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?