Hah. I got something in the mail today. It looked like this, and it came out of the blue. Just for me.
*is very happy*
Yes, this is the same little critter that stars in this story previously linked to by Scott.
Sooo.... I only have a few things left to do before school ends...
- Turn in paperwork so Financial Aid can decide how much money they won't give me.
- Turn in paperwork for grading next year.
- Turn in design problems and programs for classes.
- Find a way to get to Tulsa.
- Pack up all my stuff so it can be moved to the apartments.
- Decide what stuff to take home with me.
- Continue packing up stuff. It always takes at least two false starts.
- Take all those stupid finals.
- Avoid getting ponded for my birthday.
- Turn 21.
I figure I should be able to manage most of those. Er. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
There's another list for this summer:
- Arrive in Tulsa.
- Drive pickup from Tulsa to Iowa.
- Fix computers and/or network at home.
- Go shopping.
- Eat.
- Sleep.
- Having done all that for a week, drive back in the Corolla from Iowa to Longview.
- Take summer classes.
- Work. Theoretically, make money.
- Keep roommate and self from going insane.
- Sleep as much as possible.
- Acquire more toys to hook up to my computer.
- Read. A lot.
- Enjoy the fact that it's summer.
- Not die of a heatstroke. It's my first summer in Texas.
Hrm. Another long list. Anyway, that's my life in the near future. I think it all makes sense. Sort of.
Oh, and for the curious, my dad has been taken off his current heart-regulation drug, as it was giving him problems with his liver. Those are now clearing up, but they'll need to find something else to put him on in the next month, before what's in his system clears out.
Yeah, life's interesting.
It doesn't happen often. Right now, despite people and things I'm worried about, deadlines coming up, stuff that has to be done, and general insanity and uncertainty, I have this vague feeling that somehow, everything is going to work out. I haven't a single clue how. I won't enjoy everything about it; I don't think it is possible to enjoy absolutely everything while I'm living here on earth. It will work out, though. God is still very much in control. And that makes me happy.
Not happy in any sort of giddy, carefree way. Because I'm not carefree, haven't been for a very long time, and can't see being that way any time in the near future. But I am happy. And it's strange. One doesn't usually think of being unable to determine things and being happy as coinciding. But I am happy. Happy and contented. Life ain't pretty; in fact, it can so easily be downright horrible. A lot of my life seems to exist of balancing on or falling off of the edge of a knife. But stability is not what this sort of happiness relies on.
It doesn't rely on people, either. People go away. They disappoint, leave, or die. Always. But that doesn't change the fact that things will work out. In the past year, a lot of people have hurt me inadvertently, walked out of my life, and two have died. It doesn't matter. It hurts; that never quite goes away. But in the end, it doesn't really make a difference.
When everything else leaves, there's really only one thing to rely on. And that is the simple fact that God holds me in the palm of His hand. He will never let me go. Ever. And when I remember that, it's enough to make me happy.
From "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide" by Douglas Adams:
"Are you serious, sir?" he said in a small whisper which had the effect of silencing the pub.
Follow the crowd, people.
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
Via Wilson.
That is all.
Yay. The power went off over much of campus for a little while. But the emergency power came on. Of course, the computers don't really like the emergency power. Thus, they get all upset and go into a sort of catatonic state. Very interesting to observe.
I get back into my room after eating lunch, and notice that all the lights on my computer are blinking wildly. Since this is the point where I am forced to go to work, I turn my computer off and head over to Longview Hall.
Most of the rooms are dark, except for a couple of classrooms that flatly refuse to admit they have no power and manage to have their lights on anyway. The students are milling around in halls, wondering whether class is canceled, while the professors are milling around in the halls, jockeying for the rooms with lights. I wander into the labs and notice that one computer is still on. How, I do not know, but it is. It's probably to stupid to realize that it's supposed to have no power.
After a few minutes, the lights flicker back on, and a collective groan rises from all the students. I spend about 10 minutes power-cycling all two-thirds of the computers in the labs, as they're apparently stuck in sleep mode. I then proceed to fix the paper jams in the printers, and everything is running merrily again.
It could have been worse, though. We could have had a situation like there is in this little town in Sicily.
And now it's time to play games and goof around for the next two hours, until I can get back to my room and see if my computer still works.
It seems that I have been manipulated, yet again. But 'nuff of that. On to other things.
Apparently, most of us do not express our emotions appropriately. I am greatly concerned for the communication skills of all mankind:
Humans should 'talk' like chimps
I eagerly await the outcome of this study.
Today, I am going to do something rather unprecedented, and base most of my post around a thread in a forum I frequent. This is mostly to show how smart and intelligent I am, if you still had any doubts.
In this thread, a friend of mine, here called 'Atanamis', makes an announcement about another friend of mine, using the screenname 'Jew'. Jew goes on to provide various other details. I am now going to prove without a doubt that this thread, or at least the vast majority of it, is a hoax.
For starters, here's the thread. It spreads to a second page, so don't miss the last parts:
Quite a sob story, isn't it? I was actually fooled for quite awhile, right up until my third post in the thread. This was when I noticed that Jew's AIM screenname had been on constantly, and his away message had changed several times while he had been 'away'. I promptly became suspicious.
After thinking over the situation, I realized there were several suspicious bits about his story. First of all, AMD is a big company. They're not incapable of putting someone up for a week in a hotel, even if this person does happen to arrive a week early. And as it would have been the company's fault, they are pretty much guaranteed to do so.
Then there's the time-zone difference. Dresden is 7 hours ahead of us. That means that Jew must have made his post concerning the open times of his hostel at 2:12am Dresden time, since I made my last one before that at 6:50pm Central Time. The internet cafes there must be open incredibly late. However, his posting times make perfect sense if he's still residing in Dallas.
This is where I'd like to point out that I know this 'Jew' is administrator of two other forums, and has mentioned none of this on either one.
Also, the quick hiring process is somewhat suspect. While not unheard of, it does seem to be a rather short time for such a large company. If it were the government hiring him, it would be one thing, but that sort of speed is uncommon in the civilian world.
It's also interesting is how Atanamis seems to know as much or more about the situation as Jew does.
All in all, I'm quite convinced the whole thing is a hoax. Quite a clever one, but a hoax nonetheless.
Now, having had much fun and entertainment researching this little project, it's back to homework.
Yup. Just what you always wanted. More Shockwave games. Quite a few, here:
Personally, I recommend Bauns.
Some are a little stupid, yes, but quite addicting nonetheless.
