And We're Back

So, It's been a while since I posted last. Life as been.. Interesting.. I am in need of an outlet and this little blog in the vast sea that is the internet will be that release.

Home Again, Home Again

Being home again is really nice. The familiar sights, sounds, and smells remind me of how home sick I really was. The last time I was home was at least a month ago and it had taken its toll on my psyche. I now feel much more clear headed and calm. It is good to see old friends again. We get together to do all the usual things. I took my customary trip out the peninsula and took several pictures out at the lookout at Chateau Grand Traverse (I think).

Tonight was dollar pint night at the Loading Dock and they had my most favorite beverage on tap! Leininkugal Summer Shandy is a delightful drink that is 2/3 beer and 1/3 lemonade. It is the perfect drink when at the beach, or at any point during the summer. I had my pint and called it a night. I know, cheap date, but I needed to make my graceful exit before anyone else found out just how little it takes for me to lose my inhibitions.

I am glad to be home. I like waking up with nothing to do and the most pressing issue on my mind being how to make a decent pot of coffee. The only things I have on my agenda are to get my hair cut on Friday and to have my final chat with my boss in Key West. There is much anxiety surrounding that conversation but I am still excited for it. Now, it is time for bed. Night!

The End of an Era?

The semester is over. I passed all my classes, including my accreditation exam. I walked across the stage at the graduation ceremony. I even did a little celebrating. But can it really be the end of my college career?

I was unsuccessful in my attempt to actually graduate this semester. Despite my passing the accreditation exam I was still not allowed to join the ranks of my fellow graduates. Although I understand the need for the university to impose certain criteria for obtaining a degree, I do not think that they need to be interpreted so rigidly.

Clearly I have shown competence by the simple act of passing my accreditation exam. I even found out that at least one of my class mates, who is graduating, did not pass the accreditation exam. That fact alone was enough to beg the question of what the real 6requirements for graduation are. Even my capstone professor concedes to my expertise in the degree program, but there is simply nothing he can do to expedite my diploma. I just don’t have the right classes to fill the mold of the GVSU IS degree requirement. What a load of crap.

As far as I am concerned I am a graduate. I am officially a member of the alumni association as was stated in their welcome email to me shortly after I walked. I passed my accreditation exam. This tells me that I am just as competent as any other IS major graduating this semester. Now it is time to decide what to do next.

I have been waiting for weeks for word from my boss in Key West to talk about the details of my new position at his company. However, with complications in his private life as well as complications at work, we have yet to talk about the job at all. This puts me in a very uncomfortable position. All of my sources tell me that the job is mine and that it is just a matter of working out the details. However, for me the details are everything. I need to know exactly what my salary is and benefits will be so I can weigh the costs and benefits of transplanting myself half way across the country.

My only other alternative is to sign up for the last semester of classes I have to take and really graduate. The biggest problem with that is that financing my illustrious educational career has become a bit of a strain. The government apparently will not be helping out anymore as they believe that it is time that I get out of school and become a productive member of society. I think it would be nice if they and GVSU got together and talked. It might help my case.

None the less, it is good to be done with this semester. I am excited to see what the summer months bring. I can tell it’s going to be very interesting either way. I also sense romance in the air. Yay for young love!

When the Universe Attacks

Sadly, on Thursday morning the hard drive on my computer finally gave out. Ironically, at that every instant I was in the process of opening up a homework document that I was going to print out for class later that day. I could sense the impending doom of catastrophic failure as the atmosphere around me became heavy with dread and anticipation. First, a flicker from the screen indicating there was a glitch within the video card. Then, the mouse froze. The hard drive light lit up and stayed solid for several seconds as the operating system began a memory dump. And finally, it came; the blue screen of death indicating some critical system failure had occurred. The computer then restarted and a message popped up saying that a critical windows file had been corrupted. The file was the “System” file which, come to find out. held a major part of the registry. I was sunk. Son of a bitch!

So, I hopped onto the laptop to send my professor an email to plead for an extention on the due date of my assignment and explained my situation. The professor understood and granted my request.

I spent the rest of the day in a depression trying to figure out how I was going to recover the data off of my old hard drive that would no longer boot properly. Thankfully, I was due to spend some time with my new friends Amber and Bob. I explained my situation and they felt aweful for me. So much so that Amber offered to purchase a new hard drive for me while I was waiting to RMA my now damaged old hard drive. At first I resisted the offer thinking that there would be almost no way I could repay her save using my body as collateral.

As we discussed the hard drive issue further they both decided it would be a good idea to go out for dinner. Locking up the apartment, we hopped into my car and we headed to a wonderful little Italian restaurant. We ordered drinks and an appetizer, and shortly after my good friend Chad texted me to see what I was up to. I explained where I was an invited him to join us. Happily he agreed and a few minutes later he was sitting at our table enjoying a tall glass of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, quite possibly the best beer in the known universe.

We had a great time chatting and munching on food until it was time to go. We all headed back to my apartment for a bit to relax. Amber and Bob decided to bow out for the evening leaving Chad and I alone. We relax together for a while longer, discussing the day and such topics of interests but soon, he had to leave in order to get enough sleep before work the next morning.

April Fools!

So I found out today that I am actually going to graduate this semester!! April fools!!! Hahaha!! Wait… That’s not funny.

Anyways, it is another wonderful day in the land of crucifixes and religious zealots. It was cold, rainy, and windy. My only class for the day was junior writing. As usual it was not mentally taxing but I still had to drag myself to Allendale to attend it. With each passing day I find it harder and harder to justify getting up in the morning and going to class. I have a clear case of seniorities, minus the eventual satisfaction of actually being done with school. GVSU are a bunch of chumps anyways, take that! I managed to score a pretty darn good job regardless of their approval.

In lighter news, I have been instructed by several friends to at least say hello to someone I find very attractive. Granted I will have virtually no chance of making anything of it, but they say that it will build character and will be good for my psyche. I suppose I cannot disagree with the logic behind their statements. And I will also admit that as time goes on I have become more and more frustrated.

Tomorrow begins the longest day of my week. I am not looking forward to it. I can’t wait for it to be over.

Weekend Shenanigans

My mom stopped by my place Friday night while on her way to Detroit to see a Detroit Pistons game with my little brother. It was very good to see her. She even accompanied me to the bar with a couple of friends of mine. We had an excellent time. My mom loved my friends and my friends, of course, loved my mom. My bartender, of course, was happy to see us. He was actually so cute when I introduced my mom. He seemed nervous. Still, that didn’t keep him from showing his affection throughout the night. Good times were had by all and eventually I had to carry my poor mom out of the bar or she would have fallen asleep.

I have to admit, after that the rest of the weekend seemed terribly unsatisfying.

New Friends Rock

The other night I made several new friends!

Friday night I did made my ritual pilgrimage to the bar to have a drink and chat with my bartender friend, who is always glad to see me.

I met up with Rob upstairs. He was scoping out the best seat to chill and listen to karaoke. Amber on the other hand was nowhere to be found and according to Rod was down on the dance floor making out with some girl.

On my way down to the dance floor I stopped at the back bar to say hello to Chad. Always happy to see one of his favorite customers, he greeted me with a kiss over the bar and asked if I was well. He handed me my drink and I headed out into the dance floor to find Holly.

Long story short:

Found Holly, checked our coats, lost my drink, and was given another.

Went upstairs for Holly to smoke, met up with my new friend Amber, they all got me drunk, we got some sweet pictures of our friend Shea the server… HOT

Ended up dancing like a fool with Amber until the bar closed when Chad came out to give me a kiss and Amber, not wanting to be left out jumped on my back and would not get off, still made out with chad. The night gets a little fuzzy then. Something about McDonalds and plans for dinner…. I hope I didn’t do anything bad. ^_^