Life – Page 6 – AllisonYax.com

Spring Break

Trip to Bay City.

So, Bay City went well. Stopped at Jay’s on the way but didn’t really need anything so continued on. Once there, we went up to Bay Med and saw my grandma. She seems to be doing well, and definitely in good spirits. Went and saw my mom, then went to Hooters for dinner and did a little shopping at the Bay City Mall. Come 8, I met up with the guys from the library and Todd at Hooligans for some fun. When they kicked us out at 12, we went for a bite at Texan, then to our hotel.

Wednesday we had lunch at the Wanigan then went to my mom’s for a bit, then to see my Dad. My Grandma had just been released so she was finally home. I fixed their computer and got my iBook set up for my Dad. After all that, we did a little more shopping at Macy’s where I bought a pair of jeans and two shirts.

We decided since we were in Saginaw, we would try taking 46 across home. On our way, we got hungry, so we went to The Eat Place, which it turns out is actually called The Country Inn. It turns out they are REALLY good, like, some of the best food I’ve ever had. Finally though, we made it home.

So, that is about it. Scott, whenever you read this, you may commence the jealousy.

Where Did That Week Go?

School, Food, Job apps, and Pasties.

Seems like the week just flew by.

Tuesday night we had our bowling party, all but 5 people from the Mfg. Eng. program showed up, about 20 in all. Seemed like we were all having fun.

A lot of the week was working on Project X, the first of two big projects of the semester. I think most of next week will be the same.

I realized Thursday that Ferris doesn’t have my first degree from Delta on my transcript, and hence does not have my MACRAO stamp. That explains why my advisor didn’t notice it I guess. Am trying to get it sorted out before Fall reg. begins in about 3 weeks. I emailed transfer and reg offices, but both forwarded to a nonexistent email address.

Friday I went to El Burrito with the guys. Was somehow very blah. Dane and I were very not up for mexican, but we were pressured by Conrad. Will have to go somewhere different next week.

I applied to Oshkosh Truck yesterday. Hopefully I start hearing back form at least a few of these soon.

The bakery in Reed City, we found out this week, has pasties. Apparently they made them for years, then stopped for a few years, and just brought them back a few weeks ago. They were really good, crust was best I have ever had on one. I can’t say if they are better than Yooperville, definitely different though.

I think that wraps it up. Till eventually…

nick

Changes Continue

Theme change, Weekly lunch, Wii, SME, Jenn, and Job apps.

I finally remembered the secret to updating the look of a site: Don’t try and change your old theme, just throw it out and start over. Well, I made some progress on that last night and the results are obvious. There is more to do, and I will try and keep on it.

Yesterday Dane, Conrad, and I went to Schuberg’s for lunch. It was a nice change form mexican, not that anything is wrong with El Burrito. I learned that sambuca is pretty good.

We rented Rayman Raving Rabbids and Trauma Center: New Blood for the Wii, and both are pretty cool. We rented a few movies too, including Bourne Ultimatum and 300, but haven’t watched them yet.

At our last SME meeting we discussed fundraising, and are looking at doing a pancake breakfast. We also decided to have an elementary school do our sales, since nobody can say no to a kid, and give them a share of the profits.

Jenn got the results of her MRI, and the professional opinion was that her knee is “messed up”. She was referred to an orthopedic surgeon and has an appointment Tuesday.

I applied at Trek Bikes, Cannondale, and IBM for internship positions this week. Cannondale sent me an email thanking me for my interest and noting my qualifications are impressive, but they are not currently seeking interns. I don’t know if that means they already hired them, haven’t hired them yet, or just don’t have interns, but at least I am putting myself out there.

That seems like about it. Not sure what else there could be.

OK, till next time then.

nick

Snowday 3!

Jobs, the weekend, ice, school, and the site.

So, what have we got this time…

As cool as Northrop Grumman sounded, their deadline for for intern applications was already passed and they weren’t really looking to mfg. eng. anyway. The job fair went a little better. I talked to a few companies and handed out my resume, will see if I hear anything back. The problem I saw is a lack of employers looking for manufacturing engineering, they come for welding, mechanical, facilities, and electrical, and talk to us because we force them. Over the weekend I sent thank you emails (right after the job fair actually) and applied for a few more positions online.

Friday was El Burrito day with Dane and Conrad, plus Jenn and Conrad’s fiance. Was pretty good. Not sure if I want it again next week, maybe something different.

Saturday was Meijer’s shopping, and laundry later in the evening. Sunday was the start of dishes, and some relaxing.

This morning, Jenn woke me up to let me know that I didn’t have school, due apparently to ice. She went out to her vehicle and left, but I heard her alarm go off as she went to vehicle, must have hot on accident. I checked that I really didn’t have class, then called to say hi to her, and found out her alarm went off because she slipped on ice and hit the button on her way down. She also twisted her knee around pretty bad, and was hurting. She considered going to hospital here, but decided just go to work and see how it goes, and f it gets worse se is at a hospital. Well, about 3 hours later she was home, MRI scheduled for Wednesday and a slip for no work today or tomorrow. hopefully it’s just a sprain and not a tear.

Between waking up at 5:30 and Jenn getting home around 8:30 or 9, I worked on the site a little. The calendar and comment links are AJAX now, which is cool, and obviously the colors are changed. I have more, but I am closer. Maybe over the coming weekend.

I think that’s all. More some other day.

nick

Job Fair

Job fair, being sick, going out, the site, and a little more.

Tomorrow is the Ferris Winter Job Fair, so here’s to hoping for luck at that. I am going to an informational meeting tonight with Northrop Grumman too. You may have heard of them, make a few little things like the B-2 Bomber and most of the Navy’s aircraft carriers.

So last weeks, I woke up Thursday and felt a little itch in my throat, like beginnings of a cold, too bad. We had the day off though thanks to a few inches of snow, so I met with Dane and Conrad at El Burrito Loco for lunch and some margaritas. We had a lot of fun there, then it was home for some Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Friday was class, and I was feeling a little worse. Luckily I was home around 11 and sat around and rested. Saturday and Sunday I felt progressively worse. Monday morning was cold as fuck walking in, actual temperature was -18 at 8:30 AM, thank god no wind. It actually warmed up 30 degrees over the course of Monday.

Yesterday was more class, and a haircut and some shopping at Meijer. Made some sloppy joes and tater-tots, greatest food ever. Was getting slippery on my way home, especially back roads. Jenn was lucky enough to miss the heavy traffic on the way home form work, had she left 2 hours earlier she would have been stuck in the 1 hour traffic jam.

Grand Rapids Rampage arena football starts Monday, March 10th, with a second game that Friday. I really want to go, would be cool to see and arena game I think. Need to find peoples to go with though. Maybe Jenn, maybe my dad and/or brother, though he would probably be working on a weekday so probably not.

No site work, since as I said was sick and mostly laid around. Do want to try and get something done, but probably not this weekend either.

I realized that with Jenn not counting, Scott on tour for a month, and that being everyone, I have no readers right now. My cousin Cindy reads, and my mom, but they seldom comment. Oh well.

Still loving my MacBook. Still haven’t really gotten the iBook ready for my Dad. I did get him a wireless router though, but I probably already mentioned that.

Jenn and I have been watching Dead Like Me, originally on Showtime I believe. There was a marathon on some channel over the summer and I watched several, and with TV sucking I downloaded the entire series. Best part is, no commercials.

Despite the no readers, I am pissed that I go a week without updates. Being sick is almost a valid excuse, but it has happened more than this once. I will try and do better.

I think that is all.

nick

150,000 Words

Word count, Computer, and School.

So long as this post is 637 words long, I will reach 150,000 words in the blog on this post. Quite a milestone.

I am going to try and work on the theme for the site this weekend. I have some ideas I want to try and think I can get it more decent looking. I also downloaded a rather good looking theme I might try if I can’t get mine right. I really don’t like using pre-made themes though. I know I can do the coding, I just have issues with the little touches, and having no artistic ability. I can make it look good, I just don’t know what good looks like.

New MacBook is over a week old now. Along with being incredibly faster, it has Leopard, which is like a new computer all by itself. It doesn’t have the big features of some previous versions of OS X, but it did get a lot of little tweaks. Tabbed chats in iChat, better looking icons, key commands to sort icons in a folder, multiple desktops (that I haven’t really used yet), Quickview of documents without opening an application, preview icons of pretty much everything, and 294 more apparently. Plus, the computer is new, so its REALLY fast, and my battery is new and lasts longer.

School has been going fairly well. I was a little lost in stats, but he cleared that up this morning.

So, with all the words above, the post count comes up to 159,654, only halfway there. So, what else…

Superbowl was OK, but not great. I was unsure who to root for, since the Patriots were undefeated, but the Giants were the underdogs and I generally go for them. Unless Green Bay is in it, then they are always my choice. Commercials were so-so, some good ones but not as many as normal.

We rented Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Pretty good so far, although the trampoline judging is way off. You can suck ass and get 1st, or have the best routine ever and land 7th, is just weird.

I cleaned most of the apartment Sunday afternoon, vacuumed and moved around the furniture in the front room. It needed to be done. Still need to do office and bedroom.

Current count is 149,793, just 207 more.

I didn’t realize it was this far away. I was kind of done with this back at 159,650, and it just seems like it is dragging on and on.

Ferris is having a job fair on the 14th, and supposedly Northrup Gumman will be there, you know, the largest defense contractor in the US, the guys that make battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers, tanks, aircraft, satellites, and more. Will be fun to talk to them. I don’t know that I would want to move away for the summer, think I really don’t actually, but do want to keep my options open, and they would be interesting.

OK, up to 149,900 right now, so down to like 90 more words by now. So 90 words, just 90 more words to reach 150,000. What 90 words can I write… Hmmm. OK, thats not very productive.

Apparently WordPress 2.3.3 is out, I have a little reminder to update on my screen. I think 2.4 was supposed to be out las month, but was cancelled because of decreased development over Christmas break, so they are skipping over to 2.5 in March. It is supposed to have some cool features from what I have heard and seen.

OK, so the word count is now up to 150,012. Yay, done!

See you next time.

nick

Snowday!

What happens when the temp drops 40 degrees in a few hours, the rain freezes to black ice, and it all gets covered with snow? How about if the wind gusts in and gives you a cozy 0 degrees with -18 windchill?

Classes and events for the remainder of today (Wed., Jan. 30) on the Big Rapids campus are canceled. Non-essential personnel have no need to report or remain on the job.

WOOHOO!

As I began this post, I had a mere 675 words to 150,000. Right now, I am up to 149376, which is lower than I thought. Maybe I will just leave it here, at 149393.

150,000 next time!

nick

New Computer!

New MacBook!
Plus, our weekend shopping trip, visit from Jenn’s parents, and a farewell to Scott.

So, Friday I got my money from Ferris, so I wrote Jenn a check for $1300 which her bank here cashed, then we headed down to GR. We got lunch at BD’s, then went to Woodland Mall. Jenn bought some Croc’s at Journeys, and I got a shirt with the silhouette of a man and boy, with the man pointing under a tree saying “That’s Shady”. Then, we went to the Apple Store. I walked in, and the concierge greeted me and asked if he could help me, so I pointed at the middle MacBook and said “I want that”. He said “Uhhhm… OK, let me find you an associate” and walked over to a girl and asked if she could help me get a MacBook. She said something like “You are interested in a MacBook?”, to which I replied “Yes, the 2.2GHz White MacBook with SuperDrive, the middle one.” “Uhh-OK, uhm…”. She was, at this point, a little off balance. Associates are no doubt used to selling iPods, or trying to talk iPod buyers into a Mac, or helping a customer decide between a few models, but not somebody who can walk in, not look, and just know exactly what they want. Finally, she regained her spot, fast-forwarding in her mind through all the other sales lecture, and began to ask if I would like a printer as well. “No, I already have a printer, I will consider Apple Care, but not today, and no .Mac”. She stands and does a little more fast forwarding, then said she would be right back and went to the back room. She came out with a black MacBook, so I sent her back for the correct one, then proceeded with checkout.

After shopping, we went to our hotel for the night, that had a really hard bed and maybe 5% humidity. I was itching and sparking all night. Worse, I had a brand new computer without any of my stuff on it, and the hotel wireless was $4.99 and only 100k! Thankfully, they forgot to charge us somehow. After a while there, we went out to dinner at Smokey Bones, kind of like Famous Dave’s but not as good.

Saturday we went to Centerpointe Mall where I almost bought some new shoes at Nordstroms, but they just didn’t fit right. Then, we went across the street to Woodland and ate at Olga’a Kitchen, which was really good, then to Barnes and Noble. After that, we came home and spent the evening here.

Sunday morning, Jenn woke up early, saw Meijer had Wiis in stock, and had one home and hooked up by 9. She woke me up just after 10 to make me help her clean because her parents were on the way. Just as we were about done, they arrived and we talked for a bit. Following that was Meijer, Qdoba, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart. Jenn’s parents proceeded home after that, and we sat around. I got a really bad headache, and spent most of the rest of the day on the couch. While at K-Mart, I bought a Belkin wireless router for my Dad, which was on sale for $29.99. I had found one for $18 on Buy.com, but was a brand I never heard of (but with really good reviews), no shipping, and less hassle. I decided he will like it.

Today was class, that’s about all. I took my computer in and had to answer questions about it, like that it can run windows, and it doesn’t cost a lot, and is cheaper than your $2000 Dell that is only 6 months old and is cracking and being a piece.

Lasty, Scott is apparently being deployed for it sounds like a month. Not sure if he is leaving today, or this week, or in a couple weeks, or when. If you read this, let me know, and good luck.

OK, tata…

nick

New Computer?

Mostly about getting a new computer.

First of all, I apologize for once again neglecting my blogging duties. I got obsessed with a few things online and suddenly it was a week since a post again. Truth be told, I should have posted my 150,000th word by now. Soon, it should be coming up soon, along with the 15,000th visitor. Maybe I will strike until I get the visitor? Stop at 149,999 words, until right after the 15,000th visit, then just post “word”. That could be sweet.

I was talking with Mom and Dad and Jenn and with my fin aid refund coming in tomorrow, I am getting a new computer tomorrow. My grandma is borrowing me some money and my Dad is buying my iBook from me. The problem I am having, is my refund is going to Catholic Federal, which is 100 miles away, and they limit my debit card to $1000 per 24 hours. Since my computer is more than that, I am stuck. The Apple Store accepts checks, but my checks have my old address and my drivers license my address here, so I don’t know if they will take it. I do have a credit card from Fifth Third, that they decided to give me after I got my car loan, that is totally open. That only has a credit limit of $1000 though, so I would need to split it across two cards. I also thought of the option of buying $600 or so of Apple Store gift cards tomorrow, then buying the computer Saturday, so that my debit card is not charged more than $1000, but I wouldn’t be able to buy until after whatever time of day I bought the gift cards. Since we are going to Grand Rapids after my class, it will already be later in the day, so wouldn’t be able to buy computer until 7 or so Saturday night, and need to stay in GR all day Friday and Saturday. Will figure something out.

In preparation for the new lappy, I bought the MacHeist II bundle. It comes out as $490 something in software for $49. It ended yesterday, but none of you use macs anyway. There were 3 apps I really wanted, and 2 of them were worth more than $49 anyway, so the other 11 were all gravy.

I need to do dishes, and make dinner, but a Hungry Man is sounding better. I need to do before we leave tomorrow either way though. It sucks when you neglect your dishes for a day because it doesn’t look like there are many there, then suddenly there is a giant pile.

OK, that’s all for today.

nick

Back To School

School and MacWorld.

So far school has been pretty good. I can see some of the classes getting a bit hairy toward mid semester but everything should be smooth till at least then. Somehow, 3 of my five classes are in the same room, which is nice. I know most of the people from last semester and that is always a plus as well.

MacWorld keynote begins in 53 minutes. Thank got I have class, that will keep me from peeking until at least 1. I want to manage to watch the video with no knowledge of the updates. I am rather sure I have never managed that, or at least only once.

That’s really all for now. More in depth later tonight I suppose.

nick