Week 1 Almost Done

Today is Thursday, and that means I only have one more class until Week 1 of Spring quarter is over! Over my long and illustrious college career, I don't think I've had a more stressful first week of classes. This is kind of worrisome, considering that I've not had anything due (besides a really easy Bio lab), but I think the course load for Calculus is what is stressing me out. I'm already behind on the homework, but I think that part of the reason is that I need to refresh my memory on how to do algebraic things. This is going to make me sound incredibly old, but I haven't had any algebra classes since the first semester of my freshman year of high school, 11 years ago. Yes, I haven't done any algebra since I was 14 or 15 years old. I remember being pretty good at it, but apparently that's all I remember. I think I'm going to try to find some information online to remind myself how to do Algebra, and hope that it will help make my homework less confusing. Besides Calculus, my Bio class has actually been quite interesting thus far. The class is over Evolution and Ecology, so this is right up my alley. Right now we are talking about the Evolution part, and a lot of it is stuff I've learned outside of class. Since the class is at 8:30 in the morning, I'm lucky that I'm interested in the topic, because otherwise I would definitely be tempted to skip class since its in a big lecture hall and I doubt my professor would notice I'm not there. 

Anyhoo... this is going to be a quick post, because my baked potato is done and I need to finish making the rest of my dinner. Mmmmm... food....

Decisions, Decisions...

Today, I had my interview for the internship with Five Rivers Metroparks at Cox Arboretum. Though I was pretty nervous, like always, before the interview, the park manager Rick was incredibly nice and we got to talk about bicycles. I've determined that I am a master at bringing bicycles/ Bike & Build into any conversation. Whenever I'm with friends or anyone who already knows about the bike trip, all I say is "THE trip" and they know that I'm talking about Bike & Build. They all have probably heard the same stories approximately 1,210 times, but luckily they don't tell me to shut up about it... yet. In due time, it will probably happen. Anyhoo... back to the interview... it seemed to go pretty well. There are some things that I need to look into getting certified on (Pesticide Spraying, CPR, etc.), but it would be a fantastic way to get a ton of experience (and learn to use chainsaws). He even took me on a tour of the greenhouses to show me the projects they are working on. It was really fun to see how excited he was about the tree seedlings that were growing. I could tell he is passionate about his work, and I think I could learn a ton about the field. Oh, did I mention that he was jealous of my bike trip (biking across the country is on his bucket list). Just thought I would throw in more bike talk.

The problem that I'm facing is trying to figure out if this would be feasible with school. I think I would be fine this spring, because he sounds like he can work around my school schedule. The problem is that I need to take summer classes (so I can graduate in 2 years, I think), but I would be working 40 hours a week (with a 7:30-4 work schedule everyday with either Friday/Saturday or Sunday/Monday off). That is definitely not going to work while taking Chem classes.

I am going to ponder over this whole internship thing, and if I get offered the internship, I might either ask about working around a school schedule in the summer, or see if there are any other positions I would be qualified for so I can still work at the arboretum. We shall see... though I first need to be offered the position before I have to worry about any of this.

Besides the whole interview thing, I've gotten some awesome messages from my B&B family members who have received their secret surprise. It's been great hearing from them, and I'm glad they are enjoying the surprise. I'm trying to burn some more copies of the DVD so I can send more out tomorrow, but luckily I don't have to do much work to get them ready. Now, I just need to read for BIO tomorrow and of course, work on Calc homework. If there weren't so many problems for each section, I wouldn't mind Calc so much. Hopefully doing all this homework actually helps when it comes to test time. We shall see.

Double Fisting Tea

Today has been a hell of a day. My first BIO lecture, at 8:30 in the morning, but I managed to stay awake the entire time. Thank god I find the material interesting, otherwise my head would have probably hit my tiny desk and I would have taken a very nice nap. After class I went to Starbucks for my first dose of tea for the day. I'm lucky I don't drink any of the $5+ coffee drinks that are more sugar than coffee, because not only would I gain 600 pounds, I would also be even more poor. I was able to finish up some of my math homework there, but I still have some more problems to finish from the first class, and of course now I have to add the problems from today. I'm not sure if the homework load is ridiculous because I'm in a five day a week class or there is just a ton of homework in Calc classes. Either way, I'm not enjoying it, and I'm worried that I'm not going to have time for the internship if I manage to get an offer for it. I'm thinking about going to the interview, see how it goes, and ask about how much work (and when) the internship will be so I can determine whether I should take it if I get the offer. I'm going to be really sad if I get an offer, but can't take it due to my classes. If only both of my classes didn't have a ton of homework/reading, I would totally be fine. Oh well... I wasn't expecting college to be easy. I just hope the rest of my classes (next 2 years) aren't all like this one. 

After class, I decided I needed more tea in order to stay awake to do my Calc problems and hopefully catch up on the readings for BIO. Not only did I get the tea I ordered, the barista also gave me a healthy portion of a new type of tea I had never tried. I was double fisting tea. This is probably better than double fisting alcohol at least. Coffee shops will probably be my home this quarter (with campus being a close second). Thankfully, I love sitting in coffee shops and drinking tea, I just wish I didn't have to do so much homework as well. 

Well... better make some dinner and get to working on Calc and do my BIO reading. Two days into the quarter... and I wish I was done. Guh! 

Let the Craziness Begin!

Man... spring break didn't last long enough! Today was the first day of classes for spring quarter, and I don't really feel like I got much of a break (though I haven't been in class for a week and a half). My first class of the quarter is my last math class ever (unless of course I don't pass). Unfortunately, it's Calculus. My professor sounds very, very helpful, but I'm realizing that I haven't taken an algebra class since high school, and apparently I need to recall that information for this class. Oops! Today's lecture seemed fairly reasonable... things seem to make sense... but we'll see how it goes once we get into new material instead of the algebra "review". There is opportunity for plenty of extra credit though, so I might be spending a lot of extra time on Calculus. I'm shooting for an A in this class, but we'll see how it goes. Tomorrow I have my first BIO lecture and lab, and I'm pretty excited to see how that goes. Of course lecture is at 8:30 in the morning, but the class is over Evolution and Ecosystems (why they are combining those two into one course, I'm not sure). I'm actually interested in (and will need to know about Ecosystems) for my future post-college plans, so hopefully it goes well.

Besides all the school stuff I have going on, I've got an interview on Wednesday for a possible PAID internship. Yes, I will actually be earning money to do work. The past couple years have been filled with volunteer work, so getting paid to do work will be a nice change. The internship is with Five Rivers Metro Parks too, so I'm pretty excited to see how this goes. There is only one position open, so hopefully I can get it. We shall see.

My other time consuming project has been doing work on things for friends. I have my B2SB secret project (making DVDs of videos from the trip for my fellow B2SBers), and then creating a Hanson filled DVD of my friend's video from the Hanson acoustic show she went to on Friday. I'm not a Hanson fan, at all, but I know she was really excited about the show, and well, she used my camera and doesn't have video editing programs on her computer, so I offered to put something together for her to enjoy. She is a HUGE Hanson fan, so I have offered to really "Hanson it up". It has involved a lot more work than I thought it would, because the photos from the show that were taken by the radio station weren't very good. The video part was easy, but the photo editing took longer than I thought it would. Luckily I am just waiting for some more videos from another person to put on it, then I'll just have to burn it and give it to her, but it has definitely kept me very busy. She's a great friend, so I don't mind doing it, and I know she'll really appreciate it (or so I hope). It will be nice when I can delete the loads of Hanson videos and photos I have on my computer right now.

Well... figured I should give a short recap of the craziness that has been my life the past few days. I am doing better than I thought I would with this whole "remember to blog" thing. Hopefully school (and possible internship) won't be too much to deal with this spring, but we shall see. I am hoping I'll still find time to get on my bike and ride a lot. It's one of my favorite things to do, so I would be very sad if I couldn't find time to go do it.

Lousy Smarch Weather

I've checked my calendar many times today, just to make sure that it is in fact spring already, because it definitely doesn't feel like it outside. Right now I'm on spring break from school, which has been nice, I really needed a break from thinking. I was hoping to do a lot of bike riding while on break since it's more difficult to get a chance to go on big rides when I have reading and tests to worry about. Since my 40 mile ride the other day, I haven't been able to ride. There is no better feeling that jumping on the bike and heading out wherever you want to go just because you can, but I've been lacking that lately. I'm going to have to schedule days to ride when school starts back up and the weather improves. I can't wait until my next break from school (which with summer classes, I'll have a week or two off in late August, ugh!). 

I did have good news today though! I got a call from Five Rivers Metro Parks about setting up an interview for a paid internship that I applied for earlier this week. If I can get this internship, not only will it be great experience, I will also have some income coming my way! Woo hoo! I just need to call back to arrange the interview and see how it goes. Going to keep my fingers crossed that it goes well. I don't have much experience with interviews. 

Also tonight was the opening for my friend Michael George's show in New York. He is such an incredible artist, I know it is probably fantastic. I was hoping to make it out there, but plans fell through. I'm glad that some of the folks from the trip are out there celebrating with him right now, though I wish I could have been one of them. Luckily I've been able to work on my project for everyone on the trip last night and today though, so I've really enjoyed that. 

Well... I think that's a decent recap of my day. I'm trying to remember to blog... since I've told myself that I would. We'll see how long I can manage to do this. 

Random Factory Photos

When I take photos, I tend to take photos of things that I find to be interesting, though most people might overlook them if they were to pass them. One night last week, I decided to go out and take photos. The theme of the evening was factories apparently, or at least that's what ended up happening this night. Of course I decided to take these photos at 1 in the morning as well... so it felt a bit creepy to be hanging out around factories at that hour, but I'm pretty excited with how they turned out. These are my favorite from the group. 

Photo Memories from Bike & Build

Since I've started my blog back up, I figured I would start things off with a few of my favorite photos from the cross country bike trip. These are a few of the many, many photos I took, but I think they give you an idea about what we saw along the way. I'm hoping to show some photos from the trip in a solo show this summer (if things work as planned). Let me know what you think of them, and if you want to see more, I can post more to an online photo album perhaps. Thanks! Enjoy! 

Berwick, PA- Notice the nuclear cooling towers

Western PA (I believe)

The Cadillac Ranch- Outside of Amarillo, TX

Riding in New Mexico (near Portales)

Abandoned Building near Roswell, NM

Sunrise in Pie Town, NM

Pacific Coast (near Santa Barbara, CA)

Back on the Blog

I've decided that I'm going to start blogging again... but it will mostly be to share my photos, talk about biking, and sometimes share some personal stories if anything interesting happens in my life. This post is going to be short and sweet, as I'll be posting some new photos next. Feel free to follow me if any of this sounds even remotely interesting. I'm not sure how often it will be updated, but it could become a regular thing I'll work on when I am online and have free time. Only time will tell.