately for me, I'm trying to do it in VC++, and I made Schedule Creator in VB, so I'm using two COMPLETELY different languages. I think it'll be a good test, but I'm trying to get some fancy shit going with tree views and stuff, and it's just not going together nicely yet. I think it'll be really fun once I get past some of my current hurdles. Putting the pieces together should be a blast!

Last night of waiting!

This is my last night as a person without broadband internet. It's almost as big as graduation! (j\k) But truly, I'm really excited. All week I've been catching myself trying to download humongous files. I'm so ready for fast internet that I think I have it already!

The weekend was decent. Mom came out on Thursday and it was really great to see her. I visited with her a few times, and Saturday night we went and saw her friend's movie premier. It's an amatuer film called Solataire, and its kind of about a crazy guy with multiple personality disorder. I can't really say much more than that, because if anything is published about the film they'll be disqualified from the film festivals they've submitted to, but it was decent.

Ashley was at the Nativity Craft Sale all weekend, and before that she was preparing her stock, so I really didn't see much of her over the weekend. Sunday afternoon everyone finally crashed at Kristen's house, and after she left for CMC, Ashley Jackie and I went and drove around. After a couple of stores we stopped at Old Chicago and had dinner. That was fun.

Today I did a few things. After Spanish, I went to the bank, and after that I went to another store. See protected post for reasons, as they concern Ashley's Christmas present. :P Even though she never reads this...

Ashley and I hung out this evening, which was fun. We just sort of caught up after not really getting much time to ourselves. She couldn't stay long because we both had things to do, but I was really glad she was at least able to come over!

Exams in Chem AND Trig tomorrow. That should be interesting. As long as it doesn't interfere with my cable install...

Life is good

So yeah, I finally decided its time to mention to grandma the serious possibility of cable internet. She didn't seem overjoyed, but I think she knows it's important to me. So yeah, she'll cancel AOL and use that money on cable internet instead, and I'll pay for installation and the rest of the monthly bill. I've been gearing up all week, and I went as far as buying a cable modem and wireless cards on eBay! So today I scheduled them to come out, and by Tuesday night I should have cable internet! (Assuming the modem shows up by then... it should.)

I spent all day preparing what I can for the install. I put my wireless router in the living room, so that we can have the cable feed coming in there. The router's centered in the house so grandma's and Nancy's computers can access it, and we don't have to run the cable feed as far. Besides, if we switch to cable TV, all we have to do is put in a splitter instead of getting a whole new install.

I also spent some more time on programming. I've gotten a couple more books on Visual C++, and it's starting to make a whole lot more sense. I figure buying so many books is justified; I really need to learn about my perferred industry, and I'd like to do it sooner rather than later. If nothing else, I'll have a whole lot better idea what's going on when I start taking REAL classes in a year or two.

Oh yeah, I also had lunch with Ashley. She's scrambling to get more inventory for the craft sale tomorrow. She's so stressed out, but I know it'll be worth it to her when people buy the things she's made. That's her big mental payoff. Still not sure about the future, but I'll hang in there.

Ashley Con't

Well, I guess my feelings for Ashley are leveling out again. I was pretty pessimistic at one point. Now I just feel... neutral. I love being around her, but we're still not getting any further. Not that I know where further is supposed to be.

I'm still feeling.. almost bored. I don't feel as much animosity as before, that's one thing. She's fun to be with most of the time, the sex is still as great as ever, but there's no adventure. Maybe that's more than just Ashley.

I don't really feel like anything interesting is happening in my life, and I rationalize that if I wasn't tied down to Ashley I could somehow seek adventure. I could try new things, new people. Somehow I know that dumping Ashley wouldn't solve this, but it sure makes sense to my subconscious. Maybe I'm depressed, I don't know.

S'gooood

The weekend was very refreshing, indeed. I got some much-needed R&R. Ashley and I carved pumpkins Friday, which was really fun. We even went to the pumpkin patch (in my Civic, hope I didn't lose anything bottoming out...) and picked out pumpkins from the vines. Our carvings went pretty well, but of course we cheated and used kits with patterns and knives.

Halloween was really fun. Ashley and I went up to Ft. Collins for the afternoon. Jackie and Kelly wanted us to bring costumes for trick-or-treating, but Ashley had heard weather reports that it was going to snow, so we skipped. We dropped by Kelly's house, then went and met Jackie's apartment. It's not as bad as she says, really its not! We talked for a good while, and headed out to the movie theater. We split up there; Ashley and Kelly wanted to see Richard Gere's ass, and Jackie and I opted for Team America. It was pretty funny, definitely in the South Park genre of comedy.

Today has been pretty uneventful. I aced the Spanish test I took last Wednesday, so that's cool. Oh yeah, I got a new backpack with room for my laptop, so I'm pretty psyched about that. Still job hunting, but I happened to see CC at Best Buy today. He's working there, and says they're hiring like crazy for seasonal, so I have a decent chance there.

I'm still alive!

Despite my recent lack of attention to my blog, I'm still ok. Actually, I've been quite good of late. I'm keeping up with classes. Chemistry and trig are actually getting to the fun parts of the respective classes, and Spanish is still hanging in there. I tried really hard to mess up my chemistry lab today, but the worst that came out of it is I burned a pair of hefty tweezers instead of using the tongs. Not too bad.

Ashley and I have been having a bit of a rough time, but only because I finally told her that I wasn't happy with current arrangements. We talked a little, and she freaked herself out, and now we're talking about things. She agreed to talk to her counselor at school about depression, and the counselor gave her a direction to go. So Ashley's gonna start feeling better, hopefully.

As for today, I had a really bad impulse to spend some money, so I researched a bunch of computer parts and decided I really didn't need any of it. The feeling was still lingering, so I bought a programming book on Visual C++ that I've needed for a while. I've still been learning Java, but eventually I need to learn to do something useful with C++!

So yes, I'm still alive and kickin.

The Hunt Is On

So yeah, not much happened today, and it was everything I thought it could be. Some homework, little computer, some quality time with Ashley. But now the job hunt is on.

Apparently, both Best Buys in near the house and the Blockbuster are hiring, so I think I might have a shot at a decent part-time job. So many questionaires... Hope this pays off, but I'll keep picking up apps.

Car Stereo Stolen!

Today's been kind of interesting, because when I got in my car to go to class, I noticed something missing; the faceplate to my stereo. I'd probably have thought I misplaced it, but the stereo itself was also disconnected from the open back and pushed back in its harness, like somebody tried to take it out and didn't have the anti-theft tools. Lucky me, I didn't have anything else in the car that was worth anything. (There were a couple of old computer video cards in the back that are now missing, but I'd have paid somebody to take those!)

So yeah, after I got home I filed a theft report. The cop actually dusted the car for prints, but everything was too smeared. I figured that buying a new faceplate would cost about the same as a new deck. So now I think to myself, "I've got a useless paperweight now, this would be a primo opportunity to upgrade my stereo like I've been thinking." I went back to my class, my math teacher made a bunch of arithmatic mistakes and sent us home early due to her lack of awareness, and I raced out to shop for a new deck.

After checking a couple places out, I found a decent deal at Circuit City. The deck was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but they gave me free installation which made the difference. The deck itself is a JVC tuner/CD player with an MP3 decoder. That means I can burn compressed CD's and fit like 20 hours of music on one CD! It also has a mini remote. (I'm so broke, but it feels good!)

Lesson learned. Even in Broomfield, lock your doors.

Thourough Cleaning

I feel very proud of myself right now; I just gave my car a cleaning like it's never seen. I figured it was really time to get in there with a vaccum, but I just couldn't get to a lot of places. So, I took out the seats one at a time and cleaned under them. I also took out the center console and gave the shift-indicator plate thingy a wash and cleaned all the grime out of the cracks in between. The dog hair wasn't as easy to get up, but I made an effort with duct tape. My car is clean!

And then

Today, I took a jog and went to church. Ashley's thinking that if I want to continue converting to Catholic that we should see about the RCIA program (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, the standard conversion classes) at the Sacred Heart of Mary church in Boulder. Apparently, the confirmation program was much better there than at Nativity, so that would probably follow for RCIA. We'll see; first I need time to actually take classes! That will come soon enough...

After that, Ashley and I went job hunting for me, and I got a few good applications. I'd really love to get an internship at a tech company, but I could proabably settle with retail for a bit. All I need is a little cash inflow. While Ashley was at work, I finished replacing the outlets in the kitchen at Ashley's rental. Doug gave me another great tip; electricians typically put sockets that are controlled by switches upside-down to designate them! I would never think of that, but its a great idea, so I also did that.

Ashley and I talked about going to the gym or going for a bike ride, but by the time we were done with dinner it was pretty much too late. I came home, did some homework (for real!), and now I sit here. A week and a half more of work, and right smack dab in the middle of the semester. Life is good.

Let's be Honest

Ok, so I've been putting off posting for a few days. Mostly because I turned in my 2-week notice Thurdsay night and wanted to tell my parents before I put it on here. After looking at some of the comments and emails concerning this decision, I've decided I made a good choice but put way too much in the notice. Damn school for always demanding 3 paragraphs of supporting information! I can't not do it now!

Anyway, nothing much really happened out of the ordinary until Saturday, yesterday. When I woke up, I was invited to go over to Ashley's rental and help her cousin Doug do some electrical work. Doug just got out of prison within the last 6 months, and now he's an apprentice electrician. He's really a cool guy, and he knows what he's doing. He was able to narrow down intermittent power problems to a really old breaker. I understood what he was doing, but it amazed me how freely he handled the live lines. I also learned about the continuity feature of my multimeter, which is really cool and helpful.

After that, Ashley and I went to Jeremey's birthday party. Lyssa also showed up, and we had a good time just hanging out. We also went out to the new Broomfield Commons park and shot of some of Jeremey's rockets. He got a new dual-stage rocket that went way too high to see for a good minute. When we got back, we played horseshoes and Pictionary with Dave and Shelly.

As it got later, we decided to join up with Jackie, Kristen and Jeff. They wanted to go to The Dig, the new haunted house in right in Broomfield. After much debate, we decided to go, but Ashley opted to stay in the car. That said, Jackie asked Ashley permission to borrow me for clinging priveleges. :D The house was decent, but I don't really have anything to judge off of. Jeremey insists that he's been to a few this season, and this one was decent but not worth the price.

Another night off...

So yeah, I went to Spanish and got my test back and kicked butt on it! I think the teacher made it really easy. So then I came home and started learning some Java with my new book. Jeremey gave me a bunch of computer junk, but there's a few things I might be able to use. Where did he get an I-Mac mouse? The only place I've seen those is the high school...

And then I came home and thought about work some more. I wrote a 2-week notice last night, and it's very eloquent and business-like, but I want to make sure this isn't just a low point that I'll get over. I don't think so, but people think a lot of stupid things. The major things I said in the notice are that I don't have time to do the things I love anymore and I refuse to be a workaholic at my age; that my grades are falling and school comes first; and that if I'm not allowed to help customers get the best deals then I really can't help them, can I? I'll keep thinking about it before I turn it in.

Anyway, after a long thought about what I wanted to do with my evening, I decided to call in for a sick day again. This time I used a true excuse, saying that I have a huge test and need to study. I do in fact have a very large chemistry test tomorrow that I've spent a good amount of time studying for tonight. I still need to study, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. And it was time much better spent than sitting at work. Maybe I don't need a full time job yet.

Oh yeah, and Ashley has told me to say something; Mom and Dad, my hands are starting to feel more and more like I have carpel tunnel. Next time we talk we should talk about getting into a doctor to have it checked out.

OK, back to the books.

Foiled Again

Guess what special event was bestowed upon me tonight? I was written up! Final written warning, the whole 9 yards. And for what, you ask? Because I told a customer that once their problem was solved they wouldn't need to keep their warranty. Fucking written up! Can you say anal retentive?

This is why I never want to be a salesman. Ever! Ever! No! Not anything resembling sales! I never want to memorize another promotion or take another credit card payment or explain another bill. Never again. I just want to sit in a cubicle, a real enclosed cubicle and not the open-air ones like Echostar, and test my logic all day.

After I get rational thought back, I'll consider whether I can stand to stay or when to turn in my 2-week notice or whether to turn it in at all.

Oh yeah, something cool did happen today. Grandma got new windows for the front of the house, which means I have a bedroom window that actually opens and closes. So that's cool.

I Have Friends!

Today has been really fun, and I hope I have more days like this one.

I got to sleep in, wich is always a plus. I got to see my dad too, and it's been a while since I've seen any of my family. It was really great to see him again. Dad also gave me the title to my car, which is another bonus! The car's always been mine, but now it's official.

After that, I hung out with Ashley, Jackie, Kelly, Fuzzy, and Jeff. We got Kristin's stuff ready to go back to college, then we went to the mall and had a really great time just wondering around. I got a new sweater from Old Navy because it was a good sweater and it was cheap. I need to bolster my sweater collection anyway. I think everyone ended up buying something. It was really great to know that I still have friends and can have a good time with them.

I also did a little homework. I guess you'd say that mid-terms are coming up, because all of my classes seem to have tests coming up. Its not official, but I guess this is considered mid-term. I'm not looking forward to that part, especially if I actually have to study hard. But I'll get by.

And my laptop still isn't back from the shop. All that was wrong was a little latch won't stay closed, and they've had it for at least 2 weeks. I'm starting to miss it!

Finally woke up

Ok, I think I snapped out of my lethargy about half way thru work tonight. This morning was just as bad as last night. It took a lot of effort to think. I'm doing much better now.

So yeah, I didn't end up getting to Ft. Collins for the CSU band festival, but I would've been there for like 2 hours, and Jackie was doing guard duty so I don't know if I could've seen her anyway. Ashley and Kelly were off on a girl's day out, so I just caught up on sleep until work.

Work was usual. We had a training session reviewing the best ways to defuse a bad call. And I got a lady to cry because she woudln't have TV for the weekend. Very nice.

Hopefully tomorrow I can actually see Ashley again. That'd be a treat. Ooh, and Jackie also promised she'd be down, so we'll have a grand ol' time.

Blah

The last couple days have been... kind of... blah. There's nothing wrong with them, but they haven't been spectacular either. I just feel like I'm not really at wherever I am. I get up, I do my thing, I play a computer game and I go to bed.

I'll say this though. Its better than feeling stressed out.

Jackie's ivited us to go to CSU tomorrow for a marching band competition. Hopefully I can get up to that, that would be really fun. She's also suggested having a party for Fuzzy's 21st birthday, even though its a ways away, like the end of November. Its something to look forward to.

Maybe thats whats missing. I haven't seen my friends in so long, ever since I started working. I guess I should've expected it, but it's really wearing me out. The fact that we can't just have spontaneous parties anymore is really kind of sad.

Day off after all!

Hey all! Today was better than I expected, and it would take a lot to ruin my mood tonight.

I woke up for school in the morning like usual, and what do I find in my car but a new bobble-head dog and a card from Ashley? The card had a Starbucks gift card enclosed too! Not that I'm a Starbucks addict yet, but I'm sure I'll get use out of it. After that, went to chemistry, and got thoroughly confused over the 4 similar equations concerning light as both a wave and matter, and treating matter as a wave. I'm sure I'll figure it out, but the teacher just blew thru them without giving any useful examples. Came back home, had some breakfast.

Ashley came over for her lunch period and we exchanged gifts; I got her a Gameboy Advance and Spyro. I thought she'd enjoy those, because she's never had any sort of game console before, and really has no place for a used N64. She got me a beard groomer and a really nice sweater from Old Navy.

Went back to school for trig, fought off sleep the entire period. There must be something about trig that puts me to sleep, because this was happening last year too. Oh, the teacher did change the format of the class to include homework as a grade, so I guess I'll actually have to do all of the assignments instead of breezing thru a select few problems.

After that, I decided to call in to work. The job is important, but so is spending time with Ashley today. If they have a problem with me calling in once, then I probably don't need to work for them. Besides, it was supposed to be my day off! It was only overtime anyway!

I didn't do anything particular with my time off, but that's exactly what I needed. Ashley and I went to the mall, I bought a new video game, then we watched Indiana Jones at her house. I came back home, flew WWII planes for a bit, and now here I sit.

I'm extremely happy at the moment. For some reason, I'm really glad I didn't go in to work. Last night was actually really good, and today was only a half day, but it doesn't really matter. I had an excellent day because I had the day off. I'm vaguely worried about getting a talk when I go back, but if I do it would be worth it. Its not even going to happen, because the policy is 5 calls-in per year, no questions asked.

Not Long Enough!

Yet again, my day off has come and gone. Why doesn't it last longer!? I had a good time, but this whole being awake at night gig makes me feel like I do less than I actually do.

After being rudely awakened by my parents (just joking) and having a good chat with the family, I spent a bunch of time with Ashley watching more ripped movies until she had to go to work. Its those times I love the most; just sitting around with Ashley, nothing in particular to do.

When Ashley went to work, I helped a guy from the high school try and get his ancient laptop working. I won't go into details, but this thing had to be at least 10 years old. Its archaic. The BIOS had a password on it, which means it won't even boot Windows or read the floppy drive. To do anything we need to find the password or open the case to reset the BIOS, and both options are pretty much impossible. But thats ok, its a low-priority spare time project.

After that, I took Ashley out to the Outback Steakhouse for our 2-year dating anniversary. It's really this Tuesday, but we're working mandatory overtime at Dish, so no luck going to dinner that night. Dinner was great, and we hardly touched the main course, as is the tradition at Outback.

After that, I came home, did some homework, read my e-mail and web comics, and now I'm wondering where the day went. I won't get another day off until next Sunday, and today was good but it was hardly the well-deserved break that was coming. I should've asked about getting out of this overtime. Too late now. Back to the grind.

But tomorrow will be better than last night. I'm sure of that.

Hard Night

Tonight was very difficult for me. I went into work with the same attitude of "it won't be that bad" as usual. That ended up being really wrong.

To be fair, only the first 2 hours was really bad. The night got better as it went along, so I guess I should be thankful for that. Something about the entire night was a little... off. I got a ton more calls that I had to transfer, I hardly fixed any problems, and I had more irate customers than usual. We were even sitting in a different place than usual, which we normally do on Saturdays, but it threw me off for a bit. I think I just must've gotten my share of bad calls tonight.

I need to figure out how to sleep less and still be awake. Maybe I'll turn to coffee, it works for other people. I'm just kidding, but waking up at 11AM makes days off of school really, really short. For a few seconds there, it felt like I never left the call center floor. Time for that resumé to start working its magic!

Speaking of which, I did get one e-mail back. It was for a sales associate position. I ask for a programming job and they give me a sales associate offer? WTF?

Tuesday of Tuesdays

Oops, maybe 2:30 AM is too late to get to sleep. I woke up this morning just in time to realize that I was really late for chemistry. I decided to get another hour of sleep and study the chapter myself. It wasn't too bad, it was another concept I've had before, and I actually think it makes sense this time.

In trig we had an exam that I blew thru. I'm really glad I'm taking it again, it really does make this transition easier.

This evening I hung out with Ashley mostly. We watched Gilmore Girls, which we haven't done in a long while. After that she went home to do homework, and I actually sat down and watched a TV show for the first time in a long while! I watched Father of the Pride, that new adult-ish computer-animated series. It was pretty funny, I might have to start setting some time aside for that.

That reminds me, I'm also in the middle of laundry... Post again soon

Bite the Bullet

Ok, so maybe work isn't that bad. Its still not what I want to do, but it's not that bad.

I posted my resume on Monster.com, hopefully someone will see it and think "intern...", but we'll see. I guess I might be able to hang in there at this job for a while. As long as they don't volunteer me for Winback... I refuse. Nancy says she likes Winback because she has more goodies to offer people, but that means I'd have to be even more of a salesman. If anything, I want to be less of a salesman!

School was usual. I don't have enough time to do what I want, blah blah blah. At the moment, I don't really think it matters. I'm an adult now. I need time for myself, but I can get that later. I'll just suck it up for now. Things will get better, yes they will.

Good day off

Why are days off always shorter than working days? It was a good day, but way too short. I actually woke up at 10 today, which was an accomplishment for me. I went to church with Ashley, and spent most of the rest of the day with her.

We went to Hancock Fabric to get flannel for pajama pants, and watched an RC car race in the parking lot. After that, we rented a bunch of movies from King Soopers and vegitated for a while. How does 3PM turn into 7PM that quickly? Anyway, Ashley went home, and I finished my Spanish composición, called my family, and now here I am with almost nothing to show for a day off. Doing nothing is supposed to be more relaxing than this. Oh well.

School and work tomorrow, but only 1 class, and then Tuesday is no work, so its all good. I did watch Castaway today, and it reminded me of a very important point: tomorrow is another day that may bring some welcome surprises! Bring on the day!

Life, the Universe, and Everything

I'm starting to think this full time employee\student thing isn't for me. I'm still getting thru, but I sure wish I had more time off. One day off of everything isn't quite enough, methinks.

Class is going great. I actually feel pretty relaxed about this whole college thing. I've got a full load and I still don't have to do that much studying. I'm keeping up with homework, but its not really that hard. Sure, that'll probably change as soon as I get classes I've never taken, but it seems like the profs usually go over anything that's important.

Its work thats really draining me right now. Its not a bad job, but getting up the will to drive there and sit is slightly harder. I don't know how long I want to make myself a slave to America's stupidest segment of society. "I'm not gonna have TV for a week just because your equipment failed?" Try a board game, ma'am. I've heard they're fun.

I think I'll start job hunting. I don't mind this job, and I'll keep it until i find something else. However, I don't want to stay there longer than I have to. I'm smart enough to do something better.

New Computer!

Yay! I just spent a bunch of money on a new computer! Well, not an entirely new computer, but the important parts. I got a new case, an Athlon 64 3000+ CPU, a new motherboard with 8 USB2 ports, 512MB of DDR RAM and a mini USB hub.

It was really time to do it, and I'm really glad I did. I haven't seen phenomenal performance increases, but the case looks MUCH better, and I feel better knowing that my hardware is updated. I now have a really great PC once again. Besides, I didn't spend a fortune. I got pretty good deals.

Oh yeah, and Mr. Waterbury has made a couple of basic updates on the band website (www.bhsband.org), so I guess my project will continue to be used! Sweet! Still need to get some students/parents/instructors involved, but there's a BBPA meeting coming up.

Work again tomorrow? Keep on truckin'...

Day Off

Finally, a day off. Why did that take so long to get here? I hope I get used to this schedule.

Work is still pretty good, but it's getting hard to drive in and park and find a desk. Once I'm on the phones I actually feel pretty good, but just the process of getting to that point is a work of patience.

School isn't as bad. Maybe thats just because I've been doing that for 13 years already, so I know what to expect. Having one and two classes a day is really, really nice, and I'm staying current with my homework for the most part. Today I need to do a bunch, but that's what this day off is designed for.

At least Friday was payday, that made it all worth it. Oh yeah, and I got a real credit card to buy gas with. Its a Capital One Platinum and it has a whole $300 credit limit. Thanks a lot. That will go a long ways when I have a car emergency.

Oh well, back to homework for a bit. Love you everyone!

They work!

Indeed, the speakers do work. They don't blow me away and redifine my listening experience, but they work, and they're bigger than the ones that go to the stereo. Thats all that counts, right?

Alright so I've learned my lesson. No more buying speakers from shady guys in parking lots.

But work was pretty good. Very strange day; my team had no coach (which is very bad when you need one to override something), and no actual place to sit. I ended up sitting in the back where the Quality Assurance people usually sit. But other than that, it was actually a pretty good evening. Especially since tomorrow I have off from work!

Scam-arino

Guess what? I just got roped into a scam! I should have heard of this one, should've thought twice, but oh well. Actually, I'm surprisingly happy! For all I can tell, the speakers actually work.

I bought a pair of floor speakers from a couple guys in an SUV. They seemed a little shady, but I didn't think much of it. I figured at worst the speakers were stolen. Their excuse was that they were installers and their SUV had been overstocked, and they would sell the extras before anyone noticed. I didn't completely buy the story, but these seemed like pretty good speakers, so I went ahead and did it.

When I brought them home, I tried hooking them up and they initially didn't work. I went on the web to look up the company and find information on the speakers. However, the first thing that popped up was a scam alert. I started reading a couple of stories of exactly the same situation, a couple with exactly the same excuse. I got worried, but eventually i figured out that I was trying to hook it up wrong anyway. When correctly connected, a trickle of sound does come out, and I think when they're hooked up to my stereo they'll work fine.

As for the speakers themselves, they're a pair of 3-foot high sturdy black oak boxes, and each of them has two 8" bass drivers, a 5" midrange, (all 3 of them are kevlar with foam pads), and a 1" titanium-coated tweeter. I sure hope I can get these working, because they're starting to look like a decent buy for the second time today.

Blah

Another day, another... dollar? It was a good day, but where did time go? I think waking up at 11:00 must have made the difference. Sleeping in is great, but it sure makes the day seem short.

Ashley and I spent most of the afternoon together watching the extended version of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. After that we had dinner at Old Chicago, which was good as always. We talked about what we've been doing.

Apparently, Ashley's mother wants to buy another rental. She currently has her one of her own, then owns the paperwork on Ashley's, and is thinking about doing another. If you don't know anything about the rental house situation, Marcy's rental has been in renovation for the past year, and has been ready to rent out for about 2 months. Ashley's rental has been in renovation for almost a year, and still has a bit of work to to. But between working on the two houses, Marcy has not taken a day to herself in months. And now she wants to buy another! Ashley's not sure what to think, but does admit that it would keep her mom sane. Ashley's starting to think that her mom needs a rental house to renovate to keep herself happy.

After dinner, we both went home to finish homework. I studied a little español, and I'm working on my math lab assignment currently. The online lab is also pretty cool, as they guarantee a response to questions within 12 hours. However, this particular assignment calls for 2 different questions on separate days. Why is this necessary, again?

Long Day

Today I spent the day with Ashley, her mom and her grandpa, Bob. Bob's a very cool grandpa, and I think he's getting to like me. Anyway, he took all of us shooting at a range in Ft. Morgan, and it was really fun. He's a bit of a gun nut; he's an NRA member, has a concealed weapons license, and has a rotating collection.

He started us off with a couple of handguns, and we got to try out the 100-year-old .22 rifle that Ashley inherited. Its pretty cute; its basically a BB gun with gunpowder. Instead of shattering the clay pigeons that we had set on a hill, it left holes in them.

After that, he let me try a couple of his high-power rifles. One of his new aquisitions that he let me try was a Russian WW2 rifle with 30-06 ammo. That thing delivers quite a kick, but I actually didn't do too bad. We had a target set at 100 yards, but with 20 shots between Bob and I, it didn't have a hole in it. We also visited some of their relatives, and also the cemetary to replace some pots.

After that, I went to work my first real shift. It wasn't all that bad. My team seems pretty lively for call center workers, but I think I'll like a few of them. My coach Eric seems pretty... uptight, but he tries to stay level-headed. The team could be affecting that uptightness; they love to disagree with company policies. Either way, I'm gonna be there a while, better get used to it.

Training is finally over! I'm not a new hire anym...

Training is finally over! I'm not a new hire anymore! I may be the lowest totem on the pole, but I'm on the pole at least. The graduation ceremony was cheezy as ever; there were about two dozen guests present. But it was much appreciated that the company would make the effort. And I got an award for perfect attendance thru training.

This morning was a little less exciting. Ashley's really having a bad week. Her bank was charging her $400 on an overdraft account she never opened. Her car is on the fritz and she's had nightmares that it'll catch on fire. She's still in high school, and that fact is really getting to her now that she's in class. And to top it all off, Ty visited the high school the other day. Her period isn't helping her mood any. She's even starting to get fed up with Cassie, which I've never seen from her.

Oh yeah, and my math teacher gave us an assignment to use the school's tutoring services. It wasn't an explanation or a tour, its an assignment for points. (Didn't I just get out of high school?) On the plus side, I went into the room today, and it's a really great study atmosphere, so maybe I'll end up using it after all.

All the usual...

So yeah, there hasn't been a whole lot going on. At work, we've got one day of Transition Pod left. I met my coach Eric (my direct supervisor), and he seems pretty cool. He's not a rule basher, but he does insist that I don't get in trouble because then he gets in trouble which he'll bring back to me. But he has cool spreadsheets!

Spanish today was decent. We're still going over things I know from previous experience. I forgot my composition, but I did figure out how to use the keyboard to type Spanish characters without the symbol chart. For example:

¡Hola! ¿Cómo está usted? Soy así así. Soy un poco perezoso, pero muy intelegente. ¿Qué hora es? Es siete veintecinco...

Yay for accent marks! And it works in any program. It will come in handy for next time.

I miss Ashley, especially since she had a bad day today. Hopefully I can find a little time to see her tomorrow.

No school Monday or Tuesday, and I'm lovin' it! I...

No school Monday or Tuesday, and I'm lovin' it! I get to sleep in for a change, and I get a chance to play Neverwinter Nights! Its such a sweet deal!

Work tonight was pretty usual. I'm not looking forward to the aftermath of Hurricane Francis, but I may actually be spared for another week since Hurricane Ivan has just been spotted. I had a lady tonight explain that hurricanes were either scary or boring. I guess that's one way to look at it if you live there.

I've been keeping up with homework, but having no school has helped that. I just hope that my normal work schedule will clear things up. I'll be fine if I just don't procrastinate.

I'm missing Ashley, but we had a good weekend. We're both starting to catch cold, but it hasn't slowed me down yet. I'm not so sure about Ashley.

Last Saturday off... EVER

Thats right, today was the last Saturday I'll have off ever again. After today, it'll be all Sundays and Tuesdays (besides this Friday.) But it wasn't such a bad day. To start off the day, Ashley and I went to get her tires rotated, and one flat fixed. She said her steering has been floating when she goes above about 45 mph, and that's been happening for a few days, so hopefully this will help. After that, Ashley and I got Quizno's and watched a movie on my computer.

After that, I took her home so she could go to work, and chatted with her Uncle Greg and Aunt Carol for a bit. About 10 minutes into her shift, Ashley called and said she was done and was coming home. It was great, but it ruined my plan to go to PC Club and buy a USB hub. So instead we stuck around. Pretty soon after Carol and Greg left, Uncle Bud and Skylar (Bud's 3-year-old grandson) dropped by, and Skylar and I played for a little bit. I introduced him to "Where's Cassie," a game where we throw the dog's blanket over her. After that, Ashley and I went to the mall in hopes of catching PC Club. I arrived about 10 minutes after close, so we went to see The Princess Diaries 2. The movie started at 9:40, so we skipped and wandered arount the mall instead. I bought Neverwinter Nights, and Ashley got more jeans from Old Navy.

That about sums up the day, except the part after this that I play Neverwinter Nights. A good day, but I'm sad to say goodbye to Saturdays. It was nice knowing you, Saturday. We had many good times!

It's Friday!!!

And Friday didn't come a moment too soon. As much fun as Travel Pod has been, I need a break. Tomorrow I have the prospect of an actual day off, which I haven't gotten in a while. But that's all a ruse, because Sunday we start Transition Pod, the last week of training. But thats ok. I still have my sanity so far. Besides, my real shedule has Sundays and Tuesdays off, so I won't get a two-day weekend until I start taking paid days off.

Today was overall pretty good. I got up at the crack of 10 AM, changed my car's oil (it needed it), then I checked my account to see my huge stores of cash. After that, I went and bought Noodles and Co. and had lunch with Ashley, which makes the second time I've seen her all week since Sunday, the first being last night. It was very good to just sit down with her and... sit. The macaroni was good too, but I think we were both relieved to have the other there.

Work was usual. We got to listen to our own recorded calls, and I didn't realize that my voice is so nasal on the phone.

Oh yeah, and per a bet with the class a week behind us, we're gonna get a pizza party on Monday or Tuesday. They bet that they could get a better class average on the 2nd and 3rd week tests than we did, and I believe we won. Therefore, they're gonna pay for pizza for both classes. I'm happy about that :)

Yay! I got balloons last night! I was QA'd twice ...

Yay! I got balloons last night! I was QA'd twice last night (a Quality Assurance person listened to my calls and graded them), and I got 100% on both of them! That made me happy. I feel pretty comfortable on the phones, but the night never seems to end. Maybe being on the later shift will help pass the time. We'll see.

I was not ready for chemistry this morning. I had no homework, and no lab goggles or long pants for the lab day. I was prepared for a very bad day. However, I was able to buy goggles in the student store, and he never asked for the homework, so it wasn't as horrible as I had thought.

Money Money Money! After a season of financial drought, I'm finally getting a little back. My parents sent what I asked for, and I should be getting my paycheck thru direct deposit tonight. Yes Mom, I plan on saving some. I'm even sending $50 of every paycheck to my New Mexico account by the direct deposit setup, so I can't touch it unless I really need it!

Oh well, time to get myself out of financial sqander. OK, its not that bad, but still....

Random Thoughts for Free Time

Well shoot, you know what I just realized? They've screwed up my schedule for the last week of training! All thru training we've had Saturday and Sunday for a weekend, but this weekend I only get Saturday, then work Sunday thru Thursday. They do that so Friday we have a guaranteed day off and we start our schedules Saturday. I guess that works, but I was really looking forward to a good weekend. On the plus side, Friday is pay day. Sweet!

I was really worried when I thought this weekend was me and Ashley's 2 year anniversary, but that's next month, October 5th. I have that day off of work!

Spanish was alright. We had our first exam, which I took quickly and promptly left (per teacher's directions). It wasn't too hard. I forgot to do my workbook, so I'll be losing points there. Why didn't I remember that? It must've been too late last night. Either way, my efforts to improve my study skill need to be strengthened.

Oh yeah, and I can finally do laundry again. Sometime last week, a fire started in the plug. Lucky Aunt Nancy was there and noticed it. Uncle John came out a couple days ago and fixed the plug, but grandma's still bitching that the security system (which isn't even enabled anymore) shouldn't be wired onto the same circuit.

Dream Time

interesting dream, i'm gonna forget it if i don't write it down. i was on the run from the law for being some kind of super soldier\robot. i always started in a run-down apartment building that had been converted to a movie costume warehouse, and i'd so some fancy shooting and kung-fu and get away. for some reason, i was always worried about getting my satellite dish away with me.

then my mind would hit the reset button and i'd start back at the beginning, but with the prior knowledge of what i'd done. i had several friends with me, some from life and some not. then i woke up when she text messaged me. good thing she did, i would've been late for school!

Why isn't it Friday yet?

Hey everybody, another day down. School was pretty good, and parking wasn't as horrid as usual. Chem is going well, and I like the teacher, Colin. He seems pretty young, and very down-to-earth Boulderite-ish. My math teacher is another subject; she's a batty lady that should've been a Kindergarten teacher. You know the type: short strait gray hair, decorative dress, and interactive assignments that involve pipe cleaners. She's very friendly and thorough, but we are getting nowhere fast.

Work was very good tonight. I felt very comfortable and natural on the phone until a certain call after lunch. A lady called in, obviously overworked, underpaid, and very upset. I did a good job of calming her down, but wasn't able to do much. She kept claiming that she was a fraud victim, and the Buddy on duty kept saying to just get her off the call. C-Bass, the Travel Pod Coach came back and stepped in. In the end, we found out that she had been majorly ripped off by a retailer. We were able to get her money back to her and report the retailer, and I feel very good about the end result, but I'm still pretty shaken by the call. I told the buddy that she was claiming fraud, and all he wanted to do was get her off. Oh well, he's human too.

I think its time for a good sleep. Night all!

It's definitely time for the day to end. Work was...

It's definitely time for the day to end. Work was interesting, and Travel Pod wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. I took quite a few calls, and I had no clue where to start on only a couple of them! I was monitored by QA for the first time, and I got a 90%. I'm happy about it. The situation could've been better, but if QA only monitored your best calls no one would ever get a bad score.

I'm ready for bed. And I miss Ashley already. When does this life thing get easier? night all.

Fisrt Post!

Hey everybody, Jackie gave me the great idea of using a blog (web-log) for my day-to-day updates! You gotta love Jackie sometimes. I don't know that I'll be able to say everything in these posts and keep it content appropriate for friends, family, and everybody, but hopefully I can find the happy medium.

Anyway, for today, I've already had Spanish class. It was alright, but the teacher is very... random. I'm glad I've taken Spanish before or I'd never understand a thing that she said. The first couple days of her class were very slow, and today she was going "90 miles a minute" as a classmate put it.

As for the afternoon, I'm still in training at Echostar. At least now we'll be out on the floor, in "Travel Pod." Before now we've been mostly in the classroom with about 2 hours on the phones a night. From now on we'll be on the phones, but with a lot of supervision. It should be interesting to say the least; I'm looking forward to it, but then again, thats a lot of talking. I'll probably update after work just for gits and shiggles... Its off to work I go!