:: Venting Insanity ::

:: Thursday, May 01, 2003 ::

bored in class
I got some cool screen shots off Blogger the other night.



That's the new Fresh Blogger feed.



Same page, but this time it's the group blog I set up, Random Thoughts.



Here's Random Thoughts on the front page. ^_^

yeah
I know... I'm kind of silly. It's just fun to find this stuff and catch it at just the right time.

blah
Wondering if it was worth it. I went to an Internet Marketing seminar. It was more of a preview for us to pay $20 for an all day seminar later on. I figured why not. I'm going to go to that, too. It's after classes are over, so I'm not going to miss anything by staying there until 6:30 like they're projecting. Plus, they're offering lunch and breakfast. {{shrugs}}

2nd place?
I blanked during the contest yesterday. Stupid file reading. That's always something I mess up on. I was only a few steps away, but there was a time limit. So, he gave me 2nd place.

I had forgotten what about Prof Grik bothered me. It's that he talks down to people who don't know everything he does. Now, he's a very good programmer and he uses it all the time. I haven't programmed in VB since a year ago. I'm a bit rusty, naturally. Plus, I'm a beginner in the field. On top of that, I've got C on the brain for this class.

I'm sure you can figure out how irked I was when I left.

anyway
John S called and we're going to see X-Men 2 tomorrow night. Saturday, Cathy and Nick invited me to dinner with one of Nick's friends. They're "not setting me up". {{sigh}} Sometimes I wonder... LOL. So far, they've "not set me up" me with like three people. All situations have pretty much bombed, in my opinion. Sometimes I wonder if I'm too picky, but... {{shrugs}} I don't want to just settle because I'll be less happy later.

push/pop
We worked on push and pop functions in C. I feel smart. I figured it out. ^^;; LOL. I've always disliked stacks and pushing/popping them. But, by writing our own push/pop functions, I think I'm getting it a bit better than just using a library function that was available from the program already.

We used push and pop in Assembler at SCCC, but they were built in functions, surprisingly enough. Now, I'm writing for a higher level language and we have to write those functions ourselves. Ah... I love irony sometimes.

commence pouting
Briarcliffe either blocked Blogger earlier, or Blogger had a brain fart. I couldn't access it from class until just before we left.

emergency
Our teacher in Net Lab & Troubleshooting had an emergency and had to leave early. So I got home really early tonight. It was a nice change, but with a bad reason. Apparently his daughter was really sick today and his wife took her to the hospital. Or, at least, she wanted to. However, the professor had to go get them because his car died on them and he had his wife's car tonight. I hate when stuff like that happens. I hope she's alright.

:: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 ::

{{giggles}}
Body doubles anyone? Got the link from Laura, who got it from Angie. {{giggles}}

music vids!
Check out Jewel's music videos! The newest one is "Intuition", a song I linked to a while back. Enjoy! I can't wait for May 10th!

lunch
Larry and I had a very nice lunch. It was good talking to him again. He said he's not sure about his job right now. His contract runs out June 30th, and the school just lost a lot of state aid money. So, he's on the prowl again for something. I am, too. {{sigh}}

programming contest?
I'm going to a VB programming contest at school tonight to see what I can whip up. It's $25 for first place, which I can use for gas and food on one of my trips to school. {{shrugs}} $15 for second place. I figured why not. After all, if I win, I can put that on my résumé. It'll look good.

homework to finish
Now, I have to go finish my homework for tonight's class.

You're Tomoe!


What Sailor Moon Villain Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Who wouldn't want to rule the world? LOL...

usb flash sticks
I pondered getting the one that the School Net Admin was selling, but the markup is rediculous. $38 for a 32 meg stick. Blah.

huge developments
WOW!! Big developments on my favorite show tonight. The cabinet and VP voted Palmer out as President. Jack went to this hacker's apartment because the chip proving the fabrication of the Cypress Audio was damaged. Who walks in but Sherry Palmer! Yikes! Plus, Chapelle seems to know more about what's going on in Washington than the head of CTU should, which makes me think he's in on it. Turns out several large oil companies created this audio tape linking Sayed Ali to the bomb when he wasn't the one who did it. They hoped that Palmer would fall for it and declare war on the country that supports Ali so that they could raise gas prices. I don't think they were counting on Jack believing the audio was fake or that he would find evidence of that fact.

Next week, they show Kim killing someone. I think it's the father of the girl she was nanny for. O.O;; Wow...

i have no life
I'm obsessing over a TV show... x.x;;

:: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 ::

late arrivals
And two more people just got here. Class started over an hour ago. x.x;;;

updates
I updated a few things in my navcolumn recently. Most notably, I added links to my other blogs, Dreaming Insanity (which has been active for quite some time), Venting Insanity Beta (which is my way of helping Blogger test their new Dano system), and Random Thoughts (a group blog idea I came up with a while ago that I finally implemented).

We're still getting Random Thoughts completely together, including a nicer looking template. The current one isn't too bad, but Robyn-hime was complaining about the purple. >P D and I like it! It's purple! >P

Anyway, you can all have fun reading our whackiness as it is up and running. Enjoy.

empty seats at empty desks
Another lyric rip off... I dare you to find that one.

Anyway, there's like nobody here in class. Three students and the teacher. O.O;; We're working on functions. I'm working on how to call a function that's in a separate source file. I'm also still looking up graphics header and source files, but I can't unzip anything here. I have to do that at home.

can we say 'markup'?
The school is selling those mini USB discs (flash sticks, I think they're called), but you can get them for like 4 times the size at a cheaper price. I was thinking about that, but the USB on my current motherboard doesn't work right now. I don't know what happened, but I couldn't install WinXP without going into the BIOS and disabling it. However, Larry and I are getting together tomorrow. Hopefully, he can hook me up with a cheap motherboard and processor set that works.

I also had to install a separate sound card in my current motherboard because the embedded sound didn't work on it either. {{shrugs}}

color charts
I was checking out HTML and Hex color charts last night, trying to figure out what colors I want to use to remake my template with. I also want to put in a neat graphic. I have a few ideas on that. I found some charts that had both Hex and RGB codes, so I can coordinate any graphics with matching page colors. Hopefully, I'll be inspired again soon. ^^;;

ack!
Briarcliffe was smacked by a nasty virus and they're replacing hardware this week. O.O;; So, all our servers were messed up, and the internet was turned off from the classrooms. Apparently, someone opened an evil e-mail. It wasn't even a student's fault, it was a staff member!!! Figures.

m.i.a. teacher
On top of that, Prof Stephenson was missing. He had something at his other job that he needed to do (he's an on call tech for a hospital), so Prof Spratt was in for him tonight. We actually did some cool stuff in class tonight. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't feel like I was in study hall or something. {{sigh}} At least, Prof Spratt kept us busy while we weren't able to access the internet to do our finals. ^^;;

However, I now have three take home packets to finish by the end of the week. O.O;; We had gotten one to do today, but Spratt wanted to teach some stuff and have us help him check to see if the network was working (because of the virus). So, I have that one to hand in on Wed, the packet for Chap 8 to do for Thu, and then the final. I'm not exactly sure on the due date for that, but I'm pretty much almost finished with it anyway. There's just a few questions that I'm seriously having trouble answering.

Either way, I think I'm still safe for a final grade in the class. I've gotten all 'A's' on my assignments. While my midterm wasn't all that great (I kind of rushed that one a bit), I'm going to make sure that's the only lower grade I have. I have to work on my packets tomorrow, though.

C
I also have some major work to do for my C class. What I think I'm going to do is finish up the program and then see if I can burn it to CD. I have a feeling it's going to be too big for a floppy. I can't put it on a USB because (a) I don't have one and (b) my USB here doesn't work. For some reason, I had to disable it in my BIOS to get WinXP to install. {{grumbles}} Hopefully, the new motherboard will work okay and the USB won't be a problem. I definitely want to look into getting one of those tiny USB drives. You can hold a lot of stuff (including entire programs) on those suckers.

:: Monday, April 28, 2003 ::

astrological sky watchers, check this out!
There will be a total lunar eclipse that about 2 billion people worldwide will be able to see. Stay up late on May 15 (and into early morning on May 16, about 1:30 am or so) and watch the moon turn red.

news update
Iraq has begun the long process of working towards democracy.

oddball ideas
Another Dave tries his hand at humor and strange observances. Between Dave Barry and Davezilla, it's an invasion of the "DAVES"!!!

pounds blogger into submission
Must change template, have new links and can't add... {{dies}} x.x;;

interviewing skills
Well, the interview went by pretty well, I guess. We talked... a pretty good amount. It's a support position that entails various things from software installs to replacing keyboards and everything in between. It's not overly bad and it gives me some experience. Not to mention that it's probably got fairly decent pay and benefits. Considering I'd be working for a state hospital, I figure I've at least got good health care benefits (if I'm lucky).

Either way, the guy said it would take a long time to hear back. The state EEO board takes a long time to go over any hiring packets managers send to them, so he figures it might be 4 to 6 weeks before I hear anything back. O.O;; I really hope not. He even said not to be afraid to take another job offer in the meantime if I get something sooner, as he's had it happen to him before. That kind of sucks. Of course, it also might mean he wasn't completely interested in me. I brought up that I'm graduating, but I didn't mention my 4.0 GPA. {{shrugs}} I figured that it might sound a bit too much. However, I will be adding an awards section to my résumé for my next application. ^_^;;

We'll see how this one goes.

let's do lunch
Larry and I are hitting the diner on Wednesday. He works at Wm Floyd SD down the street from me, so we're going to the Windmill. At least I think it's the Windmill. It's the Watermill that was turned from a diner into a fancy catering place, and I think that's all the way up in Nesconsett. Oh well... I know where it is. I've been there once before and wasn't overly impressed. It's a diner, but not a majorly impressive one. Unfortunately, I don't know many diner type places close around here that wouldn't take Larry too long on his lunch break to get there. {{shrugs}}

Anyway, I'm looking to upgrade my processor again and he said he can get me a good one, most likely with a motherboard to go with it. We'll probably discuss that on Wednesday, too. Personally, I'm wondering if he knows of any openings at the school. It would be ideal to work this close to home.

You are Donatello! A natural-born engineer, you
understand how things work more than anyone
else. Deeply analytical, you are a self-taught
genius. You are the smartest of the group, but
you also have the warmest heart and most
inspirational fighting style.


Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Wow... big picture... And he's one of my favs.

-----


You are an all element faerie. You control the
power of earth, water, fire, wind and darkness.
You are very smart and beautiful but also very
strong and tough. There is a certain saddness
that lurks about you. Go You!


What Kind of Faeire are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

-----


Congrats! You're pompous, stuck up and love
treasure. You are a Fae-Elf. These
faeries/elves love riches and adore being
pampered.


What kind of elf are you?(Now With pictures!)
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm stuck up? O.O;; Just 'cuz I picked that I wanted to live in a glittering city. >P

par-har-teh!
Well, it wasn't all that thrilling. But, we had fun, we ate stuff, we bought stuff, we socialized, it was cool. I booked a party, so did my aunt. We're both having our parties here. My aunt's house is more cluttered than mine and has worse parking on a busier road. To those of you who I have your addresses, watch out for invitations. {{evil grin}}

idea
I need to upload smiley images somewhere so I can use them in my posts. It's extra coding and whatnot, but it would be cool.

sleep
I need sleep. I have an interview tomorrow at 2 pm. Goodnight all!

:: Sunday, April 27, 2003 ::

quickie name report
Jessica
(Hebrew)

~ meaning ~
Wealthy

~ motivation ~
Looks for adventure

~ character ~
Is law abiding

~ feelings ~
Intimacy is important to you

~ intelligence ~
Is noted for their perception

~ spiritual ~
Is free spirited

~ nature ~
A colourful personality

~ inherent ~
Noted for your serenity

wow
I got TWO awards!!! {{faints}}

I got "Academic Excellence in Computer Information Systems" and "Outstanding Peer Service Award". Woohoo!! Go me! These are going to look great on a résumé.

busy
And I'm busy as all heck. Mega-cleaning mode kicked in yesterday and today for Mom's Home & Garden party. That's today at 2 pm. Tomorrow, I have my interview up at SUNY SB.

break time
I took a break last night and went over to Estelle's. Johnny was out at Paul's and the baby was in bed. We watched Help! with the Beatles. I love that movie.

"Go to the window."

"PAINT! RED PAINT!!"

{{giggles insanely}}

Ringo gets this large ruby ring ("Rather austentatious, if you ask me," John says) in a fan letter from an eastern girl. It turns out that she got the ring and was supposed to wear it in a ritual sacrifice. So, the Swarmi comes after them and is constantly trying to kill Ringo because he's wearing the sacrificial ring. However, in order to kill him, they have to paint him red first. Let's just say, it gets really whacky from there. Very funny movie.

back to work
I have to go help Mom again. My quick break time is over.