August 31, 2007
OK, If you want to buy my admiration, buy me the Archos 605 Wifi - 160 GB and all of its accessories. If you want me to thoroughly test it for you and keep it, send it and all of its accessories to me. I had to take five freaking English courses in college. I can write properly when I need to. I'll write a review. I can even be biased if need be. I'm also experienced in writing in the third person if you would prefer an independent :wink: review.
We (OK, I) have been looking at digital media devices and portable ones as well. While I still like the Creative Vision W, this one wins my vote. I'm going to do some more research on it.
I should go to sleep now. I'm getting loopy sitting here.
I've turned into a commercial. I bought some Bar Keepers Friend today and my kitchen sink looks gorgeous. Now I don't want to use the sink because I don't want to get it dirty. There was a commercial about that last year. I think they were selling a sink. I should spill something in there just to get it over with. It is going to hurt, so I might as well do it quickly.
I also cleaned the stove top. During various beer brews, there was some minor spilling. Unfortunately it solidified and built up enough that we couldn't get it up with any of the cleaning stuff we had. I used the same Bar Keepers Friend and it worked. I think I may have injured my elbow while scrubbing, but it came off! I should have probably taken a picture. It didn't look terrible. It actually looked like it was supposed to be like that. Of course I knew it wasn't, so it had to go!
OK, I officially graduated. I was getting paranoid due to something disturbing I found when checking my school account. Just after graduation I logged into the system at school and it said everything was cool and all of my requirements were met. Then this past weekend I logged in again to find out some information on a course I had taken and my degree audit was stating that my requirements weren't met. I did some looking around and I knew they were met, but that doesn't mean jack if the person checking at the school doesn't check via the other route (the non-standard). So, all week I have been wondering and waiting and yesterday I started to feel better.
That was because the alumni sent me an invitation to join their online network. You must be validated by the school first to join, so that was sign one. Sign two (aka, final proof) arrived this afternoon via the mailman. The diploma arrived. Pheew. So, I have officially graduated.
Also in the mail today was an invitation to Josh's cousin's wedding. I am hoping we can make it but that would depend on work, both Josh getting time off and whether I have work to go to.
OK, off to deal with the terror that is my kitty. She's becoming more and more obsessed with eating lately. It is driving me crazy.
Though I prefer Jim Dale's readings to Stephen Fry's... I would absolutely love a VOCO Clock. My birthday is a month and a half away you know. Hint. Hint.
This morning I broke my favorite mug. My friend Calhoun gave it to me for Yule a few years ago. It was perfect. The mug never got too hot even if the contents were boiling! /sniff
Our house has many energy saving devices installed. Most notably is a master switch to turn the hot water heater on and off. We have gotten in the habit of turning it off in the morning and flipping it back on in the evening. Last night we forgot to flip it back on. This morning was a bit of a shock. Of course I figured I would just turn it on in the afternoon. Then I decided that yard needed to be mowed. I forgot to turn the hot water heater back on. So, I am sitting here, feeling icky and gross, waiting for an inkling of warm water.
Time to check it again.
Oh. My. Bob.
Elijah Wood on Yo Gabba Gabba... (link via mega(k)nits) Wait, it gets better. Biz Markie teaches beat boxing, one sound at a time. There is also a Tony Hawk one, but honestly I couldn't watch it all. As much as I adore him, I must say, his acting has improved any since Gleaming the Cube.
This is what I get for blog hopping through ravelry users.
I can't take it anymore. My cat is licking the curtains again. She has food on her plate. I've given her attention. She has her catnip bag. She has tons of places to sleep. What is up with her? She does it to get my attention, but for what? I have given her catnip and she is rolling around in it about six inches from me. Is that what she wanted? Me and her catnip? My cat constantly sends me mixed signals. She's finished nipping and is trying to get something out of her toy basket. I am seriously thinking that she needs a younger cat to keep her occupied. Wait, now she is in her bed. Weirdo.
Josh and I watched Mr. Bean's Holiday today. I really enjoyed it. Of course the only Rowan Atkinson project I wasn't overly thrilled about was Johnny English, but I didn't absolutely hate that one. Atkinson once again plays his ever adorable and "annoying" Mr. Bean perfectly.
The story starts as Mr. Bean wins a vacation to Cannes France. We have the pleasure of following Mr. Bean as he makes his journey as only Mr. Bean can. If you are a Rowan Atkinson fan, you'll probably love this film. I did find the ending a little out of place, but I saw the connection to an earlier scene, so I give them points for going there.
We also watched The Simpsons Movie today. While it wasn't as funny as Mr. Bean, I did find myself rather amused by it. The story of the film is pretty much everwhere, so I won't rehash it. It was funny for the most part. I did find myself wondering what happened to the pig. Anybody know? I don't remember seeing it in the end. I was happy to see Santa's Little Helper was OK. That left me a little worried.
I uploaded some cat related and beer brewing related pictures yesterday. This one was one of my favorites. I was playing with the macro and she was sound asleep. She eventually woke up to thwap the camera to show she cares. In other news, today was a day of discovery for me! This morning I was watching a cartoon on television and happened to see an advertisement for the latest Little Einsteins dvd "Rocket's Firebird Rescue". As a side note, I think the Firebird looks an awful lot like Fawkes the Phoenix!
Because I live a fair distance from my nephew Gabriel, I am not up to date on all the pre-school shows and their happenings. I knew of the Little Einsteins, but didn't know what went on. I also knew that Gabriel insisted on doing this "pat pat" thing when anyone was to start the car. This morning I put it all together. I discovered that the Little Einsteins "pat pat" to get their rocket started. /doh
So, I was enlightened on why he always did this. I was also enlightened to the fact that I don't think I have ever liked a movie where Will Ferrell is in the lead role. Josh and I watched Blades of Glory and neither of us were really entertained for more than five minutes total. It was at the end that I had this second moment of discovery for the day.
Now I think I'm going to go discover some ice cream. Mmm. Ice Cream.
Today was one of those days. Josh and I attempted to drive into dowtown Orlando to make an appointment. We made it, but we were five minutes late*. Of course we left home with the intention of being about thirty minutes early.
Why were we late? Let's see. There was the log truck that overturned and spilled logs and fuel on the interstate and then there was the media circus going on downtown thanks to the wacky deeds of one Lisa Nowack, former astronaut.
/sigh I am home and too tired to finish watching the Heroes dvds. I'm totally clueless on some of the deleted scenes. I wonder if they will relate to something in future episodes or whether they just "didn't want to go there"? Hrmm.
*We did call to make sure everything was cool with us running late. It was.
OK, so I started watching early. I finally get the roach from the finale of Heroes.
"We have colonized the four corners of our tiny planet, but we are not the pinnacle of so called evolution. That honor belongs to the lowly cockroach. Capable of living for months without food... remaining alive headless for weeks at a time... resistant to radiation. If god has indeed created himself in his own image... then I submit to you that god is a cockroach."- Mohinder speaking to his class in India
Doh.
Me + Heroes Season 1 dvd set = Happy as a lamb! I think I will start watching them around noon, unless something comes up.
Welcome home Endeavor. Things were a little iffy regarding your return, but you made it safely.
PS. Did anyone that watched notice the bird fly right in front of it as it dropped the landing gear?
My mom just called me. Apparently my nephew found a pink marker in the car. My nephew is now pink. Oh Noes! I told her to get some cheap toothpaste and try that. I think he needs to go swimming a lot today!
I so wish she had the camera with her. It would make for a great photo.
Update: The toothpaste worked.
I should write myself a note and attach it to my steering wheel. I need to remind myself not to go grocery shopping early in the morning when school is in session. It took forever for me to get home because I have to pass by a high school and I live on a street with an elementary and middle school. /sigh
I'm ready to begin working on my portfolio again. I stopped for a couple of days because I was just being too critical of myself. That and Josh was home. Speaking of Josh. He almost commented this morning on my fetchmail related post from yesterday. Apparently he did a lot of things with the server, installed and tweaked fetchmail and did a lot of tweaking on Jinzora.
A deathly hallow's wrist band! I think I may add this to my list of things to make!
I'm cross posting this from my craft section...
Well, I finally started messing around on Ravelry.com this afternoon. It is neat. Josh laughed when I explained it to him. He called me a geek. Um, he's the one that has spent the entire day installing/tweaking/customizing fetchmail on our server here so that it can download his mail while he is at work.
Kris was my first (and currently my only) ravelry friend. I can't remember what anyone else signed up as. I added my rogue to my projects, but I need to tweak the specs I have listed. I just wanted to see how everything worked. Tomorrow I will probably start adding things to it.
It is oh so funny how we forget the simple things. Yesterday I finally broke down and bought a mouse for my laptop. I had forgotten how nice it was to use one with it. This one is much nicer than the one on my desktop. I'm thinking about turning my desktop into a zoneminder server, but that isn't fully decided. We've been debating this off and on. I might need it as a testing server. Of course we have plenty of parts to probably build a server for either use. /sigh
OK, off to try and do something productive.
I think I am having the post school career crisis. OK, not really, but I am getting myself frustrated. I want to do a certification or two. If spending a couple hundred dollars helps me get my foot in the door to a better job, I think it is worth it. Besides, more practice can't hurt.
The problem I am having is, which one(s). What do I want to do with my life? I would like to do a Java programming cert, but is that worthwhile now? I could do a Microsoft certification, but which path? Researching that certification is like deciding on your college major.
So, that is where I am at. I'm also getting frustrated on coming up with a design for my portfolio. I think I have gone through three completed designs and I am not really satisfied with any of them. My resume is done. I want Josh to look at it first though. He weeds out resume submissions at work enough to know what I need to fix in mine. Though I'm not in a great need to find a job*, I want to find one soon. That is so that we can do the things we want to do to the house without building debt.
Anyone want to hire me? I'm smart, funny and knowledgable in Computer Science, Information Technology and the Humanities. My previous experience includes web and graphic design for television, newsprint**, and non-profit organizations. I am also well practiced in writing as a third person entity. I speak with some fluency, HTML, PHP, C and JAVA.
I should write a humorous resume and see if I get any responses. I suppose I probably wouldn't get hired by any serious businesses. Oh well.
I think I will go see what the cat is up to. She's been cuddling with my flip-flops a lot lately. Weirdo.
* We are actually saving money by me graduating.
**Hrmm, that was a very long time ago.
OK, we need a revolution. A parenting revolution. Why? Because kids and young adults today are babied beyond sanity. I live on a street with an elementary school and a middle school. Apparently parents complained about some of the sidewalks being cracked and dangerous for their children to walk on. WTF? One of them is right by my house. It wasn't even fully cracked, but they had to take it out and put a new sidewalk segment in. Good gravy, so what if the kid stubbed their toe?
Parents are complaining so much that kids are being passed and given grades they don't deserve. I watched this in college. I had never had grades curved until I started school again a year and a half ago. Argh.
I went hurricane shopping today. We were bad home owners and never bought water, canned goods etc. The formation of Dean reminded me that little oversight. We normally don't eat too much in the way of canned goods, so I took nearly 30 minutes in the canned goods aisle. We always have water, but I went ahead and bought the gallons. I didn't go overboard, but I realized what we needed and got them. I spent under $100 US and that includes buying a new camp stove. They didn't have the one I really wanted, but I wasn't in the mood to search all over creation as my grandmother used to say.
I also stopped by the grocery store to pick up the last bottle of Fit that they had. I have tried other fruit and vegetable washes and this one really gets all of the crap off of our vegetables and fruit. For quite a few years they stopped selling Fit. I horded the last bottle I had and was going nuts trying to find a suitable replacement. I never found one equal and nearly died when I discovered it at the grocery store here. /sigh
I think I need to go balance the checkbook now.
I've been hearing and reading stories of the home buying and home owner woes of the nation and it is rather disturbing. Many of these people were first time home buyers and were taken advantage of. I know in a number of states there are first time home buyer programs that probably would have helped these people. The state of Florida has a first time homebuyer program* that requires you to take a (free) course in financial responsibility before you can actually apply for the loan. I think it is great because it is done through the state and it forces you to absorb at least a little information.
The program is geared towards those who have a stable income, but the income may not be that high. There are income limits for particular counties that you wish to purchase your home in. The limits are reasonable enough that even the middle class can get in on the deal! They also require that you live in the home you purchase for a certain period. That is of course to avoid attempts at renting out properties. I think the best thing about the program is that they aren't trying to sell you a loan that is more than you can afford. They aren't going to let you buy a house that is going to become a money pit.
Many realtors don't even know about these programs, so when you are looking to buy your first home, you really want to do your research first. Want some tips? No? Too bad, I'm going to give them to you anyway!
*You don't even have to technically be a first time home owner. As long as you haven't owned a home in the past three years, you're still eligible.
So, I officially passed the one class I was worried about. That means I have actually graduated. Now I can celebrate by working on my resume and portfolio. Unfortunately I cannot find examples from one of my most notable jobs. I can't even find it in any archive.
We watched the STS-118 lift-off, but my shots didn't look so great. There has been a haze over the area all day and the shuttle was also going off away from us. That's OK, we always enjoy watching it, no matter where we do the watching.
Ooh, silly youTube videos... one and two. Turn down the speakers.
I needed to return some clothes that didn't fit properly and unfortunately, they didn't have the right size. So, I decided to continue my shopping and I scored two new micro fleece blankets! We needed new blankets and I had always had it in my head to get one. The cat has since discovered it. She only got off the bed when it started thundering. Scaredy cat.
I am seriously thinking of getting AJ one for his birthday. I bought Shalyn new bedding for her birthday and Brittany got some from her parents for her birthday, so AJ will probably be expecting some. I don't want to get him anything themed. I want something that will grow with him for the next few years. I gave him a little Spiderman fleece that he loves, but it is a throw, not a bed blanket. So, now I have to keep that in mind. Maybe I'll ask him if that is what he wants me to get him. Shalyn specifically asked me to get her the bedding set. I think he would love to have a bed sized blanket that feels like his Spiderman one. Hrm.
Oh yeah! Barry hit number 756! A lot of things have changed since Hank Aaron played the game. As often as people are traded or dismissed in sports today, it really is a feat to accomplish something like this. It takes more than muscle to play baseball like he does. So many people forget this. There is a reason why people make it to the major leagues. They know how to hit. So congratulations to Barry Bonds! Now finish the season and retire. You need a break!
My in-law's couldn't get their dog into her usual kennel, so we mentioned that they should bring her down with them. They did. The dog and my cat didn't quite know each other well enough to want to spend much time near each other. That all changed when they discovered a mutual love of cheese. After this point, the two co-existed quite nicely. My cat managed to sniff the dog a couple of times and they even had a moment of nose nuzzle. However, I don't see the two of them cuddling any time soon.
It does help that my in-law's dog knows the awesome power of the kitty paw. That is due in part to her past experiences with Josh's grandmother's cat. She is a little more vicious than my own cat, but everyone has learned to get along nicely. Why can't we humans take a lesson from these animals?
So I walked. I am tired. The guy said my name wrong even though it was properly spelled phoentically. He added an extra t to my last name.
I have to give a huge thank you to someone I don't really know, but met today. Mr. Gregory John Thomas Underwood. You see, we forgot the tickets for graduation here at the house. The house is about an hour away from campus and there wouldn't have been time to go back and get them. Gregory's father overheard me freaking out and mentioned it to Gregory and he gave us the extra tickets he had! It was very nice of him. I actually ended up in line next to him and sitting next to him throughout the ceremony. He is getting his Master's in History. Doh. Good luck!
My heart nearly gave out when I couldn't find my name under what I thought they were listing my degree as. There were name changes that occured that changed the name of my degree. Apparently they list part of my old degree (The Computer Information Technology portion) in the title. I was apparently the only one doing this specialized degree and I found my name on the second to last page of names in the commencement guide. Doh.
Hey Eric... Zeeshan got his doctoral and I saw Swastik! The TA from Foroosh's class got his masters. I think Karthik got his too.
So... school is out.. for a while. Did I pass CS? I don't know. I don't feel confident, but at this point I am not stressing. I had a crying session in the hall of Engineering 3. I needed to get it out before I drove home. It was more of an anger cry. I have already made a decision as to what to do, so I am not stressed anymore. I will be graduating on Saturday. When my diploma comes is another story. I might have to technically wait until December to get my diploma. I am waiting to receive an email tomorrow until I figure it all out.
I didn't get any caffeine until very late today, so the lack of that coupled with little sleep and the stress of the exam, I have had one massive headache.
Other news. My car had its first mud bath today. It started raining like mad and a small flood occured right in front of me. That was fun. Then about 200 feet later a dump truck drove through muddy water and splashed it on my car. The mud was from a construction site. Another truck washed it away for me not too far down the road. The rain got the rest. It rained a lot in a very short amount of time, so there were lots of places flooding. It is still raining right now. Fun.
OK, off to do something productive like sweep or maybe sleep.
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