*iz floored*

So Monday I finished that lame (10 day) Critical Thinking class and was whatever about it. I’d be happy with a C. Well as it stands, I have an 81.70% - that’s a B! This is by no means bragging. This is me geninuely shocked that I pulled such a good grade from not trying and being pissed that no one - student advisor or teacher - would return my calls or emails until 3 days before the class was over!

There were 2 written assignments due - a 2 page paper and then a 4 page paper expanded from the 2 page paper. I did those in 1 ½ days! I got 100% on the 2 page paper and 98% on the 4 page paper. Then there were 4 discussion question/homework questions. I did 3 of the 4 but (so far) only graded on 2 and one of those 2 I didn’t do!

This online school experience started out so great, but gradually, it’s been pissing me off, royally. Good luck trying to get a prompt reply from my student advisor when it’s important. he only time she’s prompt about getting in touch with me is if I haven’t logged into Blackboard in a few days.

Anyways, right now I’m at day 3 of Psychology class and I don’t have a book. I was supposed to hear back from the SA 2 days ago about it. Fortunately there’s photocopied pages as pdfs for the reading. It feels like I’m missing stuff tho, but I have been able to answer the discussion questions based on the reading we’ve been provided, so that’s good i guess. I really don’t want to play phone tag about this book. My SA is just pissing me off to no end. I wonder if they even pay attention to the course evaluation they have us do at the end of class...

the wheels on the bus go round and round

So I took the bus to the library and when I was on the 2nd bus going there, this guy taps me on my shoulder and hands me a post it note


click to see full size

OMG! I start "typing" away on my cell and he taps me on my shoulder again (I think) and was like "Is that a yes?" I shook my head no and was like "I have a boyfriend" and he was all "sorry." and then I turned up my music and texted my friends what happened.

why did he put his name in quotes? as my friend Ana asked on FB Um....is "james" his bus only name?

I said no for 2 reasons: He looked AT LEAST 20 years OLDER than me (between 45-50 yrs old!) and he wasn't attractive. From that point on, I was creeped out. he was sitting behind me to my right so for a good 10 minutes (until he got off the bus) I felt like I was being watched, or my texts were being read.

and reading it, it's like we had a conversation and as he was getting off the bus, he gave it to me...but no. I had been on the bus maybe 5 minutes before he gave me that note.

Anyways...went to the library to return a book and check out another one. It's a bit of a "teen" book, but omg I LOVE The Heist Society series books! The first one is called "Heist Society" and this one is called "Uncommon Criminals". I have the audiobook of the first if anyone is interested in giving it a listen. There are many things about this series that has me reading for hours on end - The "lead" male character, Hale, totally sounds cute (I mentioned to a friend I wish he was my bf lol) (and it doesn't hurt that he's rich, but I'm so not a literary gold digger!) and buzz around the internet is that Heist Society might become a movie. OMG YAY! when I read that, my mind got to think about who I'd cast. I haven't come up with my cast yet, but let me tell you, Hale HAS GOT TO BE A DREAM!

About an hour ago, I guess, I finished “The Rockey Horror Picture Show”. For those who like it, more power to you. It just wasn’t my movie. I’ve been told by several people that it is lame when you watch by yourself and that it’s much more fun if you watch with a group and it’s interactive. Okay, if you say so. It just wasn’t for me. The songs were catchy enough but I spent far too much time going “wtf is this?!” and “omg this is so lame”. I didn’t think there was going to be as much singing as there was either. Just my thoughts on it all.

freak of the day

For a minute, my netbook became a paperweight. Nothing I plugged into any of the 3 USB ports would read. It acknowledged my external hard drive but no drives were popping up. FREAK OUT! Unplugged everything, shutdown, wait a minute, reboot, plug back it and we're back in business!

I don't know why the USB ports randomly decided not to work. I need to invest in an everyday use netbook and leave this one for the school work (like I'm sure the school who sent me to me intended, but I paid for it, so I can use it however I want, right?!).

I’ll just add this to the growing list of problems I’m encountering now (at the 18 month mark of having it). Maybe a month ago, or so, it started randomly shutting down. Not the good shutdown way either. like mid-type in and email and it would turn off! Thought I’d press the power button on accident, but when it did it while I was streaming something online, I knew that wasn’t the case. I think it was overheating (note to self: see about getting a fan to place under this when I use it for a long time). Another thing I noticed was a blinking red/orange light. I’d recognized this before, when I was working off the battery. It meant my battery was low and to plug it in. But wait, it IS plugged in! What the heck is going on?! I checked the battery and it was at 88%. Umm why? I’m plugged in. it should be at 100%. I mention it to my dad and he suggested I work on the battery until it drains completely, then plug it in to let it fully charge. I did that and no further problems with the battery...however, the red/orange light flashes and I notice that the netbook was pretty hot. So I saved everything and shut it down for a few hours to cool off. Again, need that fan.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday!

this heat sucks hairy donkey balls!

was out driving earlier today with my mom. we had some errands to run (last bit of food for BBQ tomorrow) and she was called in to work to fill in for someone (this lady ALWAYS seems to get sick when there's going to be a 3 day holiday so she ends up getting 4 days), anyways, my mom and I did what we had to do and she dropped me off at home before leaving for work. about an hour after being home, I was so congested and we didn't have anything for it. I was miserable. It had to be the heat as it was 84 degrees according to the weather channel app on my phone. I opened the window/curtains in my room and watch some shows on hulu. I got through a decent number before I fell asleep. I woke up twice when I noticed I wasn't hearing anymore shows playing (my connection froze I think).

about an hour ago I finally woke up. saw some email reminders for graphic challenges and now I'm working on them. I'm going to need to stop to start the marinade on the ribs. I don't feel like doing it, but my mom called and asked me to.

We also need a new vacuum. My dad is checking the Salvation Army, but I don't know if I trust them. They're cool for movies, clothes and furniture, but other things I rather buy at the store (walmart, target, sears) where there's the paperwork and a warranty. Unfortunately, we don't have $100+ laying around for a brand spanking new vacuum.

Hope my American friends have a happy and safe Independence Day weekend!

an update on my Critical Thinking class

In regards to this entry, I spoke with my student advisor. While I didn’t mention wanting to be removed from the class, I did tell her that I was VERY uncomfortable with the discussion topics. She said that was understandable, and that I wasn’t the only one (in the class?) who felt that way. She said in cases like this, another topic was given and that’s what I would work with. She also said that the 2 writing written papers didn’t have to be on ghosts/ufo’s or 9/11 conspiracy theories - that I could pick any topic. Umm great. I wouldn’t know a topic to pick (I didn’t tell her that).

Still have a high level of IDGAF.

As the conversation came to an end, she said she’d e-mail the instructor and see what further could be done and that the instructor would be in contact with me via email (best to have everything in writing so there’s no confusion) and my SA would be CC’d on the matter as well.

I hope some kind of solution is decided upon. The 2 page written paper is due tomorrow and I have 2 days of discussion questions to work on (the ones I need replacement topics for).

I like weird things but this is pushing it

Monday I started a new class - Critical Thinking. Yet another class I’ve taken in person that I’ve had to take online. I’m getting tired of this BS. Anyways. The book for the class is titled How to Think About Weird Things Critical Thinking for a New Age. I didn’t bother to look through the book when it came because I was wrapped up in working on my research paper for the class I just finished (English/Writing Composition).

Monday I looked at the lecture, homework and discussion assignment for the day. Nothing weird there. Just lightly touching on ghosts and hauntings...and how to critically think about them (aka debunking the bumps in the night and shadow play). We were also given an assignment that would be due on Friday. A 2 page paper on either ghosts, UFO’s or 9/11 conspiracy theories. Which ever topic we pick for the 2 page paper, we’d be expanding for the 4 page paper due at the end of the course. Pick something that can hold our attention.

Tuesday I looked at the lecture, homework and discussion assignment for the day. Death. We were learning about death. More specifically near death experiences and the existence of a soul. Not...not too bad. The assignment was to basically debunk, “logically think about”, a near death experience we, or someone we know, has had. We have to try to logically explain what happened in that experience. I’m sorry, I’m not going to poo poo something someone has said they felt deep inside them. I think that’s wrong.

This is looking like a class I’m not going to do too well in.

Today we are to start working on that 2 page paper assigned on Monday. Only problem is, after all this reading, I don’t want to write about any of the topics. I 100% do not believe in 9/11 conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories on other topics, I haven’t dealt with and for the purposes of this class, probably won’t be dealing with. That leaves UFO’s and Ghosts. If I write about UFO’s, the lecture in Unit 6 talks all about them. There are 3 chapters in the book talking about it and 6 websites to visit. For ghosts, that’s discussed in Unit 2 (2 chapters and 3 websites) AND Unit 4 (3 chapters and 1 website).

Not going to lie, I’m totally going to BS the 2 papers. That is how high my level of IDGAF is.

After today, there are still 7 more days of this class and I’ll be done with it. I can last, right? I really just don’t GAF.

debatable research paper

For this English/Writing Composition class I’m in we have a final paper (due 6/24) and the guidelines state that we are to take a position on an issue that can be debated. Last Friday we were to begin to think about topics we could research, but I’m a procrastinator and we have a rough draft of the paper due on 6/17 so today I decided on my topic. Physician Assisted Suicide. It is definitely an issue that can be debated.

A down side, I guess, is that it is limited to 2 pages - not including the references page. Normally I dread having page/word limits but I think this is one time I wish I didn’t. I have to stick to the 2 pages because I don’t want points taken off. The last paper I did I went half way on to a 3rd page and got 2 points taken off.

Then there’s the number of sources. At least 5. I don’t know how the paper is going to be kept at 2 pages with 5 sources, but I’m going to try. So far I have 10 websites and 10 books. Obviously I’m not going to use them all, but it’s a good starting point. In a bit I’m going to the library to look at the books I selected and see if they’re something I can use or if I need to pick other books. My plan for this assignment is to use 3 books and 2 websites. That will give me my “at least 5 sources”.