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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Mentors....

My school has assigned mentors for individual students and then one for each class to help get through the experience.  I finally got assigned one today, even though I've been registered to start for over a week.  The real annoyance about it is that the mentor person has to approve the classes I've set up for my degree and allow me to start them when the semester starts.  Plus they'll be able to give me some insight into how I can arrange them and what shortcuts I can take.  And what classes have to be taken first, yada yada yada. You get the idea.  Been waiting for it all week so I can be ready for thursday(when classes start) and all set to go.
Winter is being slow to let go here, so I replanted the rest of the snow peas to see if it was cold enough for them to grow.  Set out the earwig traps but I used olive oil.  I think the sunflower weed oil worked better so I may have to get some as we're out of it.  Olive oil got a pile of ants and some box-elder bugs though.  Birds aren't as interested either.
So back to waiting for things to happen....

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Okay...Okay...

So I can start on time but I have to pay for the first semester out of pocket as they can't get the financial aid set up in time.  But once it kicks in I'll get reimbursed for whatever I'd get from it.  So now I'm trying to set up the payment stuff but it takes a bit for that to kick in as well. Sigh...At least the intake interview thing is done so only the payment and the orientation thing left before class starts June 1(in other words next week).
Feels like such a long week and it's only wednesday. Sigh.  Monday was work and gardening before going with my mom to a school district 5k run. My dad came too but it was a bit more for kids than adults.  Fun to watch them though.  Yesterday was subbing for a sixth grade teacher who had a handful of good students, the rest made it clear that it was way too close for summer.  I hope the teacher didn't have a hard time as I was only there until lunch.  Then work after that, which was downright boring by comparison.  Today was an early day for work but ended an hour early given both yesterday's slowness and today's.  Though today wasn't as slow but slow enough it seems.  Gave me time to grab lunch, run to the store, pick up my youngest brother from school, then come home and have dinner ready by 6:30(aiming for earlier but that didn't happen as my sister came over with her three kids in the middle of it-not that I mind, but it made things tricky as I tried to keep them out of harms way).
Passing through the tail end of a micro-burst at the moment.  Rain's gone but plenty of wind and a bit of lightning to make up for it.  Snow last week killed all but four of my pepper plants! Good thing all the others were cold weather anyway, they're fine.  Corn's popping up this week and the romaine's going a bit crazy.  Almost the entire row came up.  Got some spinach as well, but so far the only kale is the sprout my mom got with the other seeds.  It's something though.  Have to get out there soon and get the earwig traps up before they infest the romaine and corn.  And need to plant the anti bug flowers to prevent the grasshoppers.  Not going to happen today though. Also have to reset my deer scarers before they go after the greens.  Haven't seen them yet either, but no sense waiting until they do.  Like to get more than one batch of the lettuce this year.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Things I love About Old Cars

1. Stable, Dependable, Durable.  And yes I mean all three.  Take a new car verses and old and most time the old will drive away with little to no damage while the new car gets totaled(example, my sister's new car clipped the bumper of the car in  front of her last year and wound up totaled with her car towed away from the scene, I was rear ended a few years back and spend a little over a thousand-insurance called it totaled because the car was old, not because it was too damaged-fixing it and I drove away from the accident.  I was very late for work though.
2. 9 out of ten times the old parts last for years while new parts are designed to only last so long rather than to see how long they can last.  Example: the new parking brake cable had a clamp part that when the brake was fully engaged had the small problem of popping off and therefore allowing the truck to roll.  The old clamp was still fine and in fact is now back on without any signs of popping off.
3. I can reach almost everything in my engine through the hood, and what I can't reach I just have to get under the car for-that's what jacks and garage pits are for.  New cars have this stupid cover that takes fifteen to 30 minutes to get off and then you can fix stuff.
4. Computer components. Old cars have sensors and lights, with radio and that's about it on electronics.  Locks are manual as are windows so if you forget-or lock them in-your keys its not too complicated to get the door open again.  New cars have power locks, alarms should someone try to touch them, and auto windows.  And hackers aren't a concern here...?
5. Transmission.  I've always wondered if anyone would bother trying to steal my boring standard truck.  It's old, worn and not very impressive looking.  Probably not worth much either.  But with the manual locks there's no alarms.  There is the small factor of wondering if a person stealing it can get it out of the driveway or parking lot without stalling.  New cars you just override the alarm system and locks and drive off in the automatic transmission.  Have to say I'm not a fan of automatics.  Would be fun to see someone trying to steal my truck.  Saw a article a few years ago about someone trying to steal a manual transmission car and not making it out of the parking lot.  I'd just be sitting there laughing while waiting for the cops to show up.
6. Quirks.  Yes old cars tend to have these, but in my mind that means you've had the car long enough to know what works and how.  My truck has a few that are very easy to cope with.  The electronic wiring has a few bugs but to deal with those I just have to whack the dashboard.  New car quirks aren't nearly as fun. Generally they interfere with the car's ability to drive.
So in most cases old cars can take a hit and keep running while new cars crumple and get totaled.  Forget the quirks, it seems the car manufacturers are so focused on avoiding passenger injuries they forgot the making the car crumble and the smallest impact can have worse implications than if the car could take it.  So I'll keep my boring old standard as long as I can.  I know it works and mostly how it works.  Can they say that about the new cars? I wonder.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Mothers Day!

Which I hope was fun for my mom, sadly I was tired enough that I can't say for sure.  Had a late night saturday due to getting my truck back together(stupid clamp wouldn't hold when the parking brake was engaged, kept popping out of place) then got up before 7:30 to make breakfast for her before she had church.  Managed to get some of the poached(she wanted eggs benedict)eggs to have liquid yolks but not all of them.  So that was a plus.  Sadly her present didn't get here in time so I'll have to give it to her when it comes-if it didn't get sent to my brother and sister in law's house somehow.
Saturday was a crazy day at work-big surprise, free french toast for mom's during breakfast and then half off pastry night?  I'm not too surprised at the crush of people.  Though it meant that instead of getting off at 7 as planned I had to run out the door after 8 even though there was a line out the door.  My manager had to ensure I didn't get stuck working for another hour(if that's when the rush ended, it was still going strong at 8:30) as I'd been there since 11 a.m.  But it was good for sales and such.  and made me very glad today was much better.
Hit a snag on starting to enroll for school: the FAFSA I'd sent in had the wrong year or was missing part of it. So I had to go back in and finish it.  So I can't enroll just yet. Great...
Then the cable we'd been wrestling with saturday(the clamp connector I mentioned earlier actually) popped loose when I was parking in the driveway at home.  Small mercy there that it was at home and not at work, though work I could deal with.  Home doesn't have a curb to stop the car.  My brother had to come out with a brick so I could stop stomping on the regular brake and get out.  Thinking of getting out the old part that's still good and using that. Sigh.......

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Running Out of Time...

I received an email about the transcripts I sent to the online school saying they had them but still no word from my enrollment counselor about what else I needed to do to get going on June 1st.  So getting a little annoyed I sent them an email asking about it.  Usually that gets my counselor to call me within 20-30 minutes to answer the question rather than waiting for them to email me back.  I don't think it was even ten minutes before they called me about it.  Now I have an entrance type interview scheduled for monday after work.  That didn't quite answer all my questions but it got the ball rolling.
Of course I also have my truck in the garage at the moment, meaning that yesterday was and today is a bit tricky in getting to work.  I think I mentioned the parking brake cable was rusty and fraying back in February, and needed replacement. I got the parts just had to clear off the pit so I could work on it.  I should know by now that my truck is never as quick an easy as the videos and stuff online say it should be.   The cable is in two parts: the front line that runs from the pedal to the back of the truck where there's a splitter.  That connect to two other cables, each running to one of the back drum brakes.  I have the front main cable out and the new one in, and the driver's side rear one ready(just have to get the old one out)but somehow when I got the other two cables I didn't get the passenger side one.  And that's the worst of the two.  So while I could go without changing the drivers side rear, I need the passenger side which I have to get through Ford, not through a parts place(though my sister can get them at her work but not until tomorrow).
Got corn and cilantro planted.  Trying to empty out the second load of mulch so we can get the trailer off the lawn.
Caught a nasty stomach bug on sunday that I really wish I could have thrown up but never did-I think that's why the nausea lingered until yesterday-and was not really doing much.  Also think I gave it to my dad.....Oooppps....
Just a few things this weekend...

Monday, May 1, 2017

Yes!

Aced the final just like I aced the midterm so I got a C+ if my math is right.  Either way I passed, now I just have to wait for the official transcript to come out so I can send it to the school I'm working on getting into for my masters.  They always do the unofficial transcripts first(that's why their 'unofficial')and then you wait a while to get the ones colleges or universities accept for transfers.
Supposed to have a conference call with the enrollment counselor assigned to me before work tomorrow.  Might make it interesting getting to work as it's right before.
Got more rain over the weekend which is fine.  Still coughing from cleaning out the garage-or I caught something from my dad that just makes me cough-and I haven't finished it yet either.  Have more time this week though so I should get to working on my truck especially since I no longer have to worry about my online class.  Will be starting that stuff up again in June though, as long as all goes well...
Trying to figure out what to get my mom for mother's day as I can afford to do more than buy the bread she likes for french toast from my work for once.  But I'm drawing a blank as to what. Sigh.  Got part of a gift for fathers day at least.