Wrapping up June

So this year is half over already. I thought I would examine some of the things I've said so far this year, about my personal goals and some of the predictions I made (where I went wrong, where I was totally right, etc.).

These were my goals:
1. I intend to break myself of the monkey that's on my back. I'm 21 hours into a new year, and I intend to go all 8784 free of this thing that has been cursing me for the last 6 years.

This has been kind of up and down throughout the year. At some points the monkey really has not been a problem, and at others (including at the end of March and in the last few weeks), the monkey has been really bad. I look to be on an upswing of anti-monkeyness starting tomorrow.

2. I intend to maintain straight A's this year, without exception. I think there are several classes where this will be quite easy: Ancient Rome, Critical Thinking, French II, Biostatistics, and others where this will be extremely challenging: THESES.

So far, I have kept this goal faithfully. 23 hours in the spring and all A's. French and biochem research promise to be A's also. We'll see what fall brings...

3. I intend to graduate this fall, and this look really good for a fall graduation.

I will graduate in fall, no problem.

4. I intend on December 21 to have over 3000 dollars in my savings account, if possible. I'll have a better idea of this when summer starts. Right now, I have 500 dollars, but I'm hoping that I can work a lot this summer, and save up everything I make this year that doesn't go towards school.

This is tricky. I'm near 1000 now (far off, I know), and there are questions about my tuition. My guess is that I'll probably be lucky to break $2000 by the time I graduate, but I do have a lot of opportunity to work this year. I think a better goal to have this year to come (Spring 09, Summer 09 included) is to be able to have around $10,000 saved by the time I leave for grad school.


These are some of my smaller ones:1. Get good scores on the GRE. I have no doubt that I can do well in the math and writing sections, but verbal reasoning is kind of eh. I've taken a couple of practice tests and gotten ridicuously skewed numbers: 480 in verbal (which sucks) and 720 in math, (which is amazing).

I did ok on my GRE, getting a 770 in math, a 590 in verbal, and a 5.5 in writing. I may take it again to see if I can score higher...?

2. Read all of the books that I've got that I haven't yet read, which is a ton. I'm resolved not to buy another new-non school-book until all the ones I have now are read. I think it's a ridiculous number that will take basically all year, but still.

This was a mixed bag. I have bought several books (Eleanor of Aquitaine, two Dostoevsky books, and a history book on mediaeval machinery), but I have read more than I have bought (like 15), and I have like 20 more to read by the end of the year, hopefully.

3. I plan on discarding a lot of my things this summer, as I do every summer, books that I've read that I have no intention of ever reading or using again, old clothes that I don't wear, junk papers sitting around, etc.

I have gotten rid of a LOT (examine earlier blog entries), but I think I still have a lot more to get rid of, especially along the lines of clothes and junk I just don't need anymore.


4. Finish all of my assignments at least a week early, if possible. I successfully did it last year in the spring, but not so much in the fall. This semester I hope will be slightly different.

HA HA HAHHA HA HA HA! I basically did all of my assignments and my studying the night before it was due. I think the only things I did a LOT of work on were my thesis, my advanced immunology stuff, and my one paper I had to write this semester in Critical Thinking.

5. Finish all the cross-stitches I have right now (5 I think) before I buy any more. No buying cross stitches until the ones I have are done!I'm sure I will think of more laterBy the way, I'm going to go cross stitch and movie watch now.

HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHA. I've finished like 2. And my mom bought me 4 more. I'm screwed there. I would be better off with the books.


These were some of the predictions that I made about the world (either here or on my other blogs):

1. That the situation in Iraq would markedly improve in order to improve a Republican's chances of election.

This is obviously happening. For the first time ever, the US, allied forces, (and I think civilians) have LOWER death and injury rates in Iraq rather than in Afghanistan. Reports are increasing of Iraqis returning to their daily lives with relative ease (yahoo article today on Basra). McCain is clearly benefiting, probably more than Bush ever will (thanks to the economy), as Iraq is one of the issues where people think he is the better man for the job.

2. That the situation in Afghanistan would suffer because of it.

Yep.

3. That Hillary would be the Democratic nominee, McCain the Republican one.

Not quite. I did make these predictions after New Hampshire (so my McCain pick is not so surprising). Clinton probably should have won. Had she campaigned in Washington, Nebraska, and Wisconsin more fervently, she would be the Democratic nominee. But people got the impression that Hillary only cared about the big states--California, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania. That strategy works for Republicans, but not Democrats, thanks to delegate allocation rules. I think Obama came across as more willing to talk to people in the middle of the country, which allowed him to rack up an 11 state streak (including Louisiana, Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington, and Maryland).

4. That my back might get broken by oil prices with barrels near $130 by the 4th of July.

My back isn't broken, but I was not too far off on oil. I, however, made this prediction in April, so maybe it doesn't count.

5. That the European Union would accept Croatia's application for admission.

It is still possible that Croatia's application will be accepted, as it has only four issues left to resolve (Turkey, a candidate for like 7 years now, still has 15 issues to resolve, I think). However, the EU as a whole has a bigger issue. The current treaty limits the number of states to 27. Guess how many there are now? 27. With Ireland and now Poland's rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon, Croatia may be left to suffer.

6. That significant progress in the cure for cancer will be published sometime this year.

The information on Vitamin D I think is good for common people, but we've sort of known this in science land for years.

7. That HIV rates will INCREASE in the US for the first time in years. AIDS incidence though would drop thanks to continued use of anti-retroviral drugs.

HIV rates have increased in homosexual males (especially young males who have not had to live through a generation of AIDS like the gay men who are now in their 30s-50s) engaging in sex, and decreased slightly in all other groups, yielding a small drop in HIV infection. AIDS cases and AIDS related deaths have continued to drop in the US, thanks to improving medications. Reports released this year show us actually quite progressive in drug development, thanks to the intention of studying the virus itself, not just what can kill it. Interestingly, people descended from survivors of pneumatic plague in the 14 and 1500s have a STRONG immunity to HIV, thanks to a decrease in CKCR-5 (I know it has two c's, I can't remember the name off the top of my head) [aka, cytokine cell receptor-5; I think].

8. That bird flu would be another case of SARS.

yep. How much do you hear about bird flu now? Not really.

9. That the flu vaccine this year would not work.

This I know from personal experience.

10. That all major syndicated television shows would tank thanks to the writing strike, with people turning more to movies and other media forms.

Obviously not all have tanked. However, television viewership I think was down significantly when TV returned in the late spring...it may be a good sign, because I tend to think we're too dependent on things like TV's, Internet, etc.

11. That Kosovo will declare independence and be supported by the vast majority of Western nations and Muslim nations by July 1.

Part right here. I made this prediction like the day before Kosovo declared (when everyone already knew it was going to). It has garnered support from the vast majority of western states, as I predicted (I think it's like 85% of NATO states and 80% of EU states), but Muslim states have been pretty reluctant to actually formally recognize, and Turkey and Bangladesh have been the only two who have really advocated Kosovo's independence.


These are my top ten predictions for the rest of the year:

1. That my current heart woes are the result of a physical, rather than emotional condition. My current suspect is hyperthyroidism.

2. Kosovo will garner maybe 40 more recognitions, and has no reasonable prospect for entry into the UN until Serbia gives up its claim on the land in 2010 in order to submit an application to the EU.

3. The Irish rejection of the EU Treaty of Lisbon will probably set back their unity efforts by 3-5 years. In response, EU states will try to pressure and isolate Ireland within the union. Croatia's application will be deferred on final acceptance until the treaty is resolved. Montenegro will submit its application in November of 2008.

4. The situation in Iraq will remain stable for maybe 4 months, until the elections really heat up and the weather cools down. Insurgents eager to get the US out of Iraq will hammer soldiers (rather than civilians, whom we don't care about) in suicide bombings and roadside explosives in the desperate attempt to drive Americans to vote for Obama and get US troops out by June 2009.

5. The economy will actually improve, starting in late August or early September, as demand for gasoline continues to fall, a decrease in regulation, and the increase in interest rates weakens the price of oil and strengthens the dollar against Euro and the Yen. Oil will probably fall to $100 by November, but unemployment will remain high and natural gas will spike due to an unnaturally cold winter in the Midwest and Northeast.

6. November elections will be mired in controversy not on the presidential scale (which Obama will win by a margin of 273-265 in the electoral college) unless one man wins the popular vote and loses the electoral vote (I give that 15% chance). Controversy will exist in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New Mexico senate races.

7. Tampa Bay Rays continue to make strides, winning the AL wild card, but losing to LA Angels, who eventually beat the Cubs in the world series.

8. The United States comes in third in FIFA 2010 qualifying, and is horrendously embarrassed at the olympics, with exception to Katie Hoff, Michael Phelps, and Tyson Gay who will each gain at least four medals. The rest of the olympic team is washed away by China, Australia, or a surprisingly capable Russia.

9. President Bush will not initiate war with Iran. Fears will be alleviated when the EU steps in and administers its own restrictive sanctions in Iran and Iraq's growing security shows that Iranian oil is totally unnecessary.

10. Hugo Chavez will say at least one stupid thing in the rest of this year.

11. Fidel Castro will quietly disappear for a period of five months at the end of the year before his death is announced in April or May 2009.

Coming up with something

My finances are still shaky, obviously (these things never ease in a day or two, it's always months and years), bu today I depositied $70 worth of coins into my account, pushing me to my closest level of having $1000 of my own money in my account in almost two and a half years. I've been over $1000 off and on over the last six months, but that was because I dropped a class at UCCS and got back a bunch of money.

In a way, it feels really good to be getting somewhere. I mean, if I were to pay for my own tuition this coming year, I would be over a quarter of the way there (by two weeks from yesterday, over one third of the way and almost on half). On the other hand, $870 is not a lot of money to have.

My parents said they'll be able to cover my insurance for the eight months I'm trying to save money for the rest of my life, mainly because I really don't use much in the way of medical, dental isn't expensive, etc. I do think that I need to start paying my car insurance though.

Besides the money issue, I have a TON of French to do tonight and tomorrow. We're talking like pages and pages worth. I had thought that this chapter would be a little longer than it was, but apparently it was only one week long...

So yeah, I have a composition to write, like 10 pages of workbook stuff, and another 5 pages of reading in my book.

But I'm not doing that, I'm working on finishing my book, Eleanor of Aquitaine, which really is more about the entirety of the Angevin empire during her life than something just about her. It's still a VERY good book. I only have like 25 pages to go, so I will be finishing it this evening.

Tomorrow=beaucoup de francais (damn computer won't let my put in a cedille).

Somewhere between ready to conquer and ready to give up

I am increasingly feeling devastated by my financial circumstances. I got paid today, but only like $250. Part of this was because my langtech time sheet didn't get submitted, so I have backpay coming in two weeks. But $250 right now is chicken shit money. I mean, I've been working my ass off, and I just don't feel like I'm getting ANYWHERE financially. Know my accounts? My savings=$800.35, checking= $13.25. I deliberately keep my checking account ridiculously low so that I can avoid using my debit card. When I know I have absolutely no money in my checking account, I just don't spend much money. Well, unless I have my trusty credit card. Speaking of which, I currently owe $313 on it. However, this is kind of deceptive. Partially because I put $80 on it today from my paycheck and then I am still owed my $60 on my canceled headphones. So really, I should only owe like $170 on it, which should be easily paid off in two weeks when I'm supposed to get my backpay and my up to date pay. However, the unfortunate thing is that I'm going to make enough money where I'll probably have $50 or $60 withheld for taxes. I love taxes.

I do have to admit, things do not look as desperate as they did a month ago. I looked at a post from about this time a month ago, and things were really bad then. I mean I had more debt than worth. However, in a month, I've doubled my savings, and sliced my debt by two-thirds. Granted, this is not that great of an accomplishment, when in one month, I have only managed to change my net worth by about $750.

I am just so frustrated with all of this money stuff. The constant pressure on the economy is driving me to paranoia, looking for back-up after back-up after back-up of plans in case the economy gets so bad that my employers can no longer afford me. That is distinctly possible at this time.

I can take some comfort though in a degree of seniority. In the language lab, I am basically worth gold. I'm going to be the only one left come July 15 who knows how our server works and such. I am pretty much guaranteed a spot there for the next year, so long as we have an interim director. Plus, in about 10 weeks, my pay get bumped another quarter to $9.93.

In the bioenergetics lab though, my position is somewhat more vulnerable. I have about 6 months experience as a paid employee, which should afford me some security over the two newest recruits, but given the importance of their projects, I seriously doubt that what I am doing in there is important enough for them to keep me around if cash gets strapped.

All of this is so worrying to me that last night, or should I say, this morning, I didn't go to sleep until after 1 AM, and then on top of that, I got up before 5 AM, unable to sleep anymore. Suffice it to say that this has left me physically wiped out.

I am more stressed now than I have been at any other point in the last three years (for which I can attest through my kept journals!) and I think it may be finally killing me, given my new stress of whether or not my heart is going to explode.

I've been thinking about dumping two of my classes (piano and forensic chemistry) just so that I have like $800 less to worry about this coming fall. My tuition would be like $2975 at that point, I'll only be taking 13 hours, two of which would be the week before the semester starts. That way, I can work more hours, pay all my grad school apps, etc. I actually just decided to go ahead and drop forensic chem. That puts me down to 14 hours. However, if I add just one more hour, it only costs me $20 more, so I may add one hour in something.

I am having increasing problems along the lines of the monkey. A little monkey came back, but I am talking about the head honcho of monkeys. I am growing increasingly worried about that, but when I get REALLY stressed, that monkey loves to rear its ugly head. This monkey also tends to be affecting my heart, as any time it rears its ugly head, my heart starts palpitating.

Ugh, I need to stop bitching and do some work. I am going to get caught up through May this weekend!

Fretful, tired, hopeless

I am continually barraged by money problems. Between having to pay for grad school stuff, the rest of my undergraduate stuff, impending insurance costs, my goddamn credit card, and just life in general, I feel like every penny I make is jsut useless because it gets sent someplace else.

I guess this is what happens when you have less than $700 to your name. Granted, this will change tomorrow. I put $100 on my credit card earlier in the week, and I don't know why the company hasn't pulled the money out of my account. They were supposed to do it today, but whatever. They probably will tomorrow morning. I get paid tomorrow too, but I bet you can't guess where all that money's going.

I still have not received a refund on my headphones that I ordered at PPCC and then cancelled. I'm going to have to call them tomorrow on it and hope I get a refund.

I'm starting to think that I wasted the last three years of my life. I know I wasted the first of my three years of college. Seriously, I should have gone to UCCS to begin with, save a TON of money. Plus, it doesn't help that I took seriously useless classes like "Contemporary Currents of Catholicism". I mean, how is that supposed to help anyone anywhere? It isn't. It's a class that rich ass students take at a univeristy that charges to much. I wish I had seen that before I took it, but I guess it's a pain in the ass lesson that I have to learn.

And now, here I am, fortunate that my parents let me live in their house rent free. I also am fortuante that I don't have to pay for all these expenses now.

And to be fair, I am more worried than I need to be, mainly because I have nearly $7,000 in bonds sitting away and almost $10,000 in college savings, though with recent stock market woes, that's probably a lot closer to $9,000. The thing is I don't want to touch that money for anything right now. The bonds are basically my emergency fund. If I cash them, my emergency fund is GONE. Then, I really am destitute.

But I think of all the work that I've done so far, which has been a LOT, and I don't see my life improving a hell of a lot because of it. A bachelor's in history and philosophy are totally useless, and my biology bachelor's can, at best, get me a lab tech job at the hospital which pays like $15 an hour. Admittedly $15 is a LOT better than what I am paid now (average of $9.34), but still. I could not have worked incessantly for like 17 years to get a $5 bonus. I haven't learned at least three languages (Latin is floating somewhere in there) to earn a paltry bit more. Suffice it to say, I am starting to look for a third job...

I am desperate to save money. At the same time though, I think I really should have spent that energy that I spent in history or philosophy on something like nursing or engineering. Definitely the latter. Engineers get paid MASSIVE dolalrs with a bachelor's. I was looking earlier and it's like $29 for electrical engineers and $44 for chemical engineers.

In other news, my heart condition has been getting worse over the last two, maybe three days. I did finally get an appointment on Monday at 2:45, and if I lay low for the next three days, I should not aggravate this thing that's wrong with me. It's starting to have more systemic effects, like fatigue, weakness, and breathing changes. I was helping my family lift some things since we're getting new carpet in, and it was really starting to take a toll. It doesn't help that I'm so damn stressed about money.

I need security, and I don't have it.
I guess I need patience too, and I REALLY don't have it.

Really reaching

Ugh. I have like nothing to say on here. It's irritating.

However, when you have nothing that you're doing in your life, these kinds of disappointments tend to happen.

Basically, my routine for summer is pretty set:
1. Do get up in the morning stuff
2. Go to school.
3. Go to lab(s).
4. Do experiments, calculations, etc.
5. Go home.

I have started to get a little more caught up in my lab notebook, as I am now up to May 1! I'll probably get caught up another week or two come Friday when I have to sit in the stupid testing place for like 6 hours. Ugh. If there's something I hate, it's giving language placement tests on every other Friday. I do virtually nothing except sit on my ass and play computer games. I should work a lot more on my lab notebook, but I don't, which is bad.

I do have this irritating situation going on in the lab. For the last few days, people were stealing my cells, and putting them in other incubators. I didn;t know whether or not people were taking the cells out of the flasks until today. I cultured some cells and looked at them today and they had these white smears on the inside of the flask. Basically, whoever has been stealing my cells decided to contaminate them. Arg. Anyways, it's thrown off all of my experimentation for like a week. Quite irritating.

I decided to take up the water project offer. More details later.

PPCC added French IV this fall, so I'll be taking that now too. I am considering adding Greek 1 too. Ugh. I am so freakishly crazy.

I have nothing else to say really.

Avoiding imunological disaster

So, my family is still sick. Pretty much all of them. And for the last two and a half weeks, I've been desperately trying to avoid coming down with whatever the hell they've all got.

My money situation for a short time was looking up, and now I think it's starting to collapse again. I'm starting to realize that in less than six months, I have to pay for all of my insurances (car, health, dental) and that no matter how hard I work, I won't be able to pay for all of it.

Suffice it to say, between worrying about money and the stresses going on in the three labs I'm working in, my body is taking hits. My heart has not been doing well again (with the arrhythmias, chest discomfort, and such), and I'm going to switch to my new medical provider tomorrow

My glasses have been contributing to my stress by continually popping screws and lenses out. If I had any vision at all besides the glasses, I owuld be ok with this, but since I am totally blind and rely on my glasses for basic vision, losing lenses and screws really doesn't help my situation.

So I've been considering adding another class, despite my horrid money situation. Of course, these decisions will be made in the last week before school starts, because without money, I have no opportunity to take anything.

All in all, right now I am TREMENDOUSLY stressed and could really use a vacation. Of course, gas prices are so high (and hotels too..I checked, even for Colorado) that I can't afford a vacation. In basic terms, I'm finally succeeding at my lifelong goal of killing myself through stress. Loverly.

My favorite issues

Do you know what I absolutely love? Money. Only not so much.

Yes, yet again, money issues are plaguing my mind, as I try to figure out how I'm going to pay for everything that I'm going to need in the next year and a half. I figure I'm going to owe around 500 to various institutions around the country with respect to application fees.

THen there's my credit card bill, which is around $200 now. I've managed to scrounge it down thanks to cancelling an order through Pikes Peak for a headset that I don't need and a $100 payment from decreasing my credit load. The rest of the money there goes into savings.

My goal is by the end of the month to pay everything off.

Ugh, I was going to write more, but it's almost time to leave work. Maybe more tonight?

Trying to forge ahead

I would really like to feel like I'n progressing on something. However, I am basically not. I have finished the first chapter of French, which I suppose is an accomplishment.

At the same time though, I am disappointed in several things

1: I am STILL not caught up in my lab notebook.
2: I am so far behind on where I had hoped to be in the lab.
3: The biochem research looks to take all summer.
4: I AM SOOOOO TIRED.
5: I am not saving as much money as I thought I would be...but then again, I'm spending far less than I used to be, so I have no idea what I'm doing.

I feel like I'm not really doing too much, which explains why I have so little to say in here...tomorrow will be a lighter day, maybe then I can divulge more.

Decisions, Decisions

When I wrote my title...like 25 minutes ago, I had some serious doubts about what the hell I was doing with respect to classes. I was basically going through one of my ARGH moments when it comes to deciding what classes to take and which ones not to take.

Basically, I decided to make a last minute adjustment to my summer course schedule (seriously, I changed it like 45 minutes before I lost every possible penny) switching my biochemistry from 2 credits to just 1 credit. Basically, I'm going to be doing the same amount of work either way, and I get back like 230 dollars. I'll just tell my prof that I'm short on COF hours and money and needed to drop one of the hours.

That money that I'll be getting back is going to go instead to my credit card, which has somehow managed to top $315 again. I keep trying to knock it down to less than 200, but it keeps creeping up on random uses.

I also have like $50+ in rolled coins that I'm waiting to deposit into my account. I actually try to get coins for everything possible because I just don't spend coins as fast as paper dollars. I mean, I seriously go around school in free time putting dollars into vending machines and pushing return money in the hopes that it comes out in quarters. I also have another $10 or so in unrolled coins that should be rolled prompty.

I then adjusted my fall schedule to have 1 credit of biochem study, when I'll be more able to pay for that one hour, so I right now have seven classes, but only 17 hours. That's freakishly awesome.

I also junked three hours that I had signed up for at Pikes Peak, hours which I may take in the Spring so it feels like I'm doing something with my time.

Therefore, right now I have an expense expectation of about $3877.65 for the Fall. I know I'll be making around 2000 over the summer, so this leaves me about the same amount short for paying for fall. I'm definitely NOT going to be getting a parking pass, so that's going to save me some money. I'll probably get the rest of the money I need out of my bonds, because I've got like 7,000 in bonds. I really DO NOT want to touch the college money I have left over, because I want that money to go to my youngest sister so that she has a really big college savings account (I think that the college costs are going to FAR outgain the interest she's making on that count over the next 10 years). Plus, that 9200 will save my dad a hell of a lot of hours at work and a hell of a lot of money to worry about.

I was considering taking yet another class, but when considering that I really need to be focusing my attentions on my senior thesis for history and on graduate school apps, I really don't need to be taking another course. I think 17 hours is plenty for my purposes.

I do have to say that I MIGHT switch my German over to Pikes Peak to save myself a LOT of money if it turns out that PPCC uses the same book and that the difference in tuition more than makes up for the gas I would use having to drive up to PPCC's campus. Chances look good that there will be no change.

In other news, I am ALMOST done with my first chapter of French for 211. Only four to go...

In lab news, I am blowing the socks off the cells in the lab. By the end of this week, I'm going to go from 184 experiments left to perform to 176. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but if I can manage to get like 8 experiments done per week, I'll be able to finish this project by the end of the year. However, this looks extremely doubtful. I also think I may have fucked up something today. I won't be able to say until Wednesday. A day, which will be FILLED with working. I'm going ot have about 200 samples to run.

Right now, I am feeling really drained. I fear that I may catch whatever the hell is going around at home...

Grasping here

Ok, so I was going to update on Monday I think, and I didn't. It's just so hard to come up with things to write on here.

My summer routine is pretty much set right now. I get up around 6 AM, do all the morning things like eat, judge outfits on ABC, and shower. I leaver here about 7, 7:15 ish and park at 4 diamonds, the free parking lot on campus. I keep thinking that I'm saving myself 81 dollars parking there. There is the added benefit that I walk to UCCS from there, which is probably about one or two miles. So I end up at my place of work around 8. From 8:15 to around 9:30 I set up experiments, flasks, etc. At 9:30 to 11:00 I meet with my biochemistry instructor for our independent study stuff. It's looking more and more likely that I'm going to be published (maybe Journal of Physical Chemistry B) before the end of the summer on that project, so I'll be able to put that down. Then from 11 AM to 1 PM, I dit on my butt and watch soccer for pay, basically. Occassionally I give a placement test or two.

After 1 I normally go back to the bioenergetics lab, though in the future that's going to be cut short by some of the work I'll be doing in the biochem lab. We found out that it might be a good idea to examine this substrate in its anionic form before sending it off to be published.

I get off of school around 5 or 5:30, and then come home. That's basically it.

I have however found a wonderful little diversion in two things, actually. The first is this amazing thing the public library has gotten over the last year or so and I haven't noticed. They're called Playaways, and basically, they're like mini-iPods with books on them. Basically, self sufficient books on tape. I listened to Pride and Prejudice last week and this week I'll be listening to 1776. Next week is Unsung Heroes, and the week after that promises to be Redemption. I REALLY like listening to history oriented books on tape, but that's because I'm a history nerd.

The second thing is that I bought the HBO series on John Adams, and I have found it INCREDIBLY historically accurate. I mean, I'm surprised at how much historical evidence is present in all of this. It's really surprising how much research went into it. I'm through the first DVD, and I have 3 more to go. I highly recommend it for any history nerds out there.

I don't know if I mentioned it to all you peoples, but I changed my schedule. I found out that it would cost me $25 more to take a one credit class, so I signed up for introductory piano. I figure I'm entitled to some fun before I dedicate myself totally to working my whole life, right?

Finances look like they may stabilize. My boss/mentor has a job proposal for me that I'll probably take. There's this water company that's marketing super-oxidized water, and they need to test it to ensure it's not going to kill someone. She said they really need someone to do this, and that she could probably get them to pay for my tuition in exchange for doing the work. I'm definitely intrigued by all of this. More to come later.

All in all, things are look decent for now. Hopefully I can update with some more frequency...

Sometimes I wonder why I have a blogger

My title is drawn from the fact that I basically update, if I'm lucky, once a week. Part of the reason I am so bad at updating is that I just don't have a whole lot to say. I don't do all that much with my time except the typical French, biochemistry, and lab work.

Also, I always post when I am exhausted.

Which includes now, so I may post tomorrow. I would like to.

HEART!!!!

OMG. I just found out that Heart is coming to Denver next month. I LOVE HEART. I mean, seriously. Who can beat the amazingness of Ann and Nancy Wilson with songsl ike Barracuda, Straight On, Crazy on You, and Heartless? I'm seriously tempted to splurge a little...

Apparently Cheap Trick (whom I've never heard), and Journey (who I like, but find cheesy) are also going to be there...

I know my dad likes all that classic rock stuff, so maybe I found a good concert for us to go to?

In other news, I went to the Celestial Seasonings plant in Boulder today, and frankly, I could live there. I mean, you get as much free tea as you want. Of course, you can also buy assorted flavors not found in stores, such as Tropical Acai Green Tea, Sweet Apple Banana Chamomile, and Mango Darjeeling.

I'm kinda tired, so I may post more tomorrow.

Settling In

So my routine for this summer is starting to normalize. It looks like right now I'll be spending Monday and Wednesday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons doing biochemistry research, Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Monday and Wednesday afternoons doing bioenergetics research. Mooshed in between those two will be my two hours in the language lab between 11 and 1 Monday thru Thursday.

In my free time, I'll be doing things like catching up on lab notebooks and doing my French homework. Speaking of which, that class doesn't seem like it's going to be too difficult this summer. I think I should get an A in it pretty easily...

I am so TIRED though right now, it's not even funny.

In other developments, I have renewed my push to read all of my books that I have not yet read. In the last two weeks I have read a combined collection of "What Ifs" of history and then I read Kite Runner which was an amazing yet terribly sad book. Right now I'm reading my biography of Condoleezza Rice, who is without a doubt in the top five of my absolute favorite modern political figures (the others are Angela Merkel, Colin Powell, Margaret Thatcher, and Lech Walesa).

My sister has strep throat, which is the one disease I fear more than HIV/AIDS. Every time I've gotten strep it absolutely demolishes me. I think I had strep every year when I was a kid for maybe 9 or 10 years. The last one was the worst. I was sick for 15 days, of which I didn't eat for 10 days. My body weight went from 105 to 82 pounds. I literally had bones sticking out of my body pretty much everywhere and it took me almost a year to regain those pounds. I'm seriously considering getting a hotel for the next two days, but I've been exposed enough where if I don't wage an immediate and destructive force against it, I'll probably get it.

To go now.