Friday, December 29, 2006

Christmas etc.

So we had a good Christmas. We spent most of our time with Frik's family. It was very fun.


I got a new toy yesterday. We used the grandparent money to get me a DS lite (pink, of course). It is adorable. I played mario on it for about an hour. Now I finally fit in with the rest of frik's family. (except mine is way cooler than any of yours!)


Tomorrow we're going up to SLC for Sukie's Birthday (yay!). I've never been to the restaurant we're going to, but it sounds good.


not really a lot to say... Sorry this post is so thrilling. What's everyone doing for new years??? We'll probably just stay home. :)

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Finals

I'm done with finals, which is a relief. Although, i missed one, just by being stupid. It was a total accident. I thought it was one week when it was really the week before... yeah it sucks. hopefully that won't hurt me too much. It's a class I really detested anyway.


I finished my shopping. I had 1 person left to buy for, and we finally bought it a few days ago. It's something he'll really like... (Chaelomen). Hopefully it'll come before friday, because that's when i think Daxsaito is leaving for CO, and we're sending it back with him. If it doesn't come, I'll just have to torture Chaelomen until it does. Here's a hint: it's old. hehe just kidding.


We went to the married student ward in our area last week. they meet at 8:30 instead of 9:00, and their time isn't changing with the new year b/c it changes at the beginning of the school year. nevertheless, i think we are going to stick with the student ward. Our current ward is nice an all, but there is no one there for me to be friends with. They're old and they didn't reall ever notice we were there. and since Sarah left and we moved out of the other ward, I haven't had a whole lot of femal friends to talk to. So we finally gave in and decided to start going to the student ward in our area. They were so much more on top of it. One couple came up to us after sunday school and asked us if we'd ever met because they didn't recognize us. they were very nice. We told them we were new, so they introduced us to the sunday school president who asked us if we had talked to the bishop about transferring our records to their ward. We hadn't so he told us where the bishop's office is, and gave us a questionnaire for new members of the ward (basically, it was the "do you play the piano" type stuff). It was really nice to feel like someone had noticed that we were there. The new ward also gets out a half hour or so before our old student ward meets, so we got to see some of our old friends. It was fun.


I've asked Frik to start working on a new layout for my blog. I'm not talented enough to do it myself. Everyone keep bugging him until we see it put up. I'm getting tired of Mike Wazowski. :)


We also went and hung out with frik's buddy and his wife a few days ago. It was fun. We played Monkey Ball on the Wii (the wife and I) and it was really fun. That game alone made me want to get a wii.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Episode IV: A New Post

Whats the occasion? I'm sitting here at work watching A Beautiful Mind(if you haven't seen it, you should) and waiting for Carolyn to get off work. The funny thing is, what I'm doing now isn't terribly different from what I do while I'm on the clock :) With my 4 hours of free time I've managed to, among other things, read the entire internet, and subsequently bore myself to death. I should have brought a book to read...

The vacation was a much needed break from routine. Disney World was much better than I could have expected. I can't be blamed for that though; having only ever been to Disney Land. Those of you who have been to both know what I'm talking about. If you've only ever been to Disney Land, then you don't know what I'm talking about. If you've only ever been to Disney World, then you still have no idea what I'm talking about, but at least you know you're not missing anything.

I'm more excited about Christmas this year than I have been since I was a kid. I'm excited about the presents I know I'm getting, more excited about the presents I don't know about, and even more excited about the presents I got for Carolyn. :D The presents aren't the real reason I'm so excited though, sure they're a good part of it, but what I'm really excited about is that Carolyn is getting a break from classes.

Going to School full time and working full time is crazy. Between school and work everything just blends together. Days roll into days life becomes a run-on sentence, and before you know it you're so lost that you show up to work on your day off. You would expect this to be tough on Carolyn, but sometimes I wonder who it affects more, Carolyn or me. I do know that her going to school is more stressful on me than going to school myself, but that's my own problem. I'm not suggesting that it's not hard for Carolyn(how stupid would that be?) I'm really proud of her for sticking it out :) Anyway, that's what I meant when I said that the vacation was a nice break from routine. I think the day she graduates we'll leave on a 30 day cruise to the middle of nowhere. Then we'll come back and party for a year or two.

Merry Christmas, you're all invited!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

finally

well, I guess it's about time for an update...


I have been incredibly busy, but what else is new? We went on vacation to Florida a few weeks ago. It was very fun. We met with my mom and went to disney world. We've already decided that we're going back next year. We extended our tickets so we're all ready to go.


I sent Sarah her Christmas Package today. It cost $60 to send. Can you believe that? it was probably $40 worth of stuff, weighed about 15 lbs. The post man guy said it will probably get there in time for christmas. the deadline for guaranteed delivery was 2 days ago, but that's ok. It will be there by 2 days after christmas, and probably in time for christmas anyway.


We wrapped all our presents the other day. I'm so excited! This is the first year that I have no idea what I'm getting from anyone... except mom... and they all have no idea what they're getting from me (except how you can feel that a package is a DVD or whatever). I never understood the purpose of wishlist type stuff. I much rather think of something to get a person on my own, because if you get them something just by looking on their wishlist, it might as well just be cash, which is very impersonal. Besides, the best part about getting a gift is the surprise (in my opinion), and when you give a gift, the look on the person's face when they see the gift, and it's not like, "oh, i was wondering who bought me that off of my amazon wish list".


The only time those kinds of lists are practical is when you get married, because then you're getting your entire house full of stuff, and it's all for one couple. Even then, though, It's still not as exciting as giving something more thoughtful.


That's about how my life has been. I have finals next week, and then I'm off for a couple weeks. Merry Christmas, everybody!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Lame Survey

1. FIRST NAME? Erik
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yep, my Dad
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? hahaha good joke
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No it sucks
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Not bologna
6. KIDS? eventually
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Absolutely, best friends
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? no
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? no, never ;)
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yep
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Anytime
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? anything that doenst taste like honey, maple syrup, or have rasins in it
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? If I tie them in the first place I dont untie them until I have to put them on again
14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? peanut butter cup
15. SHOE SIZE? 10 1/2
16. RED OR PINK? Blue
17. WHAT IS THE THING YOU LIKE LEAST ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm lazy when it comes to cleaning up
18. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Dad, he's the only person I dont see on a regular basis
20. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans and black flip-flops
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Duke snoring
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Something obscure in a set of 150 colors
23. FAVORITE COLOGNE:? Aqua Di Gio
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Carolyn
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? They're all female
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Diet Mtn Dew or Pepsi Jazz Strawberries and Cream
28. FAVORITE SPORT? Not basketball or baseball. everything else is alright.
29. EYE COLOR? blue
30. HAT SIZE? i've never worn one
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? To augment my 20/15 vision?
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Food that I make myself
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Doesnt matter as long as the movie's good
34. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE MOVIE THEATER? Piarates of the Carribbean 2
35. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White polo shirt with gray, dark gray, blue, dark blue, and small yellow stripes
36. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer hands down. hot is always better than cold
37. HUGS OR KISSES? kisses
38. FAVORITE DESSERT? anything served hot with vanilla ice cream
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Enders Game, and The Princess Bride (the "good parts" version)
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Legend of Zelda on NES
43. FAVORITE SOUND? The sound of money being deposited into my bank account
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Collective Soul
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? lots of talents, none of them are particularly special.
47. WHEN & WHERE WERE YOU BORN? When I was a baby, in a hospital
49. WHO HAS CHANGED YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER? Friends and family mostly

Monday, October 23, 2006

1. FIRST NAME? Carolyn
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yep, kindof... My grandpa's name was Carrol...l... I don't know how to spell it.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? umm... last time I can remember was a few weeks ago when I was watching dances with wolves and they killed twosocks
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? it's ok, if I take a long time, otherwise it's very messy.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I like turkey, roast beef, bacon all together.
6. KIDS? 1 really hairy one named Duke.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably, if I knew me. that's a very strange thought, though.
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? yeah, but most of my journal type stuff is on here.
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? not a LOT, but some.
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yep
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? probably not. It's too expensive and not really worth it in my opinion.
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? right now I'm on a lucky charms kick. (not marshmallow mateys)
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no because my shoes have elastic instead of laces.
14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? probably dreyers real strawberry, but I like vanilla, too.
15. SHOE SIZE? 7 1/2- 8 1/2
16. RED OR PINK? pink
17. WHAT IS THE THING YOU LIKE LEAST ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm a huge procrastinator
18. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My family
19. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? don't send it, just post it on your website if you so desire
20. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans and no shoes.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Zelda music playing from the other room
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Peach color.
23. FAVORITE COLOGNE:? I like Pink from Gap.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Frik
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Superciliary Arches
26. Do you like the person that sent this to you? Of course, she's my mommy!
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Outback has some pretty good Mango Lemonade
28. FAVORITE SPORT? Croquet or badminton, the ones that no one really keeps score, you just play in the back yard.
29. EYE COLOR? Green
30. HAT SIZE? I don't usually wear hats, but my head is pretty big.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, my eyes are far too dry to wear contacts.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? I honestly like every kind of food.
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? happy. scary ones make me too scared, even after the movie is over. (I'm a baby)
34. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE MOVIE THEATER? Piarates of the Carribbean 2. I know, it's been a long time.
35. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue
36. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter, because you can always put more clothes on when it's cold, but there comes a point when it's hot that you can't take any more off.
37. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs
38. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate cake from Outback.
39. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? mmm... the first person who reads this?
40. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? People who don't come to my website.
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Pscychology, Social Problems, a poetry book, and a social work book.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? an episode of Law & Order SVU
43. FAVORITE SOUND? I'm not sure I have a favorite sound...
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles are pretty nifty.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Frankfurt, Germany
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? My special talent? I'm pretty good with kids.
47. WHEN & WHERE WERE YOU BORN? I prefer not to post that kind of information on a web page. If you know me, you probably know the answer anyway (or don't care to know the answer)
48. Who sent this to you? Mom
49. WHO HAS CHANGED YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER? Everyone I come in contact with chagnes my life in some way.

Saturday, October 7, 2006

Trippy

So I got crap about not blogging, which I guess I deserved since I can't remember the last time I posted. Anyway, If you read digg.com you may have already seen this, if you dont, then shame on you. I any case I hope none of you had your sound up really loud :P

in three minutes, the largest dot will travel around the circle once, the next largest dot will travel around the circle twice, the next largest dot three times, and so on.

the dots are arranged to trigger notes on a chromatic scale when they pass the line.








You can hear different variations on this site.

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Dog Trick - Victor Julian's Pets

Performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Monday, October 2, 2006

Duck and Cover

How to be safe in a nuclear attack, by the U.S. Civil Defense.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Jerk Boss

So on friday at work, I saw my team lead walking down the call floor with some paper plates and plastic cutlery, so I said, "Did you bring food, jerkboss?" and he said that if I had had perfect attendance, then I could have the food he brought. So I thought I had perfect attendance, so i looked at my hours and realized that i didn't have 40 (which is what "perfect attendance" means... not that you worked all the hours you were scheduled, but that you worked any 40 hours. So anyway, not that big a deal, except then later he was talking to a girl at work, who I will call Australia, mentioning something about when we're closed on saturdays. So apparently I've been working an hour and a half past closing on saturday nights. I mean, we're still in queue taking calls, but only 2 people are supposed to be there and I'm not one of them. So that cut another hour and a half from my schedule. So i asked jerkboss if i could talk to him about my schedule. He said, "let's talk after 8" since i'm on dap and dap closes at 8. Makes sense. So then he came by an hour later and put a piece of paper on my arm saying, "team meeting at 8". So we went to the team meeting... meaning he didn't have time to talk about my schedule. so after the team meeting, i said, "can we talk after you're done" and he said yeah. After every call i took that night (which had 3 more hours after 9:00) I walked over to his desk to ask if he had time. he kept saying no, he had to work on his report and stuff like that. One time he had another girl over there (who he had pulled off the phones to talk) and he still said no and that he had to work on his report. Then at 11:45 i got off what I thought would be my last phone call and i went over to jerkboss and I guess something had happened to make it so he couldnot talk to me... again. So I clocked out at 12 and went over to his desk and finally we talked. a couple things you have to know about jerkboss: 1: he is not good with computers, but if you try to help him then he gets offended. 2: if you ask him a question he doesn't really know the answer to, you get a round about made up answer that he then defends to the death (and these answers never make any sense and contradict eachother). 3: for the past few months, he has gotten really frustrated with me because since I cannot get a good answer to most of my questions from him (since the questions I ask him are questions he doesnt really have the answer to) I have been asking other teamleads, and every time I do that, he reprimands me afterwards. Knowing those three things should help you understand why my conversation with Jerkboss didn't start out very well. So, I ask him if there is any way to go to part time (since there are several people on the floor who are part time) and he says no way. So he tells me I have to find a way to put in a few more hours. We look at my class schedule and he wants me to ride the bus in. he says, "We've given and given and now you're going to have to give somewhere" and when I ask why they won't do part time, he says that it's just what roach wants. So I told him that it just doesn't seem very practical to tell a trained employee with an average of 97% on QAs and who has been trained in 2 specialties that they'd rather I work 0 hours than 32. And then I mention that by the state, full time doesn't necessarily mean 40 hours, anyway, that it's somewhere between 32 and 40 (I didn't know the exact numbers). Well he tells me, "NO, i was an employment law officer for years and full time is 40 hours". So to make a long story shorter, this goes around for a while and I am of course crying even though i'm trying not to, but he is just making me feel like he would rather not have me working there and that I should just leave. oh, and my favorite part was that I mentioned that convergies is all about flexible scheduling and he said that no one ever told me there was flexible scheduling. and i said, "every poster out in the lobby says convergies has flexible scheduling" and he tells me that as soon as I started working for roaches, we have never said that schedules would be flexible... which is one of my main concerns that I brought up to him the very first week I was on the floor and he always said, "we'll work with you to get you what you need" and when I brought my class schedule in and said that working full time might be too overwhelming, he said, "well let me know how you're doing when classes start" which made me think that I might be able to drop down to part time if needed. I guess I interpreted that wrong, though... so I told jerkboss that I'd just talk to Jimmy tomorrow about my schedule (which is what jerkboss had told me to do) and he said, "Jimmy's not going to be able to do anything more for you than I just did". So I said, "what did you just do for me, jerkboss?". He had nothing to say to that.


So that was quite an ordeal, and when I left, one of the 3 people left on the floor came out and told me that jerkboss was being rediculous and that I just needed to talk to one of the other teamleads. And she told me the next day that when jerkboss left, another of the two people on the floor asked if she had heard how he was treating me, so I know it wasn't just me overdramatizing the situation.


So anyway, that was friday. I went in today (my day off) so I could see what my options were. I was going to talk to the head hauncho about what id' be able to do, but i didn't see him. so I walked off the call floor and went down the hallway and saw one of the QA girls walking towards me. I asked her if she had seen head hauncho and she said no, and asked if I was ok because i looked a little upset. I told her no, and she asked if I wanted to talk. so we went outside and talked for a few minutes, and she said she could go ask jerkboss if he had a minute to take me over to HR to see what my options were. She came back out and said jerkboss wanted me to talk to him. I went in and Jerkboss said, "wait in the conference room" and left me there for about 10 minutes. I thought that everything was ok, that he wanted to make peace (I sure did, I was so uncomfortable for the 2 seconds I was on the call floor looking for head hauncho) but when he finally came in, he shut the door and started yelling at me, saying he was deeply offended and that I had no business talking to QA girl and telling her that he wouldn't make time to talk to me because he had talked to me for an hour. I reminded him of the 3 hours when he couldn't make time and that I finally had to talk to him after my shift was over. He was telling me, "not that it's any of your business but i had reports to do and i dont' have to answer to you or anyone else on the call floor in where my time goes". And I was just saying, "Jerk boss stop. I'm sorry I just want to make peace and see what my options are". and he just kept being mad. So he finally said fine and we went over to HR and he told the person at HR that we had to see about transferring me to another project. Well the HR guy came out and brought me in to a different conference room to talk and he could tell I was upset so he said, "Can I go get you some bottled water and give you a minute?" He was so nice and just kept saying reassuring things. Fortunately jerkboss was gone... but anyway, came down to the point where we decided that my class schedule is not really condusive to me starting another training class for a different project, and when the HR man found out that I am trained in 2 specialties and that I like what i do for roaches, he said it sounds like I really shouldn't be moved to a different project. We got it all figured out, and yes I will have to put in 40 hours, but we found a way to do it, and jerkboss is going to have a talk to from HR man's boss... we'll see. I didn't mean to get him in trouble or make him mad. the really ironic thing is that before this happened, I had a great deal of respect for jerkboss. I knew he wasn't the best communicator and that he really doesnt' know a lot about computers, but he has done so much in his life that really warrants respect. And I always gave it to him. But then he started treating me like crap and making me feel honestly worthless to him... and now who knows what will happen. All I know is that I won't be on his team anymore.


So that's my long story for the day. :)

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

DAP

So I took a quiz at work a few days ago to see if I am qualified to be trained on the Diabetes Assistant Program (DAP) which is our online software that will make little graphs and charts and stuff of blood glucose readings. the questions were such things as, "Describe how to find out what operating system someone is using" and "list some examples of hardware and software on your computer" and "what are the physical differences between a serial port and a USB port"... silly things like that. so I'm going to start training on Friday. it'll be a 2-3 hour process... not too bad. And then I get paid more (I think...) and it's at least 8 hours a week of not really taking phone calls (since no one really calls in on DAP).

Besides that, life is still a lot the same. Erik and I are going to Florida this november with my mom. That will be really fun. I'm going to bring my 2 perfect attendance Visa cards with me. that'll be $250 of spending money that I don't have to feel guilty about. And I'm excited about my classes. I started reading one of my books already and it's pretty interesting. It's a short one. It's called, "thinking about a career in social work" and it's just about what social work is and the education required and how to find a good job and all the different kinds of things you can do. It's very interesting. A lot of it applies to any profession, talking about interviews and benefits and stuff. pretty cool.

Oh, and Duke has been playing Hide and Seek with us lately. it only works at night because that's when he won't get distracted by people outside, so right when we get home from work, we take him outside to play. one of us distracts him while the other one hides on the other side of the house (behind a tree or the car or something) and then whistles. When Duke runs off to find you, the other person picks a spot on that side of the house to hide. It's actually really funny because a lot of the time, he runs right past you without seeing you. I don't think his night vision is very good. It's cute though, and when he finds you he gets all excited. :o)

Sunday, August 6, 2006

Wedding

Does it seem like everyone is getting married? One of my very good friends is, and I get to take her through the temple :). I'm going to North Carolina for her wedding in just 2 weeks. It's going to be awesome. So she picked a dress and no one likes it and she feels kindof dumb... but I'm sure it will look nice on her. We'll see. Just so everyone knows, Frik posted a really sweet picture on his blog. You should go look. :o)

Friday, August 4, 2006

Just a random picture I came across



I was browsing around on daily dose of imagery when I saw this picture, and something about it left an impression on me.

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Life for the past month

Ok, time for a real post. I was really just trying to beat Chaelomen in the number of days between posts, and I totally won. :o)

So everything has been going well... At work, I won an overtime/perfect attendance drawing for $125, so that is pretty cool. I'm going to use it to buy some new clothes... actually, already used some of it to buy new clothes. Jeans. I was in desperate need. And now I've got a few pairs. I want to get some shirts, too. We'll see. I've been doing well at work. my Average QA was 96 or something, which is really good for a new person. I've been enjoying my work too. It gets tiring somtimes to talk to the cranky people, but the others make up for it.

Duke has been so funny lately... I'm glad he's with us at our house. He was following Erik around today, trying to grab his zipper pull on his pants pocket (they're cargo shorts, it's the pocket by the knee). He's just really goofy and he has made my life so different. I have to take care of him and everything, and he's also just always around. I really love having him here.

On another note, I am all registered for classes and signed up for tuition reimbursement through work. I'm taking Korean 101, German 340, and Physical Science 110A. Just some classes that I need to take to replace some grades... I got a D in Korean when I took it the first time. b/c I never went to class... which was dumb... and it's a 4 credit, so that really burned my GPA. I withdrew from the German (3 credits) and got a c- in physical science (4 credits). after I take all of these classes, I will be done retaking and I'll start taking real classes. Oi... if there was one thing I could change in my life, it would be the slacking that i've done that has wasted my time. I guess the only thing to do is stop wasting my future time and just start working harder.

I also have decided that I want to lose a little weight... I'm getting to the point where I don't feel comfortable. I'm just really out of shape. My goal is to lose 15 lbs in the next 3 months, so about 5/month. We'll see where I go from there. I don't think I'll ever be back at the weight I was when I graduated, but who knows. I was on track in high school, so I'd have to run a few miles every day, but I hear that once you start running more often, it gets better. more fun. So we'll see. I'm going to start riding my bike around. I love riding my bike, and duke likes to run along next to me, so it'll be good (but it is kindof annoying when he decides to stop all of the sudden or run in front of the tire and then I have to brake and I go flying...) and I've been trying to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. And of course, the biggest thing for me, I'll have to make sure I don't eat after I get home from work, since I get home so late. I think that's been the biggest problem. I don't have time to make dinner anymore, so I want to make something when i get home, but I'm not home until too late so I end up just eating junk, when I really don't have to eat anything. I think that all those things will help. It's all pretty much stuff I should be doign any way, nothing too tough or life altering. just a few things here and there. I know I'll be able to do it (trying to give myself a little kick start) :o)

Anyway, that's my update for now. :) oh, ps, I've been using Ubuntu (Linux) and I really like it and how it works. it's nice.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Just so everyone knows, I did post, but Frik deleted it on accident... sad days. I'll post again soon. :)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Nerd Test

I am nerdier than 77% of all people. Are you nerdier? Click here to find out!

If you take the test(and you will take the test) dont forget to post your score in the comments.

Saturday, July 8, 2006

Does this make you sick?*

It's been a while since I posted. Things have calmed down a lot and I actually have some free time for the first time in months, so I'm working on a couple projects right now. The first of which is to make the switch to linux. Yep, thats right, I'm finally going to rid myself of Microsoft once and for all. Ok, so thats not quite true since I'll still be dual-booting Windows because well... you know. I figure that after working with FreeBSD for over a year now, the switch to linux for my desktop is a natural progression.

It felt good to finaly get all moved-in to the new house. The nice part(or not-so-nice part depending on how you look at it) about moving is that you get to buy all kinds of new stuff that you "need" for the new house; stuff like awesome new home theater speakers, networking toys, computer parts, etc

It also felt incredibly good to get through finals. I'm only taking one class this term which means I'll be able to sleep AND see Carebear all in the same day!

*if you're not using firefox you're missing out on some motion-sickness inducing fun!

Friday, June 30, 2006

Caliente!

So for the Fourth, we're going to Caliente, NV to see my grandma, which should be fun. They always make a big deal of holidays there since it's such a small town. I'm excited to see my family and eat some good food (hopefully). Last time we went was a year ago, when Erik & I were Engaged. We drove over in the hot middle of summer with no ac, but the year we won't roast! I'm so excited... This is the whole reason I wanted a car with AC. We're bringing Duke and David is flying over to make the drive with us. I'm bringing her a blood glucose meter from work and it'll be fun to actually put what I've learned and my connections to a good use. I mean, i do it at work every day when random people need help, but it'll be nice to see someone I love benefit from using it.


Anyway, we got curtains for teh kitchen. It looks nice. still trying to figure out what to do to redecorate in there. It's a little boring. :)


HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!! :o)

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Yeah

This is a cool idea. :)

Friday, June 16, 2006

Work and Phones


So at work yesterday, my trainer came up to me and said that she had recommended me to the team lead as a trainer (in a few months, of course). That's cool because it's always m-f and $2 more/hour, which will be nice. And when I'm not training, I can still do the phone work. Yeah, I think it'd be good.


In other news... qwest hasn't switched our phone yet. I just talked to them (did you know that you can chat to a qwest person online? weird, huh?) and they said that they'll need to send a repair guy out. annoying, but whatever. The phone line was supposed to be up on tuesday, and it's friday today, so... yeah. hopefully they'll get that taken care of.


I think duke is getting used to the new place. We left him out of his kennel for about an hour while we were at class on the day after we brought him here, and he freaked out. He got into the trash and ate a package of goldfish crackers... and when erik got home, he was barking (he never barks). So he put him in the kennel and he was so scared. He actually pooped in the kennel. But we have been keeping an eye on him and he seems to be adjusting pretty well. We put the divider in his kennel so it would be a bit smaller so he wouldn't poo in it again. Oh, and he always watches Aunt Spazzy's cage... waiting for a tasty little rat morsel. and I dont' even trust enough to open the cage while he's out of his kennel.


So that's my life for the past few days. That and moving out the last little bits of our stuff. Oh! we foudn someone to take the apartment in July! I'm so excited b/c we don't have to pay any July rent. Yay!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Burried Alive

I need a long long vacation.

Between school, work, moving, and a million other things, the last two weeks are ranking pretty high on the "worst of my life" list. To top it off I havent slept, I've been sick, and I'm stressing about money(for no good reason).

The midterm for my CS class was a take-home test with a 48 hour time limit(With 2 points being deducted every hour that its late). I didnt even get to looking at it until 4 hours before it was due, and finished it an hour after the lab closed, which meant I couldnt turn it in until the next morning when the lab opened again. 14 hours late and 24 points deducted means that my best possible score is a C on a test that should have been a walk in the park. For the first time in my life I can honestly say that I turned something in late and procrastination had nothing to do with it. Adding insult to injury, I have another lab due today which I haven't even so much as looked at, which means no sleep today either.

I'll be glad when June is over.

Monday, June 5, 2006

Weird...

Ok, so we got the second season of the 4400, and I was just looking at the box. Any of you who know my friend, Sarah, Will recognize that there is an exact duplicate of her on the front cover. Don't believe me? Just look: (she's the one behind the black guy in the middle)

Friday, June 2, 2006

4400!!!

K, i am so excited about the 4400 starting soon! It's the best show, and one of the only that I've ever gotten addicted to. If you've never seen it, you've got to check it out. I've got seasons 1 & 2 on DVD.


In other news, I've got to start packing! we're moving in less than 2 weeks now... weird. I want to start by taking all the furniture over, and then get the stuff. I wanna arrange the furniture before the place is totally crowded, but I'm not sure if that'll be possible... we have to be out of here on the 15th at noon... and I work at 1... hmm... yeah, that'll be fun. I work the day before, too. It seems weird to pack everything up. I don't even know what exactly to pack. The only thing I can think of is that the dishes and stuff need to be packe up in boxes so they don't break, but other than that I don't know. We're just going a few blocks away, so... yeah. Weird. I guess we'll be moving most of our stuff out on the 14th, and then clean intensively on the 15th.


Work is also going well. I've been taking a bunch of calls and I really like it. Time passes pretty quickly, and I really like the people. I guess I just really love my job, being able to help people and talk to people all the time.


Well... that's all I got for now. I'm really excited to get to move and have my puppy! :)

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

A new house!




So we drove around and called a bunch of numbers we saw on "for rent" signs. We got a few calls back and there were a few promising places... We went to go see one of them yesterday evening and I fell even more in love with it. When I first saw it was as we were driving past, I thought it was the cutest little house ever. It's this tiny white house on the corner, $600 a month, and surprise surprise... no pets allowed. So anyway, we had this strategy: we wouldn't tell someone we had a dog until after we looked at the place, and then we'd offer to double the deposit if they would let us have the dog. So we went and looked at it yesterday and it was so cute and perfect... very small, but also very pretty. When it came time, we told her about the dog, and she hesitated, but then said she'd be willing to give it a try. So suddenly we're talking about moving in in 2 weeks and we still have another apartment to pay rent on, but we thought about it, and we're doing it. I am so excited to have our puppy living with us and I can't believe that we are moving into a house! It's all happening so fast...

So anyway, here are some pictures of the house. Tell me what you think!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

I'm addicted...

to creamies. mmm... so good. My favorite is strawberry, but banana is a close second.

Monday, May 22, 2006

You ain’t nothin but a Bulldog.

Everybody, meet my new dog Duke(ownership pending).

On mothers day we had a family get-together at my moms house. After a while, Carebear, Meryl, and the Sibs were gone. I thought they had gone for a walk, so I was periodically going outside trying to find them. Well, on one of my trips outside I found Duke. He was running around like he was lost, and when he saw me, he ran over and sat down at my feet. Thinking that he must have gotten off his leash, I looked around hoping to find his owner but I couldn't see anybody looking for him.

At first sight it was obvious that he was a not your average stray dog. He was clean, well groomed, had a cropped tail, and had "purebred" written all over him. It was also obvious that he was very well trained, he played fetch, he knew how to sit and stay, he didn't jump on people, he didn't chase the cats, and most impressive of all, he didn't bark at or chase the other dogs in the neighborhood who were all barking at him(I suppose they were jealous and rightfully so). I could go on and on about how good he is. He's an amazing dog. I mean, the title "man's best friend" was invented to describe dogs like Duke.

Because of that, I figured his owners would without a doubt be looking for him, so I put him on a leash and walked him around the block hoping to find his owner and asking if anybody knew whose dog he was. Well, nobody had ever seen him before, and of course he didn't have a collar or tags. Since we couldn't call Animal Control to come pick him up because they apparently only work M-F 9:00-5:00(which I thought was weird), we decided we would keep him there in the front yard. We were hoping that his owners might find him there they didn't, and he was still there on Monday morning.

The original plan was to take him to the pound, or have Animal Control take him there, but my mom decided it would be better to keep him while we tried to find the owner. At least at my mom's house he could run around in the yard, and go for walks; and In the meantime, she would continue to look for the owner. She called and reported him to Animal Control(which it turns out is just the local Police Dept.... weird again). They told her that nobody had reported him missing, but they would let her know if anybody did, and that if she decided that she couldn't or didn't want to keep him then they would come get him. She's been taking him for walks, and asking around, but hasn't gotten any good leads. There was one guy who said he had seen Duke around, but he didn't know the owner, so no luck there.

Tomorrow we're taking him to a vet's office to see if he has a microchip. I kind of hope he does, because I'm sure his family is just dying to find him. At the same time, I hope he doesn't because I want to keep him. Can you blame me? If we cant find his owner then Carebear and I are hopefully going to move into an apartment that allows pets so that we can keep him *crosses fingers*

Thursday, May 11, 2006

No internet for you!

Here's the long version of the internet problems that carebear mentioned:

The management of our apartment complex provides internet access to all of the tenants, a pretty standard practice. Each tenant pays $10 a month for internet access, whether they use it or not. The network itself consists of 2 wireless routers set-up in the management office, which, lucky for us, is only few yards away(I can only imagine what kind of signal the top floor apartments get, we get between "low" and "very low" signal).

When we moved in we were on a 6Mbps Comcast connection, which was, for the most part, reliable. It would get better, then worse, and better again. It would go down occasionally for a couple of hours; not too shabby. Then they dropped Comcast and signed up with iProvo (a fiber network owned by Provo city) which provides a 100Mbps connection. I was excited when I heard they were getting iProvo because it meant an even faster internet connection. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. Since the switch, we have not had a reliable connection for longer than 12 hours at a time. Sometimes its super fast, sometimes its dialup speed, and sometimes it just doesn't work. In fact, sometimes it will load every other page, or it will consistently load certain pages, and others will be inaccessible for hours at a time, or aim will work but webpages won't load, etc, etc

I have taken the opportunity, whenever the internet goes down, to try to diagnose the problem, and nine times out of ten I've been able to pinpoint it. When we were using Comcast, the problem was almost ALWAYS a down connection between Comcast and the apartment Complex. This is easy enough to fix; call the management, who calls comcast, problem solved. However, with iProvo it has been a different story. For starters, the DNS servers provided by iProvo are crap. They're useless (I actually spent a couple of afternoons surfing by IP address). After discovering that about half of the outages were related to the crappy iProvo DNS servers, I found a couple of free, public DNS servers and started using those instead of the iProvo servers. That resolved a lot of the problems we were having. The other common problem with the connection is that the company that provides the backbone connection for iProvo(I forget the company's name so ill call them SLCbackbone) has a shoddy network. I can't count the amount of times that I've seen upwards of 80% packet loss on the same group of servers on SLCbackbone's network.

So that is the history building up to what happened a couple of days ago. On Thursday, or Friday of last week the apartment management went on vacation and at about the same time the internet connection went down. As we usually do when the internet goes down, we tried calling the management, but this time we got an answering machine that said "we're on vacation and unless your house is burning down don't bother us. We'll be back on Tuesday."(ok, so that's not an exact quote) I left a message just letting them know that the internet was down.

Well, the internet was down for 4-5 days straight. Since I rely on the internet for almost everything, it was extremely frustrating. I also just started a CS class where all of the course material is online, meaning that I had no way of knowing what the assignments were, when the lab hours were, etc. Even more frustrating than that, was the fact that the connection was doing some very weird things during those 4-5 days. We had connectivity to everything, and nothing at the same time. Pinging google's servers came back flawlessly every time, traceroutes gave the same results. Every test I could think of was showing that there was nothing wrong with the connection, but at the same time it was as if we had no connection at all. We couldn't load webpages, connect to WoW, connect to AIM or MSN, send/receive email, etc. Nothing worked. Weird.

Anyway, we had called and left a message and I can only imagine how many other people in the complex called and left messages, and I wouldn't be surprised if some people left more than one. So, on Tuesday morning the management came out to fix the network. Apparently they didn't think that fixing the network was enough so they wrote a nasty note(go read it, with original typos intact) and taped a copy to everybody's door.

Are you done reading it?..... Ok.

I think when I first read it I was just so glad the internet was up that I didn't care, but now that I've read it a couple of times over its really starting to bother me. There are just so many problems with what they're saying its ridiculous.

First they complain about the "HOURS" they've spent trying to keep the network up. "only to find out today that it was all caused by tenants misuse of the internet."...

1. Networks don't maintain themselves. Sad but true.

2. There are 32 apartments each paying $10/month for an internet connection that costs the m anagement ~$50/month? Ok, figure in the cost of the routers(which have long since been payed for), and the electric bill to run them. Lets say their total cost is $100 to run and maintain the network, and they spend 5 hours in an average month working on it. They're still making $320 for 5 hours of work, or $44/hour! Even if they spent 10 hours a month its still a pretty descent $22/hour.

3. If you are the only person who can fix it, you are going to hear about it when it goes down. Thats the nature of providing a service to people. Personally I'd love it if they would let me administer the network, but what are the chances of that?

4. "hundreds of hours" hah! Over what period of time? Honestly.

5. "it was all caused by tenants misuse of the internet" No, No, and NO. The fact is that most of the problems are iProvo's problems. I've seen it first hand.


"Internet is provided at Harmony Square for tenants NEEDS ONLY-NOT for play, pleasure, or business"

O RLY??

"such as: gaming(playing playstation, xbox or such type games over the internet)"

Playing WoW, and many other games, averages ~5Kbbs. Thats less than casual internet surfing. Other games that use VOIP can take more, but you're still not killing a 100Mbps fiber connection any time soon.

"sharing (limewire or other downloading or uploading shareware), pier to pier, any business servers, or anything else I might have missed mentioning that maxs out the service and freezes it up for EVERYONE."

pier to pier... Because yachts use lots of bandwidth ya know?

business servers... Because you can run a web server without a static IP, through your apartment complex's wireless router ya know?

Another flaw in this logic is that the wireless connection maxes out at 54Mbps. Its not possible that one person could singlehandedly bring the network to its knees; even if the router decided to give that one person's traffic priority over everybody else's which is also not likely to happen.

Then they go on to say "In the future, if ANYONE is found using more than their share of the internet access, they will be temporarily removed from access to the internet. They will be fined $100.00"

This is not only inflammatory, but also ridiculous. How do they intend to enforce this? Anyone found using more than 312 kb at any given time will be penalized? They better throttle my connection speed then, because if I download a file I can guarantee that its going to be coming across faster than that.

"if ever a second time for one apartment —they will permanently be taken off the access list at their own expense with no deduction in rent and no longer possibility of internet for them." (engrish?)

So they are fined, then revoked access, but continue to pay for it like everybody else?? Sounds fair to me, after all, they must have downloaded a file or something awfull like that right?


Well, this is the end of my rant. I plan on letting them know what I think(in nicer words of course). I hope I dont get us kicked out :P

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I'm still alive

Just thought I'd let everyone know... I didn't die, but our internet was down for many days, and I haven't really had anywhere else to go to check email and stuff like that, so... But now it's good! Management got all cranky b/c they said that one person was using the entire bandwidth and making it so the rest of us couldn't use it. (the bandwidth is 10... something... Frik, fill that in for me.) So, either way, now it's working and life is peachy.


I did almost die, though. Ok, not quite, but there was one of those big orange construction cones (the barrel shaped ones) sitting in the middle of our lane on the freeway last night. It was dark and so we didn't see it until it was right in front of us, and Frik swerved and scared me, but there was no one behind and to the right of us, so it was fine.


In other news, work is going well... I actually enjoy it and the meter stuff is pretty interesting. We're going on the phones next week for our phone training, which will take a few more weeks. We will be sharing a line with 2 other people, one of which is a trainer, and we will take 4 or 5 calls a day and do a lot of reading and studying. So we'll see how that goes. (That is, of course, if I pass the test... which is supposed to take about 6 1/2 hours. It's long)


that's all i've got for now... oh, except that I can't move because I'm so sore. Yeah, that's it now. :)

Thursday, May 4, 2006

You just shook your head… doesn’t that make you happy?

So, you may have heard that carebear and I are taking a weight lifting class. The last couple days we have been doing the fitness and strength tests that we will be compared against at the end of the course, and The way they've decided it should be done is that each person should be able to lift a certain percentage of their body weight on each of the diferent lifts. This is a fine concept when dealing with people who are in shape. Naturally you would expect a 250lb body builder to lift a lot more than a 150lb body builder. However, when you apply that same concept to normal(out of shape) people it doesn't work as well, for obvious reasons, and you end up so sore that you can Hardly move. I'm sure some of you are familiar with the feeling.

So, besides feeling like I should have been issued a wheelchair and handicap parking privileges, I'm absolutely loving being in classes again. I'm really excited about the weight lifting class. The other class I'm taking is CS 142 which so far has not only been a walk in the park but has also been really interesting. I have yet to take a college course that I didn't like, which I suspect will change in the near future when I have to take some useless English or biology class.

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Interesting thought...

k, so I was talking to some coworkers yesterday and I came up with (what I think) is a pretty interesting question. (no one be offended by me lumping ethnicities together, ok?)


Ok, so this is it: It seems like most ethnicity groups have some sort of talent that can be generalized across the whole group. Example: asians are good at math/hard workers/ etc, black people have a lot of rhythm/ are good singers, and South American people are... well, that one's not so prominent in my brain, but maybe they're good runners? Like the soccer players and track guys... So, my question was, if all these different ethnicities of people are all talented in some way, then what are the white people good at?? The only thing we could come up with yesterday is that we are good at fighting and conquering. Maybe you guys can think of some positive points... who knows. Just an interesting thought, like I said. I'm definitely not saying that any once race is better than another or that every person from one particular race has all the same features/talents/strengths/weaknesses/etc...


On another note, work training is going pretty well... I get kindof frustrated because a lot of the people in the class don't seem to get it a lot of the time. I try to tell myself that I'm not smarter or better than them, and also try to see all the good things about these people (because a lot of them definitely don't have the gift of extremely high intelligence)... It's just weird to me, being around so many people who are: a. Older than me AND b. less educated and have a harder time getting stuff... It's strange. I mean, a lot of these people can't remember different things on the computer... I guess that's pretty normal. I guess that a lot of my friends will ask me to set the time on their watches when they first get them b/c they can't figure it out (or don't want to bother since they know that I'll be able to)... but things like that just are pretty basic to me, so... But them on the other hand, a lot of my friends who would have me do that kind of stuff had abilities and talents in other areas that made me look like a total idiot. I guess I've just got to try to remember that when in comes to all these people at work. The hard thing is that I only see the work aspect of their personalities...


Anyway, though... I'm doing pretty good with the training. It's pretty easy, so far. we have a ton of different glucose meters to learn how to work and do everything with, and we've got a couple other things... the lancet devices (I prefer to call them pokers) and stuff like that. I kindof feel bad b/c we are allowed to give upgrades or replacements or samples of any of our products... really, anything... just for free. Send it to them overnight... and what I feel bad about is that it seems like we're just hooking them so we can make money on the strips. I don't know how much it costs to make the strips, but I don't think it's fair that diabetic people have to pay so much for them. I also don't know how much of that (if any) is covered by insurance, but I still feel bad, none the less... And I know that every brand of strips is just as expensive as the ones we sell, but I still don't think it's fair.


*sigh* Moving on... Frik and I started our weight training class today, and we are both very out of shape. We did a fitness test... see how many pushups and situps we could do in a row... and... well, Frik and I are fatsos. hehe... ok, not really, but I do feel very weak and out of shape, so I'm glad that We are in this class and we will get all buff.


Well, that's about all going on in my life right now. Don't forget my question from the beginning of the post. That's what I want y'all to comment on. (I said y'all!!!)

Monday, May 1, 2006

Fun things

So Jabba did stay over here for the weekend, and it was fun. we went up rock canyon and climbed all over. We picked up a few rocks as souvenirs and sat in a cave for a while. Then we saw a dog, and she was really cute, so we stopped to pet her, and right after he pet her, Jabba licked his hand off... It was so strange, but I guess that it's one way to get to know a dog! :o)


And then yesterday, we went to church and then played Tony Hawk. Some of our neighbors were moving out, and they have a lovesac. All of their stuff was sitting in the courtyard area, and so Jabba was playing on that... running and jumping. It was really fun.


The best part of the weekend, though, would have to be today when we were driving him to school and he got carsick and threw up... ok, so that wasn't really the highlight, but the good thing was that we hadn't cleaned out the car from our trip yet, so we had bags and boxes and stuff and all the throw up landed on him and a sweatshirt sitting next to him. I was glad that the car didn't get any on it!


And then today was my first day of work. I think it went well. We have 9 people in our training group, and they're all pretty nice. The trainer is cool, too, and we get out at 8:30 every day instead of 10:00, so Frik and I won't have to figure out how to schedule the car. We got to learn all about the evolution of the lancet device today and about diabetes. Tomorrow, we're going to learn about one of the accucheck meters... It's actually pretty cool.


Anyway, though... I've got a headache, and I want to read Frik's latest post before I go to bed. Everyone else should, too. :) He's cute! So... that's the end of this post.

Politics?

So I was reading over at digg.com and I found an article from Wired News. Its about Pete Ashdown, who's running for senate against Orrin Hatch in Utah. Normally I avoid politics and political discussions like the plague(or worse). I figure one politician is as retarded as the next, and since I couldnt possibly care less about all the normal political subjects like foreign policy, government spending, hippies, etc, I've never identified with any of thier views, but this article seemed interesting enough so I read it.

Pete Ashdown, an executive of Xmission(a local ISP) is running against Orrin Hatch, who I'm sure is a great guy, but has been known to be snugly tucked away in the back pocket of the RIAA and MPAA. He once suggested that "copyright owners should be able to destroy the computer equipment and information of those suspected of copyright infringement, including file sharing." Then a year later he "proposed the controversial INDUCE Act that attempted to make illegal all tools that could be used for copyright infringement." On the other hand, Pete Ashdown is very tech savy and seems to understand technology, the internet, etc. He supports fair use and is anti-DRM. In short, he seems to have his head screwed on right. As mentioned in the article "Ashdown... hopes to fight anti-tech policies and help Congress understand the internet from the point of view of someone who has been there."

It reminds me of the one and only time I went to a Town Hall meeting. The issue on the docket that day was wether or not the city should purchase the Switchpoint Broadband Network. My mom was going to voice her support for the city making the purchase and I decided to go since I figured it meant the diffrence between crappy DSL or Cable compared to the 100Mb/sec upload and download that I had become accustombed to. As it turned out, the members of the city council didnt know the diffrence between a keyboard and box of tacks, so it was a good thing that a lot of techies showed up. There were some people who came to oppose the idea, but none of them really had anything inteligent to say. I do remember an old guy(the cow guy) who stood up and said that we should invest in agriculture and cows and that it wasnt the city's place to become an ISP or some such nonsense, needless to say he was shut down pretty quickly and the city did end up buying the network. Everybody lived happily ever after with bleeding fast internet access.

Going back to the topic at hand. I see Orrin Hatch as the cow guy. He just doesnt understand technology. With technology moving at the rate that it is, the lawmakers have a lot to catch up on, and you cant have people making decisions that dont understand the issues. We might as well just put the lobbyists in office.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I think we need more geeks in politics. I agree with what Ashdown is saying, and Im definately voting for him.

I'm also going to vote for Lewis Billings, who's been the mayor responsible for building Provo's fiber-optic network, iProvo. Dave Bailey, on the other hand, would love to shut iProvo down.

Anyway, talking about politics makes me sick, I'll never do it again.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Colorado

So we've been visiting my family in colorado for the past few days... It's been fun, and we're leaving early tomorrow morning to get back and watch Jabba while Sukie and Wudan celebrate their 7th anniversary! I'm excited. I think we're gonna try to go up rock canyon and look at some stuff. If not, then we'll do something else that is of course totally awesome.


In case no one has noticed (which I know you haven't since there are no new comments on his blog) there is a new link over at the left. Frik has decided to join the blogging community and he's worked really hard on making a layout that he likes. I think it's pretty cool. I'm just waiting for him to redesign mine, now... :o)


Anyway, though... I ought (is that right? Aught? oaught?) to go to sleep so we can be all alert while we drive home tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

8-bit Gamer Test

Normally, I'm not a big fan of all the pointless online tests, but this one seemed pretty cool (read: i did good on it)

I am dying of CRT radiation.
I got 12/16 on the 8-Bit Gamer test.
Take the test!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Not really a whole lot to say, except that I can't believe you people didn't think those lizards were funny! Geez... comeon.

On another note, I got a paper back today when I went to go take my final. I got a 47/50 on it. I swear, if every test was a paper instead, I would have a 4.freaking0. that's right.

You know what chores I hate the most?? the ones that get to a point where it is absolutley crucial that you do them... Things like laundry and dishes, as opposed to cleaning the bathroom or vacuuming. Yeah, sure... the bathroom can get really disgusting, and hopefully you've cleaned it before it gets to that point... but if you put of doing laundry long enough, you won't have any clean underwear. And that could be really bad. Same thing with dishes: you run out of silverware or cups or plates... I don't understand how some people can keep their houses so clean. And then when i go to those people's houses, It makes me feel all the messier. I want to always have a clean house... really. I need someone's advice. What am I doing wrong? Why is it that everytime I turn around, the counter is covered with papers and dishes and who knows what other random artifacts...And you know what the worst part is??? IT'S NOT FRIK!! IT'S ALL ME!! I hate that...


Anyway, I've got some TV to watch and outlines to write... fun times.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Almost Done

For the most part I'm done designing my blog. After working on it for weeks, I've even let Carebear link to it. I still have a few things to tweak here and there, but for the most part, it's come together pretty well. The funny thing is, I've probably spent more time designing it than I'll ever spend writing in it.

It still looks a little off in Internet Explorer, so I recomend Firefox if you want to see it displayed correctly. You can't blame me for not trying though, I spent a couple days just trying to get IE to dispay the page at all, and then about 2 weeks trying to make it look right in IE, and in spite of I.E.'s complete disregard for web standards, I think I've managed to make it look pretty decent. It still looks better in Firefox, Opera, Safari, Netscape, or any browser this side of 2001.

Overall, I had a lot of fun designing it. I learned a ton about CSS and web design in general, and, considering the last time I designed a webpage was circa 1993(it had some wicked mouseover glowing buttons, and used two frames!), I'd have to say that I'm impressed with how this one turned out.

I figure most of my posts will be ranting about technology, gadgets, work, and the occasional update on my incredibly uninteresting life. So don’t go adding me to your bookmarks just yet, you might be sorely disappointed if you do.

Anyway, I thought it would be fitting to start my blog by giving credit to those whose content I "borrowed" in making this site:

First and foremost, if you're a fan of Collective Soul (and who isn't), then you may have already noticed that my site bears a slight resemblance to collectivesoul.com. Believe it or not, this was completely unintentional.

background image borrowed from collectivesoul.com
The title image borrowed from missouriskies.org
Method for rounded corners from spiffycorners.com
Method for "transparent" backgrounds from CSS/Edge

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Sooo weird

We were watching this TV show tonight and saw this guy who trains lizards to sit in different positions. Its so funny. Frik and I were laughing so hard.

Oh, and one picture that is hard to find off of the main site:
linked :P

Finally...

So, my paper actually ended up being pretty good. I even got a chance to read through it before I brought it in. Hopefully, I'll get a good enough grade on it.

Now I've got 2 days of nothing (reading days) and a few more of finals. It should be pretty easy. I'm hoping that I'll do well enough on my finals to pull a couple of A's and A-'s.
it.

I registered for classes yesterday, and I realized that I have no more GEs to take or even prereqs for my major... so I filled out the application for my major, and I should get in for next winter semester. It's exciting!
it.

I also signed up for a few classes this summer, one is a spreadsheet skills class... for no reason except that I want to take it... and the other 2 are both gym classes, one for spring term, one for summer. I'm taking Weight lifting and Swimming.
it.

I heard back from FAFSA today. They have determined that I am not eligible for a Pell grant. That's ok. I kindof figured it'd happen. (Sukie, I guess something about having a kid helps you guys get more aid.)
it.

So that's the story of my life right now. :o)

Saturday, April 15, 2006

School's almost over!

Well, I know that one of my final grades is going to be a 92%, or maybe a 93%, depending on whether or not he adds the extra credit point in. That makes me happy. I don't think I've gotten an A (A-) since maybe my freshman year. Except in a gym class. And this one is for a science class. yipee!


Other than that... I've got a paper due on Monday... need to work on that... that's my last paper of the semester, and then I've just got... 4 more tests? yeah, 4. *sigh* almost done...


I wend up to the inlaws to dye easter eggs today. It was fun! made some pretty eggs... and then when I got back, Sukie and Wudan and the boy were here with my tax file, so I filled out my FAFSA renewal sheet. I'm glad to have that done, and hopefully they'll give us some aid... but it's not like it was for last year, when our entire income from the previous year didn't top $5000. Oh well. Maybe I'll get a couple hundred for books. :)


I'm hoping that I'll be able to go over to Denver after finals are over. My last final is on the 25th... and I want to take that one early, because the only other scheduled final I have is on the 22nd, which means we could leave on the 23 or 24th... and be there until the 27th or 28th. I want to go and see Berserk's new house, which means that we will be helping him move stuff over. :) And I also want to spend a few days with the family.


So, this spring, I'm taking a weightlifting class with Frik. It'll be fun. I'll be so buff by June that no one will recognize me. heheh...


Anyway, like I said, I have a paper due monday, and I shoudl start working on it. :o)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

roaches

So, I got a job... after about 4 months of being rejected by BYU employers, I decided to go to Convergys. I went in to apply, and one of the projects they were hiring for was Roche (which, i have been told, is the best project to work on. The "elite" of convergys... you actually have to have some college in order to be considered!) So I applied and was interviewed over the phone a few days later. Unfortunately, training was from 1-10, and all of my classes for the semester started at 1, so I couldn't do it. They told me that I was exactly what they were looking for, though, and that they wanted me to reapply when it would fit my schedule. So, I called a week or so ago, and got no reply... I emailed and sent my resume in again and still got no reply. Well yesterday, I had to pick frik up from work, so I decided to go next door and see when they would be hiring again. Turns out they were hiring this week, to start on May 8th. So they set me up with an interview. It went so good... Every question that the interviewer asked me, I had a good answer for, and after I gave each of my answers, he kept saying, "that's just great, perfect, wonderful example... etc, etc..." At the end of the interview (which took almost an hour and a half) he said, "Even though you haven't had a lot of medical experience, let me tell you why I want to hire you". Then he went on for about 10 minutes listing how great of an employee i would be and all this wonderful stuff about me... quite the ego boost. And then he offered me the job. It's funny how different I felt today, just knowing that I have a job. (soon). In "Dave" (the president movie) Dave says something along the lines of the look on someones face when the have a job is irreplacable, and it's not about the money, but it's about having some worth... something like that. I've been without a job for a while, and I didn't really think it'd be a big difference, but I really think it will be now.


So a little more about the project that I lovingly call Roaches: We will be doing the inbound customer service for Accucheck (the company that makes diabetic meters). The people who call in, from what i hear, are usually quite pleasant and accucheck gives convergys quite a bit of authority. We can replace people's machines if we want to... That's about all I've gathered from it so far.


At first when I appled at Convergys, I felt like I was sinking to a new low... and I haven't started working yet, but I actually am excited to start. Probably because I'm not on Amex outbound... And the tuition reimbursement will be nice. :o) Not to mention that the starting wage is a couple $ more than on campus jobs... :o)


So that was my day today. I also made it to class on time. Oh: wacky random thing: I was driving down the main street over here the other day and I saw 2 llamas in front of someone's house... weird.

Saturday, April 8, 2006

Create a house on my street!

http://www.drawahouse.com/takethetest/index.asp?street=5d1651b2562aadd4491c61efc0c20b0c

Field trip

So, I had an extra credit feild trip today for my geology class in rock canyon. I asked Frik if he wanted to come with me. I thought it would be fun. Pretty much we would walk around and look at the rocks, see if we could identify them and figure out how rock canyon was formed. He decided that it would be alright, and he came with me. It was fun. We hiked around a bit and it was really cool to see some rocks and apply the stuff we learned in class to the real world. The TA was showing us some stuff, and she said, "Lets go a little further up so we can see another fold in the rock" or something like that. We started heading up and we saw the search and rescue cars parked farther up with a bunch of the rescue people standing around. It was a little weird, but they didn't seem to worried about anything, and I hadn't heard of anyone getting lost in rock canyon. I asked them why they were there, and they said it was for training... Anyway, we kept going up and stopped not far from the search and rescue team. Suddenly, we heard something that sounded like thunder, so I looked up to the sky (which was completely clear blue) and while I was looking up, I saw at the top of the mountain right across the stream from us a huge piece breaking off. The TA was surprised and she was like, "holy cow!" Some of us stood there watching for a few seconds when we realized that the falling rocks were knocking other pices of rock down, and they were headed right towards us. One of the search and rescue guys who was right there said, "Whoa! those are car sized!" So we started running. I felt kindof dumb running up the mountain, but when I heard the search and rescue guy yell, "Keep running!" I didn't feel so stupid. when I got what seemed to me to be far enough away, I looked back and saw that at the river, where we were standing, there were pieces of boulders about the size of watermelons that weren't there before. Some of the girls who were watching closer, not running for their lives, said that the pieces of rocks were spraying across the river... not just pieces of rocks, really, but huge chunks of mountain. It was so insane. Here we were, a geology class, going on a field trip to see the mountains, and we saw them... falling right on top of us...


So we were all fine, but the S&R people kept radioing back and forth and calling out to people to count off and asking if everyone was accounted for. When we walked a bit farther down, we saw 2 of the stragglers from our group who were stopped by the search and rescue people. And when we got to the bottom, there were people all around from the park (which is about a half mile away, I guess... I'm not sure) who had run up b/c they heard it.


Anyway... it's not like I almost died or anything, or that I feel like my life flashed before my eyes, but it was definitely an experience that I didn't think I would have today. And I don't even really remember starting to run... I just remember the water splashing my calves as i ran and the noise... it was so loud! Just the noise of rock breaking... It was really awesome and makes me want to think twice before I go climbing up there again... :o)

Thursday, April 6, 2006

New addition to the family

We have a new family member! His/her name is Suzuki Forenza! Hooray!
We traded in the Rio and now have a car with AC, power windows/locks/mirrors, pretty green paint, and lots more space. The subwoofers actually fit in the trunk without tearing the back seat out to manipulate them in. :)


Frik needs to get them installed soon, because the bass coming out of the midrange speakers sounds yucky (i think I got that all right...). There are 8 speakers in teh car already, and then with the subwoofer (which is huge) we will have a pretty nifty sound system in there.


When we went to the dealership, the subwoofers and wires were already all out of the car, but the stereo was still in... Frik was planning on switching it out with the stock one before we went shopping, but that didn't happen. So while we were waiting for them to draw up the papers, Frik and I went out to the car and in about 10 minutes it was all switched out, and it worked and looked great. It's the fastest uninstall/install that I've ever seen. :)


Anyway, this is the new car. oh, I forgot to say... It's a 2005, so that's nice. Very new... and it only has 9,000 miles on it. It gets good mileage and it's got a cute interior. Everyone will have to see it! I like it a lot! :)

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Christmas book

So we went over to Frik's buddy's house the other day for dinner, and they gave us a christmas present! hehe... I guess a guy from Frik's buddy's company wrote a book and they used the software to do all the illustrations... correct me if that is wrong... but the final product was "Mr. Finnegan's Giving Chest". It's a pretty cute little story... kindof a typical christmas type story: the hard cover book with pictures and a moral (which I like, by the way...) Anyway, it's a good book and it's pretty. The illustrations are really nice!


Other than that... we went up to Frik's mom's to clean out the car today and take out the stereo. It was a little sad to take it all apart and when we drove home, there were no subwoofers, which sounded very sad. I love that car... but it'll be way better to have something with AC. We're going to finish paying this one off (with tax monies! woohoo Sukie!) and then go looking around. I found the reciept for Niwot Inn (the place we went on our honeymoon) under the drivers seat. That's been a good car... and it's gonna keep being good, since Frik bought it for $2500 and we will get around $4500 on a trade in. I love it!


Then, I've got a Physical science test this week and 2 papers due next week. :) gotta start working on them now so that I'm not up until crazy hours of the night the day before, killing myself for not doing them!

Friday, March 31, 2006

Concert

So I went to the Guster Concert at UVSC tonight with Erik and Devin and Laura. It was really good. Guster is very good in concert, and the drummer was amazing. apparently he hits those drums so hard sometimes that on tours his hands are bleeding. I believe it. It was really amazing. It was kindof weird, too, that they had this program thing... some campus awareness thing. I'm not sure what it was called, but they were handing out samples of all these different organic stuffs... Alba lotion and clif bars and chapstick. It was wacky, but I got some free chapstick and lotion. :o)


So seriously, I have been so stinking busy lately, and I don't think it's going to let up until the semester is over (only a few weeks left! yay!) On one hand, the end of the semester is nice b/c it's almost over. The light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing. On the other hand, though... All of the slacking I've done (which isn't a lot this semester) catches up to me and I get sooo busy. It seems like I have test after test after project after paper... It's hard for me to keep up and not forget anything.

speaking of, I forgot about a 20 point quiz that I had to do by tonight... grr... I already forgot about one quiz for this class. I better do good on the final paper, because otherwise I won't get a happy grade. I get pretty solid Bs on the tests, so the final shouldnt' be any different. And then there is a final paper, too, that is worth 100 points or something. All of his tests are papers, but this one, we actually get more than 50 minutes to write. It is 7-8 pages though... that's due in 2 weeks... bummer...

And I've got a paper due in my geography class in 2 weeks, a physical science test this coming week, then the next week should be fairly easy... and then finals. AAAHHH!!!!! I want to fast forward through this next month!

So, because I've been so busy, the concert was kindof a nice break, a time to just get out... problem is that I kept thinking about all of the things I needed to do. On top of all the school work, my apartment is disgusting. I just cleaned it on Sunday... hm, I guess that was almost a week ago. :o) Besides that, my sister is in town and I dont' want her to be totally bored out of her gord (couldn't resist. I haven't said that since I was 12. hehe...) I had frik take her out to a movie earlier this week so I could work on my paper and it would be quiet in the house, but I wouldn't be making everyone suffer and just sit in silence. That's one problem wiht having the computer in the same room as the tv, but then again, my apartment only has 2 rooms... heh. Well, kindof 3. The front area which includes a kitchen, the bedroom, and the bathroom.

Oh, so anyway, frik IMed me last night and said, "guess what domain name is open?" (hint: it's the one that I currently post my blog to). So anyway, he bought it and now it's mine and if you go to carolyn.erikheppler.us, it'll redirect you to here, but car0lyn.com is just way cooler, so use that one. :o)

Well... I think that's pretty much it for now. I need to go to bed. Oh! One more thing, actually. Frik and I are looking at getting a new car (since the Rio doesn't have AC, which is fine in the winter, but I'm remembering back to last summer, driving to Nevada for the 4th of July and arriving with a drenched back...) We found a few we like, and so I'm excited. We'll see where it goes!

ps: I have just been informed that frik did not make carolyn.erikheppler.us redirect you to this, but that it rewrites the domain... I have no idea what that means, but he did it all by himself, so I'm proud! :o)

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Busy...

I just finished and turned in a 9 page research paper... Good times.

Just thought I'd update, though. apparently frik did something that made it so I couldn't post for a while, but it's fixed now. So I can post again, and the last post I did on Sunday finally showed up. :o)


I have to have 8 pages of science questions done by tomorrow, along with an atlas exercise... so I'm gonna make this short.


And there it is. Short.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

I have been so busy... it feels like finals. I've had 3 or 4 tests each week for the past 2 weeks, and I've got 2 more plus a paper due this coming week... Fun times. :)

My mom was here for a day. We took her to get Korean food. She really didn't want to, but we made her, and she ended up liking it.

I really feel like I have nothing else to say... I know that there has been stuff happening in my life... Just can't think of any of it right now. :)

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

GPA

So... my GPA sucks. It's not good enough for me to apply for my major, which is really frustrating. And I've been trying to get it up for a while. It only has to be 2.85 for me to apply, but it's 2.67 now, and I've been retaking classes I really slacked off in (because I know that the reason I have any bad grades is because I'm a slacker), but it wasn't going anywhere. So, I was looking at stuff, and a few semesters ago... actually, last winter semester, I had to withdraw from a few classes for medical reasons, and I had a doctors recommendation and everything. I randomly typed one of the withdrawn classes into the GPA calculator, where you can see what your GPA would be if you re took a class and enter the grade you might get... and it turns out that those 'W's are just as bad as 'E's (the BYU equivalent of 'F'). so, next fall I'm retaking a few classes: Korean (which I got a D in b/c I never never went... I think I may have gone 10 times the whole semester, and the class met every day. The only reason I actually passed was b/c my brother was taking a class that semester from the same teacher, and that teacher fell in love with him and they became best friends. So he passed me, too... weird) And I'm also retaking a german literature class, 3 credits of a W. If I get a B in each of those classes, I will bring my GPA up to 2.99 instead of 2.67 and I'll finally be able to move on... considering I will be done with my generals after this semester (besides one history class that I will take with my Korean and German classes).


I'm excited. I feel like I'm just going to school, not doing anything... now maybe I'll be able to get somewhere. I should be able to apply for the major at the end of next fall semester, to start the program winter semester. Which means I'll be student teaching in a few years... weird.


Anyway, that's what I realized today and it made me happy to know that I can finally fix my GPA. (not what I'd like it to be, yet... I would like to have a 3.5, because I know that I could... but I dont' think that'll happen, b/c I'd have to retake a lot of classes to bring it up that much... but I can get it to a 3.05 before the end of next fall semester.)

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Who needs sleep?

I do... but it doesn't look like I'll be falling asleep any time soon... I've been laying in bed for about an hour, listening to Frik snore (not that he's keeping me awake, but I am jealous that he can sleep and I can't). So I decided to come out here and clean up the apartment. And update.


I went over to Meryl's yesterday and went around with her and Canoe. We ended up going to a fabric store, and I actually bought something (which is kindof scary, because I'm not exactly a talented seamstress...) It's pretty simple. I want to make an apron,which should be fairly easy. The fabric I got is really cute. I'm excited.


other than that... not much going on. Two of our guppies died. Well 3 total, but two recently. And the first one didn't so much die as "disappear". Can't find a single remain of him. I think the other guppie in his tank may have eaten him. gross.


I taught sunday school today. It was pretty nerveracking. I want to do it again, though, to help me overcome that weakness/ fear. I'm not sure what it is, but something about standing up in front of people and trying to teach is difficult. I read and studied the material the day before, but when I got up to teach, suddenly everything I looked at in the manual or scriptures was foreign. Didn't understand any of it. Oh well. I guess it went ok. Frik said that the only problem was that I wasn't confident at all. Everyone kept telling me I was doing fine, but I would stand there one minute and not know what I was talking about the next... it was frustrating. I'm going to ask one of the teachers to let me do it again. :o)


lets see... Oh, Bridget is coming over for her spring break. That should be fun. I hope I can think of something interesting to do with her, otherwise she will be bored after 3 days, I'm sure. :o)


time to clean and then try to sleep again!

Saturday, March 4, 2006

I know, I'm crazy...

My old roommates used to make fun of me for not cooking with teflon pans, and since I was the only one who had pans (which happened to be stainless steel, not coated in any way at all) they would use mine all the time... and use plastic spatulas on them which would be useless, since plastic spatualas are really only effective on teflon coated pans...


anyway, here's an article that Frik showed me about teflon. The way I see it... sure, if you cook with teflon, you don't have to use oil... but not all oil is bad oil, which some people don't seem to understand. Yeah, you don't necessarly want to saturate everything you eat with butter and lard, but some oils (olive oil and canola oil are two) will lower your cholesterol (They actually increase your HDL and lower your LDL, and that's a good thing)


Ok, that's all starting to get very confusing. This is the breakdown that I learned from my biology class:

LDL (low density lipoprotiens) and HDL (high density Lipoprotiens) are the 2 different kinds of cholesterol in the blood stream. If I remember correctly, HDL is responsible for bringing bad things to the liver, and LDL brings them back into the bloodstream. That might not be true, but either way, I know that the HDL is good for you, and LDL is bad for you.

omega 3 fatty acids (which are in fish and I think walnuts) will increase your HDL and lower your LDL... like a double bonus...

monounsaturated fatty acids (which are in olive oil and I think canola oil) will increase your HDL, and leave your LDL unchanged.

polyunsaturated fats, which are in other oils... vegetable oils... will increase your HDL, but can also increase your LDL

Saturated fats, which are found in butter and meat products, will increase your LDL, but leave your HDL the same.

Trans-fats, which are created by hydrogenating oils, and are found in things like vegetable shortening and pre-packaged, highly preserved foods, will increase your LDL, and decrease your HDL (so it's a double negative).

Ok, So i could be totally butchering that, but that's the order of good oils to bad oils: omega 3 fatty acids, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, transfats. Oh, get this: trans fats are created by hydrogenation, right? ok, I think this is the sickest thing... but hydrogenation is a process where thy pump hydrogen into the oils and make bonds which make the oil firm. The purpose of this is to make packaged foods "creamy", and also makes them last longer (think twinkies with their amazing shelf life and cream fillings... mmm.....)



Anyway... where in the world was I going with all of that? Oh yes. Not all oils or fats are bad. Some are very good, in fact. especially if you are trying to lower your cholesterol. Some people will eat foods with the hydrogenated oils in them because they have less fat overall (cool whip vs. whipped cream) but they could be much worse for your heart.

This all relates to my teflon pan rant. trust me. :o)

So, since not all oil is bad, it's ok to not use teflon pans. In fact... If you think about it, you are gradually eating your pans over time. Really old pans will have dips in them or the teflon will be worn thin or scratched or whatever... and where do you think that is all going?? That's why I like to cook with cast iron... b/c it keeps me from being anemic! (oh, and I don't use Aluminum either, b/c it's been linked to alzheimers...not a causal link, but a link none the less...)

I bet you all didn't know I was so obsessed with how I cook, did you? Just trust that if you ever eat something I prepared, you will be pretty safe from ingesting carcinogens. :o)

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Charms

I got some new charms on ebay, and they came today (well, yesterday, since mail doesn't come on Sundays...) They are so cute! I was really excited when my mom found my charm bracelet, and now I've got 4 more charms. I have: A piano, a video camera, a fortune cookie (Erik proposed to me in a fortune cookie), and a sand dollar (b/c we went to the beach in CA and found tons of sanddollars, and I think they're cool). Besides that, i've got the 3 that I've had forever (an airplane, a little Salt Lake Temple, and a little heart that says, "big sis").


So I had Lorna & company and meryl over for dinner tonight. It was fun. I'm not sure what prompted it... Just thought it'd be fun to have the family over for dinner... but I think it was fun. We watched the Majestic and I fell asleep, I really like that movie, though... I think Jim Carrey did a really good job of not being Ace Ventura, and it's got a fun (if not predictable) plot.


Anyway... that was my sunday. How was everyone else's weekends?

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Fish and Crash Test Dummies

K, so Amy got me a tank at the free fish stuff guy's house. It's a nice one... about 2 gallons, hexagonal shaped. So I put my betta in there and split up the guppies, two in each of the 1 gallon tanks. (of course, benson and stabler are together, and munch and fin are in the other) I even set up the bubbles in both of the guppies tanks, since they need their water circulated more. It looks nice, but the bulb in Munch & Fin's tank is burnt out, so I need to get that replaced, even though I don't have any plants or anything, I just think it looks prettier.


I've been listening to Crash Test Dummies lately... like for the past few days. I haven't heard them for a long time... since probably my freshman year. I always think it's funny how many of their songs I know just because David used to listen to their CD's all the time. They're good. I like the style of their music, and also the lyrics because they are so weird. I've been making Frik listen to them, too, and I don't think he's quite sure whether or not he likes them. He laughs once in a while (I think he especially likes the Superman song)


You know Solomon Grundy isn't just a bad guy in comic books? there's a poem about him:


Solomon Grundy,

Born on a Monday,

Christened on Tuesday,

Married on Wednesday,

Took ill on Thursday,

Worse on Friday,

Died on Saturday,

Buried on Sunday.

This is the end

Of Solomon Grundy.


I don't like it. Some old nursery rhymes are so creepy. Why would you tell that to a kid? yuk...


Anyway, I'm going to go sleep. I've been staying up way to late for no good reason.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Boring....

Just a quick update...


For everyone who was waiting on the anonymous comment.... it was my mom. (If you haven't figured it out already). Not that it matters, or that it is interesting at all...


Um... not a whole lot is going on right now... I have a test to take today... I need to do laundry... That's about it. I guess I'll write more when my life gets more interesting. :o)

Saturday, February 18, 2006

New post

I was going to post earlier but I was all mad b/c the internet wasn't working and I had to submit a quiz online and there was a time limit and I went over the timelimit... when I really took the quiz in under the time limit... so I was so mad that I decided not to post. But now that I've cooled down, I'm gonna update.


Sukie came down here with one of her betta forum friends today and we went over to this guy's house who was selling all of his tanks and fish b/c their moving. (when I say all of his tanks and fish, I don't think there is any way for you to fully understand how many tanks and fish that really is... he had a whole room full of tanks in his basement... and apparently he had already sold some.) It was pretty cool. The house smelled kindof swampy, and I would never want that many fish in my basement, but hooray for people who do. :o)


So anyway, I bought 2 guppies from him. They are so stinking cute. They're tiny and they swim around in their little one gallon tank like it's the size of an olympic swimming pool. I need to get a plant for the tank... probably a fake one. :o) I'm not in to the whole actually having a fish thing yet. I need to get some more fish food too, for guppies, not bettas... and I think I'm going to get one more friend for them. A really pretty one. We'll see what I can find.


We ended up staying at the fish guy's house forever... maybe 2 hours? I don't know. But Sukie and her friend were getting all loaded up. I think the friend was mostly taking free stuff... snails and plants and filters he didnt' want.... But I don't know how much Sukie ended up spending. :o) What did you get 2 tanks, a bunch of shrimp, a stand, and some fishes? Once I got my guppies, I tried to stay out of the way as much as I could b/c there were so many people in there.


And then I came home and made banana muffins, called David, and he came over and ate some of them. They were so good... and they're little too, so you have to eat about 30 of them in order to get the same amount as you would in one piece of banana bread...


Anyway... I found my long lost keys today. That made me happy. :o) And now I'm gonna go to bed.