meshugana

Have you heard about our protection plans?

Commissions. Commissions make the world go round, and I now understand why. :-D So, I was beginning to feel abused around work. Rather, stretched thin. Not only was I training myself, but I was training others as well. Awkward. I've been given a lot of freedom, and responsibility, that the other trainees don't have yet, so that feels nice.

Better then responsibility though is money. Yes, the cold hard cash. I get to say that because I'm a poor college kid. ;-) See, we are given incentives to sell extended warrantees. A certain percentage of the sale, if you will. I've made some 10 dollars off of it so far as well. That was in 3 sales.

]]> Well, yesterday, we started a few new things around our store. If I can get my warrantee sales up high enough in the next month and a half, they will double what I was going to get back. To that, I can try to sell more. Within 10 minutes, one of my co-workers sold 3. We had sold 4 total the day before. Basically, the race was on. Every time we get a sale, we are to page the store saying "Rocky, is holding on line _ number that the store is at currently_". I got to call in 3 times yesterday. I impressed the on duty manager so much, he gave me 3 "kudos" cards.

Ah, the good old kudos cards. Newbies get them more frequently then others, I'll admit it. They are earned by doing something extra, and not necessarily required, or something impressive. The most I had seen anybody earn in a day was 3. Scott, my manager, gave me 3 yesterday, not believing I was selling that many warrantees. Only one person in the store had more then me, and they had been there 4 years. And even then, they only had one more then me. The 2 Customer Service Managers gave me a total of 4 as well. I had 7 yesterday as opposed to 2 for the previous week. They don't come lightly, and they made me feel happy. Again, what makes me feel happy, is that they get placed into a drawing for 50 bucks at the end of the month. :-D

So, 3 PPPs sold, and 7 kudos. I was happy. It was a great start at my goal, and that makes me happy.

In other news: School is still school, and continuing much as it once has. Today I got to register for classes for next term (I can hardly believe this one is almost over). I got some fun classes.
GS134: Critical Thinking and Logic
DMP134: Acting Fundamentals
DMP251: Storyboarding
DMP293A: Story Development/Ideation

After looking at my audit, it seems that next term I will be taking quite a few Junior level courses. I'm excited about that.

In the name of love

It's a shame I didn't get my V-day mix CD done in time, as that makes a good title for it. :-( It never ceases to amaze me though what people's interpretations of that phrase means though.

At one point, people would do kind acts to one another in the name of love. Now people don't mind hacking at each other in the back, saying the same thing. What has happened to America? What has happened to this world? It really shocks and amazes me at the kind of acts that go on under this guise, while others stand around and accept that "that's the way it has to be." I'm sorry. Maybe I'm reading a different Book then ya'll, but that isn't how it has to be, and I don't take kindly to it.

Happy Valentines day.

]]> So my weekend, much like most of yours, started last Friday. I had the longest break away from work that I have had yet: 22 hours. What was I to do with all my free time? How about going to HR, hanging out with Aaron and doing laundry. Alright. Aaron and I watched the Village, and had tons of junk food. It was awesome. Simeon dropped by, and the three of us have already begun to scheme. Aaron sent me away though with goodies for a friend of his, thus initiating my yesterday.

After work, I headed down to Fox while there was still light out. I finished up my photography assignment, and got to hang out on Liz's floor for a bit. Not much exciting happened, but I got to hang out with Liz and Corrie, so that was fun. After driving back, at a much later hour then intended, I picked up Hans from work, and slept as soon as possible.

This morning, my alarm didn't go off, but Hans' did. He is giving me rides to school on Monday's. Well, I almost had him just skip taking me this morning as I knew I couldn't make it on time as it was, and my teacher freaks out about that sorta thing. Hans thought we still had time though, not realizing there was a small thing called traffic. Well, I decided I should go anyway, and I'm glad I did. We had an unadvertised midterm today. It's so nice to already know the field I'm going into. It helps these sorta tests out a lot. I'm currently on the break from that, after finishing it 30 minutes early, but I soon need to head back. So, until next time.

Oh, and have a Happy Valentines Day.

More Schooling... (And more photos)

*makes vacuum sound* So, sucking up to teachers is the way to go. I've been an advocate of that since I had professor Copp last year, and I still hold to it. Ironically though, some teachers don't even require this fine art, as long as you present yourself properly at the beginning of the term. I made my name known, and my services available, and now, I have gotten respect. It's nice how that works.

My photo teacher now uses me in every one of his lectures. It was kinda weird at first, but as it goes in my group, "DMP represent." Last week, I turned in photos taken on Matt's digital camera, the Nikon Coolpix 5700. I was impressed with the picture quality, but the assignment he gave us in class last week surprised me. We were given film, and told to go photograph the city. I did so, and got remarks back like "This is one you would expect to see in a magazine." That made me happy. 3 of my pics will be attached below, for those interested. It was ASA200 film, in an average 35mm camera (it didn't have a light sensor, for those curious).

Anyway, last Friday was a fun/stressful day around here. We went into the studio, and recorded the soon to be classic, "Going Away." I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and I'm sure Hans is more so. It's really great. We had Aaron in for drums, and Liz in for Piano. Due to lack of pianos, Liz played wonderful emotional support. :-D

Yeah, so I have a 4 hour drawing mid term tomorrow. That kinda scares me a little bit... heh... *I'm going to die.* Enjoy the pics, and keep the comments coming. If I can find out how, I'll add my schedule to the side bar, and I'll keep my work schedule up there. (If not for you guys, for me, so I can have an easy reminder. :-D)

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F/Stops and F/Starts

So this here photography class I'm taking is fun. I've learned stuff, and I've had fun doing it. What a surprise. It's amazing when school is fun. The intimidation is still there with this teacher, but it was nice to hear his reactions today though to my photos.

You see, yesterday was my Grandpa's 80th birthday, so I took a trip down to Wasco to visit. There was a party happening, so I was glad to be there. While I was there though, I had to make sure my homework was done, and this week, that was to take some more pictures. I did just that, and would now like to share the results. The expanded page has the pics, so 56k beware, although I did attempt to make them all small enough (total file size = 263k)

I also got U2's new album, if anyone cares. (pretty good muzak if I do say so myself) Anyway, off to do some more homework...

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"Please have patience... I'm a trainee"

Lol. Yeah, that is fastened to my nametag currently at work. It's quite amusing really. I like it. Terry put it this way, "As long as you have that, you have an excuse.... I kept mine on for 3 months." :-D

]]> Today at work was almost all training. I'm glad now though, because I've completed completed enough courses that I can now work a cash register. Joy.

There were 2 new guys today, and they made me happy. Yesterday, I went on a 100 item scavanger hunt throughout the store, and I had no idea where half of it was. That was great. Some of the items even had a name change, but that wasn't reflected on the sheet.... Well, what made me happy was to see 2 people doing it today (one of them having worked at an Office Depot before) taking as long as I took. That was a good feeling.

Towards the end of my shift today, the store got swamped, and I got handed my first customers that I would actually be able to handle. I tried yesterday while I was in the middle of the scavanger hunt, and I had no idea where to point them... Today was really great though. I got to push the big ladder around too.

I ended my shift though, training at the cash registers. I am learning all of the non-intuitive commands for the register and the phone, as well as proper processes for returns. Speaking of which, did you know that office depot has one of the most lax return policies? They really won't ever tell you that, but it's true. Also in my power, which I didn't expect, I have the authority to make substitutes for items, or the like, to sweaten the deal. The leeway they give me to sub is much bigger then I though I would have as well. Neat-o.

My hours got bumped up much more then I thought I would have this week too. I've already worked 12, and I will work that much more before the week is over. Next week is around 20. Free time went where? Time to do homework went where? Did I forget to mention this is the most homework oriented term I've ever had in school? 4-5 hours for one drawing for Drawing. Yeah. I'm stoked.

Anyway, updates will hopefully be limited to school things/big happenings, and less of the day by day of work. Blessings to all.

The future of Office Depot

So today was the day. I went back into Office Depot, just after I got home and

]]> Terry offered me a job. We went through the ropes, and my first day is on Wednesday. Go me!

3 very "Fox"y ladies

Let me start by saying, there is nothing to report about my job just yet. I may know something tomorrow, but they needed a few days after they interviewed me to check my criminal records and all.. Because I've been so busy being a criminal and all...

]]> Well, for the sake of not repeating myself for the 20th time with this story, I will simply tell the highlights. After my interview on Wednesday, they sent me to Tigard to get a drug test. It was recommended I take "Exit 72", and Tigard started on "Exit 1". This scared me, and so while I was still in Tigard, I took Exit 4, and took a while finding the location.

Over an hour after getting out of the interview, I was now between Beaverton and Newberg, and I thought "what the heck? I haven't seen the Fox-ites for a while now. I'll see what they are up to." I didn't know this before hand, but here is a pop quiz. Did you know that most pay phones have been disconnected/removed since cell phones hit the scene? Yeah.. On my way to Newberg from Tigard (that can be done in less then 20 minutes), I hit Tualatin, then Sherwood (Old Town), then the sticks (where I figured I was probably lost), then Wilsonville (from the opposite direction I _thought_ I was headed), to Tualatin, past my 2 favorite payphones (that I had been at over an hour before), to Sherwood, to Newberg.

Liz was around, and so we were able to hang out some for a few hours before floor hours prohibited any more.

Thursday was Hendrik's Birthday, and I sorely had to miss seeing him on it due to school/his work. Not fun. Not fun at all.

Friday, I met up with a girl from school, and we recorded some sounds for our Audio class.

Saturday, while in the midst of doing homework, LadyT IMed me, asking me if I would like to play Risk with her. A free trip to Fox? I'm always up to those. We played LOTR Risk, and then watched "So I married an axe murderer," which was just awesome. I had very much a good time at Fox.

Today, after going to the school, and doing my Intro to Video project, I was sitting at home doing more homework. I got a strange IM from Hendrik around 8:00. "Can you call mom? Emergency" Hastily, I grabbed Matt's cell, and got the news that Pieter and Phronsie had broken down on their way to Fox, and needed to be rescued. And since I have a car and license and all, guess who got to go? Yay. It was fun really. I didn't get to stay to see what was wrong, due to homework calling, but I did get them to a gas station, and get a true rescuer on the way. Now, I really must go, because I have class in 8 hours, and I still need to sleep/shower/eat/get there. So, uhhh, TTFN.

8:00 is too early

Or so says my Audio professor. Last week, he came stumbling in at almsot 8 exactly, and asked if it would be alright to start class 30 minutes later from now on. We all agreed that would be great, and I still do; just as long as I remember that before I wake up.

]]> This past week for me has been very little other then job hunting, homework, and Tribes. I took hold of the phrase "Make a job out of getting a job, and you will have a job in no time," and you know what? I believe it works.

I have been to no less then a dozen good leads, met the managers, and made friends with all of them. I have a good lead at most of them, but they talk about not starting until March, which is no good for me. I then turned to Office Depot.

After applying online, I went in to follow up on it. I met the manager and their hiring person, and they both know me by name already. That felt good. For whatever reason, even though I applied online, they made me fill out a hard copy, and then take a proficiency test. They told me that if I passed I would get a call back. Well, because I didn't have a phone number while filling out the app, I came back in the next day to add that to my app, and they scheduled my interview then and there. Again, me = :-D

Well, I got a button down shirt from Matt, as well as a tie, and headed off to the interview. It went well, and was over by the time it was suposed to start. I like being early. :-D I was told I had to impress Terry, the hiring person in my interview Wednesday, and I had the job. The thing is, I met him on my way out the door, and commented how I had already been scoring points by my dress and the like. He had already known me by name, and is a really cool guy, so I look forward to what tomorrow brings.

According to the clocks here, it is past 8:30 now, and my Prof still isn't here. This could get interesting fast, but for now, I must go, in the event he does show up soon.

Defining "HC"

Ok, so it's a new term and all, and I'm getting to know my new professors. My monday morning class is in the same room, at the same time as a class I had last term, except this time it is with a different teacher. Confusing. It is an Intro to Editing class, and it looks to be fun. I enjoy editing.

]]> My next class, Basic Photographic Techniques, has a hard core teacher though. An average conversation with him went like this, "So, in my review of the original moon footage," or "When I went to Industrial Light and Magic, I met the guy who spent 400 hours on the Hulk's eye-lashes", or maybe, "I used Photoshop before Adobe owned it... I still have version .62," or the one that takes the cake, "When I was working on the first digital camera, back in 86..." Crazy fresh teacher. It excites me that he knows so much, and has had so much experience. Kinda scary though, as the first homework he assigned was 150 pages of reading...

I just got out of my audio class, with a very quirky teacher. He knows his stuff for sure, but he does seem weird. I'm excited though, as a project of ours will be to record and mix a song. That should be very much fun.

Yay, now it is off for drawing. Uber fun times lay ahead.

Name that Song

Following the trend, I present my list. I found it akward how out of 1389 files, I got some random songs that were picked from the list next to each other. I would have thought it would be more random. Oh well. Here goes nothing. Again, reply with your answers, and still, using google is lame.

]]> 1) "Feels like nothing ever did. Kills like nothing ever could. Dark and jaded world I hated, Everything I left behind."
2) �I just hate myself To think of you with someone else. To hear you say goodbye, I love you for who you are. No more, no less�
3) ��hello world� You know that I�m a sinner, we all sin. But I�ve got a friend in Jesus�10 Points to Pieter (Spirit in the Sky - DcTalk)
4) �I've got a friend a friend indeed who comes to the rescue of damsels in need�
5) �Lets do it up one more time. Show these people what we had in mind� 10 Points to Phronsie (The Notion � FM Static)
6) �This is my skizzle. For Izzle. Uh-uh. Do what? What-what? What?�10 Points to Hans(Toby's Mac - Toby Mac) *Oh, and I did mean "my skizzle. For izzle." Google it. 6 pages of lyrics for that, and none for stizzle and rizzle, although that does make sense...*
7) �Are you with me or against me? Noticed you're sitting on the fence we. Wondered why you're not cut and dry. You got to choose our side and live, or go to their side and die.� 5 Points to Hans for getting the band and 5 to Phronsie for getting the song (My way or the Highway - Relient K)
8) �I have given Jacob's generation the key of David, intimacy To open up the doorway to the nations, and release Revelation, of intimacy, with me�5 Points to Beth Jason Upton it was
9) �So if you have a question, go ask your dad. And he can tell you if a thing is good or bad�10 Points to Pieter (Stand Up - Veggie Tales) *oh, and actually, I was listening to the original*
10) �Let me lay down in this field and stare up at the sky. I hope the days and clouds turn into something as they pass us by.10 Points to Hans (These Ordinary Days - Jars of Clay)
11) �Shook her hand said, "Hi, I'm Knowda or Verbs is what's preferred." She cracked a smile like a baby and I'm glad that part occurred� 5 Points go to Hans for deciphering the clues, but still not getting the song. These points will be relinquished if somebody else can come up with the song, as the band really was given away...
12) �Oh yes, and the band plays on every where we go. It's the same old song. See, I know there's really nothing new under the sun, but yet I want to do it like it's never been done�
13) �Blue skies will take me back into being a child, trees with leaves that turn the colors I love, a heart that beating to your melodies ringing, and I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me.�
14) �I got my first real six string. Bought it at the five and dime�5 Points to Hans and Phronsie (Summer of '69 - MxPx)
15) �You look down on me, but you don't look down on me at all.� 10 Points to Phronsie (Pressing On - Relient K)
16) �I remember what they taught to me. Remember condescending talk of who I ought to be�10 Points to Hans (Lying from you - Linkin Park) *How very appropriate. I got it on his list, and he got it on mine.*
17) �And when this hourglass has filtered out its final grain of sand, I raise my glass to the memories we had�10 Points to Hans (So Long Astoria - The Ataris) *Sorry for not updating that sooner...*
18) �You know who I am inside. You know when I lie. You can tell when I'm amazed. You can see my faith.�
19) �Now we are not afraid, although we know there's much to fear, We were moving mountains long before we knew we could�10 Points to Pieter (There can be miracles - Prince of Egypt)
20) �You say you'll give me a highway with no one on it�
21) �We don't care whatcha'll do but do something move something�10 Points to Hans (Up and at Them - John Reuben)
22) �Yeah, I'd be mopin' too, if I was gonna be digested!� 10 Points to Amancay (Second Chances - Anointed)
23) �Lquid and leather, In equal measure, Champagne glass, Mix 'em together�10 Points to Pieter (Heart of a Lion - Limozeen)
24) �All my love, all my kissing you don't know what you've been missing� 10 Points to Phronsie (Oh Boy - MxPx)
25) �The intellect that girl has, she's saying �death to false jazz��10 Points to Hans (Pre Ex Girlfriend - Five Iron Frenzy)
26) �we don't need a constant reminder that you're the dopest mc�10 Points to Phronsie (Hello Ego - John Reuben)
27) �The mountains are high, the valleys are low, and you're confused on which way to go� 10 Points to Amancay (Free Ride - Audio A)
28) �You shook me, took me to me to another place, where the air I'm breathin's like mace in my face�10 Points to Hans (Somebody's Watching - Toby Mac)
29) �Nasty food I must plug my nose to swallow, because my mom's on probation. Eggplant, brussel sprouts go down and come out.�
30) �I'm bound by the life you've left behind�10 Points to Phronsie (My Immortal - Evanescence)

Just like before, 5 points for the song name, and 5 for the band, unless it is commonly attributed to nobody. Let the listening begin. Good luck.

Running Point Totals: (please correct me if you find mistakes)
Hans = 85
Phronz = 60
Pieter = 40
Amancay = 20
Beth = 5

Cars. Gotta Love 'em.

Ok, so before anybody gets them impression my car is broke, it's not. Although, it is not without it's close comings.

So, I'm in Portland now, and I'm all moved into my new apartment. It feels good to be out, and be independent. I drove around town picking up applications, and finding some choice places to work.

]]> Well, I had one of my low beam lights out, so I bought a replacement for it while I was in Hood River. I hadn't had time to put it in when I was there, but I had a moment, so I thought I would do it here, before going back out to turn in applications. Yeah. That part went without complications, and was pretty strait forward, but while the hood was up, I figured I would add some oil, since that had been a problem with our cars before.

Now, I have learned 2 things about engines that I should pass on. One, they aren't all the same size, therefore do not all need the same amount of oil. And two, even thought they put it in the same looking container, Transmission fluid is not engine oil... Yeah...

Now, here is how this works. When I came home a week ago from St. Helens with my car, I checked, and found that I needed oil. I stopped and bought a quart. I figured that it had amended the problem, but that more oil was still needed. Figured is the key word. The only other time I could thing of oil changes called for several quarts of oil, and with my car, being that low on oil originally, I figured the same.

So, after pouring in the transmission fluid, that I thought was oil (we have a big box of oil around, and I thought the two quarts I had in my car came from the box), I realized what it was. So, I came inside and desperately called anybody who would know anything about fixing cars.

Eventually, Matt shows up, and tells me that we simply need to drain it, and that he has all the tools. He then checks the level, and cracks up at how much over the "full" line it was filled to. Right. So smaller cars have smaller engines. I get it.

It has been drained, and runs great now, no problems. Kinda scared me for a minute, but because I didn't actually try driving it (alright, so you have to give me _some_ credit for not doing that) the oil hadn't gone into all the crevasses yet, and was easy to get out.

Yesterday was also a sigh of relief. I had accidentally signed up for a class with CE, my _favorite_ teacher, and I was able to get it changed yesterday. Praise God.

I'm off now though, dropping off aplications and such. Freedom with a car is awesome. Just awesome.

Hopefully update soon, so until next time...

Slacking. It's my middle name.

Ok, so I've taken hints from Hans, and my blog has become more sporadic in updates then his. Sorry about that...

Many things have happened since the writing of last. Christmas has past, but not before I received my license and (third) car. Recently my life has been little more though then seeing people, and taking it as easily as possible before another term begins.

]]> I finished my term, with relative ease, and it feels nice. I filmed several more movies, and edited them together in a way that was agreeable with me. I turned them in, and they seemed to be agreeable with the class, so that felt good.

After my term was over, and my classes finished I stayed in St. Helens another couple of days. I let Hans use my car to finish up his last few days before heading to Newberg to take Liz home. In the days I stayed, I even got to help Aaron and Liz with their term papers. Since I'm at art school, they don't believe in long papers, they want to see skill in practice. Ironically, I was missing the papers, so it was actually quite enjoyable editing them for the two of them, but I really don't know how many more times I could do that...

From the point of returning home, I haven't done much though in the way of being productive. I've seen people I've missed, I've made new friends, and I've generally had an awesome time. Detailing my happenings here doesn't seem appropriate, but lets just say, having a license rocks. The sense of freedom I have is amazing. Really it makes me happy.

I really don't know what to say other then that, but school starts in another week, and updates should pick up again then. I'm moving in to town (actually near the school this time) hopefully on either Sunday or Monday, and be getting a job soon there after. We'll see how that goes.

I figured I should update today, as if I didn't, I would have completely missed updating in December. I had something written out 2 weeks ago, but I never got it finished to post, so it never came up. Anyway$, I must be going, but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Vehicles, Birthdays, and so much more

Wow, it's been a while since I updated. Half since I was avoiding doing so on purpose, and half due to time being gone anyway. It all started back almost two weeks back.

My dad came and picked me up at Ai two Thursdays ago, and took me to Hood River. Partly from wanting to come home, and partly from a larger scheme. My dad hung out with us, took me around town the next day before renting some movies. Envy was interesting, while One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest was just plain weird. I guess I'm cultured now.

]]> The next morning started early. Almost too early. We took Pieters Subie out, and my dad and I made it to Portland by 8...on a Saturday. We had made it to Brasher's Auto Auction, and I was getting a car. After going up and down the isles, being guided back into the main pen, and revving any engine we could, we had devised a list of probable, and possible cars. Hondas, Subies, and Toyotas were the main attraction, although VWs, Intrepids, and one small Geo were not out of the question.

When the auction had started up, it was loud/annoying. Two auctions going at the same time just is, and I knew it would be. I was perturbed though to see that the first car on my list had gotten skipped. I just wanted to see how much it would have gone for, but I didn't even get that chance. The next car up was the small little Geo. After a minor bit of back and forth, I had won, and the Geo was mine. Now to take of the paper/title mess. We needed proof of insurance, so we drove home, grabbed Pieter, picked up the car and then headed home.
Geo drive distance: 65 miles

There were no dents or scratches on the vehicle though the interior could use a little bit of work. No worries though, because it would be getting good gas mileage.

I had my mom ride with me the next day so I could drive it. All that I was able to was the trip to church.
Mathys Geo drive distance: 5 miles
Geo drive distance: 70 miles

After church, I was headed back to St. Helens. Luckily for me, Amancay, Danny, and Andy were willing to help. Danny drove my car, and Andy rode with Amancay to keep her company until we were at St. Helens. The trip was pleasant, and nothing occurred out of the ordinary. What troopers that gang was though for taking me back to St. Helens.
Geo drive distance: 180 miles

Hans was headed off to work that evening, so it was nice to have a car for him instead of having the Rickers drive him in again. Again, the drive went without consequence.
Geo drive distance: 210 miles

Just after Hans' work though, 5 minutes into his journey home, the engine up and stops working. Now, I've been told time and time again, that these things just happen, but it does look slightly suspicious.
Geo drive distance: 215

You can catch the rest of Hans' endeavour on his blog, but basically, he walked for 6-7 miles in the middle of the night, had the Rickers pick him up, and then move the car to a "better" spot.

Well, less then 36 hours later, it had been towed, and was half way across town. Getting home again would be an endeavour. It turns out that a head gasket had blown in the engine, and that it could happen/have happened any time. Yay. 1 day owned, and I have my first totalled car. I cannot express my enthusiasm enough...

I made it home for Thanksgiving with my mom, who came and picked up the crew from Ai on Wednesday. I got to show Aaron AI, and got to catch up with him, which was mighty nice.

Thanksgiving was fun too. More general catching up before showing my beast of a computer off to Aaron. I think the general consensus was that he liked it, and Doom 3 is freaking scary. SLAG HOP (Scream Like A Girl, Hour Of Power) is always fun. The day ended, far too soon, but that was to be expected. It always does.

Hans and Steph got a ride back to Portland the next day because Hans had work and Steph wanted to go shopping. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. The rest of the day was spent on the phone arranging rides and gatherings for that evening. I think it went back and forth about 5 times before we decided to move the activities up a day from their original scheduling. Jared and Liz made it for about an hour, and it made me very happy to see them. Danny, Aaron, and Simeon(!), people who I also miss dearly, made it for longer then that, but in my opinion still not long enough. We partied hardy for what we did party. It was very entertaining.

Saturday my mom took Pieter off to work, and were gone for a large portion of the day. That was fine. I killed the time with a new game I had gotten for my birthday, and didn't look back. We had some awesome clam chowder, pasta, and cake that day. Good times. Sunday was mostly the same as well. I came up sick in the morning though, thusly missing church and my ride to P-town. I'm taking the bus tomorrow, staying with a friend, and coming back the next day. Looks to be another fun week. :-D

Oh, and if all goes well, production, in some shape or from, will begin again on my LOTR spoof. If you had a hand in it earlier, look for a call, I still need everybody.

I really don't know what else to say, and I congratulate anybody who actually read this far.

And I thought it was only me.

Apparently, Ai tells me it is. Tsu Ling and Jackie Blain, the department heads of DMP, told me today that I am "their first screw up." Very encouraging words, I must say. They just have this huge positive tone to them. I love 'em.

]]> Yeah, so continuing on the drama of the Hans and my single enrollment at Ai, they came back to me today and apologized profusely. Let us recap, shall we?
Firstly, my transfer credits were delayed months, because they couldn't bother opening transcripts (or at least reading) transcripts that came from PCC instead of CGCC (they are sister schools)
Secondly, when I called last term to register, I was originally told to ask for Tsu. So I did. They handed me off to Sue, but I didn't know it. I wasn't on the books there either. A pointless delay that took me out of my first choice classes. Then, when I asked for Monday and Tuesday classes only, they thought it would be neat to give me Thursday and Friday classes too, just for kicks. (which I promptly dropped)
Thirdly, once financial aid was finally sorted out (a whole post of its own) they sorted my record by "Bruggen" while they filed Hans' by "Vande Bruggen". Needless to say, they couldn't find it when they needed to.
Forthly, when I asked for a record of my transfer credits, I was denied them, for no real reason other than "students aren't allowed to see them. You will need to see your advisor." (They were actually posted online, but I had no way of knowing that before. I stumbled upon them while looking for Midterm grades)

When I went in today to get a signature from Jackie, so I could register for classes, she told me to hold still, brought in Tsu Ling, and we had an impromptu meeting. Apparently the class they signed me up for, and that I have now more than half completed can't fit into my transcript anywhere. Talk about lame. Folklore is lame. But, the began realizing their mistakes in my record today. That felt good. They recognized where they had gone wrong, and wouldn't hold me responsible for it. They have refunded me my tution for Folklore (even though it almost went through on Hans' account).

Apparently, I am allowed to see my current credit, anytime I like, and I don't have to talk to my academic director either. I just have to go to the center that denied it to me a week ago, and use keywords that they understand. Apparently descriptions don't count for anything in that department, and everything must be called by name, or they get confused.
Also, they recognized what CE did to me as unfair, but at this time, it was too far back for them to be able to do anything about it. If I have any problems like that again, I now know what to do. That alone encourages me.

Either way, today has been a fun day. I registered for 5 classes for next term. Should be fun.

Ai is fun

So today Hans and I went into town and shot another movie. It was sweet. It was a PSA to help keep kids off of drugs. It's funny, so we had fun. After that was done though, I had a few words with my academic advisor.

]]> I hopped online yesterday to check my midterm grades, and what I found in my profile surprised me. All of my classes transferred. That isn't what they told me before. Where I lost my credits was in the downgrading of my 3 4-credit classes. I lost 3 credits there, and was lead to believe that was because a class didn't come over. What that meant, is I am currently taking that class. One that I have already taken before. When I saw that in my profile, I already have credit for it, I decided to have a few words with my advisor.

For a long time I haven't been able to figure out why it was just a challenge getting everything sorted out to get into Ai. First they messed up my transcripts, then they messed up my classes (this isn't the first time), then they messed up my financial aid. It was getting annoying. When my advisor came back, she brought with her "the paper trail." What that showed, is that half the school thought Hans and I were the same student, while the other half didn't. It explains a lot.

I was a bit befuddled as to what to do about my double class taking, but my advisor assured me that I would not only get credit for it, but that she would fight, and have it count as something else as well. Score! I was really down at first about having paid 1000 dollars for a class I had already taken and didn't need, but she was very understanding, and VERY helpful, and wanted to make sure everything was ok. She scored many points in my book today.

After that was sorted out, I had to consult her about my classes for next term. She said "Here, why don't you take intro to computers." I replied the best I knew how, "Well, last I heard, I had that waived." "Oh really?" "My brother is a CS major" *cue major laughing, and the writing of 'waived'*

So far, next term looks like it will be a blast. Let's just hope we can keep it that way.