Longing to Leap

Today was a very unique day, a once in a couple years sort of day. Yes, it was February 29th. I tried to think of something amazing, something I haven't done for four years to do. I could find no such thing. Soccer tryouts were in the pouring down rain and driving wind. I also applied to another college today. Probably the best part of the day was dinner. I love good food and man was today's dinner excellent. It was homemade calazone, one of my favorite meals. I would say, a new leap day tradition, one I hope we keep.

Thursday of Glory

Today was a nice day, a potentially 3000 dollar sort of nice day. With getting to bed earlier than normal, I woke up feeling a little bit sore, but refreshed and ready for the day. I went and played pickleball for a couple hours. While I didn't play great, I played well and had fun. I then came home and ate a nice lunch before heading off to school for my one class of the day.

But before I left for school, I finished another scholarship application. I got all the pieces ready, the deadline was tomorrow, so I was pushing it a little bit. It is a scholarship where "several" three thousand dollar scholarships are rewarded to people who live in my area. While I don't have my hopes up that I will get the scholarship, there is always a chance.

I then attended my one class before the weekend. Last Spanish class we had a test and I didn't feel I did very good on it. I actually felt like I did quite bad. I got the test back and did way better than I had thought. This always makes one happy. It is better to think you did bad, and then do good. When the opposite happens, it is rather depressing.

When I got home I quickly got ready for soccer tryouts. I had told the coach I was going to be late. I got to the field at around 4:17pm. By the time I found the coach, talked to him, and was placed in a group doing a drill, I only got to play for around 20 minutes. Tryouts were over before 4:45pm, at least I am showing I am committed I guess.

When I got home, I checked the mail. I got a letter of acceptance from University of Washington. This is the second college I have been accepted to, and a place I could end up going next year. And to top everything off, today is Thursday. That means a new episode of Lost. An episode that I must say was amazing. Overall, today was amazing.

Soccer Sleepy

Today I did fairly well at soccer tryouts. Well, at least until my legs cramped up and I could hardly move. I stretched out after practice better than yesterday, so I haven't had cramps tonight like I did yesterday. I also nearly wrapped up another scholarship application today. The one thing I forgot about soccer, is how tired it makes a person. Last night, I went to bed two hours before I usually do, and I am going to do the same tonight. I guess it is always good to get more sleep, well maybe not always, but most of the time.

Missing Things

Today was my long day at school. At the college they had a college fair with around 20 different colleges with booths. I went to a couple and was able to talk to them about enrolling. There was also an event going on at the college that had over 100 high schoolers attending. It was strange that I didn't equate me to being one of them, only thought of them as outsiders in the college world. I soon remembered some of the things I am missing at the high school, things I don't miss.

I also had soccer tryouts again. With being in class, I wasn't able to make it to tryouts until they were two-thirds done. I figure better late than never. It was a good thing I went because they gave out paper work, took our mug shots, and loaned out the soccer balls. We were told to number our soccer ball. I numbered mine with the pi symbol which technically is a number. A glorious number with an infinite non repeating decimal to be exact.

Build Up

Today I had a lot of important things to do, that to be quite honest, I was rather nervous about. I don't know if that was the reason, but I felt sick this morning. I have had a bad cough the past few days, and was worried I was going to be hacking away during my presidential debate in my class.

The debate went great. I gave a speech of why I, Fred Thompson, should be president. Not only did people actually laugh at the part I hoped they would, the whole class cheered when I was done. I guess it was a moving speech. I felt sort of sorry for the next candidate. John McCain. He hadn't planned a speech like I had, so while his was good, when he ended the room was silent. After a long, rather uneasy quiet, a few people clapped.

During the debate, I felt I had done a good job of being prepared. I was actually way over prepared as we didn't touch on a lot of the subjects I was prepared for, but it is better to be over prepared than under. We opened up for a question and answer period. The audience member were mainly asking questions of the other two candidates. Each time someone did this, after the people directed the questions would answer, I would answer. I did so in a very Fred Thompson way, saying I think my opinion and what I have to say matters, and I didn't know why they didn't want me to answer the question. It was humorous. In the end, I was kind of disappointed when it was over, it had been so much fun.

Soccer tryouts, were not quite as fun. They weren't that bad, they were just painful. The cough I mentioned made it hard to breathe at times, and I would go in to fits of coughing. Overall though, tryouts weren't that bad or that good. I did just about as I expected.

Actually, the more time passes after the tryouts, the more painful they were. I have been getting extremely bad cramps in my legs. The kind where you can't move, and can only yell in pain. When I try to move to stretch out one area that is cramping, another area starts to cramp. I just chowed down a banana, and that is supposed to help. I also need to stretch more right after tryouts, to try and stop a buildup of lactic acid. Oh how I hate thee, thy lactic acid build up.

The Day Before Tomorrow

Today I had a lot of things to accomplish. I wrote down 15 things I wanted/needed to do today last night. I did a fairly good job, I think I did 10 out of the 15 things on my list.

One of the more pressing needs, was to get some new soccer cleats. Tryouts start tomorrow, and my old cleat just gave out the other day. I went to a sports store, and had about 10 pairs to choose from. I didn't want or need the $79.99 pair, didn't really like the bizarre color combinations on others, and needed a pair that were comfortable. In the end, I got a pair I liked for a good price. I wanted them in black, but they only had them in white. I'll live, but the cleats new looks won't.

I took them out for a test kick with my sisters. I wasn't too happy. I don't know if it was me, the shoes, me thinking it was the shoes, the ball, or what. I just didn't do that good. I think I was a little bit tired, and trying a bit too hard. Hopefully, I do better at tryouts. I've had some bad experiences at tryouts, but I'll save those stories for another day when tryouts aren't the next day.

I also went to a pet store today. Not on the list, but a nice bonus. We were buying some fish for my father's classroom. I enjoy spending time in pet stores, looking at all the animals. Today I saw 7 mice trying to run on the same wheel in different directions., it was funny. It was also funny, watching the employee trying to catch the fish for us. They are fast, and don't want to be caught. He was good at it though, a seasoned veteran, but than again it is his job. I can only image people wanting a specific fish in the hundreds of fish, and only settling for that one.

I also prepared for a debate I am part of tomorrow. The strange thing, I am debating as another person. I am Fred Thompson in the class. I am part of a Republican debate on domestic issues. We shall see how it goes, and how studied up I was on the topic. I think it will be fun, either that, or horribly and unforgettably embarrassing. One of those two.

I did a lot today, mainly in getting prepared for tomorrow. I have even more stuff to do tomorrow, and a few things I am a little bit nervous about. I think it will be okay though, I guess as long as I don't do something stupid in the debate or at tryouts.

Bogged Blog

It is days like today I wonder why I blog. More succinctly, why I blog every day. I guess I feel like 1. it is a record I want to keep going, but also 2. I think deep down I feel like if I missed a day I might stop blogging completely. That once I stopped, I would never start blogging again.

It can be hard to blog everyday. Nothing to blog about, being tired, trouble with the computer, or waiting to use the computer. Tonight was a case of most of the above reasons. But for the most part, I have really enjoyed having a blog. It is a great way to remember things I've done and learned. Work on my writing skills. Be a part of a community of bloggers. Share with other people, learn with other people, and even meet new people.

Early Saturday

Today was Friday, but for me it was basically my Saturday. I drove all over the place doing various things. I mailed a scholarship application, got a copy of a document, and went to my high school three times. I also was able to do part of my janitorial duties and finish some homework. The reason today was my Saturday is because all of tomorrow I will be taking computer class 2 of 3. I wonder how it will go this time.

WWU'D

Today I went to pickleball. I hadn’t gone last week, so my game was rusty at the beginning. By the end, I was on fire, there was no stopping me or my wicked drop shot down the line. I also wrapped up another scholarship. I printed everything out, filled out the necessary information, wrote the required essays, and gathered all the appropriate documents to include. It is ready to mail tomorrow.

In today’s mail, I heard back from my first college. I was accepted to Western Washington University. I received admission with distinction , whatever that truly means. It sounds cool though. They have been my number one choice.

I applied about a month ago, and had the high school mail the necessary documents. Western said for the longest time they hadn’t received the documents. After talking with them and my high school several times, the high school resent the documents. That was less than a week ago, and I was accepted. It is kind of exciting looking at the brochure, thinking about housing and eating plans. Exciting, but a little scary at the same time. A single room, double room, triple room and platinum, gold, silver, or bronze food plan. So many choices. The permutations are endless.

Floored by Hard Wood

Today I helped my father install hard wood floor down our hallway. We had installed hardwood in our living room, and finally were continuing it down the hallway. The roar of the air compressor and pounding of the nail gun had returned to our house.

My job is to lay out the wood, and plan it to look "random". You want to look out for patterns, pieces ending too close together, colors matching etc. It is actually quite a bit of work. It is hard to purposefully and orderly make something appear random. I think I have done a fairly good job. What didn't work out too well though, is we are halfway done, but more than halfway out of wood. We don't think we have enough to finish. So we need to buy more. I think I found a good deal on Craigslist, maybe we will buy enough to redo our office.

Today is Tuesday

Today didn't really feel like a Tuesday. With not having school yesterday, you would think it would have felt like a Monday. I even read Monday's newspaper and thought it was today's newspaper. Yet, it didn't feel like a Monday. No, it felt like a Thursday. And Thursday to me is like a Friday, so it also felt like a Friday. It was just sort of bizarre.

It was also my long day at school, so that didn't help anything. I was supposed to have a vocabulary quiz in Spanish, so I spent a lot of my break studying for it. In Spanish class she said she decided we wouldn't have that quiz, not ever. I usually don't say this, but I was rather disappointed that we didn't. I sort of wasted all that time studying for a nonexistent quiz.

When I got home, it was later than I usually get home on what felt like a Monday in ways, so that was also strange. I had a headache, so I took a nap. The next thing I knew, it was 7:30pm. Today was almost over, and a rather fitting end to a rather strange day.

Monday On

Today I didn't have school. It was nice to have a Monday off. I decided rather than really 'take the day off', I would actually try and be productive today. I made a list of things I hoped to accomplish today, and was able to do quite a few of them.

I got my hair cut. My sisters and I went to a field and practiced soccer. Soccer tryouts for the high school team are next week I believe, so I really need to get some practice in. I blew out my cleats yesterday, quite literally. The side came apart from the sole. I guess it is better to have this happen now, as I still have time before tryouts to replace them. It just is always hard to part with an old pair of cleats, the memories and tendencies, and have to break in a new pair.

I also finished cleaning my room. I started this process yesterday, and am quite happy to finally have my room clean again. I also finished my homework for tomorrow. The things on my list I didn't get to, mainly scholarships to apply for, can wait until tomorrow or maybe the day after tomorrow.

J.J.

Today we bought another pet rat. It is really cute, and has a black stripe going down its entire body, even the tail is black. It is also way bigger than Janitor was when we bought her. I don't know if it can ever be as a cool of a pet as Janitor was, but we shall see. My sister named it J.J. (Janitor Junior) in honor of her previous pet. I hope this one lasts longer.

Airsofting

Today I went airsofting with some friends. It is kind of like paintball, except you use little plastic pellets that don't go as fast or hurt nearly as much as paintball. It was fun. Thankfully, it didn't rain. We were at a spot called the pit until all the dirt bikers and quaders came and ran us out. We then went to another spot that had more trees. I built a fort to use as cover. Unfortunately, we had to leave before I was able to use the Alamo. We then got lunch from Dominoes. It was their customer appreciation day, so a large pizza was only $4.99. What a deal. Overall, it was a fun day.

Advanced Application Annoyance

Today I thought a scholarship I wanted to enter was due. I needed to download the application so I could print it. The internet was doing strange things. It would work briefly, then not work for long periods of time. I spent literally an hour trying to get the internet to work so I could print the application. After my mom had a phone call with a tech guy, the internet starting working again. I accessed the scholarship only to find it is due the end of the month. I was disappointed I had wasted all day trying to get the internet to work. The internet has continued to not work on and off all day. Even though I wasted a lot of time trying to get the internet to work, I was able to go running and start the long process of getting my room clean. It really needs to get cleaned. Maybe I will finish tomorrow.

Janitor Swept Away

Today was a sad day. When I woke up this morning, I went to see our pet rat. It was sprawled out in the middle of the cage. I figured it was just really tired. It had just figured out how to use it's wheel the night before. It ran on the wheel for a long time. I really enjoyed watching it run, it was kind of inspiring for me to get back on the wheel so to speak. So this morning, I was not surprised to see it sprawled out. I was surprised, when it didn't climb up the side of the cage to greet me when I went by the cage.

The rat was in obvious pain. It was barely breathing, and couldn't move. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. By the time I got back from school, Janitor was dead. I hate to think the wheel had something to do with it. Maybe she ran herself to death. The only possibilities I can think of are that she had a heart attack, broke a leg, or most likely, broke her back.

I had really grown fond of our new pet. She was so cute, and fun to watch. She would absolutely go crazy for Cheerios. She would run around her cage, climb up the bar walls, and stick her hand out a try and grab the Cheerios. I liked having her crawl around on my shoulder, she was just getting to the point where she actually seemed to want to be held.

My little sister and I buried her in the backyard. We built a little cross, and stuck it at her grave. Janitor, although you will probably be replaced soon by another rat, you will never be forgotten. I don't think any rat could be as cool of a pet as you were for the few short weeks we had together on this world.

War Against the Machines

Today I waged war against the machines. It seemed computers were out to get me today. My scholarship notebook was due, I finished almost everything last night. But when I tried to print, it didn’t want to print in color. Thankfully, my mom was able to get them to print in color while I was gone at school.

I then had another page I had to finish. It was a form I downloaded from the school website. The info in it had to be typed, but the document I had to fill out really didn’t want me to type in it. I eventually figured it out, and thankfully I didn’t have to insert, format, and place 50 textboxes like I first thought. I finally had the notebook all done.

I went to a copy store to get a copy of my letters of recommendation, those are always good things to have a copy of handy. I swear I pressed the copy button once. Yet, the machine kept cranking out copy after copy of my letter. I think it printed near 50 by the time I figured out how to shut the thing off. Thankfully, it was a black and white four cent Wednesday copy, not the over a dollar color copy I made for my other letters of recommendation. The lady was nice, she blamed me, but at least she only charged us a quarter.

I then turned in the notebook at 2:30pm, half an hour to spare! I am really happy with how it turned out. I put a lot of time and energy into it, and hopefully it pays off. Literally, as in hopefully I win some scholarships with it.

I thought my problems with machines was finally over. I had a paper I was typing up for a class. Rather idiotically, I was typing it in an email so I could email it from the laptop to the computer with a printer. For some random reason, the laptop decided it needed to “update”. So it shut down and I lost the work. I was almost done with the paper until it disappeared. I had spent 45 minutes on it, so it took almost that long to rewrite it. In other words, I lost around an hour and a half. But I did get the paper done. I think I am done writing and fighting for tonight.

Notebook Day Off

Today was a day off from school. But that in no way means it was a day off. After pickleball this morning, I have been working all day on my scholarship notebook. This is a notebook seniors make, and then groups can look at them and they award scholarships, hence the name scholarship notebook. I have spent hours on it. It would feel really validating to maybe win one scholarship. I would feel like all the time and energy spent on the notebook was worth it. I am really happy with the way it looks. Well, at least on the computer. I am having trouble with it not wanting to print in color. I guess black and white is okay, but is sure looks professional in color. The deadline for the notebook is tomorrow at 3:00pm. I think I can make the deadline fairly easily as long as nothing crashes or stops printing.

Amazing Monday

Today was a nice start to my week. Mainly because tomorrow I don't have school. It is advising day. That means including having Monday off next week, in 11 days, I only have 3 school days. It is really nice to have a quasi-break from the rigors of college. Too bad I still have so much other stuff to do in order to graduate.

Jolting Janitorial Job

Today I fulfilled my weekend janitorial duties. Yesterday, my sister and I cleaned the school, that left the office building for today. My sister has been sick, so she was low on energy and had a lot of homework to catch up on. We decided it made the most sense for me to clean it by myself.

I have had this job, the office building cleaning job, for nearly two years. First my brother and I cleaned it, then it was my dad and me, now my sister and I clean it. And in those two years, I have never cleaned the building by myself.

I got to the building, and it was already dark outside. This building is rather old, it was originally built to be a hospital. Now it has a dentistry wing, and lots of other offices. It also has lots of doors to nowhere, lights switches that don't work, and long hallways. That being said, it can kind of be a spooky place to be all by yourself.

I thought I would be fine. I brought my iPod, and decided I would just listen to some music, and it would all be fine. I started to clean and then I started to worry. Here I was in this big office building, by myself, it was night time, and I kept hearing strange noises. Sounds are natural in any space, but with all the hallways and such, sound echoes strangely.

I was sweeping, but at the same time at the ready. For what, I am not sure. But I was ready to use my broom as a weapon. I got spooked by a loud noise, I couldn't tell if it was from my music or not. I turned the music off and clutched the broom in one hand. I went around the halls ready to beat anything that moved with my broom.

It is probably a good thing nobody who works in that building was there, because I probably would have attacked them with the broom, mop, or toilet scrubber if they came anywhere near me. I think the mop and broom would have made adequate weapons, but unless the person was germophobic, I don't think the toilet scrubber would have done much good. In the end, I didn't really have anything to worry about. It was still a little bit spooky though. The only good that came out of being so worried was I cleaned about twice as fast as I usually do, I really wanted to to get it over with and get out of there.

Hooked on Caucus

Today I went to the Republican caucus. I really didn't know what to expect. I am taking an American Government class and have learned a lot about the election process. So I wanted to attend the caucus, and I will get extra credit in my class as a bonus. I spent a long time this morning trying to find a little paper I got in the mail a couple months ago about being able to vote. It took me around an hour to find it, but I'm glad I did because it showed my precinct number which I didn't know. When I got to the place they were holding the caucus, I was the first person there from my precinct, so I had to set up a table and sort of figure out what I was supposed to do myself. Finally, the PCL (precinct caucus leader I think) showed up. He was in charge of our precinct. There were probably around 20 precincts gathered in the high school SUB, and over 75 people. I was definitely one of the youngest people there. Besides a few anomalies, the average age was probably around 60. I think my PCL didn't think I knew what I was doing.

It got interesting when people would say what they wanted to be on the agenda of the government. Some people had good ideas, others had straight conspiracy theory ideas. The funniest part was watching a guy in charge arguing with people over whether things were national or local. I guess we were supposed to be proposing things at a local level, but you can make a strong argument that things at the national level affect people locally. We had to elect a few positions as a group. The man next to me, the PCL of my precinct, wanted to be elected. For some reason, when the speaker asked for volunteers, he didn't raise his hand. Then she asked for nominations. The PCL told me, nominate me. I asked if he was sure. He said yes and told me to raise my hand. I followed his commands, I mean he was my PCL. Raise your hand higher, I obeyed. My hand was raised as high as I could in front of a group of 75 old people looking at me like I didn't know what I was doing. Unfortunately for my leader, someone else was given the spot before the speaker saw my hand. I felt kind of bad for him, but I mean he could have volunteered at the beginning and not put all his hope in me nominating him.

There was a questionnaire I had been given, so I filled it out. They ran out of questionnaires, so my PCL was using mine. It was quite funny. He would look at my responses and ask why I chose the answer I did. On issues such as education, we had very different opinions. He wasn't going to change my beliefs, and I sure wasn't going to change his. But we debated the topic for quite a while. It was probably the first time I had ever 'argued' politics with someone. Not only was he twice my age, he is an elected city official, and even ran for mayor, so it was really interesting to debate politics with him.

But I believe that is the great thing about American politics. Everyone has equal say. My 18-year-old opinions matter just as much as an elected official's. I had just as much say in the nomination process as he did. That is part of what I took away from the caucus. A new appreciation and desire to participate in politics. I also was 'elected' to go on to the next level. Each precinct has a certain number of delegates they vote to send to the next step up, I think the county level. I had a really good speech planned of why I should be elected. But with being the only member of my precinct who showed up, I automatically get to go. Hopefully, I can make it all the way to the Republican Nominating Convention!

Back on Track

Today I finally resumed my new habit. Being really busy recently, not feeling 100%, the weather being terrible, I hadn't' gone running for approaching a week. I know those are just excuses, I could have found a way if I really wanted to that badly. So today, I decided I would stop making excuses and return to the land of running. Even though it was cold, rainy, and the path had giant puddles of water on it, I ran today. And I must say, it felt good to finally get back on track. Hopefully tomorrow I can continue my new habit of actually doing my old habit of running.

To Have and to Hold

Today someone asked if they could borrow a pencil of mine. This isn't a rare occurrence, it happens to everyone occasionally. But what happened after I let the person borrow the pencil was in no way ordinary.

I was sitting in a lecture about the problems with the Welfare system. It was extra credit for my Economics class, I am not quite sure why. It didn't really have anything to do with economics.

I expected to attend this hour lecture, get some extra credit, and that is about it. I didn't really have much of a clue what the lecture was on. Before the speaker started, they asked everyone in the class to introduce themselves, and say why they attended the lecture and what they hoped to get out of it. I didn't think my teacher would like if I told the speaker I was only there because it was extra credit. When it was my turn, I said my name is Danny and I came here to learn. That is it, that is all I could think of. I mean, why would I be attending a lecture basically on how single mothers can gain full access to their Welfare benefits if it wasn't for extra credit?

Near the end of the lecture, the speaker handed out some papers. A man by me asked if he could borrow my pencil I had out on the table. I said sure and handed it to him. It was a nice mechanical pencil. A little later I noticed he was done filling out the form, and was waiting for him to return my pencil. He did no such thing. He had a tight hold on the pencil. He put it in his mouth, maybe he was in deep thought. He used my pencil to scratch his face and comb his hair. After this, there was no way I was taking the pencil back. I was slightly disgusted. He never did end up offering the pencil back, which I guess is just as well. But next time someone asks to borrow something of mine, I will definitely remember the time I loaned away my mechanical pencil.

Weird Weather

Tonight has been bizarre weather wise. It started snowing, and hasn't stopped. Last I measured, there was about three inches of snow on the ground. The "man" wasn't predicting snow. Now he says it will turn to rain overnight. It probably will, but it sure is beautiful when everything is covered in snow.

Unsuper Tuesday

Today was a quasi-unsuper day. My little sister has been sick the past few days. It is really hard to see her sick and miserable. Then, my other sister got sick. So, I am probably next. Today was my long day at school. On Tuesdays, I have a class from 9:00am to 10:00am but then have a break until my class from 1:15pm to 3:30pm. This is a rather long time to wait, especially when my sister wasn't at school today. Not to mention, with her gone, I couldn't park in the carpool lot. I was forced to park really far away from my classes, and get soaked every time I hiked to the car in the pouring down rain.

Perfect Placement

Today my father and I went on a road trip. We were buying some doors from someone off craigslist. We got the 5 nice, solid white doors. On the way back, we stopped for dinner. Across the street was the largest gym I had ever seen. It was two stories tall. Countless people could be seen on treadmills through the windows. What where they looking out at? Was it a body of water, rolling hills, the city skyline? No, it was a Wendy's. I can't even imagine running on a treadmill staring out at Wendy's the whole time. I mean I would be salivating over a hamburger and frosty the whole time. I wonder if the gym was built first, or the Wendy's. I did go into one of these places tonight, and it wasn't to exercise.

Giants Defeat Goliath

Today was a really nice day. After the marathon that was yesterday, it was nice to just be able to relax today. The Super Bowl was amazing. I really wanted the Giants to win, but thought for sure the Patriots would. The game went down to the wire and to my amazement, the Giants were able to pull the huge upset. That was by far the most exciting Super Bowl I have ever watched, at least the 4th quarter was. I always like it when the underdogs are able to surprise the favorites.

Dialed In

Today was a slow, rather bizarre day. To be able to graduate high school, and get my AA, I need to take a credit in Computers. Try as I might, I couldn't place out of it. There is no test or way of showing them I already know how to use a computer. So today I had to take a computer class. Yes, a class on Saturday. Sounds bad enough, but it gets worse. This class was from 8:30am to 5:30pm. A nine hour class learning how to use Microsoft Word 2003. Having Word 2007 which is completely different, this class is basically pointless. Besides, I already know how to bold and italicize.

But it gets more interesting. This class was taught by an instructor in another class. She was in Bremerton, teaching a class there, and teaching us via monitor in Shelton.

It was all quite bizarre. Being a brand new student there, of course my registration didn’t work. I called a tech guy because I couldn’t log onto the computer, he told me to talk to the teacher. Then when I told the teacher, she told me to call the tech guy. I tried to explain, but somewhere over the high-speed connection in our conversation something was lost. She just kept telling me to call the tech guy louder and slower. Eventually though, she ended up calling the tech guy, and things worked out sort of.

As I expected, the class was really easy. I learned a little bit, but not enough to justify taking this class. We were going through a textbook, on my own, I could have finished everything in less than an hour. I am serious. Most of the class I just ended up sitting there. The problem was with a few fellow students, both seen and unseen. There were just a few that should not have been in this class. I mean, they had trouble opening up Word, not to mention trying to use it. The teacher would constantly have to show them what to do again, and log into their computer like big brother and do it for them.

At the beginning of class, we were still discussing how to use a mouse. Right click, left click, the works. Someone in her class where she was asked a question of what to do on one of the problems in the book we hadn’t even nearly begun to get to. We heard her say something about not working ahead, and then she turned off her microphone. We could see her chewing the person out, but we couldn’t hear it, it was hilarious. And when she was done chastising them, she turned back on the microphone and continued like nothing had happened.

All the students had microphones we could turn on if we wanted to talk to the professor, she could also see us on her screen. We could hear and see her, well at least until the connection was lost. But that is a whole different story. After eight hours of people not being able to follow directions, she sort of lost it. She said it was the first time in her 10 years of doing this class that she wasn’t going to be able to finish all the material. She went on a mini-tirade, and several students argued with her and she argued right back.

It was really bizarre being chewed out electronically, I believe it was the first time I have ever been yelled at by a person on a TV screen. I felt sorry for everyone. Those that were too incompetent to be taking this class, those like myself who had to wait for everyone else, but most of all for the teacher. She was so patient for so long, I guess she just couldn’t last the whole nine hours, she made it about eight and a fourth before things fell apart.

I am not sure how the grade things is going to work, as she said, it was the first time in 10 years she didn’t finish. She said people could email her the assignments, but then again she said, “some of you probably don’t even know how to use your email, let alone be able to send an attachment.” It was all quite tense. Lots of people were quite upset on both sides.

It was really strange being taught electronically, I suppose this is the wave of the future. I would say they have a few problems to work out before it catches on. The worst part of the story, it is only part one of three. You see, I need three computer credits. This was only one. That mean two more Saturdays like this, and even worse, next are PowerPoint and Excel. If people had so much trouble with Word, I can only imagine what it will be like with the other two. Believe it or not, it gets worse. This class isn’t funded by the Running Start Program or the high school. I have to pay for these classes out of pocket, and at nearly 100 dollars a class, it is a rather expensive hoop to have to jump through, a golden hoop I would say.

Weekended

Today, I enjoyed what little freetime I have left this weekend. I went to my father's class, and helped with "Friday Fun Day". I also got part of my weekend janitorial duties out of the way. Right now, I need to go to bed. I haven't been feeling 100% lately, I've been stuck somewhere around 87%. Hopefully, I don't get any worse.