Stray Cats

I'm currently working the night clerk desk at Selleck because no one filled the empty shift and they thought it more important to have a clerk here than at Kauffman. One benefit (there aren't many) to working here, opposed to Kauffman is that there are big doors with glass windows in plain sight of my post. During the past 3 hours, I've seen 2 stray cats pass by these doors. I've never seen the stray cats on campus other than occasional glances as they hide in the bushes. I guess they like coming out at night when there is no one around to scare them.

Books and Things

Recently, I've been making a serious attempt to lessen my dependence on computers, videogames, and television for entertainment and replacing it with books.  I spent several weekends this summer pouring over lots of books of various subjects, including math, physics, history, and theology.  I even read a couple novels.  Right now, my current adventure is to complete Atlas Shrugged, but I don't think I can stomach it right now.  I'm deep into it, but I am so sick of every single character and the absurdity of the plot and Rand's necessity to repeat herself so many times that I may need to set it aside for a while.  I think a distraction into Gödel, Escher, Bach may be needed.  I've wanted to read this book for a long time after several good reviews by friends and teachers.  The start of the semester lowers my reading time, but I'll work on it.

I've been updating my Amazon wish list, because you can never have too many items on there.  The better the recommendations I get, the more interesting tidbits I find.  Tonight's adventure was adding all of the math books I could find, especially those dealing with the philosophy of infinity.  Biographies of mathematicians are great, too.  Depending on my interest in Gödel after GEB, I may want to get Incompleteness, a biography of the man who came up with the most important proof in the history of logic while it drove him mad.

Busy Move-in

After returning from Texas, I immediately started moving in to Kauffman. I first helped Katie move in, then got a few loads at a time over until Sunday finally finished the job. Moving is much harder when I don't have control over my own transportation. I'll need to rent a truck to move back home.

This move was made worse by a sickness that attacked my head, throat, and lungs. It made me very tired, especially after such heavy lifting. I'm finally getting better, but the fast pace of new classes are keeping me from fully moving in. I have a lot to unpack, so I better get back to it.

Air[head] Travel

There's nothing quite like air travel to reveal the worst characters of the human population. 

I get easily aggrivated by people who don't know what they are doing, so when I need to wait 15 minutes to check my luggage after spending 30 seconds at the self check-in kiosk because somebody requires the check in staff to press the buttons for them, I get a little upset. 

I walk fast, and don't like to stand around too much, so when I get on the little walkways, I expect everyone to make an effort to either allow passers or to be moving slightly.  A couple with a young child was walking in front of me on a walkway, but just stopped in the middle instead of passing a couple that was kindly out of the way.  Instead of being considerate as well, they just sat there, taking up the entire path.  They also decided to swerve around after they got off, so I couldn't pass them without a possibility of collision, that would make it look like I was being rude.  That's impossible.

I am a small person, and relatively in shape, so I don't take up a lot of room.  That was very necessary when a woman too large to fit in a single chair sat next to me.  At least I had an aisle seat for that flight.  Another flight, a man who could barely fit in his chair ordered bloody mary mix for his drink, which stunk up the entire cabin.

Hooray people!

Morningized

I am working my first night clerk position tonight, and it's the more difficult 4-8AM shift.  It's money, and time to work on research and/or TA responsibilities.  That way, I'm always getting double-paid.  Either that, or I'll get paid to do homework.  I like having a steady paycheck during the school year.

This morning, I am just getting caught up in my loss of communication over the past few days.  After getting back from Texas, I helped Katie move into Kauffman yesterday and will be packing my stuff today.  I hope to get a few blog entries written during this time, and then get some more reading done.

In San Antonio Not Being Nerdy

I'm back in San Antonio for the weekend.  This time, I'm not being a huge nerd and getting internet all the time.  I am here to give my support to Luke, Tina, and the Schmitzes.  The hospital doesn't have internet, and it takes too long to go back and forth to the guest house to make little updates on the computer.  The lack of internet doesn't bother me because I'm working on closing my long reading queue.  Soon I'll finish The Golden Ratio and then I'll continue Atlas Shrugged.  That should take me a while.

Something for Dad, Maybe for Mom

I found this online today.  It's a rear-projection screen set at the foot of a bed.  I'm sure my dad would enjoy this.  He has his own projector setup at home, and if he could get an excuse to set one up in the master bedroom, he would.  However, the mother might not like it as much.

I am King of the Decaying World

Last night, I had a crazy dream.  I can't fill in all the details right now, but I'll try.

It all started when my older brother, Andew, and I were featured on the Daily Show for our A Capella comedy routine dressed in Air Force blue uniforms.  Apparently, we were so popular that I was simultaneously voted Senator and given majority stock of Microsoft.  One day, I woke up in my Redmond home, ready to travel to Washington D.C., when my assistant asked me if I would bring my laptop on the trip.  I decided against it and arrived in D.C. immediately after.

Then, World War III broke out, and I fleed D.C. due to the massive onslaught of nuclear weapons being detonated on the East coast.  For some reason, all I could think about was getting my laptop as soon as possible, but that required a long trip to Redmond by jeep.  Traveling by roads was too dangerous.

When I got to Redmond, I got lost in my multi-million dollar home trying to find my laptop, and when I did, there were hoards of people surrounding the place.  They all wanted my money so they could survive the coming nuclear winter.  I just got in my jeep and made a run for it.

Then I woke up.

Oh, Henry!

Last night, a bunch of good old friends came over, including Henry and Lincoln. They've been out of town for quite a while. Kell and Helzer came, too. When I woke up, I was freezing, because someone turned on the AC to the lowest setting. This is the second time it has happened, so I doubt it was the new folk, even though I would expect it from anyone.

I sure hope this doesn't destroy my power bill. It's been high anyway this summer.

Weeks of Craziness

My last two weeks have been an upheaval in my normal activities.  In this time, Luke had his accident, Katie and I started dating (again), I got in a car accident, dealt with the insurance aftermath, all surrounding two tests and a paper in my history class.  I've been a little busy lately.

I'm Good at Losing Stuff

I took a bunch of notes on this paper I need to write on my syllabus, and was looking at it just earlier.  It has now disappeared, and I don't want to continue writing without those notes.  My search has yet to end, but has checked nearly everywhere in the apartment.  I'm sad now.

Total Recall

My car, the neon, speed racer, has officially been labeled totaled.  I cleaned it out and gave the go-ahead to ship it to salvage.  I'll miss the little guy.

The money goes directly to my parents.  I don't claim any right to a penny of it, because I didn't pay any of the cost of the car other than normal maintenance.  I was very fortunate to have such a nice car for the past three and a half years, and I thank my parents very much for that.

Now, I get to experiment what it's like to not have a car for a year.  When I find out where I'm going for grad school, I'll be able to guage what kind of vehicle, if any, I'll need.  I'll try to use my bike as much as possible in the interim.  I hope to be financially independent once I ship myself off to grad school, so getting a cheaper car will probably be the most I get.  I won't be able to afford very high insurance for a while.

Perhaps I'll just put "High-quality public transportation" as a big pro in my school search.  I'll try getting used to riding the bus places.

Accidental Popularity

I find it hilarious how many letters I got from Lawyers and Chiropractors today.  It's a crazy coincidence I get all this attention so soon after my accident...