Work Problems

I know I posted the other day about one of my coworkers not wanting to talk to me. I've been waiting around since then hoping that she would snap out of whatever her funk is. Good thing I haven't been holding my breath.
I went so far as to ask yesterday if anything was wrong. She said no.
But I can't help but think that I've done something to bother her, even though I can't think of anything. I come into work and try to give 150% to my job. I make a point to do my job to the best of my ability, and I try to do more. I try to make sure that everyone in the office has everything they need to do their jobs well. And I try to make sure that my boss remembers everything that we need.
She's been a little better today. A couple of times she has even answered my questions at something approaching a normal volume. But she still isn't saying more that absolutely necessary to answer my questions. She isn't really responding to my efforts to involve her. But she sure will talk and joke a little with some of the other people in the office. I heard her picking on a couple of the techs earlier.
But after the bossman asked me a couple of questions earlier that I answered (and that she could have easily put her input into without seeming to butt in or be an ass) I saw her pass him a couple of dirty looks when he wasn't paying attention. I know that she isn't particularly happy with him being the boss. She kinda wanted to be the boss, or at least keep our previous one. And I know that she isn't particularly happy with her job (and is semi looking for a new one). But why is she treating me this way? Why won't she just tell me what I've done to make her try to ignore me to the best of her ability? It's not exaclty comfortable to work in an office where the only other female apparently hates you. I know, because that is how she has been making me feel. And I think it's starting to affect my performance. I hope she snaps out of this soon. Because if she is still this way next week, I will have to talk to the bossman about it. Robin might not want to have to deal with a disgruntled employee, especially one as obvious about it as her, but it has to be dealt with eventually. And the sooner the better.

HNT

When I was growing up, and even while I was still a full-time college student, all my friends shared the same religious beliefs. We would disagree on some points, but we were all protestants. I find that since I've grown up this is no longer the case. There are a couple of protestants, a couple of Catholics, and a lot of other random stuff in the mix now.

Above is the tattoo that the biologist in our group got several months ago (as noted by the date on the picture). There is actually a funny story about my husband and this tattoo that I might share one day. Especially if I can manage to get a new picture of the tattoo!

Bad Service, Bad Product

These two don't always go hand in hand. However they did today. I've been craving a hazelnut mocha from Java City for a few days now, and just haven't had a chance to get out of the office and go get one. (Unfortunately their hours are 7:30-2 M-F.) Well, the bossman had something that had to go to the post office this morning. I decided that this would be my opportunity. I had a legitimate excuse to be on that side of campus.

I wish this hadn't happened.

It wasn't Ms. Frances running the shop when I stopped by, it was some college chick. She was slower than Christmas. You know, the one next century... She cleaned some stuff from the previous customer after taking my order, but before making my order. Needless to say she forgot what I wanted. Then, she couldn't remember it again hallf-way through making it. Then she didn't mix the chocolate milk up good enough. She mixed it up JUST enough to make it all taste nasty.

I know she might have been new or something, but really. There are pictures up there for EVERYTHING! A monkey could have made me a better mocha. The only thing she got right was the amount of hazelnut flavoring to put in. Next time I want one I will go somewhere else if Ms. Frances isn't working.

Jeff Dunham

Last time we visited my parents we watched a video of comedian Jeff Dunham. While ventriloquist have never really been my cup of tea, this guy was GREAT. He has a couple of characters that will crack you up.
One of my favorites is Walter. He's a grumpy old men, as so many are prone to being. Take his quiz here and see how you stand up to him.
My other is Peanut. He's a trip. You can find out about him and Jose on Dunham's site. Check it out...pick up the DVD...get some great laughs!!!!

Work, Not Bliss

Work has been going pretty good for the last few weeks. It was going from busy to absolutely nothing, but that's normal for this time of year. I can generally handle that fairly well.
It's really the coworkers that make my job Heaven or Hell. Well, today it isn't heavenly bliss. One of my coworkers has went into the bitchy 'I'm not talking to Cory' phase again. She had been that way for a few weeks a while back, but for the last couple of weeks she's been real friendly and talking to me and everything. I don't think she has said three full sentences to me today. She is generally ignoring me when possible. And when not possible. I would think it's something with me except that everyone else in the office is treating me the same way they always do. And I don't recall doing anything to her....I think it's just her bitchy self. But I wish she would quit it. I leave my bitch side at home, or at least outside the office.
At least Robin acknowledged it to me this afternoon. He told me to let him know if things don't change. But I really hope she will be back to her friendly self tomorrow.

Thai Coup - Great Statements

The Thai coup, as reported by Wikinews, included a great statement.
The army's tv statement included 'our apologies for any inconvenience.' This is not something one expects to hear during a military coup. This is definitely a story to follow...

Wonderful...Simply Wonderful

Limewire has sued the RIAA. This is great all on it's one, but the comments to the article on TechDirt are priceless. Some of them will make you laugh your ass off. And some of the simple statements can be applied really well to other situations.
Take a minute to read them, after reading my application of one such statement.



Situation: The campus wireless network
Statement: "Infrastructure does not imply intent."

Thanks to Bob for the fantastic quote.

A Week With Friends...

Ok...this isn't a whole week, but it's been a lot.
Usually during the week Josh and I keep mostly to ourselves outside of work. But this week has been different. I just haven't had a lot of time to myself, but that's ok.
Tuesday night Chuck wanted to borrow the washer and dryer, so he and Stimpy hung out for most of the evening. Josh and Chuck played a few games of Magic.
Thursday night (I think Thursday. Could be wrong...) Chris was in town, and he, Chuck, and Stimpy hung out with us for a good sized chunck of the evening. Josh and Chris played Magic while the rest of us played a few games of Tsuro (sp?). It's a quick and fun game where you place tiles on a board to create a path and attempt to die a pretty death. Then Chuck wanted to go back to his place so he could play Yakuza, so Stimpy, Josh and I watched Life is Beautiful, at least, I think that was it.
Friday night we (being Chuck, Chris, Stimpy, Joe L, Josh and I) ate at Longhorn and went to see Fearless.
And today we still decided to spend time with them, yet again. We met for lunch, then went our separate ways...only to meet up at The Gamer Sanctuary for the evening. It's the first time Josh and I have hung out there for any real length of time. We usually just stop in to see if they have something we are looking for and leave. Tonigt I played a couple of games of Tsuro (I even won a game!!!). Josh played some Tsuro and some Magic. I watch part of a game of Robo Ralley. I might play that if it starts up when I'm around again. It looked fun, although I would probably get myself killed alot.

As much as I enjoy hanging out with our friends, I hope we stay to ourselves tomorrow. I need some serious quiet time before next week rolls around. I have some homework to start on and a book to finish!


>>>Edit: Please allow me to apologize profusely for my mixup in this post. It was Joe B, not Joe L, that attended Friday night's festivities. Amazing how easy it is to mix up letters when not fully conscious.

New Friends

I put a couple more links on my blogs lists to the side. I've been reading TC for a few weeks now and she cracks me up sometimes. She recently redesigned her blog, so you should you check out what she's done.
My other entry is Niassne. I've been a friend of his for a little while, and found out last night that he had started a blog. Needless to say, I simply HAD to check it out the first chance I really got today. I skimmed through what he had, and found some amusing posts. I'm not at all surprised, he's a pretty funny guy.
If I'm not careful, all my web browsing will end up planned because my list of must visit sites will get so long!

Courtesy of Jokes4All.Net

One day in class the teacher brought a bag full of fruit. "Now class, I'm going to reach into the bag and describe a piece of fruit, and you tell what fruit I'm talking about. Okay, first: it's round, plump and red."

Of course, Johnny raised his hand high, but the teacher, wisely ignored him and picked Deborah, who promptly answered "An apple." The teacher replied, "No Deborah, it's a beet, but I like your thinking." Now for the second. It's soft, fuzzy, and colored red and brownish."

Well, Johnny is hopping up and down in his seat trying to get the teacher to call on him. But she skips him again and calls on Billy. "Is it a peach?" Billy asks. "No, Billy, I'm afraid it's a potato. But I like your thinking," the teacher replies. Here's another: it's long, yellow, and fairly hard."

By now Johnny is about to explode as he waves his hand frantically. The teacher skips him again and calls on Sally. "A banana," she says. "No," the teacher replies, "it's a squash, but I like your thinking."

Johnny is kind of irritated now, so he speaks up loudly. "Hey, I've got one for you teacher; let me put my hand in my pocket. Okay, I've got it: it's round, hard, and it got a head on it." "Johnny!" she cries. "That's disgusting!" "Nope," answers Johnny, "it's a quarter, but I like your thinking!"

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What was the very last song you listened to?
This Isn't What We Meant

Soup
What is one company/store/corporation you would recommend that people stay away from?
Microsoft. Damn I wish it were possible.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?
3 if it's a stranger, 6 if it's a friend, 10 if it's my sister!

Main Course
Besides a bookmark, what is something you've used to keep your place in a book?
My IHOP receipt. I didn't have a bookmark when I went in.

Dessert
Name a food that you like that most people don't.
I don't know that there is anything I like that most people don't. I'm a seriously picky eater, although I know worse, and if most people don't like it I probably don't either.

I'm Gonna Be An Aunt Again!!!

My sister found out Monday that she is having a little girl again. We're excited. And Ashleigh is thrilled, I think. She has been asking for a little sister. She didn't take up with the idea of a little brother, or at least, that's what Momma told me last night.

Momma is doing really well a little over a week after her knee replacement. She is currently in the intensive physical therapy wing of the hospital. She is hoping to go home sometime Friday.

Work is starting to slack off, finally. I'm glad about that. Our afternoons are still really busy here though. But at least they aren't as bad anymore.

I have my first accounting test tonight. I have the review sheet filled out, so I'll start studying it sometime today. I think it will be fairly easy, although I don't expect as good a grade this semester as last. This stuff is a little more confusing.

Our office is closing for a while this afternoon to attend the University's Fall Convocation. From everything I've heard, it seems like it will be more informal this time around. They are usually just a series of speakers for an hour or so. I'll post any interesting University news later tonight or tomorrow.

Bad Girl

I know...I've been a bad girl. I just haven't had time to post lately. We're under our Fall rush at work, so I've been putting in some major hours. And once that cleared up, I was already behind on my school work. :) If it's not one thing it's another.
The rush is clearing up a little bit, at least enough for me to catch up on my schoolwork. So hopefully I will be around here a little more.
Last week, or the week before...I'm not really sure, I actually managed to get a couple of full nights sleep. To bad that after two night I reverted back to my trouble. But hopefully with time my doctor and I will get this worked out.
Josh and I watched a few movies this weekend.
The first was Flight Plan. I really enjoyed it, of course, I'm a fan. Of course I enjoyed it. :) Josh said it took to long for them to give you the clues. However, I think this was intended. For the first portion of the movie you felt like her.
The second movie was The Protector. I really enjoyed this movie as well. However, while it is a martial arts film, I expected more plot stuff for some reason. The movie was less than 90 minutes. And was Very good.
The last movie was The Libertine. I didn't really enjoy this one very much. I had no clue what it was going to be about, and Josh thought it would have sword fights. Instead there was an orgy. While that was somewhat interesting, I felt the entire movie left something to be desired. Johnnie did stuid stuff, and the film was very dark, making it hard to see what was going on.
I guess overall it was a good weekend. I finished my homework in time, and now I just have to manage not to get behind again. I have done my first program for Visual Basic, although it was as simple as a Word document. I am now preparing myself for the next one, which will be harder.
I will be kicking back into gear on my workout routine this week. I was sick last week and didn't work out. And I'm thinking of trying the Special K diet just to kick start my weight loss. I'll let you know any final decisions in regards to that.

Courtesy of AJokeADay.com

A rather old fashioned lady, always quite delicate and elegant, especially in her language, was planning a weeks holiday in Sydney with her husband, so she wrote to a particular camping ground and asked for a reservation.

She wanted to make sure that the camping ground was fully equipped, but didn't know quite how to ask about the toilet facilities. She just couldn't bring herself
to write the word "toilet" in her letter.

After much thought, she finally came up with the old fashioned term "Bathroom closet" but when she wrote it down, she still thought she was being too forward, so she started all over again, rewrote the letter, and referred to the bathroom closet as the B.C.

"Does the camping ground have it's own B.C." is what she wrote.

Well, the camping ground owner wasn't a bit old fashioned, and he just couldn't figure out what the old lady was talking about, so he showed the letter around a few of the campers and the only thing they could come up with was that B.C. stood for Baptist Church, so he wrote the following reply.

Dear Madam,

I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take the pleasure of informing you that a B.C. is located nine miles north of our camping ground, and is capable of seating 250 people at one time.

I admit that it is quite a distance away if you are in the habit of going regularly but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great number of campers go there and many take their lunches along and make a day of it. They usually arrive nice and early and stay quite late.

The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may interest you to know that there is a special supper planned there to raise money to buy more seats so that everyone will be able to sit in comfort.

I would like to say that it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it is surely no lack of desire on my part, just that I am so busy most of the time.

As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort to go, especially in the cold weather. If you decide to come down to our camping ground perhaps I could go with you the first time you go, sit with you and introduce you to all the other folks.

Remember this is a very friendly community

Family Time!

We went to visit my parents this weekend. Daddy's birthday is Wednesday. We both, my sister and I, forgot presents for my father. Jackie just left it at home. I hadn't even gotten it yet!!!
So, I went to Wal-Mart last night and picked up a card to mail today. I kinda hope he gets it on Wednesday, but no guarantees. Mail is weird through the USM post office. It sometimes takes longer. Hopefully it won't this week. And I got him a gift card at Tiger Direct. He likes to shop there a lot.
It was a good trip though. Momma took a look at a costume pattern a friend brought me to check out, and gave me some good suggestions for it. If it works out, it'll be affordable. I would just have to put in some extra hours to get it done for Halloween. I got the Carmen Electra Aerobic Striptease video. I'm going to check it out either tonight or tomorrow. I'm kinda excited about it. It will be a fun change. Tonight it is just some more time with Maya.
I also got to just spend some time with Daddy just chatting about random things. I really enjoy doing that because it's something that we don't always get to do.
And Ashleigh was an incredible sweetheart Saturday. She decided to start stacking things in the kitchen. At first it was just a couple of canisters and a box. It later turned into the vegetable oil and the diet pepsi. She was convinced that she was going to stack the 2 liter pepsi on top of the oil. I said, "Baby, I don't think that's gonna work." To which I heard 'It work. It work.' She talks so well to only be a year and a half old. And is incredibly smart, most of the time. Of course, then Momma saw her and took the pepsi right out of her hands. I cracked up. It was just to cute.

Moving South

One of my friends forwarded this to me this afternoon and it brightened up my day. For those of you in the South, you should enjoy!

Dear Diary:

May 30th:
Just moved to Birmingham, Alabama from up North. Now this is a city that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! Watched the sunset from a park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14th:
Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th:
The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least it's kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat and humidity is taking longer that I expected.

July 15th:
Fell asleep by the pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.) Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th:
I missed Morgan (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Morgan had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $2,000 leather upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Kibbles and shits. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat.

July 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!! And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th:
Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. $1, 500 in damn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

August 4th:
It's 105 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 85, but this freaking humidity makes the house feel like it's about 95. Stupid repairman pissed in my pool. I hate this stupid city.

August 8th:
If another wise ass cracks, "Hot enough for you today?", I'm going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

August 9th:
Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts and sat on the black leather seats in the ol' car. I thought my ass was on fire. I lost two layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and ass. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.

August 10th:
The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this damn desert??
Water rationing will be next, so might as well watch $1700 worth of cactus just dry up and blow into the damn pool. Even the cactus can't live in this damn heat.

August 15th:
Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 105 today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $1500 house payment to bail me out of jail. Freaking South . What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here??

School Expenses

I really don't know how people manage to go to college these days. It's Expensive!
I still paid $355.80, minus supplies, and I don't pay tuition! And tuition for my 2 meesley classes was $1,152.00. Both of my classes are online, so hopefully I won't need much in the way of supplies other than my laptop. I can't help but wonder how people can pay for it. One of the guys that works with me couldn't borrow enough money for school. His parents had to take out loans too. It ridiculous. You would think that public education would be affordable. 7 students' tuition to this place for a year pays my salary. You would think that they would pay us more if they are charging the kids that much. I certainly couldn't afford to take classes if it weren't a fringe benefit.

Sorry, just felt a need to rant after my trip to the bookstore. On the other hand, our new Barnes and Nobles looks pretty cool. I hope to find some time next week to really take a look at it. I might have to skip lunch one day. Admittantly, it looks like a BnN, but I won't to see all the new stuff that they have in now that they actually have a little room!

Thought of the Day

We need anything politically important rationed out like Pez: small, sweet, and coming out of a funny, plastic head.
- Dennis Miller

I admit to taking this from my personalized google homepage. But as everyone doesn't have one of those, I wanted to share the thought. It just made perfect sense to me today.

Not a Wonderful Time

Yesterday afternoon and today haven't been too great.
A lady at the apartment complex backed into my car today. She ran off before I could get her insurance information, but she told me she would get it to me. Hopefully that will happen today.
I'm about to leave work to go to the body shop to get an estimate, then see if I can find her. I'm 95% positive that she is one of the ladies that works in the realty office, which is right in front of my apartment. Hopefully I can get most of this handled today.
At least I should get a paintjob out of the deal. And considering someone has keyed my car in the past, that's pretty good. They will quite possibly have to replace the driver's side door, leaving me only one original door on this car. And I haven't even had an accident that was my fault!

I should have called in dead after lunch. It was a BITCH. I got slammed, and the phones got slammed. So the boss comes up on me about that while I'm with the VERY LAST of my in person customers, so he's tiffed with me about the phones getting backed up. OR, at least, it feels that way. It could just be the depression thing again. I have been slightly paranoid lately. I'll admit it.
And I almost did call in dead. I think it was Chuck's suggestion...(Lunch is slightly fuzzy. Must be the water...) But I decided not to.

Shaun was late again coming in. He called and got me at a few minutes before 11 and said he had forgotten to set his alarm clock again. It's been a few weeks since the last time, maybe he'll be around through the Fall Rush anyway.

Our new bookstore will hopefully open tomorrow. Hopefully. I can start buying books on Thursday. I'm going to be sure to be in the 2 weeks before classes start just in case a class gets cancelled. I don't want to be stuck with books I can't use. And I want to get in the new bookstore early too. I want to see if before it gets full of kids. It's supposed to be nice.

New Pet

Yes...I'm dumb enough to get a virtual pet. I saw one on somebody's blog and clicked the link. Then I decided to make one just for the hell of it.
Mr. Tadakeichi is the name of Chiyo-chan's big dog in Azumanga Diao. One of these days I will finish that series. It's very funny.

Today has been something of a boring day. iTech has a new word. Sekecting. I'm not exactly sure what this means. It might be a synonym for selecting. Or it might be a way of cussing out students without their knowledge. I'm not really sure.

Well, now it's almost five and time for me to go home. I'll be counting down for the next three minutes. Three minutes to life...

You KNOW it's been a long day...

...when you put the dial tone on hold.

Smokers

I don't have anything against smokers in general, I PROMISE! I have several friends that are fairly heavy smokers. I'll even stand around talking to them while they are smoking. It really doesn't bother me at all.
What does bother me is someone who smells strongly enough of cigarettes to nearly knock me off my chair from ACROSS the counter. I've stuck my nose in full ashtrays that didn't smell as bad as the guy that was just in my office. I have a headache from just being in his presence for a minute and a half.
How can people stand to smell like that all the time. Have they never heard of taking a bath?!? I actually prefer someone with terribly strong cologne to the STRONG smell of cigarettes...

Disappointment

I was eagerly awaiting having the money to pick up Patricia Cornwell's new novella At Risk. I shouldn't have bothered. I was disappointed that it came from one of my favorite authors. While it does have some interesting points in it, it isn't her usual caliber of work. If you just HAVE to read this book, go to your local library or borrow it from me. I hope she comes up out with a new, better novel soon. It doesn't have to be a Scarpetta novel to interest me, it just has to be good.

I should have saved my money for Dragon's Fire, the new Pern novel by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. It's a sequel to their first collaboration and is bound to be terrific. I've never read a Pern novel I didn't love. It hasn't been out long, maybe BAM has it marked cheap...

I found out this weekend that a movie is coming out based on one of my favorite books, Eragon. It comes out December 15. I'm almost scared that they will have ruined it. While they did well and used an unknown in the title role, there are several names in it that I recognized. Ok, so I only recognized the name of Jeremy Irons. When I started checking out filmographies I recognized some of these people. So, it has a decent cast. The question is, have they pulled off a good adaptation, or have they ruined the first novel by one of my now favorite authors. And when is Christopher going to release the end of the trilogy?!? Can't he see that we are all impatient and want to know what happens next???

One More Day!!!

Yes, it is only one more day til weekend. I'm thrilled. I think I can survive Friday.
I think I did fairly well on my final last night. I won't say that I made an A on the final, but I definitely did well enough to manage an A in the course.
I bought a ProBodX book today for a dollar. It seems pretty interesting. I might have to consider getting some of the equipment as I have money to spend. I spent part of the afternoon ready about the results and how it works. It really seemed like it might be very beneficial to me because of my back problems.
Well, I'm off for the day. Time to go home for the nap I've been wanting all afternoon...and to see Josh's new monitor.

Frowny Faces All Around

I took my Calculus final last night. And I waited the forever until she had our grades ready. Lots of people gave up on that front.
I made an 80 on the final. :( I think she was disappointed that the grades were so low. I know I wasn't exactly thrilled with my grade. Several of us that were really hoping for an A didn't make it. But at least it's over. I just hope everyone managed a C. Or they're screwed and have to take it again. We all had to have a C in it because of our major.
Tonight is the Accounting final. I'm as ready as I intend to be. I'm not worried about doing incredibly well. I'll easily manage the required 48 for an A.

On a completely different note, I think I'm doing ok with the Effexor. I had a complete of small panic attacks yesterday, but none today. Hopefully it will stay that way. If I have one tomorrow I will go back to the doctor. Well, if I have another one period I'll go back. Especially since I wasn't having them to begin with.

I'll let everyone know how tonight's test goes. Although it will be nearly two weeks before I have a grade for it.

It's only Tuesday, but WHAT A WEEK!!!

Ok. I've had a killer beginning of a week. And I haven't even taken any of my finals yet.
I went to the doctor yesterday morning because I'd been feeling all around yucky for a while. He asked questions, did tests, and promptly decided that I have an anxiety disorder. Wonderful. Talk about a great way to start the week...So he gave me some meds to start taking, told me to come back in a week, and to have an assessment done.
Then, as soon as I get back to the office my phone is ringing. Another of my tests have come back. He wants me to do a fasting glucose test when I go back. WOW...more wonderful news.
This morning I went to the Counseling Center for my assessment. After waiting forever and getting fidgety in the small crowded waiting room someone comes to get me. She asks a lot of questions and says some stuff. Then pulls out the BDI. For those who don't know, that's the Beck Depression Inventory. I spend some time filling it out and after some bad math we both agree that I have scored a 29.
Ok, this might sound bad or good to some of you, depending on the orientation. Well, I wasn't sure I felt so good about this. After pulling out her score card we discover that I apparently have borderline moderate/severe depression. She said that 30 is severe.
Now, that's what I'm talking about! That's the way to start my week of finals. At least I have discovered that I will be happy with a 63 on my calculus final and a 43 on my Accounting final. That would give me a B and an A for summer.

Hello World

I'm having a good day. I'm not really sure why today is such a great day, but nothing terrible has happened yet.
Ms. Bell broke her own record last night. She came to class 45 minutes after the bell. Somehow I had a feeling she would break it. It had previously been 35 minutes.
We recieved our test grades. While there were still 5 Fs, she said that the grades were good. I made a 96. I'm rather proud of myself. I need an 87 on the final to get an A for the semester.
Mr. Moody still hasn't posted grades for the last accounting test. I'm trying to wait patiently. I have finished the homework for the semester. I think that is a major accomplishment.
I've started trying to figure out a schedule for finishing my degree. At 6 hours a semester, it's kinda strange. I'be figured out that it will probably be Dec. 2012 when I graduate. If I can get the classes when I want them. The later semesters have more electives because the classes just don't fit into my work schedule. Which is kinda funny because I already have plenty of electives. I'm hoping for the degree program to just take off and the courses start being offered so they fit my schedule better.
Work has been pretty quiet today. We've had some busy moments, but nothing nerveracking. Hopefully the afternoon will stay that way.
I also got my scholarship form back from the boss lady. I'll be putting it in the mail tomorrow. YAY! My scholarship stuff will be finished for the fall.
Hmm, I can't think of anything else right now. Except maybe that I have nothing pressing that has to be done tonight. Other than laundry. But that doesn't really put any pressure on my time.

Bank Officers from Hell

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my bank. It has it's slight problems, but nothing too terribly major. And it's hard to beat free checking. But sometimes you just realize that the bank people are only here to make your life difficult.
After Josh and I got married we put his name on my checking account. I already have free checking. And my pay check was already direct deposit into that account. And I had a couple of payments on draft.
Well, we ordered debit cards and checks when we changed everything else. We recieved the debit cards, but never the checks. Well, I finally got a chance to check on that. Apparently they were returned to the company. And no one thought to call to say 'Hey, these were returned.'
Then, she goes to place another order. She couldn't look at one screen, see it was different from the other, and change it. Or even notice that it was different. Completely and totally useless. AND she looked like she had went on a bender last night. She was a bit glassy eyed. And slower than Christmas.
Nothing personal against the bank, but that isn't exactly the kind of person I want to see handling my accounts. There's no telling what wrong thing she will do!

Pirates

Josh and I went to see Pirates of the Caribean Dead Man's Chest yesterday. It was a pretty good movie. Definitely worth seeing. For those considering see the movie in the theatre, a good choice, there is an after credits. However, it's nothing that great. Especially considering how long the credits are. Actually, you think about the after credits shot during the movie. Or, at least, I did.
Josh describes this movie in a simple phrase. The Empire Strikes Back. After you watch the movie, ESPECIALLY if you saw the first one, you will probably understand the reference. However, I can't tell you. That would ruin the movie. So, GO SEE IT!!!

Company!!!

We're having company over tonight. The other married couple in our group, Joe and Lynn, are coming to visit. Joe is supposed to help Josh make a Magic deck. I wish them fun.
On the other hand, I hope I can stay awake. I was up at 5 this morning to get the apartment cleaned and start on supper. I found a recipe for roast beef sandwiches. I picked up the roast and stuff last night and put it all in the crockpot this morning. I hope it's good. I even went to Wal-Mart before 6 this morning when I realized that we didn't have any Soy Sauce!
Jan, the other 2nd level tech at work, has been moved up to the front counter to work with me. I'm not terribly sure how well this is going to work. Because she is pissed to have been moved up here. And I'm obviously not someone anyone wants to work with. She's the 7th person to share the front counter with me this year. And it's only July. I was going for a record number on people, but I think Robin wanted to put an end to that! I just hope she gets adjusted to things.
I'll have to take pictures of the apartment tonight now that it is kinda clean. There are still small areas of discord, but that will eventually get cleared up. And there are still a lot of boxes in the back room, but it all looks kinda neat now. I'll try to post those next week.
My goal for the morning got a good start. I wasn't really planning to finish it before lunch, so I'm happy to have gotten almost done. I'm putting together a package, complete with detailed instructions, on spyware removal for our students at the University. This way they can do this work themselves. They all need to learn it anyway. I wrote up detailed instructions for 8 pieces of software. Complete for installation and use. I even did pictures for some of it. If they can't do this, they have major problems and probably shouldn't have made it into college.
We'll possibly be going to see Pirates this weekend. Our friend Shaphan was apparently going to ask us to his house for movies and Magic, but we already had the plans with Joe. Including me cooking. But they want to see the movie tomorrow. And I guess now that Shaphan has gotten paid he and Dee have the money to take the kids to a movie. I'm sure it'll be fun, and it's supposedly a really good movie...
One of the couples in my department at work are having a baby in September. There shower is coming up. I'm going shopping tomorrow to get gifts. I'm not sure what I want to get them. I'll probably go for a combination of stuff they registered for and some other misc. stuff. But I'm sure I'll have fun shopping for them. And deciding what to buy for my new neice or nephew! :)

Staff Council

Well, I'm finally involved in something at work. Today I have my first Staff Council meeting. I'm both excited and scared. Kinda funny, huh? I'm scared I won't do well on it. There are at least two other people from my department on the council. I find that amusing. And that's out of the new members. I don't know if there are any existing ones. I'm leaving in about 35 minutes to go to the orientation session. And I won't even be back to my counter until after lunch. Except to clock out for lunch. I'm not sure if that even really counts. It'll just be in and out.

Josh has his interview this morning. He left the apartment early and was heading over to his parents. He was going to call the lady about his interview from there. Then sit around their house until he had to leave. Lucky prick isn't even going into work until after lunch. I hope he does well on his interview. He looks nice anyway!

Grant, one of my coworkers, had a birthday on Saturday. We got him a cake and card yesterday. He turned 23 this year. And, the quote from the birthday boy 'One step closer to the grave.'

YAY!!!

Ok...I know I've been a bad blogger, but it's been a very busy few days. But, I dont' want to talk about that. There are other very good things.
JOSH HAS A JOB INTERVIEW!!!
He's been applying for jobs in the area as they have appeared, but hasn't had any luck so far. His resume was handed in this morning for this job, and he was called just after lunch. He has an interview first thing in the morning. And they say they are really in a bind and need someone immediately. They did say that if he HAD to provide a weeks notice for his current job, they would let him work at night for a week. Which would be really good so that he could always have SMBM as a good reference. And there's also rumor that they would be willing to pay $31,000! That's a WOW. We might could buy a house around Christmas with that and settle halfway between our jobs. It would be kinda nice to have a house. And not have to worry quite so much about paying for school books.
OOOO, this is a good day! I can't wait to see how good tomorrow is.

Work....

Sometimes I hate my job. I have once again lost the person I trained for the front desk. I get someone good and trained, and they are taken away. Today makes 5. Since Christmas. They took Brandi away and gave me Vicki. They took Vicki away (thank God!) and gave me Thomas. They took Thomas away and gave me Nick2. They took Nick2 away and gave me Michelle. I wonder who is next...
I never have anyone very long, and they leave me alone for so long it's not even funny. I wonder what I will do next week during Preview. And who will cover my lunches now? And what happens if I get busy at some other odd time? This is getting ridiculous. I just hope that Robin moves someone up here soon. Not only does it suck if I get busy, but I get lonely too. I guess I'll have to used to that again....

Farewell To Scary Backpack Guy

Brandi had already told me that Bruce had passed away earlier this month. I never really expected the following update on the situation.

As you all now know, Bruce Lefferts (the scary backpack guy) died. You may recall that Bruce used duct tape on his backpack (and everything else) quite liberally.

A report from his graveside service at the VA in Biloxi: The chaplain had 15 minutes to conduct the graveside. To start the ceremony, he asked all the males in attendance (about 15) to step forward and line either side of the coffin. The chaplain whipped out a roll of duct tape, and the guys passed it back and forth 'til the tape ran out, round and round Bruce's casket. Apparently, most of the graveside was spent wrapping the casket with the tape and laughing with sweet recollections of gentle ole' kooky Bruce.

Now, that's going out in style.


At least my workplace sanity level will not spike quite as much.

This is what Mondays are SUPPOSED to be like

Today hasn't been too bad a day. As a matter of fact, only one bad thing so far. I couldn't find my keys this morning and was a whole 4 minutes late. There are people in this office that are NEVER that early.
The morning kinda flew by. After Michelle got here I went and got some breakfast. (I had trouble sleeping last night, so DEFINTELY no time for breakfast!)
It was nearly 9 before I got around to logging into the Helpdesk phones. That's not too bad because I have the morning round of e-mail and such to deal with. Then, next thing I know, it's 5 til 11. I've been bored all morning, but the time has FLOWN!
I ate lunch at the apt with the honey. That went fine.
I got back from lunch and things hadn't exploded. Just a little catch up work to do. Then back to the slow boringness. I've only had one upset customer and one that couldn't describe her problem properly. But we got through both of those and got off the phone in good moods.
Then I was working on a laptop with some spyware problems. The battery dies. I check again in the bag to see if the cord is there, no cord. So, I call the girl to ask her to bring it. Here is the jist of the converstaion...

Tech: Hi! I've been working on your laptop, but the battery died.
Client: The cord is in the bag.
Tech: Could you tell me where, because I've found your socks...but no-
Client: Oh! I'm sorry. It's right here. I meant to put it in my bag.

Ok. So there was more to the conversation, but not much. That was ten minutes ago and I'm still laughing over it.
Ok. She just brought it in. Definitely a dumb blonde!

I hope the day gets better. At least we have a departmental meeting this afternoon. Those always sport something to laugh about. Even if it isn't really a good laugh.

>>6/22/06 - 4:45 p.m. UPDATE- E-mail service outage


News Description:
4:45 p.m. Update - Due to an equipment failure, e-mail service continues to be experiencing an outage. The iTech Systems Team will be working throughout the night to restore service as quickly as possible. Please continue to check the iTech Web site for further updates.

2:55 p.m. - Southern Miss e-mail service is currently down. iTech is aware of the problem and is working diligently to restore service to campus. Please continue to check the iTech Web site for further updates.



The above is from the iTech Website. They took our mail server offline around 2:30 this afternoon. They finally put the old dog to sleep....

Interview Thing

1. As a guestimate, how many times are you and J-chan gonna go at it this weekend?
2. What is your favorite anime?
3. What is your favorite manga?
4. How many times, in a week, do you want to strangle me for asking silly questions?
5. If you could be anyone else in the world, who is alive today, who would it be?

1.Uh, maybe a lot. Depends on how much of the time we spend at home.
2.I like Bleach and Chrono Crusade the most I think.
3.Full Metal Panic
4.I never want to strangle you for asking questions.
5.Uh, I don't know that I would want to be anyone else. I'm used to my own problems and eccentricities. I don't feel like getting used to anyone elses!

If anyone else wants to participate, just post a comment asking me to interview you, and I'll post some questions. Then you can answer on your own blog or in my comments! I was interviewed by ruggerchuck.

Anyone that has come by the apartment to visit knows what it has looked like for the past month. Last night Josh and I got the front room cleaned up. It still needs some work, but I think it's time to concentrate on other areas for a while.
The backroom still has a lot of boxes in it, even after what Josh did. I might work on that tomorrow....

HNT

Accounting Class

My teacher finally posted grades from the first test. I got a 102! He says he grades on a curve, so I can't help but wonder what the curve was. I've gotten a 100 on the first 4 chapters of homework too. And I think I'm at a 100 on participation right now. I'm glad I'm doing so well in this class. I doubt I'm doing so well in Calculus. I should get my first test grade back tonight. Of course, she is giving us another test tonight. Too bad she is finishing that chapter tonight. She says that historically students always do really bad on this test because they aren't taking the class seriously. I would say that they always do bad on this test because she tests them ten minutes after she finished covering the material in the classroom. Some students need time for stuff to sink in. I feel sorry for the other students in the class. Some of them aren't going to be able to teach themselves out of the book. I'm just lucky to be decent at math.
Well, I'll let you know later about calculus!

My sister called me with wonderful news Saturday morning. She's pregnant again!
We're all thrilled for her. She's a wonderful mother and deserves to have more than one. Of course, knowing that she has been taking the same birthcontrol pill as me doesn't make me feel so great. Especially after being sick most of the weekend. I'm sure mine was just some kind of bug going around. There's always something going around college campuses.
I don't have much of anything else to write about. I'm just thrilled to be an aunt again!!!

The Girl With the Long Hair that Just Got it Cut Off

That's how I'm described apparently. I know it's a description that fits, but it certainly doesn't help people that don't know me identify me. A lady with a wireless problem just came to see me from Communications. And she said she couldn't remember my name, but that I had long hair, but just cut it off. She did tell me that everyone likes my haircut though. I was so amused, I decided I had to post it. Maybe they should just say 'The Blonde' because I will NEVER dye my hair. My dark blonde is perfectly fine with me!!!

Two Weeks Later...

Two weeks after the wedding I had a little make-over. (Exactly two weeks actually. My appointment was Saturday at 2:15.)
I donated a 12" ponytail to Locks of Love. This is a wonderful charity that I am proud to have been able to support. April, my stylist at The Cutting Edge, said that some little boy or girl was going to be very happy with the wig made from my hair. She said it was gorgeous.
I like my new haircut, but it's going to take time to get used to not having a ton of hair. It took a while to kickstart my brain this morning. I blamed it on the haircut.
I doubt I go with the Hollywood Hair that April gave me Saturday on a daily basis, but it isn't so bad to just blowdry and go either. Of course, I can no have bad hair days again. I think that's the good thing about super long hair!!!

Congratulations to Denny Hamlin!

I'm not a racing fan, and certianly not one to watch sports. But during racing season, that's what is on at Josh's parents' house. We ate there for dinner and watched the race.

From early on I was hoping for Denny Hamlin to win. I had never even heard of him before, but I just had a feeling. I was worried that I had been wrong when he blew that tire and dropped to 40th. But he came back for the win. Towards the end even Josh was hoping he would win. He did a fantastic job, and he really did deserve this first cup win. He worked hard for it. Ms. CIndy was wanting someone else to win, I don't remember who, but she said she guessed she would let the rookie have this one!

Time Flies

Well, the wedding is over, the honeymoon is reaching an end and I'm back at work. Sorry I haven't updated until now. We have wireless at the apt now, but I've been busy unpacking and trying not to get too far behind in my classes. Needless to say, I will have to push pretty hard tonight to get caught up.
The wedding went well. I'm just glad it's over. I just have to get the dress cleaned now. And pay the $200 to preserve it. As much trouble as Momma had with it, I plan on it staying in good condition.
I have lots of good pictures, although it will take me a while to pick ones to post. I only picked them up this afternoon from Cat. Brandi posted her pics on photobucket, just do a search for 'coryandjosh' and it's in our Wedding Day album. They don't look to wonderful on there, but it sized them down a lot. I dropped them to about 10% the original photo quality, I think. But, my sister Jackie also has some posted on her blog, jackietaylor.blogspot.com.
The honeymoon was fun. I had my camera, but didn't think to take any pics until we were leaving. But I do have some of everything but the beach. We're thinking of going back next year. I'll have to remember to pick up a disposal camera for the beach. I'm certainly not taking my digital into the sand. I think I'll get a waterproof so I can take it out into the water for a couple of pics...
Well, I need to get back to work. It's report time. I'll get pics up as soon as I can pick some out!!!

Apartment Update

Well, we are in our new apartment. It's still a wreck though.
We have all the furniture in, with the exception of a dresser and a bookcase. And my computer desk. It will hopefully be coming tonight. A friend has been borrowing it for the last two years while I didn't have room for it.
I have a lot of the kitchen stuff unpacked already. But I still have three boxes of the old stuff and a fair chunk of the new stuff to unpack. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get stuff to fit. I opened one of the bigger boxes last night and decided to leave it alone for a while. However, I did notice that one of my cake pans had rust spots on the bottom. That's all I could see through the packing peanuts.
We don't have our washer and dryer yet, but it might be coming tomorrow. Ms. Cindy said she thought they were coming into town tonight to pick up their new one. In which case ours can be delivered tomorrow night. That would be good. We HAVE to wash towels tonight, but the clothes can easily wait a little longer. Which is good because I have just enough quarters for one load of laundry.
We have cable internet. Comcast has changed their setup from when I had it before though. It was a bitch to install! Josh was on the phone with a Comcast tech for a while to get it going. He had a connection to download their client, but the client couldn't find a connection. That was a mess.
I got a lot of boxes thrown away this morning. Hopefully I will get a couple more emptied and in the trash tonight. I want to have the place as close to decent as I can get it by tomorrow. I'm thinking of even having Josh do some work before he leaves town tomorrow night. Just to provide some extra hands on the work. There's just so much that needs to be done.
Ya know what, I think I might try to get the futon together tonight. That would be a good project that really needs to be done. I could work on it between loads of dishes and laundry. I think I have all the tools I would need to do it. I just wish I had the directions still. Maybe I can find them online...
Well, I'll try to update y'all again before I leave town tomorrow. I'm leaving around lunch to go get Momma. Of course, I might not leave quite then. I might get them to meet me in West Point or something like that. Then I could get a couple more things done in the apartment before I leave town. I would just need to leave about an hour later than I had planned...

So Much To Do...

...And I can't do any of it today because I have to sit at work bored off my ass!!!!!
I really don't have that much to do tonight. I only have to unpack and put away everything that's already at the apartment and then go back to Columbia. Then I have to pack up everything that is left in my room there and make the bed. It's not that much, but it will take a while. Unfortunately it's all little stuff that is left to pack. And it will get heavy, so I won't be able to move the boxes myself. I do think I have enough smaller boxes to have a few I can move. I hate moving. Cause you box everything up only to simply unpack all of it a few hours later. Too much work....
Oh well, that's life. Moving has to be done. But I should be almost fully moved by tomorrow afternoon. I don't see us having very much left after that.

KUDOS

In my previous post I forgot to give Ms. Cindy her kudos. Last night she brought toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies to the apartment for us. We hadn't thought to bring those with us yesterday.

More News

It is currently the period of news. So, time for an update.
I bought a new phone yesterday because the people at Cellular South haven't been able to keep mine working. I got the Kyocera Candid KX 16. So far I like it. I once again have a phone with Fur Elise for a ringtone. It has a lot of crappy ringtones on it. It sucks because I'm going to have to sign up for Brew again and buy a few ringtones and wallpapers. The phone's selection sucks. But it was a cheap phone. I have to set up my speeddial numbers again too.
The washer and dryer situation keeps getting better and better. Aunt May offered to sell us the set in her house. Mr. Williams was just going to have to take hers to her and get them. He's decided he doesn't want to do that. He says that if he gets down there and what she has is crap, then someone's feelings are gonna get hurt. So this morning he offered to give us what is in their house and them buy a new washer and dryer. They have a very nice set, and I think it is only a little over three years old. But I hate to ask them to fork out that kind of money. It really bothers Josh too. But I don't think he's going to tell them no. He's just thinking that we can give them whatever money we can spare to help with the burden of them buying a new set.
Chuck came to see the apartment last night. He seems to like it. He kept mentioning how familiar it was. He and Joe had a two bedroom in WestGate for a while. I've invited Stimpy to come after work tonight. He's going to pick up the $20 he owes me before he goes. Which is good because I have to pick up Josh before I go to the apartment after work. I'm very excited. We have another trunk load of stuff to take in tonight. I think I'm going to run the dishwasher tonight while we are there. I mostly brought kitchen stuff anyway. If Ms. Cindy isn't doing laundry tonight I'm going to wash towels. I can go ahead and get all that stuff we got washed, and wash the sheets we got and we'll have clean linens when we move in. And that could go ahead and be part of my load tomorrow.
Josh and Mr. Williams are going to load up the trailer after lunch tomorrow. That way we can get an earlier start on Saturday. Will is coming up to help us move. Josh thinks he is bringing a trailer with him too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But the sooner we can get it all to the 'burg the better.
Mr. Williams said he would also help us touch up the paint sometime soon as well as change out all the faceplates in the apartment. The ones in there are old and tacky. I think he said that he had several good looking ones. Josh is even going to ask if he will help us to put a ceiling fan in the small bedroom. We actually want to use it for our bedroom and have the bigger room for company. But we'll just have to wait and see how that works out. Josh said he thinks they have a couple of old ceiling fans maybe...
I've got a lot of stuff left to pack at the house. I think I'm about ready to just start taking boxes and shove stuff in them. Then I can go through and put it where it goes in the apartment. I'm definitely thinking of doing this on clothing. Most of the stuff I have doesn't really wrinkle, so it shouldn't be a problem. And enough of my clothes are already on hangers to make them easy to put away.
YAY!!! Things are coming together!

Amusement

I got the following story in my e-mail this afternoon. I thought it was so great that I have to share with everyone.

MARINES are always taught:

1) Keep your priorities in order and
2) Know when to act without hesitation.

A MARINE was attending some college courses between
assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and
Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who
was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came
in, looked to the ceiling, and flatly stated, "God, if
you are real, then I want you to knock me off this
platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes."

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin
drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor
proclaimed, "Here I am God. I'm still waiting." It got
down to the last couple of minutes when the MARINE got
out of his chair, went up to the professor, and
cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The
professor was out cold. The MARINE went back to his
seat and sat there, silently.

The other students were shocked and stunned and sat
there looking on in silence. The professor eventually
came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the MARINE and
asked, "What the hell is the matter with you? Why did
you do that?"

The MARINE calmly replied, "God was too busy today
taking care of America's soldiers who are protecting
your right to say stupid crap and act like a
butthead. So, He sent me."

Apartment!!!

We picked up the keys to our apt during lunch. I like it. It's about a 15 minute walk for me to work. (10 minutes when I went at lunch, but I didn't have my bag and there was NO traffic at all. Campus is empty.)
For those who are familiar with Hattiesburg, we are in WestGate Apartments, just off campus. The place is a little shabby, but it's an apartment. My only complaint is the kitchen. It doesn't exist. I don't know that I've ever seen such a tiny kitchen. Oh well, I'll just have to keep some of my cookware in other parts of the apartment. Because I really don't think that everything is going to fit in that kitchen.
The bathroom is small, but I think it's really average for an apartment bathroom. It's the size of the one's in our friends' apartments. I've just always lived in places with big bathrooms.
The room we intend to use for our bedroom will hold the bed, and nothing else. But it would really be useless for anything else. And the only thing we really need there is a bed, right?
The other room has a NICE closet though. It was built in shelves and is a walkin closet. I think it will do nicely.
We are getting a couch, chair, and recliner from Josh's parents. We also have my futon, recliner, and papassan chair. I think we will be set on furniture.
We're going to get our own washer and dryer, or borrow a family one. The one's the apt was willing to rent us were definitely not worth the costs. They looked like they were on their final legs.
The kitchen appliances aren't wonderful, but they are clean. And they should do nicely. I think Josh just isn't used to the apt gig. Things are as nice as when you own your own home and have the money to buy the appliance you want. We are set up good though.
Josh's parents are coming by after work tonight to take a look at the place. They had already seen the outside, but we didn't have the keys yet. I can't wait for us to actually get moved in!!!!

Classes

Ok. Good news. I got a B in Spanish. That's cool because it keeps my GPA above a 3.5.

Good News!!!

I just recieved an e-mail from the flower place with my RMA. So I can put it in the mail tomorrow. They didn't tell me how much of the money I would get back, or when. I'm hoping it's soon. However, I'm not spending a fortune to get this back to them in a couple of days. But at least I can return it. I'm hoping for a return by Friday so I have the money this weekend, but I doubt that.
Anyway, just wanted to share my happy news.

Weekend Ups and Downs

The weekend started on a good note that ended up being quite a downer. Josh told me Friday morning that my flowers had come in. I was THRILLED to hear that. Until I go home and say them. They are quite hideous. Not at all what I had ordered. Unfortunately, I was unable to reach the company Friday afternoon to go ahead and arrange for a return. I called my sister Jackie and I was hysterical. She promised me that everything would be ok and we would get flowers this coming weekend and get everything done. Nothing but time helped me to calm down. At this point, I really don't care if we have flowers at the damn wedding or not. We should have eloped. It's easier!
Momma and I spent the weekend on the dress. It's nearly finished. We did the hem and the sleeves and finished attaching the skirt. We even did a homemade garter for me to wear. It looks good. The only thing left to do is press it and add the drop beads. And she didn't want to do that until right before the wedding.
At least the rest of the weekend went ok. I think I might have even passed my final, although I don't think I could fail the class if I tried. YAY for me!!!

More Wedding Gifts

Josh got his present at work this afternoon. He got his knives. Everyone went together and bought him the Calphalon Katana series Chef and Santoku knives. They also got him a knife sharpener. We still don't have a knife block to put all our knives in, but someone is bound to get that for us. Bed Bath and Beyond has a nice univeral one. I think that will do us good. If no one buys it for us, we've gotten some cash that can be put towards it. But there is still plenty of time for all that. I just wanted to let everyone know about Josh's present.

Foreign Students

Don't take any of this to mean that I have problems with students that aren't American. I actually respect all of them. Going to a different country to study for a year or more is amazing. Especially when it is a county with a very different culture and one that speaks a different language.
However, I was just noticing something and felt like sharing it with everyone. It seems like the students that come from Africa are always the most polite, and have the best grasp of the English language. Of course, the second one doesn't apply to students from England. There was just an African student in the office for some assistance. He was incredibly well spoken and I only occassionally had trouble with his accent. And that was only when he got a little excited. He started talking a little faster and didn't control his accent quite so much. It got a little bit thick for my poor ears. But he spoke so well, and he was very nice. I wish all the exchange students that came through were like that. However, a lot of them have trouble with English, and a lot of them are a bit rude.
Even foreign professors that come and live over here for years aren't as polite, or have such a grasp of the English language, as this kid was. I wonder if it is a cultural thing.....

Breaking 100!!

This post puts me at over 100 on my blog. YAY! Not that this is anything really important. But at least I have good things to say in it.

There was a wedding shower at work for Josh and I today. We got lots of good stuff. We got china, and pyrex, and silverware, and knives. Tonia bought us a gorgeous picture frame. It's a tree with small picture frames hanging off it. We got two small crockpots. We could hang on to both of them, but we really won't have room to do that. We got a lot of kitchen gadgets, and a cast iron skillet. Brandi bought us a lot of scrapbooking stuff. An album, and pages, and a collection of scissors. And different punches and stickers. I'm honestly not sure what all is in the bag. I'll find out about all of it tonight. There were a lot of items where people went in together on stuff. I hope I get all the thank you notes right. It's kinda scary worrying about that. But people will either forgive me for screwing up, or they will ignore it. Hopefully they will tell me if I do so I can fix it in my book.

I also talked to someone to someone at the flower company. After several e-mails and messages left, I finally managed to get a real person!!! He was very nice, even though what I was asking him about had nothing to do with his job. He found out that they hadn't recieved a container from China that was supposed to have my flowers in it. They have since changed vendors and are supposed to have a shipment in the middle of this week. He said that they were going to put together my order when everything came in and that I should get it around the end of this week. I'm going to plan on getting it next week just to be safe. But at least someone finally told me what was going on. I was beginning to freak out because no one would tell me anything on it. I was being completely ignored. I won't have my flowers as early as I had hoped, but as long as I get them by the end of next week I should be able to get everything finished.

I can't think of anything else major. I think I posted yesterday that I had received word from the rental place that we most likely had an apt waiting for us. I told Grant about that today and he said that he thought the area I was talking about is in the newer buildings of the complex. That would be cool. Not that I mind an older building either. I just want a solid roof over my head to be honest. I know nothing about the apt except that it has w/d hookups. I'm not even sure how much the rent is on it! I don't really care right now though. Josh and I will manage. But, anyway, lots of good stuff today!!!

Happy News! Happy News!

Josh was beginning to get upset because we didn't have any definite word on an apartment yet. He was ready to start going around and talking to other people. However, this morning before I was able to try and contact anyone my cellphone rang. It was McMahan Realty. She told us that she was fairly certain she had an apartment, complete with washer and dryer hookup, for us. She wasn't 100% certain though. The couple currently living there is trying to purchase a house, and they hope to close on it at the middle of the month. She asked us to please not be rushing off to find something elsewhere because she felt this would be perfect for us. I told her I could be patient until she finds out for sure. She promised to call me as soon as she knows.
I don't know if this is a one or two bedroom apt, or even what the rent on it is. I only know that it is in Westgate. I think.... Not even sure on that. But we are fairly certain we will have a place to live now. And with me getting a raise in July, it's not too big a deal if the rent is a little higher than what we wanted. Because I'm hoping to be bringing home a lot more than I do now. And with a little scrimping we would be able to make the rent anyway. YAY! Things are looking up!!!

Various Junk

Well, I don't think I have any earth shaking news today. Just my life continuing for the most part.
I have almost finished with invitations for the wedding. There are just a few more addresses I am trying to get people to give me. But that isn't going so well... Hopefully things will look up and people will get them for me this week. Especially since I am coming up on the 4 week mark.
Momma seems to be moving right along on my wedding dress. She keeps telling me how she has this or that done. So hopefully it will be done soon. I can't wait to see what it looks like now though. I know she is A LOT further than she was when I last looked.
I have a new duty at work. I'm not responsible for every work order that leaves our office. I have to make sure that the technician that took in the call did everything they possibly could, and that all the info the technician receiving the call will need is in there. Means if something is wrong, it's my head that gets chopped off. Lots of fun, huh? I'm just hoping that it eventually results in me getting a pay raise. It's definitely a lot more responsibility than I had just last week.
Between wedding planning and work, I now longer have any operating brain cells. Robin says they reset at midnight, but I'm not sure he's right. I've been forgetting entirely too much lately for that to be true. But come June I should have a life again, so it will be ok. Or, at least, I'm going to keep thinking that!

Educational Joke

I got the cutest joke in a joke-a-day e-mail this weekend. I don't take credit for it, but I thought everyone would appreciate it. Especially since a lot of people that read this are in an educational environment.

DOES THIS HOMEWORK LOOK FAMILIAR?

We professors have a memory for names that is best served in one of the following ways:

Your name is an eponym (you’re named after a famous person or place),
An epiphenomenon process occurred (you told me your name and I remembered it), or
An epistolary action occurred (you wrote your name down on the homework).
Of the three choices, the last is the best because not everyone can be named Abe Lincoln and we have trouble remembering where we put our wallets.

Professor Johnson, 4/19/00, written comments posted on his office door with the suspect homework

Nails!!!

I put on a set of fake nails last night. I'm having trouble adjusting. I couldn't fasten my own bra this morning. That's a bit sad.
It think I just need to get the shorter ones. However, I had to buy a stick of crazy glue this morning to glue two of them back on. I think they might go away tonight when I get home. I can't have Josh having to dress me every day!

Dentist

I went to the dentist this morning. He said my teeth looked good. He even went so far as to say that he barely had to work on them. But he did tell me to be more vigilent about flossing. I admitted to not doing it regularly.
I like Dr. Hall. He's fun. He asked about work and school and all that stuff. Told me to go have some fun this summer, not just work. I also bought the really expensive Crest WhiteStrips in his office. I want to have pretty teeth in the weddign pictures. And maybe they will stay white afterwards!!! He told me I could by the strips at Wal-Mart, but they wouldn't be as strong as the ones he sales. I went for it.

Wedding Dress Work

Momma and I worked on my wedding dress over the weekend. Things are going fairly well with it.
I got all the danglie stuff finished for it. So whenever Momma is ready to put that stuff on she has it all.
However, what was so funny was when the pinned the skirt to the bodice Saturday night. She wanted to figure the hem out. The skirt was a good 7 inches too long. I found it rather amusing.
Of course, I had to take pictures to show Dee. She sews too, so I knew she would like the opps. Apparently the pattern was designed for an amazon. If Momma had realized just how much too long the pattern was, she could have saved at least a yard of material, if not more. I'm not posting the pictures though. Too close to letting everyone know how I will look in it!!! Dee did say to tell my mom 'Better you than me!'

Daddy and Ashleigh Easter 2006

Daddy and Ashleigh Easter 2006
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

My niece Ashleigh is simply too adorable. Daddy sat with her for a while watching Winnie the Pooh. What was so adorable is that later on she walked in that room and just stood looking at the screen saying 'Bear.'

Bad News, Bad News

Well, I got two pieces of bad news this morning. I'm waiting for one of them to be turned into good news.
First off, lets do the not so devestating one. I made a 68 on my Spanish test. Well, it's the teacher's fault. She knew we weren't ready and didn't understand the material.
Secondly, this is the bad one. Somehow Payroll only cut iTech employees a one week check. We only get paid everyother week. Thank God they got the stubs posted early so we know about it. I'm just waiting for word on what will be done to correct the problem. I, luckily, can last until the next pay period if I have to. I only have one bill, that is slightly less than the current check amount, that has to be paid out of this. Unfortunately, Josh and I are planning to get his wedding band this weekend. That makes things a bit difficult. I may not be able to afford it.
I hope I don't get any more bad news!

Unity Candle Holders

Unity Candle Holders
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is the unity candle holder set I have ordered. I can't wait for it to come in. I hope it looks good with my candles, but we will have to wait and see, won't we...

Baker and Baker

I met with two bakers last night.
The first was Stephanie. I like her. She's really nice, and had her work put together in a very professional matter, with JUST enough casual for someone who bakes cakes in her home.
She is trying to raise her prices on wedding cakes, she is WAY below normal, and tried it out for the first time on us. It didn't go so well. Ms. Cindy had written down where she had quoted a previous price of half what she did while we were talking. She backed off. The cake I want, sized to feed 156 people, is $197.00. And her groom's cake price is wonderful too!!! $75.00 for the cake sized to feed 75 people. I think that is plenty of cake for us, don't you.
We drove out to see another lady who does cakes out of her home simply because we said we would. That was a disaster, and I am slightly sorry I did it. Her organization was horrid. She is using photo albums, designed to be opened occasionally not constantly, to showcase her pictures. Needless to say they are falling apart. Also, her cake pictures had a tendency to showcase the bride and groom more than the cake. And her prices were higher. $247.50 for a wedding cake to feed 150 people, and $112.00 for a groom's cake to feed 68. That didn't really match her per piece prices she was quoting either. I think she forgot how to do math. She was a nice old lady though. And yes, I mean old.
Stephanie is making my cake bigger than the kit I found, but that's cool. There will be pleny of cake. I'm wondering a bit about how much she charges for her fruit arrangements... I can't help but wonder if it would be worth it to hire her for that too...

The Fun Bridal Shower

Bridal Shower
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

I've always enjoyed Pepper's Parties, and their bridal showers are just as good! Bridal Showers with a TWIST! Ronda, pictured to the right, was a trip during the party. Apparently Dee, on the left, had taken her to one of these kinds of parties before. It wasn't very good though, because she nearly freaked out when we took a break and were told we would get into the good stuff when we got back.
Anyway, I had two large mudslides, a double shot of tequila and a buttery nipple while I was there.
I got lots of fun stuff too, but y'all don't need to know about all that...

Stupid Women!!!

Some women really shouldn't have a job in customer service. I just called Taylor Rental to place my wedding rental order by phone. I know what I want, and it's nothing major. I need a column, 12 tableclothes, 2 15-candle silver spirals, and 60 candles. They lady INSISTED that I COULDN'T place my order by phone. She might not pick out what I want. How can she not? How many different 40" columns can the place have??? I would switch to another place if it weren't for the fact that they are the only place around that HASN'T been known to deliver stained tableclothes to weddings.
You know, I really had something fun and cool that I wanted to post about today, but that damn woman has driven it out of my head and ruined my day. At least I will be finally meeting with the baker tomorrow night and have that settled.

Today

Test = Bombed

The Search for Enlightenment...

Can it occur successfully in one day?
There was a change to some of our systems last night. They are trying to do a universal password for all systems at USM. Last night they switched the e-mail system over. Needless to say, it doesn't work this morning.
Our phones are ringing off the hook, and I have a test in Spanish this morning. I am very not prepared for my exam. I will very much fail my exam.
I knew I should have went back to bed when I woke up. Maybe I can go protest.
However, if I make it through this day without losing my temper I will know that I have reached Enlightenment.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a good and not good day.
Spanish is going to kill me. I just KNOW it. I did really bad on a take home quiz (USING THE BOOK), and so did the rest of the class. The teacher, however, doesn't cake that we don't understand the material yet. She is giving us the test tomorrow anyway. So it really sucks.
I wanted to run by Belk and get some of the registry items that are currently on sale 65% off!!! They didn't have it in stock, but the lady said they get it in all the time. I think I will go by Friday, and if they don't have it see if I can just order it. We've only gotten $190 in gift cards for Belk.
Josh and I ate supper with William at O'Charleys. That was fun. We don't see William a lot anymore, and we usually only hang out with him when the entire group gets together. As much as I love everyone hanging out together, I enjoy hanging out with just one or two of them too. Everyone seems to act just a little different in a bigger group. I think I do too, and it's nice to be able to see both sides of everyone.

Wedding Invitations

I'm serioulsy considering address labels. I'm not too sure I want to address all the invitations. I have already decided that I am going to use return address labels. I do know that. I just have to go buy them. Hopefully I can run by wal-mart and get them today!

Another Wedding Shower

I had my second shower this weekend. It was good. Three of my school teachers showed up. I got pictures with them. Now I'm just waiting for my sister to get the pictures to me. I want to send copies of the pictures of us in their wedding invitations. I would send them in the thank you notes, but the notes I bought are two small for that. I was surprised to see three of them there. I was fairly certain that two of them would show, and they did!!! I got a lot of kitchen stuff. I have more than enough kitchen towels. I think I removed all the kitchen towels off my registries, except for a couple of special designed ones. I got a lot more pyrex, and a couple of pieces of corningware too. I even got a SmartSpin!!! I'm thrilled because I've wanted one since I first saw the tv add for them.
But my favorite gift was from my Aunt Brenda. She got a large basket and put two big beige towles, body wash, body creme, two small wine glasses, and a bottle of sparkling grape juice in it. She is so cool!!!!! All the other gifts were wonderful too, so no one feel bad that their's isn't listed here. I just don't have that much room.
The only bad part is getting all the thank you notes done. Hopefully I can get them written and addressed tonight. I'm not mailing the ones for people from church, at least, I don't think I will. Momma can hand deliver those later!!! I have either 36 or 37 thank you notes to write this time. I just don't know where I am going to put all this stuff.
Oh yeah, I even got my present from Aunt Pat today in the mail. I wasn't expecting it for another week at least. It's wonderful too. Kitchen gadgets and a COOK BOOK. Can anyone tell I like to cook?

With Friends Like These....

It's a good thing I love my friends, because otherwise I would probably kill them.
Last night Josh had to go to Meridian on a job. So I decided to punish Stimpy with my company. It's not like I had anything better to do. And I don't see him enough anyway.
We had fun. We went to Petsmart to get a brush for his cat, and then ate at Logan's Roadhouse. The one here in Hattiesburg just opened. It was good. Then we went to visit our friends Chuck and Joe at their apartment.
Chuck flew out the door to give William and I a hug when we got there. He almost stepped on my foot in the process. Then Joe decided that he had to give both of us a big hug. He grabbed William first and pulled him in. Then he reaches and pulls me in.
And slams me straight into William's elbow.
It still HURTS!!!

Wedding Goings On

I got my napkins in yesterday. They're nice. They are grey/silver with blue foil. They have a Precious Moments bride and groom on them. I'll try and get a picture or something to post.

I have a shower this weekend. I can't wait to get home. Not so much for the shower as just to see my family. I haven't seen Daddy in a few weeks now. And I need the instructions for doing the beads for my dress. Since Momma has the pattern, she's the one with the instructions. I'll have to copy them while I'm home.

Brandi told me that she and Dee have my other party put together. It's on the 8th. I'm kinda scared. I know they are planning to do their best to embarrass me. Since they are two of my best friends, they should be able to do it without a problem. Brandi's mother is also going to be there, and that just makes it that much worse. I'm not sure who all will be at the party, but it will be more than enough I'm sure. And I already know that chances are good for some of them to be strangers. And that makes it that much worse! I'm so much easier to embarrass when I don't know everyone I'm around. Oh well, maybe they will get me so drunk I won't care first!!!

I also kinda freaked the people out at the post office this morning. I just went to the one on campus, and asked for 13 books of stamps. They were slightly bewildered. They are probably hoping I'm not planning on mailing them all through them. The thought of that much extra mail probably scares them!!!

Wedding Plans

Things are going well, I guess.
Jackie sent me the costs of the invitations. Only $130. Not so bad. Stamps are another $100, but we'll survive.
I also have an appointment for my hair trial run. I'm going Thursday afternoon. I can't wait!

Something Funny...Even if you don't know much about DND

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=608704&page=1&pp=30

Postage

Postage is ridiculous these days. For just my first shower it's $15.60 to mail the thank you notes. I'm dreading postage for the invitations. For my next shower I am carrying everything up to Momma's and going to do that thank you notes that night. Then I won't have to worry about as much postage. For anyone from the church, she can deliver the damn things for me!
I did get some cute wedding stamps though. They are purple, with a dove sitting on a branch. The picture is just a sketch in white and it is really frilly and stuff. Now I just have to print return address labels for the thank you notes. I refuse to write my address that many times!

Photo Shoot

Photo Shoot
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is one of the pictures Jackie took of us Saturday. I think it is my very favorite. We took another one that is going to be reworked and put on the invitations. It's a secret as to esactly what she is doing with it. I might post it after invitations go out. Just in case anyone is interested. Anyone that doesn't get a real one anyway. I really do wish that my ring hadn't been twisted around though. We may try and reproduce it when we go up to my parent's for my next wedding shower. We'll see what happens. If nothing else, I might use this one anyway. I have a use in mind for this. Wonder how it would look in black and white???

New Handbag

I got my handbag last night at David's Bridal. $16.04 Of course, spending that much on a small purse hurt, but I'll survive. It's a cream color with a lace overlay. It has the silver snap-closure (ok, so I don't know what that thing is called. So sue me!) and a short silver chain. It isn't large, but it will hold my id, debit card, a coin purse (CASH!) and lipstick. And still have a little room left. But I don't need anything big for the wedding. And this will be a nice purse for going out later on.

We picked up a few packs of Pirates of the South China Seas last night too. Josh says the junks have terribly hard to build, until you get the hang of it. I haven't tried yet. We got a decent chunk of the new nationality, Jade Rebellion, too. We bought out what the Hobby Center had. And Josh bought a big fuzzy d4 and I bought a new set of dice. They are chessex, but they look cool. I just hope they roll well.

We also saw V for Vendetta last night. That was an awesome movie. I want to go see it again. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it yet. But go see this movie in the theatre. This one SERIOUSLY needs to be seen on the big screen for total appreciation of it's art. Which I always find an interesting thing to say about what it basically an action flick, even if it is deep.

We saw a trailer for the new X-Men movie too. I can't wait to see it either. It's going to be good. I'm still going to keep my expectations low. Just in case they showed all the good stuff in the trailer. I don't want to be disappointed in it.

Wedding Plans and other Assorted Things

I'm doing well on the wedding planning, ok, maybe not WELL. I'm getting things done anyway. I've ordered a wax seal stamp, and a wax gun and wax to play with the wax seal idea. I should get those tomorrow if UPS can do their job right. I've gotten napkins ordered for the wedding reception too. I can't wait for those to come in.

We know a lady that can do both the wedding and groom's cakes for us. I just haven't had a chance to really talk to her yet. But at least I'm moving ahead on that a bit.

Josh and I had our first shower Saturday. It was at First Baptist in Columbia. We got a lot of very nice stuff. We got a 61 piece set of our china, we got a few pieces of crystal, nothing we had registered for though. We got a lot of other stuff too. Some of it I am thinking about using at the reception. We'll see though. I've gotten the thank you notes written and addressed already. I'm just waiting for the wax stuff to come in.

Spanish seems to be going ok too. I made a 74.5 on the last test, but that's ok. I missed class Monday, but seemed to be better prepared than the rest of the class today. Ok, maybe not ALL the class, but better than some. And I have finished the homework for Friday too. There isn't much homework left now. I've thought about working on some in advance, because the next section is easy. But who knows. I need to work on typing my notes too.

I'm going to go buy a new handbag tonight after work. It's kinda for the wedding, but I will continue to use it afterwards. When I stopped by David's Bridal last week it was on sale. So hopefully it still is and they still have it. I really don't want to spend $30 for a purse for the wedding day. That's a little much.

Work is going ok. They moved Thomas up to sit with me at the front counter. It keeps me from being lonely up here, and from worrying about having someone to relieve me. He's here unless he's on one of his breaks or at lunch. So I have nothing to complain about. And we get along fairly well. He's a pretty cool guy.

Ok, I should really get back to work now. It's getting late in the afternoon and I have work to catch up on after being sick for two days.

I got invited into Beta Gamma Sigma. It's kinda funny actually. I just transferred into the College of Business this semester, and I'm already high enough to get an invitation. You have to be in the top 7% of the Junior class or top 10% of the Senior class to get an invitation. WOW! Also, there are only 504 colleges that are part of the organization. I think that really says something for the program that I have entered. That means we are in the top 25% of business schools! I'm a little impressed. :)

Costume Preview

While the guys were playing Pirates Friday night Dee and I basically just chatted up a storm. However, she got the wild idea that I could probably fit in one of her bodices. Well, it's done tied up as tight as it's supposed to be, but it gave the guys a preview of how it would look, and gave me an idea of how it would feel. It was actually comfortable!!! It forces you into proper posture, so you don't have to think about it. I have had bad posture for years, and it takes a little concentration to sit and stand properly, although I'm getting much better. I couldn't breathe how I was used to either, but I could breathe! I don't look positively thrilled to be wearing it in the picture, but I really did like it. I can't wait to go shopping for materials for my costume now. I think it will be great!

Driver's Ed

I love jokes about kids learning to drive. I don't know exactly why, but I have yet to hear one that I didn't think was funny. Here's one I just heard.

I pride myself on being patient when teaching driver education, something I have done for 30 years. I have encountered many, many students, who didn't seem to be able to hit the floor with their hat. But one incident was just too much.

I had a sweet young thing behind the wheel for the first lesson of the semester. She had volunteered to go first and seemed ready to show the other two kids how well she could drive. We left the rural school and started toward town.

As we approached the first stop sign, the young lady gave no sign that she saw it. We got closer, but she still did not slow down. Finally, I used the "teacher's brake" pedal, on my side of the car, to get us stopped.

When I asked her why she didn't slow down to stop for the stop sign, she replied, "but, Mr. Smith, the speed limit is 35 ALL the way to the stop sign!"

Damn Bookstore!

hawking
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

The bookstore on campus sells this card. They sell a different one too, but this one is cheaper. Therefore, all the kids buy them.
They suck. We've started seeing all the kids that bought them at first start coming in the office. And they don't work anymore. And we can figure out nothing that will fix them. They just die after several months.
So damn the bookstore for selling such shitty equipment.
Ok, now I'm over the bad mood!!!

10:00 AM, and Good News Already

I got the flower samples in this morning!!!!!! I think they look good. I'm going to try and get around to show a couple of people today and see what everyone else thinks. I hope everyone thinks they are acceptable. Of course, it's nearly two weeks before I get to go home again. And I won't see Jackie then, that I know of. I might have to order a sample and have sent to her. I know I will see Momma next weekend, so I know I can wait that long.
Also, the groom's present arrived this morning. It was so cool to open my box and find 2 package pickup notices. And they are things I've been waiting on!!!
I also got an invitation to my cousin Darlene's baby shower. I hate that I will have to miss it. But I just really can't make it to Tennessee on a Thursday night. But that's ok. We'll have her present ready and it should be there in time for the shower. Of course, with any luck they will be able to come down for my wedding shower, the weekend before hers. OH! I'm so exicted!!! Things are beginning to move along now!

Mardi Gras, Revisited

Ok, I'm not sure if the holiday was too long or too short. The kids in my Spanish class were all either still drunk and needed an extra day to recuperate, or the holiday was so long that they forgot what they were doing.
The stuff that wasn't TOO terribly hard on Friday was apparently the hardest thing they have ever encountered come today. And, of course, a good sized chunk of them didn't do the homework. I'll admit to having trouble with the part of the homework that we hadn't covered in class before, but the difference between preterite and imperfect tenses isn't that bad. I know I don't get it right EVERY time, but most of the time I can easily tell you which tense to use. Ms. Biron was going crazy wondering what had happened to the class. She reminded us all to practice and review before coming back to class on Friday. I just spent the entire time wondering if I should just ask to leave since I mostly knew what was going on. However, I sat and endured. I think I should get a medal for that. I think I was more frustrated over it that Ms. Biron. We stayed on the topic so long that I started to get confused. So I just quit participating. I hope that if she really noticed, she thought that I knew what was going on and just let everyone else have her attention.
Nothing personal, but our test is supposed to be on the 13th, and we are already at least 2 days behind on this chapter. Either the rest of the stuff will be super easy, or I'm going to pray that she will put off the exam one day. I'm probably not that lucky, but I hope I don't end up suffering because the class can't understand a few simple rules.

Have You Talked to This Guy Before?

I think I have talked to him before. On several occasions. (The tech guy, not the mistreated customer.) Of course, sometimes I want to just hang up on everyone like that. Of course, when I do, I want to tell the customer exactly what I think of them. He's more diplomatic. I don't think such customer service would go over well though.... Oh well, I can always pretend that I spoke my mind!