What's new with me...
It's been a while since I've posted; I've been busy with school and work, and I've been spending my internet time elsewhere (particularly on Second Life -- you may notice I got around to adding that to my interests). So what's new? Well...
School
This week in school, I had my last night of Intro to Architectural Drafting (ARCH 1001). I finished my final project, and hopefully I got enough of the homework done to pass. Next week, the class becomes Architectural Drafting I (ARCH 1006) -- same sudents, same teacher, but different work. I'm still enjoying the AutoCAD class (Arch 1100/Arch CAD: Basic AutoCAD), but Materials & Methods (ARCH 1202/Mtrls & Mthds Const I) and Building Codes (ARCH 1340) are often a bit of a grind -- lots of not-so-interesting stuff that you still have to know, or at least know where to find and how to use. I'm still figuring out how to get myself to do my homework (it's been an issue since middle school, and was why I dropped out of the U of MN 5 years ago).
Work
My work schedule has changed: instead of Monday-Wednesday-Friday, I now work Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday, but still 9:30 am - 2:30 pm. More work, but also more money (yay!), plus I just got my 3-year raise (have I been there that long already?). I also have a new co-worker. She seems nice, and my other co-workers and I like her.
Family/home/other events
Dad went on his first (and maybe last) international business trip in late September; he was in China for the better part of a week. He and the other guy he went with stayed awake on the plane so they'd sleep soundly when they got there and wouldn't get jet-lagged (I'll have to try that if I ever fly that long). He didn't have time to see much outside of work (and Chinese cities are too smoggy to see much of from the plane), but what he did see was interesting. He was very glad to get back though, though he got home several hours later than expected (ended up being the wee hours of Friday, Oct. 28) because the connecting flight from Chicago to MSP was canceled. He ended up being awake for about 28 hours straight because of the delay, and he slept most of day after he got home.
On September 29, Dad and I went down to Red Wing for the Sousa Band concert at the Sheldon Theater (did I mention Dad plays tuba in the band, and that the band director is an old high-school friend of Dad's? :-) ). It's the one concert a year they charge admission for, and one of the two I almost always go to (the other one is the 4th of July concert before the fireworks in Edina). Red Wing is a beautiful old town, and I always love going there. The weather wasn't too rainy, and the band sounded good as always.
My mom turned 55 on October 4; I took her out for dinner at Famous Dave's. She's doing ok; she's the lunchroom cashier at my old elementary school (easier than driving out to the other school she was at in previous years), and it's working out well. I think she may be going back to school soon too, though I forget what for.
My neighborhood had a cul-de-sac party (small block party at the end of the street) on October 7. I almost forgot to go, until I heard one of the neighbors sweeping the cul-de-sac that morning. Two neighbors (both moms of some childhood friends) try to get one together every year (though they don't always succeed), and it's nice seeing everyone once in a while.
My brother turned 23 yesterday (October 18). I got him a card and a Best Buy giftcard, but I didn't actually see him at all that day -- he was either asleep, at work, or just plain out of the house when I was home. I left him a voicemail message last night, and finally talked to him in person a few minutes ago. We plan on having cake at our grandma's tomorrow or Sunday.
Finally, my birthday is coming up on November 16. I'll be 25.
Car trouble
My exhaust system decided to break recently (and seriously bother my eardrums) -- the pipe broke between the catalytic converter and the first muffler. My brother rigged up a temporary fix, but now that's given way, so I've been learning which combinations of speed, gas pedal pressure, and RPMs are quietest. The garage I usually go to (which I recommend if you live around here, by the way) gave me a pretty high quote to fix it properly, so Dad's been looking up parts online so he and/or my brother can do a "good enough" fix.
Weather
We had a (somewhat) cold spell in mid-September; with high temps in the 40s-50s F/around 10°C, it felt more like October than September. The first week of October gave us some warm weather to compensate, but it's been cooler and rainy/drizzly since then (reminds Dad of a rainy fall back around 1972 or so, when he and Mom were still dating). We've been getting a lot of rain in general lately, enough to set a new Twin Cities record for August-October, and the cooler weather means I've been wearing old jeans and a flannel shirt at home instead of my loincloth (except for tonight -- it's just warm enough by the computer right now :-) ).
End stuff
Finally, a quote I found in someone's Yahoo profile tonight:
Naked ≠ sex, but it is nice when it happens that way! ...
Nudity = Freedom = Naked
Given my warm-weather clothing preferences, you can see why I posted this. :-)
School
This week in school, I had my last night of Intro to Architectural Drafting (ARCH 1001). I finished my final project, and hopefully I got enough of the homework done to pass. Next week, the class becomes Architectural Drafting I (ARCH 1006) -- same sudents, same teacher, but different work. I'm still enjoying the AutoCAD class (Arch 1100/Arch CAD: Basic AutoCAD), but Materials & Methods (ARCH 1202/Mtrls & Mthds Const I) and Building Codes (ARCH 1340) are often a bit of a grind -- lots of not-so-interesting stuff that you still have to know, or at least know where to find and how to use. I'm still figuring out how to get myself to do my homework (it's been an issue since middle school, and was why I dropped out of the U of MN 5 years ago).
Work
My work schedule has changed: instead of Monday-Wednesday-Friday, I now work Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday, but still 9:30 am - 2:30 pm. More work, but also more money (yay!), plus I just got my 3-year raise (have I been there that long already?). I also have a new co-worker. She seems nice, and my other co-workers and I like her.
Family/home/other events
Dad went on his first (and maybe last) international business trip in late September; he was in China for the better part of a week. He and the other guy he went with stayed awake on the plane so they'd sleep soundly when they got there and wouldn't get jet-lagged (I'll have to try that if I ever fly that long). He didn't have time to see much outside of work (and Chinese cities are too smoggy to see much of from the plane), but what he did see was interesting. He was very glad to get back though, though he got home several hours later than expected (ended up being the wee hours of Friday, Oct. 28) because the connecting flight from Chicago to MSP was canceled. He ended up being awake for about 28 hours straight because of the delay, and he slept most of day after he got home.
On September 29, Dad and I went down to Red Wing for the Sousa Band concert at the Sheldon Theater (did I mention Dad plays tuba in the band, and that the band director is an old high-school friend of Dad's? :-) ). It's the one concert a year they charge admission for, and one of the two I almost always go to (the other one is the 4th of July concert before the fireworks in Edina). Red Wing is a beautiful old town, and I always love going there. The weather wasn't too rainy, and the band sounded good as always.
My mom turned 55 on October 4; I took her out for dinner at Famous Dave's. She's doing ok; she's the lunchroom cashier at my old elementary school (easier than driving out to the other school she was at in previous years), and it's working out well. I think she may be going back to school soon too, though I forget what for.
My neighborhood had a cul-de-sac party (small block party at the end of the street) on October 7. I almost forgot to go, until I heard one of the neighbors sweeping the cul-de-sac that morning. Two neighbors (both moms of some childhood friends) try to get one together every year (though they don't always succeed), and it's nice seeing everyone once in a while.
My brother turned 23 yesterday (October 18). I got him a card and a Best Buy giftcard, but I didn't actually see him at all that day -- he was either asleep, at work, or just plain out of the house when I was home. I left him a voicemail message last night, and finally talked to him in person a few minutes ago. We plan on having cake at our grandma's tomorrow or Sunday.
Finally, my birthday is coming up on November 16. I'll be 25.
Car trouble
My exhaust system decided to break recently (and seriously bother my eardrums) -- the pipe broke between the catalytic converter and the first muffler. My brother rigged up a temporary fix, but now that's given way, so I've been learning which combinations of speed, gas pedal pressure, and RPMs are quietest. The garage I usually go to (which I recommend if you live around here, by the way) gave me a pretty high quote to fix it properly, so Dad's been looking up parts online so he and/or my brother can do a "good enough" fix.
Weather
We had a (somewhat) cold spell in mid-September; with high temps in the 40s-50s F/around 10°C, it felt more like October than September. The first week of October gave us some warm weather to compensate, but it's been cooler and rainy/drizzly since then (reminds Dad of a rainy fall back around 1972 or so, when he and Mom were still dating). We've been getting a lot of rain in general lately, enough to set a new Twin Cities record for August-October, and the cooler weather means I've been wearing old jeans and a flannel shirt at home instead of my loincloth (except for tonight -- it's just warm enough by the computer right now :-) ).
End stuff
Finally, a quote I found in someone's Yahoo profile tonight:
Naked ≠ sex, but it is nice when it happens that way! ...
Nudity = Freedom = Naked
Given my warm-weather clothing preferences, you can see why I posted this. :-)