March 2005 Archives

My contacts and tax information arrived in the mail yesterday, which means that I may happily undertake the task of reclaiming my stolen money from the Fed and MI. And while doing it, I will no longer require spectacles! All in all, it was a much appreciated package. Especially given that spring is around the corner, it is nice to get rid of my glasses for a bit. Contacts are far more versatile.

Today was spent going through classes and figuring out what the agenda for tomorrow will be. A lot of fun, of course.

You may of heard of the milk challenges that college students do or other bizarre activities. In the pure interest of randomness, a friend of mine saw the bottle of Crown Corn Syrup that I used to make the glaze for the ham on Easter and offered to try a shot of that. Incredulous, I nevertheless poured him a good two-shot glass of it, and sure enough, he kicked it back. Not to be outdone, Nickie (above) and I did one as well. That stuff doesn't go down all that easy; it's fairly thick. I'd compare it to drinking molasses and leave the image as an exercise for the reader.

It's nearing spring here in Alberta, which I noticed on the way to the gym this morning. It was bright and sunny this morning at 6:50 this morning -- a pleasant surprise to be sure. I love the snow, but at this late a stage in the game, I don't mind seeing it yield to warmer days. In my mind at least, it is time for bike riding and studying on the grass. I hate the gradual process, however. There is nothing worse than soaking wet shoes and pants because there is 2 inches of slush and water to slog through on the way to class.

Only received one call on Easter: you guys are going to have to get better... ;-)

It is Silent Saturday today - a time of thinking and for the apostles, despair. A brief time of intermission in which people thought that eveything they lives for had suddenly vanished. I am sure the despondance was nearly palpable. On this day, I reflect. Though we now know what is to come, and so there can be joy. And so I am actively preparing for what occurs on Easter Sunday -- I haver to run to the grocery store to pick up some ham, etc.

I am been far from productive all weekend, but I figure I am not yet halfway through it, so there is time sufficient to redeem myself. I have a lot of stuff I have to get through, including for sale signs for some of my stuff. I have to figure out what I am doing with my fridge - most likely going my cousin, and what I am going to do with my monitor - selling it to a guy on my floor? We'll see. It's a somewhat thorny issue. I am loathe to give it up before I have to move out, but that may not be an option.

In any case, Jars of Clay's new album is out, as well as Kutless' Strong Tower.

With the photo that appeared above from a Passover Seder I attended on Palm Sunday, the biggest week in Christendom has begun, and while I have been a bit busy lately, I am really looking forward to this weekend. I have Good Friday and Easter Monday off as stat holidays, so I am planning on relaxing, job hunting, and cooking a feast. Since I have no family up here, I am planning on celebrating with friends that are staying here for the long weekend. I am looking forward to restoring my energy reserves before the grueling ordeal known more commonly as final exam time.

I still desperately need to get better grades this semester, but I am on a good course for that, provided that finals are amazing. I have been meeting with faculty lately in an effort to better understand my options so I can make a good decision come Thursday, when I need to do next semesters registration here at U of A. I may not stay here, but I will at least leave that as a good viable option. Besides, tuition is frozen here for next year, which is very appealing.

I have been meaning to get to this for the longest time, but each time I get started writing something, I get distracted, and then go to bed. I have spent a good portion of this weekend being lazy and working on memorizing the needed biochemistry for Monday's midterm. I am not very close to where I need to be yet, but I think that after tomorrow, I should have a decent grasp on the material that is necessary for the exam. I have memorized the most relevant portions of the glycolytic pathway, and tomorrow I will go over more enzyme structures, like the protease, elastase.

I have been busy trying to figure out what classes and courses I want to pursue next year, and even what university to take them at. It's quite the quandary, and I kinda hope I figure it out pretty soon. In addition, I am still trying to find work this summer and figure out where I am going to be working. I have worked out some general goals and directions, and now I have to chase those down. We'll see where it goes.

I had lunch with the Dean of science on Tuesday. That was quite the interesting experience; I foudn it to be surprisingly helpful. I now know what the Faculty of Science is concerned with, where it is aware of its shortcomings, and information about those that graduate. In addition, the Dean is actually from a high school in New Jersey, so he had the same problems I did in making the transition. Amazing.

It looks like a good friend of mine is going to spend the summer working up in Houghton, MI in the UP. I am disappointed that I won't see him, but I realize that he's got a really nice offer, so I wish him luck up there!

Anyway, I'm off to bed...

Well, I guess it can't be said any better. I had been hoping to make a post all week, but life got in the way, sadly. There has been a flurry of activity around this area, which I suppose has a good deal to do with the visit of the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin. He flew out to Edmonton this last Thursday to attend the largest RCMP memorial in Canadian history. Four RCMP officers were killed about 45 minutes away northwest of here in a reposession gone horribly awry. It was the largest death toll for peace officers in Canadian history.

The memorial was literally held right across the street from where I live, and the PM himself came to Lister for a few hours to a banquet I was not invited to. They actually painted the handrails for him, which wouldn't be such a big deal, but we live here and they never do it for us. In any case, this place was quite busy for a while, and some what of a distraction that I could have done without.

I have been working all week now on a series of papers which must be turned in on Monday. The term paper for bioethics was originally due on Friday, but since I was ill for a few days, I successfully requested an extension. I also must turn in a composition for French, and a lab report for microbiology. So far my progress on these projects has been lackluster, but I am making decent progress tonight. I hope that tomorrow is productive.

Hmmm, I got back from class today with every intent to boot into Windows to look for material to support my thesis. Of course, when I attempted to do that, I was completely unsuccessful. For reasons beyond what I can fathom, my formerly perfectly running Windows installation would no longer boot. So, I have spent the day in Slackware, after fixing X and my audio of course. This is a really busy week, so I was overjoyed to find out that my main rig was on the fritz. Whatever, I just hope that I really don't need Word and Visio as much I as suspect I might. I have quite a bit of writing and flowcharting to do for my term paper and microbiology lab...

I also started looking for new universities for next fall, given the stint at GRCC is not going to work out. Stupid waiting lists... Anyway, as soon as I have worked up a short list, I'll post 'er up here for comments, especially from those that know anything personally about the given choices. So far, I have calculated rough pricetags on academic costs for about 10 of them. Of course, though that is certainly not the only concern, it is an important one. I already have more than enough debt to start life off with.

I have a great link here about the names of God used in the Bible. A fascinating look at what most people most likely miss. יהוה is actually the most important one. So important, that is not allowed to be spoken by anyone but the High Priest. I never knew that before. Anyway, here is the link.

What a curse, eh? It is a deadly affliction that I believe affects nearly everyone at some point in their lives. I am torn by indecision constantly, whether it be to have a latté or regular coffee or to choose what I am going to spend my summer and following autumn doing. At some point here, I am just going to pick something and live with whatever it is. I did that with the U of A, and it hasn't turned out that bad. I can usually be fairly happy in whatever predicament I put myself in.

Today's topic of indecision? I have to write my term paper for bioethics class this week before Friday. Except that, I really can't afford to be indecisive here. Luckily, though this will be rather difficult, it should be nothing like my term paper for semiotics last term. That was absolutely brutal, and I am going to make this my masterpiece. The thesis as it stands is something like what the church has to say about the issue of cloning in the political sphere. It is not likely to change either, given that I have very little time to prepare this.

I fully blame myself for these circumstances. I spent a good chunk of the weekend wasting the hours away. I did have a lot of fun though. I helped out Amie with her trip to Nicaragua by helping out with a pancake breakfast this morning in church, and last night we had a karaoke party with my small group. That was certainly interesting. More later tonight, perhaps.