Computerized Testing...the Return!

4 hours till I find out if I've learned anything since the last pre-calculus test I took. I really dread going in to take these tests, mainly because you have to be soooo meticulous to make sure that you didn't make some tiny little error or didn't completely simplify a certain answer. I feel like I know the stuff forwards and backwards, but I'm sure they'll throw some little wrinkle in that will stump me. Last time I checked, tests were supposed to be about how well you knew the subject right? I ought to just head in there with a blindfold and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth.

On a brighter note, it looks like I will be heading to Hilton Head this weekend. I'm just glad to get away from here for a couple of days. Should hopefully be able to take my car too, so I'm lom looking forward to opening her up a little on the highway. Spent most of my day yesterday installing front speakers (which was a bitch) and changing spark plugs (easy). It does suck when you sweat so much that you start dripping down onto the speaker cones...it's enough to make someone like me start swearing out loud at myself.

Feeling update: Good, except for this pit of my stomach feeling about the test.

Monday

I didn't know how else to title the day today, because it's really not worth much. It's Monday, at the beginning of a week that feels like it has the potential to be incredibly boring. Tonight we'll start the week off with a viewing of Superman Returns, which looks like it'll be pretty good, but I honestly just don't really care that much about it. It's Superman...come on. It's amazing how a guy who's pretty much invincible manages to get the crap beat out of him all the time. I'm mainly just looking forward to Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.

This was indeed a lazy weekend for me. Slept till 2 pm on Saturday, sat around doing pretty much nothing the rest of the time. I did get to work on my car for a little while this weekend, but am now waiting on getting some certain tools in order to finish up what I need to do. I'm loving it so far though, it's just incredibly fun to get in the car and drive again. Now I just need my iPod connected so I can truly have all I need in there.

Feeling update: bleh

It's New (used) Car Friday!

So I finally traded cars with Anne, my stepsister, and I couldn't be happier. I honestly think that the situation really works out well for both of us though. She just had a baby recently and needed the space of my Pathfinder and I had been looking for something much more fuel efficient. So when she suggested a couple of months ago that we just trade cars I thought it was a great idea. Of course we had to wait a while to see if insurance would pay for the right side mirror that was knocked loose by a crazy out of control road barrel. But that got taken care of yesterday and we swapped keys last night. I haven't had a fun car to drive since my Porsche almost 3 years ago, so I took my new Accord out for a spin around some back roads. I remember that I used to love just going out and driving sometimes, and got to experience that feeling again last night. There's an exhilarating feeling when you downshift on a hill to pass some slow driver, and you see them in your rear view mirror in seconds. Now I have to get down to the business of personalizing my car; new speakers, iPod mount, new spark plugs, etc etc. I might do alot of that tomorrow rather than head to the pool, my DIY instincts are taking over pretty hard core.

I found out I might have something to do over the July 4th weekend. Natalie, Bram, Leslie, Erin and Natasha are planning to head to Hilton Head for the weekend before the 4th and now I get to tag along. The only thing holding me back is the fact that I'll have to miss class on either Friday or Monday, depending on when we go, and if there's a test in my class on whichever one I would miss I can't go. Fingers crossed though, I'd love to get out of Athens for a little bit of summer break.

Feeling update: Not bad at all, excited about the new car and the prospect of vacation; nothing looming on the horizon.

Computerized Testing...I was right...

I stated before that I was worried about the new testing system that UGA was using for its precalculus classes. Looks like my fears were realized. I worked on my test for over an hour, and when I finally hit that submit button a nice little score of 73.3% popped up. Needless to say I was pissed. The next day the test was posted for us to review, and 3 of the 4 questions I missed could easily have been interpreted as correct if someone was grading by hand. Those who saw me after the test knew how pissed I was, and obviously that sentiment reached the instructors of the summer course. So apparently right now they are sitting down to discuss how to go about giving partial credit or how to go back and re-evaluate students answers. So hopefully I won't have to pitch a fit after my grade is increased.

Other than that, I've just been on the phone with DirecTV alot lately, trying to milk as many free offers out of their customer retention department as I can. Just so you know, if you have DirecTV and are out of your contract period, feel free to call this number, 800-824-9081, and tell them that you are thinking about switching to cable. They'll be more than happy to start throwing some tasty offers your way. This also works if you're in a situation like me, where you're a former customer thinking about going back to them. Just don't be afraid to hang up if they won't give you enough...just call back later, and you might get what you want.

Feeling update: Suprisingly good, nothing really bad going on, and I'm generally in a good mood.

Computerized testing, far from perfect

Yeah, I have my first test in pre-calc today at 7 pm and I'm really not looking forward to it. The math department has switch over to a new software system called MyMathLab, and damn if it isn't picky as hell. I took a quiz last night and missed a whole question just because I wrote the answer as 1 1/2 instead of 3/2. Originally there was going to be no partial credit for multi part questions as well, so if you missed part a but got parts b through g right you missed the whole question and dropped almost a full letter grade. Usually I'm all for working for a way to integrate computers into classroom settings, but I'm not sure that math is quite ready for it. When you are learning math aren't the concepts and the process of obtaining the answer much more important than getting the actual answer? I guess not anymore. I'm not really worried though, I just have to be really careful to check all my answers and make sure I don't accidentally put a minus sign where I shouldn't or forget to simplify an equation as far as possible.

Decent weekend I guess, even though I feel like I hardly got any sleep. Got some cool "hang out and talk about stuff" time on Friday night, which was nice...but allowed me only about 3 hours of sleep since I had to get up for work at 7:30 on Saturday. Hit the pool on Saturday and wasted most of the afternoon away. Then I actually had a pretty good time downtown, felt pretty outgoing and in a good mood in general, but still without any kind of real connections made. Had some fathers day Waffle House and golf with the old man, which left me worn out Sunday night so I hit the sack at about 11. Overall, pretty satisfying.

Feeling update: In pretty good spirits

T-minus 30 days and counting...

Till I move. I get to work for my dad tomorrow, so there goes a Friday late night for me. Instead I'll spend the night tonight eating some Taco Bell and watching some TV. Sounds incredibly exciting huh? Well I'm sure I'll come up with something more exciting than buying towels this weekend. I'll probably head to the pool tomorrow, and then end up going out Saturday night. Test on Monday, gotta study for that on Sunday night...overall a pretty blah weekend.

I'm watching my hands right now and they won't stop shaking. I wonder what's causing that? Too much caffeine? Too little? Hunger? 2 and a half hours till I satisfy at least 2 of those possibilities. Started working on fantasy football stuff today, never too early. I think I really like writing in barely complete sentences. Nothing too wordy. I just get my point across.

Feeling update: bored, bleh, not happy, not unhappy, just...pleh...

Humpday madness

What I should really call the most boring goddamn day of the week. I should be going to see Nacho Libre tonight though, but it'll be after midnight, so it technically makes it tomorrow...and you can see where I'm going with this. I did find out that I don't have to go to class on Friday (I was already planning on skipping so it worked out well). I will be going to see my therapist on Friday though, so I was missing for a good reason. Yes, I do see a therapist, and yes I have seen one for a long time. I only go about once every three months now though, since I really did get bored going all the time...there was just never that much happening week to week to update him on, so that hour every week just seemed to drag. I spent about an hour today re-arranging my fall schedule to make sure I got the teachers and times I wanted, it just gets difficult in higher level classes because there's so few options as to when to take your class and who to take it from. But the Key is still on of gods greatest gifts to man, and I can't believe that they almost took it away from us this year. We also have the other option of looking through ratemyprofessors.com. While it's basically a subjective look at the instructors through the eyes of only a few students, I find the option to see whether your professor is hot or not interesting. I mean I guess it makes sense. If your teacher is hot I guess you're more likely to make it to class. I just wonder if the professors themselves go on to see if they're considered hot or not. Next step needs to be pics, for sure.

I've been feeling alot better over the past few days now that I've worked out my recent issues and can concentrate on other things. I always find it weird when I have these nagging problems that they seem to dominate my mind and keep me from even thinking about doing anything else. I gotta say, I really do feel good...just need to find someone to share that with now. Hot, single friends anyone? :-)

Weekends...

They really are a gift that I had almost forgotten about until this summer. Since 2001 I'd worked at Carmike almost every weekend and had almost forgotten how good it can be to have those 2 days off to forget about all your stresses. That is why you will now find me preaching the gospel of weekends at my parents pool almost every 7 days or so.

So who knows, maybe you too can join my congregation soon and learn the joys of the weekend.

So yeah, I went to the pool this weekend, went out and drank a little...though I have to say, I've lost my penchant for drinking alot recently. I'm still feeling depressed, just not to the point of letting it affect my daily routine. As far as that all goes, there's not much I can do to make myself feel better, I'm basically at the mercy of others, but I try not to let it affect me too much. Till Wednesday...

MLK Jr. Had Giant Testicles

It really is amazing the things you can learn while walking around picking up after people in the SLC. At first I see what looks like just a standard work order for some computer problem, but once I turned it over I was greeted by so much more! On the back was an excerpt from the Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., along with a few comments about the passage and a picture. As I'm sure you've guessed now, one of the comments was "MLK Jr. had giant testicles". And this comment was accompanied by a picture of what, I can only guess, were the artist's rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s cock and balls. Suprisingly enough though, these balls weren't quite that big, so I wonder if this picture wasn't perhaps drawn before the comment was made making the two together seem in strange company.

Anyway, I have alot of homework now so I don't get as much time to write, plus I'm only working Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. But you'll still get your blogs on those days. I'm not in the best of moods this week for reasons I won't go into, but I'm looking forward to hitting the pool this weekend and spending some time with friends. Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.

The Omen: A Sign of Things to Come...

...for the rest of the summer? Hopefully not, but maybe it'll just be one more sign of the apocalypse. I mean come on...Garfield 2? If that doesn't spell doomsday I don't know what does. So as far as The Omen goes I guess it's not that BAD of a movie, it's just really not that GOOD of a movie either. As an aside I actually have no basis for comparison to the original Omen, so there will be no comparisons to it.

The Omen is basically the story of a US foreign diplomat and his wife raising what they believe to be a normal healthy boy, Damien. Of course the viewer knows differently , and we're just sitting there waiting to see what kind of hellish consequences Damien will unleash on his unwitting parents. Well, be prepared to wait a while. There are a total of 3 of what I'd actually call real "death" scenes. Spread those out over a 2 hour movie and you've got alot of space to fill in there. Unfortunately, that space is filled with slow paced dialog, uninspired writing, and predictable situations. So, if you're going to check out the cool death scenes, save your money and go rent Final Destination 2, 10 times the gore and a much more interesting story. Yeah, that's right, Final Destination 2 is better than The Omen...deal with it.

Maymester: Mission Almost Accomplished

Review day tomorrow...so that means I'm gonna get some Z's. Took my last lab test today, and I would have had to of made a 15 or below out of 25 to not get an A. I'm sure you can tell that I was really nervous about that going in. First one done, might have missed one or two ?'s, but definitely locked up the A in the lab. Now Wednesday is another story. I need to get an 87 or higher to keep my A in the lecture class. 92 and 90 were my first two test grades and that was with zero studying. I figure if I at least spend a little bit of time tomorrow studying that I should have no problem holding onto that A.

I didn't go to the pool once this weekend, and that disappoints me. I had been planning to spend at least one day there every weekend during the summer, but I guess that's all ruined now. Instead, I just sat around on my ass all weekend playing video games and nerding out watching Battlestar Galactica. It's not a bad series, it just loves to drag itself on and on.

It's 6/6/6 tomorrow boys and girls...what's the devil gonna make YOU do?

Friday!

Yet another reason to love Memorial Day has surfaced...it's already mother-fuckin Friday bitch! It's that day of the week when I only have to work for two and a half hours, I love it. 3 more days of Maymester left and I'm already pretty much guaranteed an A in both my lab and lecture class. I finish up those 3 days and then I'm done waking up early for the rest of the summer.

Now I have a month and a half till I get to move into my new place, and good god am I ever ready. I just hope I don't run over one of those stupid kids in my neighborhood before I reach the end of my lease. I'm also turning into an old man, since I'll spending the evening in tonight, perhaps eating some Taco Bell and watching some TV, mainly because I have to work at my dad's office tomorrow morning at 8:15. I'd love to really complain, but he helps me out so much with school and living expenses that it's not possible. Everyone have a good weekend, and I'll see you all again on Monday.

Debt sucks

Yeah, I've dug myself into a hole, very stupid of me. Instead of paying off my bills like I should have, I've been just letting it add up and up and only paying the minimum. Yeah, like I said, not very smart. So I just went and consolidated it all today, and hopefully will have it paid off faster now.