One Week Down, 15 More to Go

I can't believe that I haven't updated this since Monday! I kept telling myself each night that I would update the next day, and I just never got around to it. Anyways, tonight is Friday so I have more time to complete my homework than any of the other weeknights. Well, school's not so bad anymore; I still don't like it but it's tolerable. I am trying to think positive thoughs, but I don't think they're helping me much. It'll all go by faster if I think positive, but it's so temping to figure out what classes I'll take next semester to make school more enjoyable. As long as I stay in school I'll be fine. One of my teachers said that the hallways will be half as crowded two weeks from now because people will realize that they'll have to do some work. I knew that I would have work to do, but I wasn't sure as to what kind of work it was. Reading seems to be what I'll be spending a lot of time on. Also, I'll have to study for math more intensely; it's important to fully understand the concepts. I haven't burned out yet, but if I stop blogging then you'll know something's up. Being able to see now that I have new glasses really improves the atmosphere too. After two days of not being able to see the board I decided it was time to do something about it. My sleeping paterns have also improved too. I am able to get to sleep in one hour, instead of three or four. Ten hours of sleep a night is my new goal. I have to start some of my homework now since I've frittered the day away relaxing.

Didn't Like It

First day of school today didn't go very well. It's not that it went bad, I just didn't like any of my classes. Maybe I expected too much, but to me it all seems pretty dull and boring. I'm not sure if I can finish out the semester if things continue to go this way, but I do want to finish. Hopefully, I'll find solace in the internet and blog. So far this blog is turning out to be a journal and I don't think that that's really fun at all. Putting more links in could make it more exciting, but I hate doing it on a Mac. Blogger decided for some reason that they would include less features on the Mac than for the PC. They'll learn some day; maybe if I wrote a letter they'd change things. Anyways I am so tired right now I just want to keel over. The only thing that'll get me through the day tomorrow is the fact that I have another knew class, and there's only two to suffer through. Being near sighted w/o glasses makes school a pain too. I want to take this as a sign that I shouldn't be in school. Need sleep now. -_-

Last Day of Freedom

Tomorrow's D-Day. I've spent today getting ready for it by cleaning up some things. I didn't get to go shopping today so I do it tomorrow. Now it's just a matter of time before school starts. A small portion of today was spent downloading/installing/learning W. Bloggar. I was convinced I could use it to upload photos to blogger w/o an online host, but I learned eventually that it wasn't going to happen. I might just have Geocities host my pics so I can post them online, but for now I'll just use Snapfish as a host. Maybe in the future it'll actually occur to me that in order to have what I want I need to pay for it. That leaves plenty of time to search for a reliable/cheap host. However, my free time will decrease starting tomorrow so I might just have to limit my dedication to the blog. This doesn't mean that I won't continue to post, but I probably won't have time to change things. I'm going to spend the rest of my summer vacation watching a movie.

Home Alone

My dad and I are home alone now. So far everything has been smooth, but I can see signs that things are going to be real messy in the house. We have paid our first bill and it will go in the mail tomorrow, however my dad has decided to store the bill in his own container: a paper bag. So far there are two paper bags; one for mom's mail and the other for the bills. There will be more paper bags and things will get lost. To counteract this I have started to clean up my junk from the family room before school starts. It will just get junky again with my new stuff, but at least things won't get mixed up. We're having issues with applying the cat medication, too. This medicine needs to be rubbed on to Cindy's ear twice a day. I don't wake up in the morning when the first dose must be administered so dad will have to do it. He's very heavy handed and never touches the cat. I'll trim Cindy's nails so he doesn't get deep scratches. There really isn't any food in the refridgerator so I think we'll go shopping on Sunday. Things are already really different and it's only been one day.

Last Minute School Prep

I never realized how much I'd have to do to get ready for school. Even though I started getting ready a month ago and told myself that I wouldn't leave things to the last minute, other things popped up and I have to scramble to complete them. In addition to cleaning the family room and getting food, I still need to put together/prepare all my new school things! As far as health goes I think I'm fine only I can't see very well without glasses. I was too lazy to do the eye exercises/read the book, so my eyes are pretty weak. Sitting in the front of class should help, but I might not get a seat there. Hopefully by Sunday night I'll be ready to go.

No Uploading Photos

Apparently with regular old free blogger there is no way to upload photos. So instead of uploading the pic I tried to create a hyperlink directly to the pic from the computer. Didn't work. Stored the pic in my Yahoo! Briefcase, then created a link to the pic there. That worked -- as long as I stay logged in to Yahoo! I need a host, but I don't want to have to join another service in order for this to happen. Not sure whether to continue linking to my online photo service or get a host. I'm so tired right now I can barely keep my head up or think straight, but I must stay up to watch Making the Band. I'll fix the cat pic later...::nods::

More Cindy

Cindy just got her medication on Monday and so far everything's fine. It's a topical cream that is rubbed in her ears twice a day; once in the morning in one ear, and once in the evening in the other.


This week is my last week of freedom and time is running out. Classes start on Monday and I am not anticipating any of them. Year after year it's the same thing, late August rolls around and summer comes to a close in the blink of an eye. I should be used to this by now, but I don't think anybody ever really gets in the habit of accepting this terrible fate. My days are numbered now, freedom's coming to an end. To make matters worse my mom's going to be leaving for a year to teach in another state. My dad and I have never had to fend for ourselves for more than a week and we won't know what to do with ourselves. Who's gonna make dinner, fill the refridgerator, clean the house, help with homework, take the cat to the vet, pay the bills,etc. I can guarantee that in less than a month the house will be in chaos. Hopefully, mom will visit to straighten us all out. Still, while she is gone we will have to adopt some of these tasks ourselves, or not. The only things that I have prepared for is cooking meals, but I stopped doing that a month or two ago. My dad will have to pay the bills, but he's not good and keeping the checkbook balance up to date, so I suggested online bill payment. He's really into Yahoo!'s services so he might try to use Yahoo! Bill Pay. We're going to need a lot of help so if anyone wants to do just that please feel free to offer your services. If all goes as planned we will have hired a maid by late October.

Mercedes Lackey Book 1

I read Arrows of the Queen and I didn't like it. Didn't like the characters, plot (was there a plot?), style (sort of). I'm told that this is her first book and she gets better, but I'm still skeptical about it. Even Harry Potter 1 had a plot! And the characters were realistic too. If I don't like the next Lackey book then I won't be tempted to read the 70 others.

No Power

No, I didn't not experience a power failure, however some of my family members did. My aunt had to spend the night in her office, and most of the phones in her house require power. Now some Americans know how the Iraqis feel, and it's even hotter there. This event has not inspired me to learn more about the nation's power grid system, yet. It usually takes some time for people to sort all the details out and then propose what to do, so I'll wait for that. I couldn't image living in a house without power for more than an hour, especially when it's so hot. In my neighborhood we have frequent blackouts and I can barely stand not having internet access for more than a second. At least there's always reading or writing, heaven forbid we run out of ink!

Sick Cat

My cat Cindy has been diagnosed with Feline Hyperthyroid Disease. This means she'll have to take medication everyday until she's better. We hope that this will work because the other treatments are admininstered by a vet and include surgery and radioactivity. Cindy is 11 years old and has been throwing up and losing weight rapidly. We're glad that we found out what the problem was before it got worse. Cin will have to visit the vet again in about two weeks to check up on her condition. To Cindy this is about as pleasant as being sentenced to death; she just doesn't like to leave the house. Oh well, maybe she'll get used to it and realize that it's all for the best.

No More Painting?

I think we are done painting the deck, but we still have to seal it. The project's not over, but the color is on. All that's left to do is touch-ups. Today's been hotter than usual, about 88 degrees F, so we started later in the day. Unfortunately, the bugs were out and we started to rush to get done so it may look a little sloppy. I think that I'm finished with the deck because I have a small migrane above the left brow that might be a result of the project. Yet another reason to leave DIY to the professionals.

Wood is Porous

Today's the second day of painting the deck and we've discovered that wood is porous. More porous than we originally thought. This means we'll have to paint two coats on the top part (spindles), in addition to going over the spillage that occured on the bottom. We would have painted the top first, but we didn't know exactly what colors we were going to use. After painting is finished we have to seal the wood, then the project will be over! So, I think we'll be done by Saturday. If we don't finish soon the project will never get done because we can only paint the deck when the weather allows us to. It takes about three days for the wood to dry after it rains, then about 72 hours for the paint to dry, so that's another two days without rain. If it was up to me a professional would have been called. :-(

Summer DIY Project: Finish the Deck

Due to the recent change in the weather in my neck of the woods it's time to finish painting the deck. To some this would appear to be a simple task that anybody could do. For the rest of us this is not an easy task. I am not used to doing any strenuous work at all but felt it was my duty since I complained about the deck looking bad. Also, nobody else seemed too enthusiastic about actually doing the work either. I guess this has something to do with not growing up in a DIY family. Some people just love to work on handy personish stuff any chance they can get. It's one thing to want something done, it's another do actually do it. I'd rather spend my summers traveling, reading, and lounging than do any kind of DIY. However, it's fun to watch others work on stuff like that. I enjoy watching HGTV(Home and Garden Television) and seeing people do various home improvement projects, but I never would actually do any of that stuff myself. That's what professionals are for, they need to make money too.
If you're suddenly inspired to paint something visit Behr Paints and go nuts.

Cindy

This is my cat Cindy. She had to go to the vet today and was wounded on the nose on the way. This picture was taken in haste to participate in the America 24-7 digital photo contest.

Back Home

It's always nice to be back home from any kind of trip, even if you're not there for very long. Chicago was nice, but I was tired for most of the trip, probably a result of not getting enough sleep the previous night. We went to the Apple store and used the iSight, played Harry Potter 2 and Tony Hawk Pro Skater, and listened to part of a demonstration. Unfortunately the G5 was not there so we didn't get to test that out. As far as shopping goes, I only got a pair of jeans and shoes; we can get the rest of my school clothes at home. I never really liked shopping since I want to buy everything I see but can't, am unable to walk for long periods of time, and don't like spending money. Luckily Chicago is much more than just stores so I enjoyed it a lot. Don't have any photographs, i hate carrying things even if it is a small digi cam. Besides, I didn't want to look too much like a tourist. My little trip is over now, time to be lazy again.

Chicago

I'm going to Chicago tomorrow! We're going to spend the day there at a computer store and shopping for new school clothes. I haven't gotten new clothes in 3 years so it's definately time for something different. I am so sad that summer's almost over. Oh well, Chicago should be fun. I'm hoping that new clothes will inspire me to avoid idleness of the mind. On the Montel Williams' show I witnessed what an idle mind can lead to. I didn't even know people like that existed, people who just didn't want to do anything. Like what the people who post on the Yahoo! Message boards say, this is Bush's fault. However, I believe it's his fault for not helping change some of the unproductive parts of American society. Too bad it seems like he is an unproductive part of society. Uh Oh! I might be blacklisted for saying something bad about the president! I won't be flying on a plane very much so I don't need to worry about airport security arresting me. Link courtesy www.mediachannel.com I think that a president should meet at least two requirements: that s/he is a smart person able enough to lead a country (preferable this one), and that s/he makes an effort to do something to help the country. We're in a real big mess now so I guess we should be looking for someone to clean it up.

Don't Walk

If you don't live in a city with good public transportation, avoid walking at all costs. You never know when you're going to pass out need a lift. Also, avoid walking if you live in a small city and it's getting dark. Always where shoes that you don't mind taking wear and tear. This translates into shoes that won't cause wear and tear on your feet.

Bad FanFiction

In my opinion most fanfictions are just plain horrible! I'm not saying that fanfic writers aren't creative and don't have any good ideas. That is the least of the problems with fanfictions. Unfortunately, most of these creative "writers" can't really write to save their lives. Every single error that could be made while writing can show up in one chapter of an average fanfic story. I understand that people make errors all the time, but it doesn't hurt to have at least one person proofread a story before it's published. If you ever go to FanFiction.net you'll know exactly what I am talking about. There's just way too much garbage on there to sift through before finding a gem. You never realize how much you appreciate a good pre-edited book until you read fanfiction. I think fanfiction and the internet are good things, however, just publishing any old thing you want regardless of quality is sacrilege. My advice: just read a book. For those who want to write a fanfiction go to HOW TO WRITE MARGINALLY READABLE FAN FICTION. I believe that this alone can improve a fanfiction by the amateur writer.

Back to School Prep

Unfortunately there comes a time when you have to admit that summer is almost over and it's time to go back to school. It wasn't easy for me; I was persuaded by the reminder to get my books, i.d. card, planner, etc. Lucky for me school doesn't start until the end of the month, however some of my friends aren't so lucky and school begins in about 10 days. Consequently this means I have to visit with all my friends before the various d-days occur, leaving little time to go out of town. No, there will definately not be any major vacations this summer, but I will get to go to Chicago and a little town in the north before time runs out. I didn't really do much of anything this summer but I certainly feel that that time was spent well. When I say "well," I mean that I was able to rebuild and repair myself after damage during the school year. I think summer is meant for that and anything that contributes to the damage done is not a very wise choice. Some people say that employment should be sought during the summer, and after pondering that idea for longer than I wanted to, I have decided that this is wrong. Doing absolutely nothing valuable to society or nature is justified if the self is improved in some way. Then when the resting period eventually ends the self can return to the pressures of life and its responsibilities more efficiently than if it wasn't rested properly. In other words, be lazy during the summer, work during the school year. For those who don't have this luxury of retiring during the summer, take advantage of any off-time availabe. Doing this can only produce good things. On the subject of getting ready for work, my advice would be to never leave it to the last minute. However I always leave it to the last minute. Like a cat that chases a rat, it's in my nature to leave it to the last minute. Punctuality is probably not natural for most people, yet it can be learned with a brief assessment of values, etc. It takes a loooong time for many, including myself, to learn it. That's why I'm going to plan the end of summer/beginning of the school year tomorrow, maybe. If anybody has any suggestions as to avoiding procrastination please feel free to comment. Normal people will appreciate your efforts. :-)

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Better Eyesight Without Glasses

After the unfortunate destruction of my glasses I've been forced to find other alternatives in order to see better. I tryed eyedrops to ease the pain, closing my eyes for a few seconds, and looking away from the computer screen every once in awhile. Despite my efforts my eyes continued to hurt for a few more days, but they got used to seeing on their own. I decided that I would not get my glasses fixed and instead try to improve them on my own. This was an idea I had ever since reading a short story where a man moved to a new location and after a while he didn't need to use his glasses anymore. So after a few online searches I discovered the late William H. Bates. His techniques for improving vision have been tried and tested and I decided that I would borrow his book from the library and see for myself. Some people have called Mr. Bates a fraud but I didn't inherit that idea because I really wanted to see better. I'm only in 50 or 60 pages but I have already seen some improvements in my vision that his book has explained. Hopefully I'll have 20/20 vision by the time i'm done reading. Anybody who is tired of wearing glasses/contact lenses and doesn't want to undergo dangerous surgery should read Mr. Bates' book.

It's the last month of summer and school's gonna start at the end of it. :-( I still haven't gone anywhere for vacation besides my aunt's for 2 days and I doubt that we'll be going anywhere else. Most of the news is filled with stuff on the war in Iraq, Microsoft security flaws, and the poor economy. There's no real point in posting any information on that stuff since it's pretty boring anyways. I try to look for stuff that's good but it's all pretty depressing. The major news sources tend to cover up a lot of things anyways; whatever happened to all the stuff on Afghanistan anyways? Maybe when school starts the news will be more interesting or I'll find better news sources. Besides looking for interesting news I'm also looking for good books to read, computer games to play, and other ways to spend the rest of my summer. It goes by too fast, 2.75 months is not long enough. However, my summer started in mid-May, it still seems pretty short to me. When school starts back up I think that I'll work somewhere too, but I'm not sure if that's the best idea yet. I'm going to apply to two places tomorrow and will be ready to start work immediately but spending the rest of the summer days working doesn't seem very fun. Oh well, maybe I'll find something really interesting to do before my time runs out. ;-)