April 2004 Archives

I spent the day painting my brick for outside my room here in MacKenzie Hall. It is a pretty sweet loking brick, in my own opinion. I can't claim all of the credit for this piece of awesomeness though. I got the help of the guy next to me, Ryan, to give me a hand on a few parts. It will be here for the next 10 years or so, so I wanted it to look pretty cool.

I am back to studying like crazy tomorrow. I have two more finals on Wednesday, and given that Inorganic went so badly, I am going to have to get some pretty good grades to make up for it. Hopefully a full day in the John Scott will help my memory a little for French and Organic.

The same guy that helped me with the brick got ducktaped to a chair tonight and had snow stuffed down his shirt by a mob of girls on our floor. It will be interesting to see where the retaliation goes...

We all dread it, it is a mindless waste of time, and yet at various points in our lives, we are forced to push mind-numbing amounts of paper at various organizations. Today that happened to be the IRS, and I was compelled to file my turn on the 15th. I also attacked with new vigor my admission to GRCC for the summer do I can take my summer course in calculus. I had quite a bit to do, but I got it done at the cost of studying today. Of course, I still think everyone needs a break from that sort of thing, so I was pretty happy to be able to take some kind of a break.

I am resigning myself slowly to a different pace of life back in the States for the summer. Of course, the move will be accompanied with a few very positive things, like being able to go camping with old friends, fooling around, seeing my MI relatives, but on the other hand, there are some negatives too. I will no longer have my beloved broadband pipes, nor will I have the independence that comes from living by oneself as a bachelor.

Inorganic chemistry and evolutionary biology were completed today, and I am glad about it. MY body was coming unglued from all the tension. Biology 108 went well, but I faired much worse in inorganic chemistry. I am not sure why I have a problem translating my theoretical knowledge to the actual problems, but I do. I can only hope I passed the course, and that I cure my deficiencies before they kill me in calculus.

It is actually snowing today. Last week at this time it was around 19° C and today is was a high of around .4° C, and there was probably at least 2 cm on the ground. No kidding, it looks like winter wonderland out there on a Wednesday in the middle of April. I guess that is why they call this the Great White North.

Since I haven't filed my taxes yet, I guess I will be tackling those tomorrow morning before trudging off to the post office to get them postmarked the 15th. From there it is off to the library for a few hours of rote memorization of organic chemisty. Perhaps I will get the French textbook for that course, and kill two birds with one stone...

It is sometimes difficult to see how much you have learned over a year when you always feel desperately behind. I was looking at someone's sig on MSN Messenger, and he said, "I wouldn't call my time here useless, it serves to show others what not to do." The phrase immediately struck me as funny, but it did make me think about all of the mistakes I have, and have learned from over the last eight months. I think I have emerged a stronger individual from it all.

I had Easter sunday at the church, and they cooked a huge meal for us, a turkey dinner. Fantastic food really. I came back did a little studying, a little sleeping, and now I am off to play volleyball. I have to make dinner soon too, and I can't decide between eggs and sausage or cream corn and soup. So many choices, such easy to prepare food...

Talked to all of my relatives today throughout the area, which was quite a laugh. Anyway, the game goes on without me!

Lot's of studying is occurring, though not as much as I would have liked or planned for. I can handle that because I still have quite a bit of time before I hit the finals, but as I am responsible for this material, I definitely need to know it better than I do now, which is in a casual nature. I will definitely be taking a little bit of time off this weekend, however. Tomorrow is Good Friday, and there is a service at 10:30 which I definitely plan on attending at the baptist church about a kilometre from here.

I went out tonight to the Powerplant for the last ship night. It was fun, but it didn't feel quite right, so I only stuck around till ten. And the night proceeded in a comic fashion from there, from Ryan trying to bash his camera around to get it to work, to Eddie nitpicking over the temperature in the room. Nothing like being in an irregular routine. With finals so far off, it is almost like a vacation, a vacation with a looming storm, but a vacation nonenetheless.

Anyway, much to do, and so little time to do it. As I close out a chapter of my life, I desperately want to have a good and memorable time. Goodnight.

I purchased my plane ticket tonight on Air Canada so I will be back in Grand Rapids on the 25th of April. It seems a little weird to be living back in the United States after 8 months out of the country, but it will be nice being close to my grandparents and friends once again. I am looking forward to having a long break from school, even though I have to do calculus. I am hoping to spend many a day relaxing on the lake or in the woods.

Tomorrow I have my macroeconomics final, so I am hoping to do well. I will post tomorrow night. Au revoir.

The ending of a week is always happy. It signals a break from the mundane, a shift from the annoying, and a change to the relaxing. Well, under ideal circumstances, in my case, this weekend will be something like the last, full of preparing for exams in the week to follow. My spoken French final, as well as my Macroeconomics final. Needless to say, next week will be kind of nasty...

I will be making some major changes to the site over the weekend, to highlight my skills in web development to potential employers and of course, to show off a bit. I am seeking new employment after structural changes at my old job have rendered it rather unpalateable to my tastes. I also hope to post my resumé and other documents.

I am still seeking the best way home and to date, I have not found any idea that stands out. I don't even know how to finance a vehicle for the summer. Decisions, decisions...