JANUARY 2003 ARCHIVE
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• 1/30/03, 12:37 a.m.: UP Update
The UP Sale Hall of Shame has been updated to reflect today's rather modest purchases, plus a submission from Steve from last week. Check it out.
I also have changed the visited link color on my page, due to popular demand. If it still doesn't look right, let me know.
• 1/27/03, 9:00 p.m.: Dubious Debut
In an effort to keep tabs on how much time & money I waste(?) on crap I buy at the Used Possession sale, I have decided to make a UP Sale Hall of Shame. I will make an effort to keep it updated as I sell/repair/destroy my findings, and will include handy pictures so y'all can see what this junk looks like, too. Should be fun, if nothing else ;-) Since I know I'm not the only one who's yielded to the Sale's siren song, my intention is to make this a GROUP effort, so if you care to have your junk listed in my shrine, please just send me a pic with all the necessary info (what, why, how much, etc.--just look at the page) and I'll put it up. And for future reference, you can get to this waste of space from my "Stuff" tab.
• 1/27/03, 12:10 a.m.: Mmmm....snow...
Well, it finally snowed...kinda. I don't think it officially counts unless it covers all the grass, but at this point I'll take what I can get. Here's a couple pictures I was inspired to take while walking through the snow the past couple weekends:
I took this two weekends ago when it tried to snow and I took a walk at like 2am. Pic didn't turn out well, though, not enough light.
This one's from this past Saturday. It's the view out my back door. Look close enough and you can see snow flakes ;-)
• 1/25/03, 5:55 p.m.: Woooooooooo...!!
"Welcome to the ISU Block Party": Well, the Cyclones finally managed to win a conference basketball game today, courtesy of a Big 12 Record 17 blocked shots against the Huskers. In spite of this impressive feat, they still only won by 10--but a win is a win. Too bad things don't get any easier next week when they play AT Oklahoma State...
• 1/22/03, 12:26 a.m.: It's always the little guy that gets stepped on...
Well, I was pretty tired earlier today so I made myself some coffee--big mistake, considering I haven't had much at all since I got done working last semester. So I'm pretty wired right now ;-P
I found the following story pretty interesting: (click here) Turns out my beloved Square is just as much a victim of bureaucratic BS as the next big corporation. Oh, well. My sympathies to the peons--having been an intern, I kinda know how you feel ;-)
• 1/20/03, 9:28 p.m.: A Tribute of Sorts
First of all, my sympathies to Sam on the loss of his hamster. Having owned many animals myself, I know what it's like to lose a pet. So this evening, I've decided to make a list of all the poor animals that have passed on while under my "care." I suppose you could consider this a tribute of some kind:
• Two golden hamsters--Snickers and Munchkin
• Three or more dwarf hamsters--Lil' Uke, Munchkin II, and at least a couple unnamed
• One wild bunny named Thumper
• Three tiger salamanders--Lizzy, Fire, and the third name I can't recall
• One unnamed garter snake
• Two cricket frogs--neither one with a name I can remember
• Two fire-bellied newts--The Dude and Newton
• One skink (a small black and blue lizard), unnamed
• My very first goldfish, named Swimmy
• My family's first dog, a cocker-terrier mix, named Sandy (1989-1990)
• And of course, last but not least, my favorite pet ever and a dog I still dearly miss, my cocker spaniel Sadie (1990-2001). Rest in peace, big dog ;-)
Now I know I'm missing quite a few pets that have passed on in obscurity, so I apologize that this isn't the complete list. Back in my younger days, my brother and I used to spend all summer collecting whatever animals we could find and taking "care" of them in our garage. Most either died or escaped before we ever let them go again--I think this probably makes me a bad person. At any rate, some day I suppose I'll collect all the Sadie pictures I have and make a mini-shrine for her. She was a way-cool dog and deserves at least that much.
• 1/16/03, 8:10 p.m.: It was the thought that counted...
I couldn't tell you exactly why, but for some reason I just really love snow--which is why the last two winters in Iowa have been more than just a little depressing, especially after seeing all of Andy and Steve's pictures from Colorado...and also why yesterday I was probably the most excited person in Ames to hear we were going to get some snow. But then it ended up just being a wee little bit, not even enough just to make for a nice pleasant walk...*sigh* But that's okay, it was nice to see white stuff again. In all seriousness though, I don't think I've seen a good snow storm for at least two years now. Maybe I just need to move to Colorado for a bit ;-)
My deck--look closely and you can see snow.
• 1/14/03, 7:28 p.m.: Is this Exercise Science 109?
So school started yesterday, and for me it was the first time I'd been to class in about 8 months. It feels sort of wierd, but after a couple of days, it's already starting to feel like normal. I'm still loathing the fact that break went by way too fast, but I guess that's life. I suppose that's the price we pay for being done by May 9... Most of my classes seem like they're going to be pretty cool, with the exception of ME 421, which is the dreadful combo of differential equations with my two all-time LEAST favorite classes (EE 442/8 and ME 370). Bleh. That one will be trouble, I can already tell >:-P
• 1/13/03, 5:54 p.m.: *whew*
Wow...this is gonna be a big update. First, sorry for no update for a long time--I've been in the process of moving and have been without internet for a couple days. To mediacom's credit, though, they got it installed pretty darn quickly this morning. Now if only it would stay nice and reliable with no random outages...
In addition to school starting today, I've been running around all day buying random stuff that I need, getting my job set up for this semester, filling out an inspection report (also for the apt), etc. etc. And later tonight I get to go home and help my family move some couches. If one of them wasn't eventually going to make it to my place, I think I'd be a lot more upset about having to help out ;-) At any rate...I need a break or a nap or something.
Finally, here's the pictures I promised, because, Hey, eveyone likes pictures, right? I'm not completely moved in, but the place is still shaping up nicely. You'll notice that I have more than enough room in my living room for a couch ;-)
Sorry about the crappy formatting job--I couldn't get the layout to look how I wanted it and gave up.
• 1/8/03, 5:35 p.m.: Apartment Search: Day Three
After three (well, I suppose 2 and 1/2, really) frustrating days of looking for an apartment, I finally found a good one with a short lease and signed all the legal goodness this afternoon. So I now officially live in that "Regency" complex (the dark blues ones) next to the mall--now all I have to do is move in ;-) I suppose I'll go give it a good look tomorrow to see what all I should move; I'll bring my digicam and take some "before" pictures for y'all so you can see just how cool the place is.
• 1/7/03, 1:50 a.m.: Apartment Search: Day One
I started my quest for an apartment today, and actually managed to find a couple places that offer leases ending in May. Unfortunately, the two nicest ones are in north Ames, while the absolute ghetto efficiency (owned by "South Ghetto" apartments, no less) was located near all you boys in that area. Too bad it was a real dungeon--basement level, one partially-obscured window, kinda cramped...Not sure if I could stand living there for a whole semester. But it is close to all you boys living in the Ames ghetto. Not quite sure what to do yet...but I don't want to wait too long. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
• 1/5/03, 5:35 p.m.: One week to go...
Well, I'm officially done with work at Amana now. It was overall a very good experience, but I don't think I could see myself working that job for the rest of my life. I met some really cool people there, though, and it was kind of sad to have to say goodbye to everyone on Friday. But I guess it's time to move on and get back to school. I currently feel pretty excited to get back to hitting the books, so I hope that motivation lasts for longer than the first week of class.
This week could turn out to be pretty busy, even though I don't have to work. I still need to find an apartment, buy my books, and take care of a few financial aid-related things, but it should be a nice relaxing break before all heck breaks loose on Monday the 13th.
• 1/4/03, 12:33 a.m.: "Good thing I left mine back home!"
For those of you who haven't seen this picture yet, it's not off of some intarweb message board like you might think. I took this picture in our very own IC, near the Melrose St. onramp to Hwy 218. Will wonders never cease...
After wondering where this official-looking sign may have come from, my boss told me at work today that the brainiacs in charge of IC actually passed an ordinance prohibiting the possession of nukes in IC. This of course begs the question: are they legal to own in other cities? And if not, is this sign supposed to be some sort of terrorist-deterrent technique? Hmmm...makes you wonder what people are thinking sometimes.
