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Friday, August 30, 2013

Wow,

I'm sitting in the computer lab just off the student dinning center, and the marching band has just started playing.  Unfortunately, this is a hall type area, so it condenses and amplifies the sound.  My ears are starting to hurt.  It's cool otherwise.
It's the block party today, which I actually got to visit for the first time since I started school (I was always working or in class).  So it evens things out.  But my coworkers, supervisor, and I got to set up the trash bins for that.  Plus we spent five hours cleaning the 'special' seats in the stadium-gotta love that, as they are actual chairs, with backs and armrests, so the birds find them convenient for certain bodily functions. That was a little tiring.  A marine booth has a pullup bar where they challenge you to do as many pull ups as you can.  Women are given the option of just holding your chin above the bar for as long as possible.  I managed 23 seconds, but I'd been carrying a backpack.
Gotta love the background music for the band.  I think this might be a flash mob, but I don't know for sure.  They caught us all off guard anyway.
And today we get to move the garbage cans from the student outdoor area (it has a name like the commons or something) to the pay parking lot for the 'foam nation' party at 8:30.  And keep track of cans in the football stadium for tomorrow...

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Huh,

didn't realize what today was, even after I got to school.  But I was running late (was actually late to my photography class, and I've managed to avoid being late for over a year).  We had fun though.  The teacher had us running around campus with pinpoint cameras (basically a light tight container with a pinhole for the 'lens' that you use your hand for the shutter) taking pictures and learning how to make our own exposure times.  Pinpoint cameras teach that through the fact that to little time means no picture, and too much means a lot of black image.
I also got a great deal on the camera for the class.  The art store had a one time sale for a brand new camera.  Only $50 total.  For a $235 camera!  Of course, I had to drag it around with me to work, as it warmed back up so leaving it in the car was asking to break it.
That spider came back.  Turned out to be a tarantula with a large bald spot on it's back.
Spent yesterday and monday helping mow crew keep up with mowing, and today we were trimming.
Got my new ipod, but haven't had time to put music on it.  Too many other things to do.

Monday, August 26, 2013

It's Funny...

I never really thought of my life as hard until people started pointing it out to me.  Met with a teacher last week who did just that.  Granted, I did grow up a little lost in a family of seven kids, with a father working full time and a mother trying to keep track of all seven.  Plus we were all born within ten years, so for a while she had to deal with very hyper kids.  My dad has been sacrificing his spare time for the past five years to get a Bachelor's degree, and he's down to one last class.  I've sacrificed the last three, but I've still got a ways to go.
My dad gave us all blessings for the start of the school year last night.  Slept rather weird after that.  Woke up before 2 a.m. with the strange feeling that there was a large spider in my bed, crawling right next to my pillow.  I couldn't find any spider (I was tired enough that I didn't really try) so I ran to the bathroom and found a large black spider (maybe 3/4 of an inch big) trapped in the tub.  The thing was scratching at the shallowest side of the tub trying to get out.  I didn't think that tub was that slick...
Had a dream saturday or sunday.  Not sure of the details, but I remember three kids around the age of five, one of whom was a boy, all playing on the floor in front of me.  I was seated-don't know what I was sitting on-and holding a baby less than three months old.  The baby was a boy wearing a white t-shirt and blue overalls.  He had white socks on I think.  Despite being fast asleep, he had a very firm grip on my shirt.  Not sure where that came from, though he reminded me of my now one year old cousin's baby.
I did get both my assignments in saturday, but it was a very rushed effort.  Didn't tell my teacher that though.  And now its starting all over again.
Exercised saturday and my pectorals have been sore ever since.  My right shoulder isn't happy either...
My photography teacher claims that the first day of class is always a mess for them.  I told him its always a mess for everyone.  Especially for fall semester.  We get the influx of recent high school grads (actually have one in this class) who are trying to master the campus without being late for class, trying to get textbooks (while adjusting to buying them instead of borrowing them), and finding parking.  My teacher let us out early because it was the first day, and we just went over the syllabus-go figure that a black and white analogue photography teacher would still print it out instead of the electronic version most teacher are using.  Not all english teachers like that as well.
But now I need to get the rest of the supplies for that class (film and the camera being a big part) on top of the textbook.  I just hope none of my other classes want additional stuff...

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Mwahahah.

Okay, I'm a little hyper right now.  Just got the reply from the friend for my info interview.  still need the report and the career research report, but that gives me a better chance.
Failed to mention the huge spider I encountered outside the main building for landscape thursday.  Over an inch long (just the body) with all black except for a light brown patch in the middle of its back.  It freaked out my coworker (former daytime who switched to swing for the school year).  Let's just say they saw the spider and managed "oh gosh" Only they said the other word.  Would not go any closer, and actually took three steps back.
We did get more rain friday(got a little damp while weeding, in fact).  The university chose to repaint the parking lot by the stadium, so that caused us to juggle things like watering and setting up more trash bins for the scrimmage today.  My supervisor was called in early and so had to leave by five again.  Which meant it was just the new swing shift high school student and I  trying to work that out.  Most of it was weeding anyway.  Funny how the paint they used smelled a lot stronger than any my supervisor used.  But that's plant friendly.
My ipod is not repairable, so I'm trading it for a new one of the same type (generation 4 nano).  Why? I accidentally yanked the logic board halfway out while pulling it off the charger yesterday.  It snapped the keypad connection, and basically wouldn't lock.  So yes, I'm getting a new one. That not only is one of the cheapest, but as a trade in I got $20 off at least.  But I have to wait for them to send it to the store next week, and I have to redownload all my stuff.
Starting a new construction zone in the basement, where my mom wants to paint.  This should get interesting, as school starts for all of us kids (save my oldest sister) on monday.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Cool...

A teacher not only enabled me to get a passing score in their class (aka a d instead of an f) but to get as high as a C.  I just have to do 2 assignments by monday.  One needs an interview-which I have already emailed someone about-and the other involves a bit of research.  But I have two days, so I should be okay in getting them done.
We got rain wednsday evening and thursday morning, and again thursday evening.  My supervisor had scheduled the soccer field for painting yesterday, only to have the soccer team steal the time for pracitce.  something about needing to practice before the other team-visitors-did.  So they had to come in to work at 9 instead.  Thankfully the other supervisor in charge of the sports turf strung up the field so all they had to do was paint.  They were done by 11:30, and I got there in time to help clean up the machine and empty buckets.  We spent the rest of the day finishing trimming the bushes we've been working on all week. that plus cleaning up the branches took the rest of the day-though we did have just enough time to put out garbage cans in the stadium for a scrimmage saturday.  Part of the problem was a large accumulation of nightshade (yes, they excist and they are poisonous-hence why we were getting them out of there) vines that were growing on and through the fence.  Got very windy as we picked those up.
We'd worked on them wednsday too, but still took time to get the rest.  My supervisor said they let it go too long between trimming-over a year we think-so they had to run the trimmer over the smae area 2-3 times to get the tops level with the fence.  And the branches liked to fall into the bushes, so I had to fish them back out.
I was following my mom's blog, but now it says I'm not.  Have to fix that...

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Grrr...

woke up with a headache this morning.  At least I don't have to worry about school yet.  Ah well.  Get to park at the institute agian, just need to turn in the postcard I got in the mail.  Have a bunch of recycling in my truck that I need to drop off.  But they want it sorted first.
Work's been a bit complicated this week.  My supervisor and I were trying to trim bushes along the stadium fence on monday and the machine started acting up.  Found out most of the screws had wobbled loose so it couldn't run properly.  We made up for not finishing by starting to prep the football practice field for painting, which we did tuesday.  Even with the time from monday it still took five hours-including the cleanup.
We got a little rain (i.e. just enough to get the pavement damp) last night.  Hopefully today we can finish the bushes.
Banged my left forearm on a dumpster monday, so its a bit tender now.  Would be the spot I usually rest my arm on.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Groan...

My mom started work today, so I'm stuck with my youngest two brothers (the second oldest got another temp job-in landscaping and my sister likes to sleep in on her days off) who are constantly at odds.  My mom gave both of them a to do list, and the older of the two tried to remind the youngest of that.  The youngest replied that he wasn't the boss of him.  I had to break it up.
Before that I got a series of texts from my mom and my dad, due to the latter's car battery dying.  Little known fact about car batteries: if the terminal(s) are dirty, whe the battery gets low it won't start.  Had the same issue with my truck last winter.  So my youngest brother and I drove down there( where he works) with tools to clean it and possibly jump start it.  All it took was a cleaning and it started just fine.  My dad says he owes both of us lunch and me gas.  Lunch I won't complain about, but it took less than $10 dollars worth of gas to get down there and back.  However, I don't get paid til next week and my truck's a bit low, so I probably shouldn't complain.
Friday my supervisor decided to buy KFC for our lunch break(technically dinner, but as we both eat when we get home we call it lunch) And gave me the chocolate cake that came with their order.  Friday was kind of a whatever we could find to do around the unexpected emergencies-like having to turn off and then back on a sprinkler filter valve so the sprinklers in the soccer field wouldn't soak the high school teams playing that day.  Also laid down wood chips in three areas, but didn't quite cover two, even with three loads.
Might be doing a project today, but I'm not sure.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Yes!!!

I got into math 1030 for fall!  and I passed magazine article writing with a C+! I was so afraid I'd get aC-.  I'm hoping to get my textbooks today-I just got paid.  Need to drop off my institute parking pass, and if I have time get rid of the recycling in my truck.
Came home from work yesterday and my sister was dismantling my scooter.  Appearantly the rear brake was loose and rattling.  She got it tightened, then put it back together.  Of course, I had to put it away-she'd taken so long it was past the time she needed to go to bed.  The only problem was I tried to do it barefoot, and the garage spot for it was very crowded. Rather hard to put it up on the stand that way.
More painting-though I had to laugh.  I got more paint on me cleaning the machine and buckets (we use the now empty five gallon buckets for weeds, garbage, and dirt) then I did while we were painting the field.  That took most of the day, then the manager asked us to mow down the weeds and tall grass inside the fence surrounding the football stadium.  That wasn't too bad though.
Wensday was a bit complicated as far as work goes.  Pulled weeds until my supervisor showed up (a nearby high school wanted them to paint their field and it took him 6-7 hours) then did weed whacking inside the parking lot for the auto tech students (their practice cars-dealerships donate them).  The hard part there was trying to to spray the cars.
I have very little idea what we're going to do today, as the only thing I know for sure is that we need to water (Half the sprinklers are manual, and leaving the grass for three days is asking for it).

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

It's Over!!!

The end is in sight.  Actually, I just finished my last final (and did very well, considering I couldn't study-stayed up late last night finishing my last article, as my dad pointed out that I'd forgotten the works cited page.  He also spent the last fifteen minutes I was working on it attackering(yes, I know its not a word, but that's how I describe it so he and I know its just good fun) me so it took longer.  It also kept me awake, so I'm not complaining) and got 77% on it.  Did notice that four questions had the answers (or a answer) printed under the question but over the possible answers.  Told the teacher and tried to ignore them.
Got off work early yesterday to go to a mother daughter night in my mom's ward.  They had a large selection of homemade popcorn, quilts to tie (where we spent most of the evening), one recently returned missionary did a magic show (there were little girls there too), and crazy pictures.  After we left my sister took me to Barnes and Noble to find a magazine (I had no luck with local grocery stores) before the final efforts on my article.
Had to read said final draft today in class (that was our 'final' but the teacher didn't grade us on it).  I was third (they picked randomly to avoid in sense of favoritism or students trying to get out of it) and I guess we were all tired because the first two had good responses, but mine had a good ten seconds of silence before the teacher asked if there were questions or comments.  But a classmate told me late it wasn't because mine was awful (yes, that is what I feared) just that it made you think and it's the last day of class.  Plus everyone had to get up for class and we always seemed tired for the 7:30 meeting.
Then I had to run get stamps for my envelopes-the only thing I forgot-before giving it to him for final evaluation and mailing.
My friend and I both had a hiccup attack at work yesterday.  She got them first, and they went for a good fifteen minutes(I felt bad, as they sounded uncomfortable towards the end) before-as she put it-she yelled at them to scare them off.  After she went home and I had a 30 minute break I got them.  Mine were just as bad, so after ten minutes I texted her to jokingly tell her she'd given them to me.  She then informed me of the yelling at them trick (by then, of course, I'd gotten rid of them).
The fun part was we were trimming bushes and expired daylillies when she got hers, and I was dumping pine wood chips (they smelled really good as they were fresh) in the same bed where the daylillies were.  Then my supervisor dumped a shovelful of the chips on my shoe, so I had to take both off (not sure how they got in the other shoe) to get the splinters out.
Blew off the sidewalks after that, and ate dirt again thanks to a poorly timed gust of wind.
We get to paint again tomorrow.  Why they cut the soccer field grass so short I'm not sure, but it makes the paint last for a shorter period of time compared to the football practice field.  So we have to repaint it the day before every game, or at least the same week as one.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Oy...

A Computer Tech major doing a Technical writing senior project should not ask a creative writing major currently in a magazine article class to proof read their 43 page paper.  I spent a half hour reading it (hey, it was in outline format) then fifteen minutes explaining what I found wrong with it.  My dad was the other student.  But his project got accepted over the weekend, so it turned out well.  As I told him, I had to shut up the english teachers in my head (they would have gone crazy with a red marker) save my technical writing one from last fall and some of the magazine one.  Specifically the Top Ten Ways How not to Write a Sentence my magazine teacher gave us.  I'd read it the day before for my last article so it was quite firmly in my head for that.
The main thing my magazine teacher would have been bothered by was writing a sentence 'backwards', though it worked for the project.  I did suggest he clarify a few areas, and make all of it the same 'format' (one part was a summary instead of outline).
But it passed, with a B+ I think.  So I'm glad I was able to help.
My magazine teacher thinks my current article has a great start, I just need more quotes and info.  Basically they want more substance, not fluff.  Which means a bit more research, and a lot of notes.  It's due wensday, so this should be fun.  They also want me to try submitting it to Playboy or something like that.
Work on friday was finishing up the stadium-I didn't finish thursday due to the wind.  It was windy friday too, so both my supervisor and I were eating a lot of dirt.
The fun part was a services vs. systems softball game at two.  Basically it was landscaping and mechanics vs. plumbers and carpenters.  We got the university V.P. though.  We lost too.  By at least ten points.   But it was fun.  The landscaping manager was outfield and having butterfinger issues.  They kept hitting the ball in that direction, and while the manager caught the first 2, the next one they dropped three times before giving up and soccer kicking it back to the pitchers mound.  The fourth ball they didn't even try to throw.  they just ran it back to the pitcher, with the catcher calling out 'Just drop kick it!'  This same catcher scored one of our first three runs in a slide.  That skinned their knee, so they told the manager ' I'm still clocked in, so can I go to WorkMed?'  as a joke. 
One of us not playing snuck into the announcer's box and started playing music.  Mostly the old baseball favorites, that I don't know the name of.  The one's without words.  But they also played the Mission Impossible Theme, Jaws theme, and Star Wars.  I thought it was funny.  We only played three innings.
My oldest sister and second oldest brother had a long loud argument after church yesterday, which my second youngest brother and I had to try and ignore.  I actually got involved, but it didn't do much.
Walked the dogs with my mom this morning.  That was frustrating yet entertaining.  They love to get the leashes entangled, but they also like to stop and try to water other people's lawns.  Not fun trying to get them off before they manage it.
Not sleeping well, and my mom isn't either.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Forgot to Mention...

At the start of swim class yesterday, one of the boys pushed me into the pool.  I was standing near the six foot marker talking to the girl who started water polo on my team, and then switched to the other team (the teacher moved her) before the end of the game.  He walked up behind me and said "what are you waiting for?" then gave me a one handed shove towards the water.  I will admit that I shrieked before hitting the water, as he caught me off guard.
I also tripped over one of the strings we were using at work on thursday to mark where the paint needed to go.  I was in the process of laying out another string and had to walk backwards.  it caught on my right heel and I went over.  I managed to roll as I went down so I wasn't hurt, but I did toss the reel of string I was carrying so it wouldn't fall on me.  And I had to fix the line I tripped over-it had moved several inches.
And yes, I did work by myself again yesterday.  Did not get hurt this time.  Found another area where mow crew left a large pile of grass clippings on the lawn (again) and cleaned up what I could fit in one five gallon bucket.  They claim that we put too much fertilizer down (trying to keep the grass alive) so it grows too fast.  But they don't bother to pick up what the mower leaves behind.
Ah well, my brother got laid off (again), my sister got the day off (also again) so my dad and I are the only ones who had to work today.  At least I got to sleep in...

Thursday, August 8, 2013

That was Awesome!

Okay, I'm still a little excited about it.  Today was my swim class final (if you call playing water polo a final).  Mainly because the teacher didn't want us to have class during finals week.  But my team got behind by 2 after the first half hour (yeah, it took that long for either team to score).  We had two teams with four or five each.  Mine had five until after the other team scored-we'd caught up and tied the score at 2-2, then they scored.  One of the girls on my team was switched to the other team (class was a bit male dominated today, with only three girls and the rest men).  Then my team scored to tie, and right before the end of class, the man on my team who'd scored 2 of our 3 goals (I was goalie, because they said I was good at it) turned around to keep the ball away from the other team, so his back was to the goal, threw it over his left shoulder (with his left hand) over the goalie's head, and nailed the goal without looking.  So we won at 4-3 right at the last minute.
I did have to tell one of the men on the other team to keep his hands to himself, because he kind of wrapped an arm around my waist while trying to get by.  He apologized and moved away.
We got the painting done on the practice field yesterday, and cleaned the stuff up before we left. I am so glad I got the paperwork done early (we have to record what we worked on during the day) because I didn't have time after.
Going to be working on my own today, as my supervisor is coming early for a back to school breakfast thing.  And nobody else works swing shift of course.  My shoulder is gradually improving, thanks to swimming, believe it or not.  Cold water and exercise at the same time.  It feels soooo good...

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

I'm Tired of Being Tired...

Getting to bed way too late and still having to get up early is so not good as I head to finals week.  Only two classes to worry about (my swim class 'final' is water polo tomorrow).  But we had to deal with two 'emergencies' at work yesterday.  One involved a pipe and a magpie, the other was just turning a water line back one.  the first took most of the time anyway.  We did get the soccer field painted, when we were originally doing the football practice field. 
Saw Into Darkness on monday ( my mom talking me into taking 2.5 hours off work for that, and I'm kinda glad I did).  Have to buy half my lunch, as we are running very low on leftovers (as in out).  Got distracted by a stupid book after class today, but still got stuff done.  Missed registering for a class I'd been on the waitlist for, so now I'm back to waiting (had to redo the waitlist thing ARGH!)
Got to go to work now...

Monday, August 5, 2013

Well, That Was Fun...

We had a family swim party saturday, which happens annually and also celebrates the birthday of a cousin who died when I was eleven.  My married sister forgot, and so didn't make it.  Neither did my oldest brother.  But all my other siblings did.
Swimming really helped my shoulder, to the point that I forgot the injury.  Then my cousin asked me to take her son out of the changing room while she got dressed, and I picked him up with just my right arm.  After five steps my shoulder informed me of its distress to this arrangement.  I quickly yet carefully switched arms (I had my stuff in my left arm, hence why I used my right) before going any further.
Yesterday was a family reunion for the other side of my family.  We went to a lake up north (there is one to the west, but it's very salty and low) to picnic and have fun.  I didn't swim, as my swimsuit was at home.  Had to buy a new one for Saturday-my old one wants to bite the dust.
My youngest brother had four girls following him like ducklings-so cute!  We did a lot of driving due to communications breakdown.  Once we got to the right beach there was the half hour or so of setting up shade (three umbrella's that screw into the ground, and a small canopy that my aunt wanted to set up by herself due to the complexity) then we mostly sat and chatted.  My oldest sister (married one also couldn't make this one) started playing Trivial Pursuit with my second oldest (oldest didn't come) and I.  That game makes for interesting conversations.
Right before we left the wind that was blowing constantly kicked up a nice dust devil-that picked up someone's paddle board and hurled it fifteen feet up and at least fifty feet out before dropping back to the sand and tumbling it end over end for a further twenty or so feet.
It also stole my aunts umbrella (the two we brought were already down due to earlier gusts blowing them over) and someone else's umbrella-hers took the screw in stand with it, theirs came out of the stand.  Both flew a lot higher and farther than the paddle board.  Two white beach towels also went flying.  Thankfully none of them hit anything, but they didn't stop until the hit the water a few times.  Not damaged either.
A poor girl walked into the restroom later with a bloody nose-not due to flying objects but the dry heat.  She asked if she could get toilet paper from the stall I was about to use, then we both discovered it was out.  She wound up with paper towels and I had to use a different stall.
Got home late, but my brother was the only one who needed to get up really early.  I'm still tired though.  But that's from three days of poor sleep, not last night.
We had fun with walkies on the drive to and from.  Started quoting Horton Hears a Who, Hitch, and one that I can't remember.  Played a game on the way back.
On to the next draft of my article, and I still had to research some stuff.  We'll see how this goes.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

It was one of Those Days...

Two of them actually.  My parents are afraid I broke my collar bone or injured my rotator cuff in that fall.  Got to dirty glove a large patch of morning glory after that.  Thursday Had the finger injury, and I kept tipping over my bucket of grass clippings-if the wind didn't steal my pile first.  The wind certainly helped with blowing off the stands, but I didn't get that done.
And before that I had to sit out of swim class.  Thankfully the teacher still counted it.  Last day for institute though...
Heard a funny conversation on the radio before I fell.  I'm not sure who all the speakers were, so they are just voices.
1st conversation:
Voice 1: (hiss static) garbled question.
Voice 2: who are you looking for (voice 1)?
Voice 1: You.
Voice 2: What can I do for you?
Voice 1: hiss, static, wind noises
Voice 2: Sorry (voice 1) I'm only getting static.
Voice 1: Slightly clearer question. (I didn't get it, but 2 did somehow).
Voice 2: Where are you?
Voice 1: plaza (southwest of where I was).
Voice 2: okay I see you.
Five minutes later I heard this:
Voice 3: Turn it off! Turn it off! Turn it off!
Voice 1: copy that.
Voice 2: did you get that (voice 1)? Turn it off.
Voice 1: copy that, it off.
I think they were working with a irrigation line, as we don't fix or turn on/off anything else.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Ow Ow Ow...

Well, my supervisor took two days off (making it a four day weekend for them) without telling me, so I had to bug the head area specialist (I think of them as supervisors but that's not their title) for stuff to do.  The stadium gate latch bit me trying to get it open yesterday, and I fell off a rock wall (don't get excited, it was only five feet at most) trying to trim a vine earlier today.  My shoulder is stiff, and I've got a headache. Sigh...