Firstly I had to change jobs to accomodate school since Kwik Fill couldn’t work around my schedule with the way that they have their hours set up. So now I’m back working at Taco Bell which was where I worked during my senior year of high school. Yeah it’s fast food but they pay me pretty well to stand in a drive-thru and it’s quite laid back and I get 35 hours a week. I’m planning on looking for another waitressing job in Erie or Buffalo once I buy my new car in February, so perhaps after spring break I’ll start looking for something more.
School went well this past semester but I kind of hoped it would have been easier as far as time available went. There were a lot of crazy moments that were so hectic I wanted to scream. I went days W/O even checking the boards at BB and sometimes even more between chats with my friends on skype. To be honest I can’t really remember this past semester in a blow by blow situation as it just flew by at supernova like speed. Every day was so harrowing and hence the reason I wasn’t around much of anywhere during the fall.
To start out I had 17 credit hours as stated in a previous post. I later cut that down one class as a class I was taking was just not quite what I was looking for. The class was Religious History, which is my hobby and an integral part of my minor and if you’ve ever talked with me I’m pretty good on the subject of Judea-Christian studies. However the professour, who was a wonderful man was very much a philosopher and thus took that stance on the subject which is just NOT my approach. I’m a logical person who’s interested in facts and theories and approach the subject in a very scientific way. I had a hard time grasping his concepts on the subject and his classes tended to drone on and on. Based on the class description I thought the class would be just that, a study of the formation and concept of Judaism through modern day Christianity and Islam, nope, this was not the case. I later talked with my friend Tanya who had been in the class with me and from what I understand he didn’t even get into Judaism until 3 weeks before semester’s end. I dropped the class just after the midterm as I knew I wasn’t doing well and I didn’t want my GPA ruined by it.
Now that I was no longer in that class I focused mostly on my others. I had a final project in the formatting of a radio station for my Audio II class and we did an awesome two week microphone lab where we learned how to mic various instruments, I finished out with an A in that class. I also got an A in my Intro to Violin course and learned how to play several beginning songs including the Minuet which was fun. My last A was in Flash which is another story I’ll share at a later time as I’m not quite thrilled with this outcome.
My other 3 classes were Bs starting with my level 400 Telecommunications Management course which was by far the hardest class I had all semester. I learned a lot though about managing various forms of media from TV to film to radio to cable companies and telephone/internet providers. The final was quite harrowing however and like the Flash class I’ll share the whole story at a later date. I also received a B in Writing for Electronic Media where I learned the basic forms of scriptwriting for all forms of media including TV, film, radio, news and commercials as well as storyboard creation and interpretation of media, and another in Greek World where we discussed the entire ancient civilization of the Greeks through the invasion of Rome during the Hellenistic period.
I know that this post is getting quite long so I’ll stop there and continue on tomorrow when I talk about the fun things I did in college this past semester as well as key highlights that weren’t class or college related. So check back tomorrow for the next part.
Well it’s been a long time… a really…really…really long time. I want to thank all of you who have been faithful to this blog long after I had written last. I know many have checked back and I apologize to you for my tardiness around here. The last six months have been quite hectic and depressing to say the least. I had a lot of ups and downs that came on throughout and the last thing I was concerned with sadly was my blog. However things have worked themselves out and now I’m back to blogging. Yay me!
Well I should probably tell you all in short what’s been “up” in my life. First off though you’ll all notice that the Indiana Jones theme is now buh-bye, and a long time coming that was. I mean I planned to take it down after the movie hype had subsided but instead it lasted well beyond the DVD’s release… yikes! However you all now notice my new unique styled theme from smashingmagazine. I had been hunting for the last few weeks for a cute new, individualistic theme and was getting annoyed with the choices I was finding. I found this one after a long time searching and at first wasn’t going to use it because it was a two-column system only and I tend to prefer three-columns. But I couldn’t get my mind around it and figured that the column was long enough to accommodate what I needed it too. I’m so happy I decided to use it.
I added a few new widgets as well. No doubt the first one you noticed was the music player as it started playing suddenly when you came on. I’ve loaded 18 tracks into it all with similar sounds but set it for shuffle so you won’t hear the same tracks in the same order everytime you visit. I also noticed the lack of info about the tracks as the player played them so I wrote up a Playlist Info page with all the track information and included a link to it just above the player, for anyone who’s interested that is. You’ll find both items located further down the page.
The other new widget is one that features my graphics and hand drawn artwork, this is very much a WIP (Work In Progress).The current images are old drawings I have done and I won’t lie thanks to my increasingly busy life I haven’t had time to do anything recent as far as hand done work in concerned. I have loads of Computer Graphics made for various reasons that I will include shortly so do keep an eye on the widget for those additions.
Well this post is already too long so instead of continuing on I’ll save my life recap for tomorrow’s post till then thanks for standing by!
So I’ve been spending the last week or so working on Bonanza Brand. We have had loads of new members and things to work out there. The majority of it has been cushioning the multilingual forums at the Brand, I’ve also been working on a new feature for the Brand and the rest of the time spent online was trying to get the database error worked out at the Brand. It’s a good thing I love the Brand or I’d be extremely pissed off by now.
Keep an eye on the Brand over the weekend as our new feature steps up to the plate.
As for my Thursday VOTW check this one out it’s too too funny!
Here’s a little side parable. Do you ever get the feeling God is trying to tell you something but you’re not listening? If you answered no you’re lying, JK. Actually this has been the case since I started work at Kwik Fill. Never in my life have I worked in such a drama induced environment! Okay maybe there was one other time… recently… Anyways. I’ve had rumour issues, missing money, trucks hitting my store and all kinds of other crap! The latest was when I hit my head on the hand dryer in the mens bathroom. Damn that hurt! I think God is telling me in a subtle way that I need to quit. Well that’s no big issue as I started reviewing my schedule for classes this week and I can’t work the set hours that this job requires. Yay for college! Now my new objective is to find another job before classes start, something with more flexible time frames.
Incidentally I know we missed the video of the week segment last week, sorry about that but I had another matter that kept me off line, but that’s a story I’ll share tomorrow. I have decided that Thursdays will be video days. I also hope to start work on another feature that deals with my Captain Jack Sparrow doll starting next week so stay tuned for that.
Evidently nothing interesting is going on in my life during the summer. I can’t wait until I have a real career and then have more blogging material.
Basically it’s the same stuff… work (and I work by myself all night with no one to talk to so no conversations to write about), shopping and getting ready for college. The only good thing coming out of this summer is the knowledge of knowing it’s my last minimum wage summer. As of next year I’ll have my third year of college completed and enough classes and knowledge to intern at a Radio or TV station.
But that’s next year, these last few weeks have been basically catching up on buying stuff I needed and paying bills, handling the board IPS driver error and working on some new graphics. Shopping has been quite a pain with rising gas prices and such but I still make a trip almost every week up to the Indian Reservation to buy a carton of cigarettes (a carton lasts my about 2 weeks but I buy other stuff up there other weeks). I’ve switched my main brand to a natural, additive free tobacco produced by the Senecas which is most likely better for me (I know smoking in itself is bad but when I say better I mean no additional crap that’s really bad for you). I always wanted a cigarette that was just paper, tobacco, some menthol and a filter. That other stuff is completely unnecessary. Do I miss Camels? Yeah a little but the Skydancers I’m now smoking are a better and much cheaper alternative ($15.00 a carton). Besides I still buy a pack of Camels here and there.
Okay so now that I’ve bored you all to death with my day-in-day-out BS here’s something to keep you more entertained. My “Video of the Week” Segment. In honour of the loss of the great comic genius George Carlin I give you this clip “George Carlin’s The Milwaukee Seven”. This of course was the skit (started as a radio piece) that made him a household name as it went all the way to the FCC and the Supreme Court which ruled that they in fact could not be said as these words were indecent. To this day most of them still can’t be said on TV.
Okay so since I’m a bit behind on my “Video of the Week” segment we’re going to do an extra one this coming week to even it out.
This video is a…well… interesting flashback (no disrespect intended to actual active or post active members of the Navy of any country). This ones for you Libby!
**The above photo will be explained below… taken by me**
**Sunday 6/15/08**
I always had a fear of tractor-trailers. I don’t know if it’s their looming presence, the cockiness the drivers get on occasion or the fact that they can’t always see your little car when they go to change lanes. I’ve seen tractor-trailers hit cars and destroy them, had a friend hit by one while crossing the street (completely accidental, the driver felt horribly bad) and there was only half of her left to bury so I know the damage they can cause. They seem unstoppable except when they get in a fight with two things more powerful then them, trains and buildings. I’ve never seen a tractor-trailer hit by a train however this past Friday I got to experience the first hand knowledge of what happens when they hit a building.
It was Friday the 13th and I had volunteered to work as I needed Thursday off for a doctor’s appointment this week. The day was warm and sunny and I was taking my father out to dinner for fish for Father’s Day after work. Little did I know that at about 3PM I was going to experience one of the biggest scares of my life. I was cashing out a customer (there were 3 in the store at the time including an off-duty employee) and my two coworkers were outside smoking. All of a sudden the sky through a set of windows behind me go black and then the ground shook. The whole store moved! It felt like an earthquake. I lunged into my terminal and fell to the floor beneath me, the lady I was serving crashed flat on her butt, cigarettes flew out of the rack behind me, the scratch-off lotto box tumbled off the counter and broke. two windows shattered, lights flickered and ceiling tiles crashed down.
I didn’t know what happened until Tammy and Tracey raced in. “Call Chris!” “Call the Police!” “Tell him not to move!”. I stepped out back, my legs shaking and there it was a tankard truck wrapped around the corner of the building. The thing is smoking and there’s the driver kicking his door, throwing a fit. He was a regular customer of ours, in there getting petrol everyday, this day was the same. However he was going too fast the girls said and didn’t judge the turn right, then hit the station at 25MPH. The police came, ambulance, the guy’s boss as well as regional managers like my Uncle Frank. The damage was extensive, lifted the roof and cracked the foundation. I was so happy to get out of there a half hour later, never had I been so scared. The only good thing was he was carrying grape juice.
Yep you saw it, my new Indiana Jones theme here at Skylights.
I had to do this as I was getting bored with my other theme and wanted something new. I was struggling for an idea and since Indy’s the man and I thought honouring him while the new movie is out ( A must see as a matter of fact ) seemed like a good opportunity. I’m still changing things around so please bear with me the next few days as I work on the theme some more.
Also I think I promised my first video of the week segment and since it’s an Indy theme lets start with an Indiana Jones video clip shall we. This one is a fan made video montage of The Indiana Jones Trilogy my favourite of the three now four movies is The Last Crusade. I love Father/Son stories (I think that’s why I’m a Bonanza Fan? ) and this was a good one. Also do take a sec to check out the Indiana Jones widget in the right hand column to see behind the scenes footage, photos and trailers from the new movie…
Another long break between posts damn I’m getting lazy. Well onwards through yet another recap of my exhausting life. As you all know from my last post I was awaiting the final results of my first semester at Fredonia State. I’m happy to report that yours truly made the Dean’s List! Woo-Hoo! I worked really hard for that. I topped out with these grades…
Mass Media and Society - A
Rhetoric of Vision and Sound - A
Audio Production I - A
Oceanography - C
Math - B
The Math was a huge surprise as my midterm grade was a D so bringing it up two letters in less than 6 weeks was really tough. I was practically in her office everyday getting help as I just have a lot of trouble comprehending and keeping math straight. Oceanography on the other hand was surprising. I kind of expected the C but the class wasn’t what I expected anyways so that was what was surprising about it. It was a lot of chemistry and physics stuff and again not my forte. Well the important thing is I came out of the semester with a 3.42 GPA and I had A’s in my major based classes. It’s important that I maintain an A or at least a B in all classes tied to my Major as that is a qualification for the Master’s school I’m looking at.
I’ve been working full time at Kwik Fill now for about a month and I’m so happy to finally be having full checks again. It’s not quite as much as what I made working 4 days at Denny’s when business was good, but considering the fact that Denny’s isn’t getting the business it once got it’s about equivalent now. The real good news is that things look promising for Bob Evan’s which is a restaurant I’ve been trying to get into for 4 months now. I love waitressing and I’m good at it. I really hope I get hired as the tip average there according to the store manager whom I’ve befriended is 60+ a dinner shift. That used to be my average at Denny’s before the place went down hill. I’m very excited, then I can work 3 days at one and 3 days at the other and have the best of both worlds.
I’ll try to be more regular in my posts and I think I’m going to start one of my features this week, the video clip of the week one. So check back soon!
Well I’m quite behind here aren’t I? I’ve just been so terribly busy. Let’s see if I can give the short of it in three paragraphs or less.
First school is finally out for the semester which was half the reason I wasn’t posting for the last few weeks. Between end of the semester projects and final exams it’s been hell. Also I left Denny’s about 3 weeks ago for good and for the last 2 weeks been employed at my father’s gas station. I want to waitress again though so I’m hoping to hear something very soon from the 3 restaurants I applied for then I can work part time at both jobs and not run the risk of losing that regular paycheck again.
Besides work and school I’ve also had a lot of doctor’s visits. In the course of one week I had five tubes of blood drawn and tested at the hospital, a doctor’s appointment to review the results and a dentist appointment. The blood draw was fine but I was dizzy and sick for about an hour afterwards and my dentist went okay. I had a root canal done a few months ago but I’d been wondering why it still kind of hurt. It turns out that my roots are so deep the canal didn’t get the whole thing so only about 2/3’s was dead. I have an appointment to pack it again and kill off the remainder at the end of the month. My doctor’s appointment was a bit different however. My blood came back great on all levels accept my “good” cholesterol it was very low at around 30 and it should be between 35-60. They have a big long name for the disorder I was diagnosed with but I can’t remember it. So they want me to take these Policosanol Supplements and eat higher cholesterol foods to bring up my numbers if that doesn’t work they’re looking at putting me on meds for awhile. They said part of it was my fitness but a good part of it is my kosher diet which cuts out a lot of high cholesterol foods naturally.
The reason I had blood drawn however was because of what I suspected to be low thyroid however those came back fine. Upon talking to my doctor she asked me about my monthly and how often I got it. I told her about 3-4 times a year and at very irregular intervals. She said that most likely is the problem then for my weight gain, mood swings and such. She had me make an appointment with my gyno so I can get on contraceptives to help regulate my monthly. I don’t believe in birth control and told the receptionist that and she assured me that there are other contraceptives that aren’t birth control. So I have an appointment for that and my annual on the 22nd. Hopefully that’ll straighten out my problems. Now I just have to figure out what’s with the numbness in my leg and I’ll be all set.
Well that wasn’t quite short but it covered most everything. I’ll try to post more regular now that classes are out.
Actually this has been the case since I started work at Kwik Fill. Never in my life have I worked in such a drama induced environment! Okay maybe there was one other time… recently… Anyways. I’ve had rumour issues, missing money, trucks hitting my store and all kinds of other crap! The latest was when I hit my head on the hand dryer in the mens bathroom. Damn that hurt! I think God is telling me in a subtle way that I need to quit. Well that’s no big issue as I started reviewing my schedule for classes this week and I can’t work the set hours that this job requires. Yay for college! Now my new objective is to find another job before classes start, something with more flexible time frames. 
