School

New Car!!!

I bought a new car yesterday. You should be able to look at it for a while here. The neon was being a real pain in the ass.

Tomorrow I need to run to campus safety to transfer my parking permit, go to class, go get new insurance, check the proof of my student business card, sit for a while, then back to class. Yes, I said student business cards. A. They’re cool, B. Student Employment sold me on them.

Tuesday, I get to pick up my final cards, pick up my suit, and class of course.

Wednesday will be standard class only, so far.

Thursday Jenn leaves for Arizona to see Gwen. Her flight leaves at 5:40ish. Also, is Ferris’s career fair. With any luck I might find my summer internship there.

Friday I have class.

At some point, either Friday or Saturday, I might head to Bay City. There was mention that my Dad would come over to Baldwin for salmon fishing, in which case I would stick around here and go fishing with him. Otherwise though, i will be in Bay City at some point.

Jenn will be back on Tuesday, at 5:40ish PM also.

OK, more on the car. Friday, while being sick, I ran out for some Hawaiian Punch (2 gallons, which are now gone) when the brake rotor decided to lock up. For whatever reason, it decided to lock up worse than normal and I had to pull over and sit and wait for it to cool down. After alot of shit, I was really pissed off, and decided I would have a new car the next day. Saturday morning, we went to the dealership, asked if they had found a car for me yet (after 1 month of having them look) and when they said no, I asked what kind of deal they could make me on something on the lot in leu. I had liked the green-grey / titanium green colored four door for about a month, and after driving it around I decided it was the one. I brought the neon there, and they decided $500 was the best they could offer. Seeing as how I bought in 16 months ago and only paid $1000, a $500 decrease was not really that bad. I hadn’t even put 5000 miles on it yet, it was at 166011 when I signed it over, and had bout with 161300 something. Still, there was a crapload wrong, and $500 was reasonable.

So, I applied for a loan, got one, and we got all the paperwork signed. We got home about 4 after stopping for dinner, and I ended up sleeping for several hours because I was still pretty sick.

Since I just transfered my old insurance from the neon, I don’t have collision on it until tomorrow afternoon. Because of that, I haven’t actually driven it since I got it home. I would obviously be really pissed if something happened.

What else…

So, the car itself, for when the dealership pulls it from Auto Trader…
2005 Ford Focus SE, 23,000 miles, 6 disk MP3 CD changer, 16″ aluminum wheels, rear spoiler, heated seats and lumbar, working air conditioning, working brakes, working suspension, working transmission, working radio, steering wheel mounted stereo controls, working fog lights, and factory warranty until March 31. I actually bought the extended warranty until 2010, since it was only about $10 more per month. That will last until about the time I have graduated, have a decent job, and am looking for a new car by then.

OK, that’s enough.

Till next time…

nick

Upgrade

I just upgraded to WordPress 2.3. As with any upgrade, if you find errors, hickups, bugs, or other abnormalities, let me know.

The first SME meeting was today. It was a little disorganized, but we got a schedule for future meetings and a little discussion on what we will be doing over the upcoming year.

Other than that, mostly just been going to class. Had a test in 311 today, 341 tomorrow, 340 Tuesday.

Might go to River of Time Saturday. We were going to go Sunday to see Todd dressed as a Voyageur in his cousin’s wedding, but not sure. Maybe I will just find an apple orchard/corn maze type farm around here and call it good.

Jenn and I were actually talking yesterday, and decided we were going to buy a pumpkin farm and have a corn maze and pumpkin catapult and give cow-drawn carriage rides, and charge people $1 for a picture of them kissing our ass (our donkey that is). I have said before, Autumn is my favorite season, and pumpkin farms are the heart of this time of year. Besides, fresh hot pumpkin doughnuts in warm apple cider is just so damn good.

nick

Of Rodeos and Dress Clothes

Alot to cover this time.

Wednesday, Jenn and I went to Grand Rapids for the SME show. Show wasn’t really bad, but not good. Nobody hiring like I was told, but we got some cool swag. Afterward, we went car shopping up and down 28th street. There were a few cars that maybe had some small chance of possibility, but not much. We had lunch at Red Robin, which was pretty good. We did some quick shopping through Woodland Mall, including checking out the new iPods which have grown on me.

After enough of not finding cars, we went to Centerpointe Mall where Jenn bought a new work uniform and I bought a suit and dress shoes. It was originally marked $550 and I got it for $145, not bad. I need to have the pants tailored, but it should be good. After all that, we headed home.

Thursday, Jenn’s parents arrived around 9 am, and after chatting for a while they left with Jenn to GR for their own shopping (Jenn and I avoided shopping because we knew she would be back the next day). So they shopped around most of the day while I enjoyed a day off because my professors were all at the SME expo. Jenn stayed at the hotel that night, rather than driving home, as she worked the next morning.

Friday, I had my class and lab, then sat around for a little while before driving Jenn’s vehicle down to GR. On the way, a semi blew out a tire in front of me, and I accidentally took the wrong exit, but got there OK. Once at the hospital parking garage, I tried to call Jenn and tell her I was there, but had no signal, so I decided to go into the hospital to check if I had some there. Once in, I figured I could try and find her, not realizing the size of the hospital. I actually managed to find the right building, and take the right elevator, but for some reason thought she was on the 4th floor, when she is actually on 5th. Having signal, I gave her a call and found her quickly.

When she was done, we left and headed over to Van Andel Arena for the Built Ford Tough Series Presented by Wrangler Professional Bull Riders Tour (Yes, that is actually the official name) rodeo. So, we found parking, made our way in, and found our seats. It was actually pretty good, we all enjoyed it. The actual bull riding was not bad, but the show between was really good. When you think that 45 people compete to stay on a bull for 8 seconds, thats only about seven and a half minutes of the 120 minute show. From the rodeo clowns to contests and pyrotechnics and all kinds of other things, they fill the time. They even shot bratwurst from a t-shirt cannon (note: spellcheck doesn’t like the word bratwurst).

After the rodeo was over, we tried to find our way back to the hotel, where we spent some time in the hot tub, then went to Steak n’ Shake for a Caramel Apple Shake, which was awesome.

Jenn left for work before I was up, around 6. Her parents woke me up around 9 for free breakfast, then we drove back here where they left me, and continued to Traverse City, then home. Jenn called me around 6:30 (actual, 4:30, but I was asleep, and she didn’t mention it in the message) to tell me that she accepted OT, and wouldn’t be home until 12 – 12:30. Last night, she was complaining she wanted to call in, and then she took a 16 hour shift? Well, she gets out early tomorrow at 3, 4 hours early, so that’s something.

So, I went to KFC for dinner, and was sitting outside after ward since it was nice out. As I sat, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, jumped startled, and it was a deer. As I stare at it, it just stood there and stared back, then her 3 kids walked up one by one and did the same. After a minute of “Whoa! Look, there’s a dude there. Why is he in our yard?” They decided to walk off into the tree line.

So, right now, I am watching the rodeo again and it is really sucking. If I wasn’t mostly blogging I would have turned a long time ago. All the cool between the rides stuff, is not of TV. No t-shirt guns, no pyro, no Enterprise rent-a-tank, nothing. Oh well.

Fish are doing better, ich is nearly gone. Will keep treating for another week to make sure though.

My dad might be by tomorrow, he is going fishing in Baldwin, which isn’t far away.

I think that’s all.

later,
nick

Lots of Happenings

So, where to begin…

Over the weekend, Jenn and I went to Bay City for Todd’s Bachelor Party. I met up with them at the texan in Essexville where we had dinner, then bid them farewell as they headed toward Midland St., then to the Vu. From what I heard the next morning they had fun, but I am not much of a bar person.

Jenn and I went to see my dad after that, then to see my mom and Chris. After catching up and all that, we headed for our hotel. Quickly bored, we went car shopping as my neon is not real healthy, and I have that nice refund check coming. We found a nice VW GTI, but as it was around 10 on a Saturday night, the dealership was obviously not open. we then went to Essexville to see if her old apartment had been rented out yet, and it was. Next, we stopped by Ideal Party Store where I found Screamin’ Pumpkin Spiced Ale. Back at the Hotel, we enjoyed our drinks and ordered Roma’s, and watched Feasing on Asphalt.

The beer is good, but odd. It has a taste of clove and nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice. Not bad, but as I said, odd.

Anyway, Sunday morning Jenn and I went back to see the GTI again, and noticed several small things, that quickly added up. It just wasn’t worth the asking price, and even for less you would need to be willing to put in some rather considerable effort. We then headed over to my house to see what was up and wait for my dad to get out of church so we (Jenn, Chris, Dad, and I) could go to Genji. Jenn and I decided to go ahead to Midland to do some shopping, and meet up with the rest there. Of course, my dad called just as we were leaving town, but that was fine.

With some good food in us, we headed to the Midland Mall where Jenn found fuzzy Crocs. As she wears them to work everyday, and the weather will be turning cold soon, they were quickly nabed up and we were on our way home.

Monday, I started school. I began my 2 years at Ferris by being 10 minutes late for my first class, as I underestimated the parking situation. After a mere 50 minutes of Industrial Engineering, I headed home. Jenn and I drove around most of the local dealers, and had some promising news that Phillips Ford may be able to find the car I want, or similar, for the price I want. Jenn then dropped me off at school for my CNC class, and picked my up after so we could peruse the bookstore, which still didn’t have my last book.

Tuesday and today were basically just go to class, come home. Although, today I tried sticking around campus from 11 to 1:30 between my 2 classes, only to have Jenn call me wondering where I was, and remind me my second class is at 3. I still stuck it out, but probably not again.

My classes, for the most part, are OK. My CNC class scares me a little, as I feel possibly under-prepared, but will deal with it. Also, the Manufacturing Program has a rather harsh grading scale, that I will have to deal with. My grades may slip some this semester, but from my Delta average of A, A, A, A-, a little drop is probably OK.

Over Labor Day, we have no real plans. We mentioned possibly going car browsing in Grand Rapids, but I am kind of sick of that. I kind of want to leave it alone until at least after I get money. I want to try and sand and stain the headboard, as it hasn’t been touched in over a month now. If I get that done, it will free up a good amount of space in the office, which would be nice.

Beth emailed all of us tech pages to let us know she got a job at Delta in the Office of Information Technology.

Weekend after this, I go back to Bay City for Todd’s wedding. Will be there Friday evening through Sunday evening.

The 18th, I might go down to Grand Rapids for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Great Lakes Conference. Will depend on if I have a car yet (I should), and what is planned for my second class that day (my first class is cancelled, as the professor is speaking at the conference).

I actually just joined SME online last night. It’s $20 a year, and I save around $100 off my certification test when I graduate. Of course, if I want to remain a member after that, it is significantly higher for a non-student membership. Plus, Ferris’s SME chapter has an annual field trip to Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Detroit, and other surrounding areas to see several manufacturing plants. In 2004, they even went to the Trek bicycle plant.

That is probably all.

See you all later,
nick

We Were Visited

So, my Dad came to visit yesterday. We took him to Qdoba, gave him a tour of Big Rapids, and watched Hot Fuzz (which was damn good). Other than that, just showed him the apartment and bull shitted for a while. My mom was supposed to come, but didn’t feel up to it and said would come visit later. He borrowed me his power sander so I could finish up the headboard a little faster too.

Something Jenn and I noticed yesterday was that Big Rapids is getting busier. Meijer had more college student’s walking around, traffic is getting heavier, and the hotels are all packed.

I was looking online, and Ferris says I can buy my books any time from August 20th through 30th on my financial aid, but need my ID. So, we planned on going Monday to get them to have a better chance at used books, but I don’t get my ID until the 24th. So, I guess I need to wait a few days. Ferris also lists a new student orientation of the 24th, but I’m not sure if its mandatory or not. Honestly, I would rather not.

Todd’s bachelor party is scheduled for next Saturday, but that’s all I have heard. Since I am standing in wedding, I am sure I am expected to attend, but I have not yet heard a time, place, or anything. Even the date was only picked because it was the night of Ashley’s bachelorete party.

When we were at Qdoba, I found they now have pork now. Its not bad, and the bbq sauce is good too.

Why don’t females get a Bachelorette of Science or Arts?

That’s all.

nick

Less Than Three Weeks

So, I am down to under 3 weeks of summer remaining. I could probably go to some site and find the exact number of seconds or something, but don’t feel like it. At least I finally got my SMART Grant figured out: I don’t get it. It seems that you are ineligible for the grant after you reach 96 credits, and I am at 113 right now. Another reason to not be undecided for 4 years. So, I accepted my loans and am waiting for verification of my MPNs from Ferris.

Jenn and I went to see The Simpsons Movie on Sunday night. It was quite good. Too often a TV show will eventually make a movie and then the show dies (see the X-Files). This won’t be the case here though, as The Simpsons are lucky enough to be in an unchanging world, and the movies don’t need to necessarily have anything to do with the TV show, and vice versa, everything that happened is conveniently reset when the show ends. Besides, name something more popular?

Apple held a press conference this morning and introduced new versions of all their consumer apps, iMacs, keyboards, and .Mac. The iLife apps all have really nice upgrades, except they changes iMovie’s icon to some gay “walk-of-fame star” looking thing. iWork also got some nice upgrades, including a spreadsheet app finally, but I still probably wont use it. The new iMac is nice, and now aluminum. They dropped the 17″ model in favor of now two 20″ and one 24″ model, all with faster processors, more RAM, and bigger HDs with better graphics. Interestingly, you can now get a 1 TB HD in your iMac, but not in your Mac Pro. And, finally .Mac now has 10GB of space for the same $99, up from 1GB. That is a nice upgrade, and actually makes it possible for me to back up everything on my HD to the .Mac server, but still isn’t worth rejoining. Besides, there is still no scripting or database support, though some of the new galleries and pages for iPhoto, iMovie, and iWeb certainly hint to scripting existing somewhere.

Jenn worked last night, tonight, and tomorrow, following which we are going up to Alpena for the weekend, and possibly Mackinaw. We will be camping at some point in that trip, either in her parents back yard or one of the campgrounds around Alpena. On a sad note though a family friend of theirs passed away last night so there will be a funeral to attend probably Friday.

Dirty Jobs on the bridge was on at 9, and is replaying either as I type, or at 1. I am sure there will be another replay come weekend.

I think that might be it. Maybe another post before we leave, if not right after.

nick

Freaking Finally

I just finished the re-categorizing of all old posts. I could have been done with it a year ago, or more, but I am slow at such things and it become tiresome. Still, it gives a chance to read old posts. I will update the To-do list after this post.

Yesterday, I was sitting here online, and the cable box made the “power off” click. As I sat wondering why it went off for about a second, I heard a very loud buzz from behind me. Something like when you are connecting speakers while your stereo is on, but WAY louder. Then, after another second, another buzz. Next, I started to smell smoke. My first thought was the speakers next to the couch were acting up, but quickly remembered they aren’t hooked up yet. Next, was something was wrong with the wiring here and there was a fire in the wall. I looked around, quickly unplugged both laptops as they are the only things not on a surge strip (that will be fixed very soon), and stood in befuddlement (thats a real word, the spellcheck says so) for a moment. I went outside to see if there was anything going on, and holy crap. In the 20+ mph winds, a power line snapped and fell. Not the nice 220 line, but the 11200 volt lines, all three were on the ground arcing and starting the grass on fire. In the other direction, more lines were down, but no power was going to them as the other side was down. Next, I see even more some about a 1/4 mile away, what looked like a transformer fire or the like.

So, fire departments and Consumers Energy were all out here in a few minutes, and traffic on the road seemed oblivious to it all. After about an hour all the fires were out and the lines were back up, but no power for another hour or 2. Jenn was at work and missed most of the excitement, but we drove around a bit later to no avail, as I couldn’t find what the big smoke producer was toward the airport.

Next week, Monday morning, is Apple’s WWDC. It is well known that 10.5 Leopard will be shown in more detail (it was originally supposed to be released for sale about now), and the iPhone is supposed to be released near it as well (announced by Apple and AT&T as the 29th). Other than that, few rumors have circulated. Some said MacBook or MacBook Pro, but those were both out over the last few weeks. Finally, yesterday, the first decent rumor: Metal cased iMacs (brushed aluminum) and the discontinuation of the 17″ model (with price drops on the 20 and 24″). Also, minor upgrades to the Cinema Displays including the replacement of the 23″ with a 24″. There is also some small hope of a MacBook Thin, but that has been rather hushed recently, and may not happen. For the most part though, the keynote will be the “secret” features of 10.5.

Also next week, is the first episode of Man vs. Wild season 2, on Friday. Survivorman season 2 should come as MvsW ends in the fall.

One of the grants I got from Ferris was the Transfer Academic Excellence Scholarship, for transfer students with a 3.7 or higher GPA. I’m not sure how they figured me to have a 3.7, but I’m not going to complain or ask questions. I also received my letter from Delta letting me know I made Vice President’s list again for last semester.

Jenn mentioned maybe camping next weekend, that would be nice. Then again, living here is kind of like camping, with the weird bugs and abundant critters in the woods. I swear I only recognize 1 in 10 insects I see around here. Must be because Bay City sprays for mosquitos and kills off everything else in the process. I also noticed a near complete lack of squirrels around here, though have seen a few in town.

Ok, thats enough for now. More early next week probably.

Nick

You’re Not Reading This

Nobody has read this in, well, a while. Scott is on a leave from the Navy and hasn’t had internet, Sarah is in Bay City or Traverse City with no internet, and Jenn isn’t being counted. That leaves googlers and spiders, and nobody else. I just wanted to point that out to nobody.

So, we have the new sofa, love-seat, and mattress, and they are all very nice. We ended up needing a new bed frame too, as the old one was apparently partially to blame for jenn’s old mattress dying.

Scott is supposed to arrive in Bay City today, until Friday morning. He was supposed to spend a day coming to see me, then going on to see his sister in Wyoming, but she has moved back to Bay City. So, somehow, I am supposed to go see him, but I am not sure enough about my car to be willing to drive there and back. I could take Jenn’s vehicle tomorrow, but I don’t know if Scott has tomorrow free or not, and that is the only day this week Jenn has off and I would be able to take her vehicle.

Apple released new MacBook Pros today, as well as restarting the free iPod with computer purchase promotion. Sadly, the MacBooks are just not up to what I would be willing to buy, and the ones I want will probably not be out until November. The WWDC begins next week, and there have been rumors of another MacBook coming out then (MacBook Thin) that may fit what I want, so there is a chance with that. Either way, I don’t have the money to buy a computer anyway, and if I did it would need to go toward a new car, not a laptop.

I installed Windows XP on Jenn’s MacBook yesterday, since I will need it for school in the fall. I had installed it under Parallels, in emulation, but it was rather slow. I have it installed with BootCamp now, running fully native. You just need to hold the option key while starting up, and you get your choice of OS X or XP. It runs much faster than emulated, and is actually one of the fastest Windows computers I have used.

My present to Jenn for our anniversary (which was actually last month, but was the day before we moved, so we postponed) came in today. I still need to get her a birthday present by the 19th though.

I haven’t started reading either of my books yet. Not for any particular reason, I just haven’t. I think I feel bad sitting here reading while Jenn is working, but I really haven’t cleaned and organized as much as I did earlier last week. I think I was better off without cable or internet, it gave me no other choice but to be productive.

During this post, I am passing 130,000 words. That’s kind of fun.

If you haven’t noticed, the gallery has been totally pulled from my site, and is now only on Picassa. I think I mentioned that before, but just wanted to re-highlight. I posted some pictures of our apartment, and the various views outside. Once inside is neatened up some, I will post some pics of that too.

OK, I suppose that is all.

Enjoy your week.

nick

Happy June

So, as predicted, visit count has dropped quite a bit in the last few weeks as a result of Jenn’s IP being un-counted. I will need to find new readers.

Today, we received our new couch, loveseat, and mattress. We went shopping Tuesday and picked them out. They are very nice, you’ll have to come sit on them sometime.

Jenn received her authorization to test this week. It means that SVSU told the State of Michigan, who told the NCLEX testing board that she passed all her classes and received a degree, and they all approved and she can take her test now. When she takes it is up to her, as long as it’s within about 6 weeks to keep Spectrum happy.

I received 2 more grants today, as my final transcript was finally entered by Ferris. Still waiting for SMART Grant though. As I receive more grants and scholarships, they keep reducing my loan offers, but mostly the unsubsidized so thats OK. I would prefer if they leave my Perkin’s offer alone though, as that’s the nice one.

Last night I made a shrimp salad for dinner. Normal tossed salad mostly, but with teriyaki marinaded shrimp on top. Was pretty good, Jenn liked.

I went for another bike ride Monday, saw at least 6 canoes and 12 tubers. Told Jenn, we need to get some tubes, living right on river and all.

I tried Blue Goat from New Holland Brewing Company. It was pretty good, Jenn even liked and she tends not to enjoy beer. We are actually looking into visiting their brewery and pub in Holland sometime soonish.

Anything else…?

Don’t think so.

See you all later then.

nick

Ramblings

So, what’s new? Nothing really. Spent time with Jenn, home in the yard, nothing real big though. Jenn goes for her physical tomorrow at Spectrum. We were going to go to the tulip festival in Holland too, but decided no.

After looking at what we will have to get, pay for, and when she will start work and get first check, we realized we will be very poor for the entirety of May, but situation should improve in June. Sadly, it means a very low chance of camping any time soon, which is related to the no tulip fest mentioned above.

Of course, I am looking for a job too. I think progress on that won’t really pick up until after we are moved. Car insurance, credit card, and car work all take money, and I need a source of some.

I began posting pics on Picasa. I can post higher quality and don’t need to pay for bandwidth or storage. I wouldn’t mind leaving on site if they were viewed regularly, but they just aren’t. It’s only like $3 a year, but still. Also, the ads will likely be gone soon, as it would take about 20 years for me to get up to the $100 needed for Google to send a check.

I went to Delta yesterday, which kind of made me upset because I had rather well convinced myself as I left 2 weeks ago that I would never be there again, not that I did or didn’t want that. Anyway, I was emailed by my counselor that I may need to bring in copies of a few things to get my degree through. So I go out there, go into Records, and they tell me my degree had posted as of about 10 that morning, an hour before I was emailed that it might not go through. There was a point to this paragraph about having to go back after thinking I never had to go back and then having not actually needed to go back, but it was lost. Instead, we will say the point is I do have my degree, on my transcript anyway.

Uhm…

Not as much progress packing as I should be making, though I really don’t have all that much. Jenn is finally packing now, and making somewhat decent progress.

Santa Rosa was launched by Intel today, which means laptop upgrades everywhere. Faster processors, flash-RAM assisted booting, 802.11n standard, and thank god, a replacement to the GMA-950. There are something like 400 new notebooks planned to be released within the next few weeks. Sadly, new MacBook(Pro)s will likely be included in that, with faster booting, better graphics, and more fun-ness. I say sad because I have about a 5% chance of a new computer by year end, with the chance before school starts being less than 1%. The only way I see it happening is if I get a REALLY well paying job, and MTP was as close as I have ever had to that. Then again, maybe it just seemed well paying because I didn’t have so many expenses.

What else…

Apparently I passed 125,000 words a while back. I missed that somehow.

The 4th year of blogging begins soon. Anniversary is May 27th. Then I can add a 4 years back to the sidebar. Seriously, how many people have been blogging for 4 years?

Both counters combined, I am at 12243 visits total.

I need a new poll huh? I just don’t know what to ask really. That will be another loss, I think having the same IP, it won’t let me and Jenn both vote. I will need to mention in a post and give Jenn the poll vote I suppose.

I wonder how long this is? I realize it’s not the 1071 words, but is getting up there. Hmm, only 642 so far (at period of last sentence). I kind of wanted to break record, but I’m not sure I can do 500 more words.

I sent out an email a few days ago with my new address on it, if you didn’t receive it and would like it, let me know.

OK, I think I will leave it off here. See you all later.

nick