Category: life events

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A spring break for the books…

So, spring break was last week…and likely the last one I’ll ever go on (in that this semester is my last one that involves an actual “class” with real “exams”).  With the time off, I flew down to Texas to visit Andy S. and Brett for the week in San Antonio and Houston, respectively.

I flew out on Tuesday at 3:50…but weather in Dallas (where my flight was heading first…) postponed the trip by a few hours.  After we finally got to Dallas, I ran to the terminal, found that there was one flight left to San Antonio (’cause I’d already missed the one I was supposed to be on…) and that it was already boarding…  So I got my ticket transferred and got on at the last minute…and somehow, my baggage followed me, despite switching flights entirely.

So, Andy S. went to work on Wednesday while I played 9+ hrs of “Twilight Princess“…poorly…  I had to get his help on some parts, but I still did most of it myself (although he may argue with this…).  There’s a good 50+ hrs left in the game, so there’s plenty more to do…  Brett came down to San Antonio Wednesday night and we went out to dinner, hung out a bit, etc.  The next day (Thursday), Andy S. worked a half-day so “we” (read: “he”) could watch the NCAA tournament and, honestly, some of those games were pretty good…  Anyway, we had a good time hanging out in San Antonio…

Friday, we all drove to Houston, a few hours away from San Antonio, to stay at Brett’s place.  While there, we played board games, Wii (…I suck at “Smash Bros.,” by the way…), and went out…  Saturday, for St. Patrick’s Day, we went by a brewery for a few hours and then by one of Brett’s friend’s houses to try some home brew that he had made…

The brewery we went to was Saint Arnold’s Brewery, which I’d never heard of…  They’re a regional brewery out of Houston, much like Schlafly is, here.  Saint Arnold’s, however, runs their operation out of a warehouse and doesn’t operate a restaurant.  Apparently, every Saturday, they open the place up from 1:00 – 3:00 pm, you pay $5, get an 8 oz. “tasting glass,” and four tokens for four drinks of anything they’ve got…which included around 5-6 varieties.  If you go often, then it behooves you to buy a larger glass from them that they’ll also fill, making that $5 stretch quite nicely over the two hours…  Regardless, the beer was excellent and a good time was had by all…

But yeah, came back on Sunday and the flight back was rather uneventful…  I had lots of reading to do last night, so I didn’t get a chance to post this sooner…and things are getting busy again already!

Anyway, overall, it was a good trip…  We didn’t do much sight-seeing, but that was fine by me…just wanted to hang out and play video games for a week, and that’s what I got!

Thanks, guys…

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So three months later…

…I finally scored a Wii… I got up at 5:30 am Sunday morning, headed out to a Target north of Saint Louis in Jennings, MO, and read a book for a few hours until the store opened at 8:00. Only one other car showed up early (around 6:30 am), and otherwise, other people showed up within 15 min of the store opening. Anyway, I “easily” got one…that Target was only alotted 8 units, while the Florissant one was given 14 (and the people who couldn’t get one at Florissant had to come to Jennings…). So I grabbed an extra controller while I was there and headed home… They were sold out by 8:08 am… One per minute…

Sadly, however, this week is rapidly getting crazy and I have no clue when I’ll really get to spend “quality time” with the Wii… We got to play for a good 2 hrs yesterday, but I won’t get to play much tonight ’cause I have a brief presentation tomorrow (that I’m not prepared for…), and I have an exam next Monday…but since Mardi Gras is this weekend in Soulard, I’m not going to get much studying done over the weekend, so I’ll have to get it all done this week…

Anyway, I’m glad I finally got my new toy… Pity I suck horribly at Wii Golf and Wii Tennis… 😛

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Meet Edie

Meet Edie!

So, we’ve been looking for a dog for a little while now…  Preferably, a somewhat older one so it would be more mellow, yet energetic enough to go out on walks, etc.  Also, a breed that wouldn’t bark too much and that would get along with a kitty cat…  We’ve checked out various on-line venues, including the pound, and various groups around the state.

Well, we found Edith Ann at the Humane Society here in St. Louis yesterday…”Edie” for short…  She’s a 5 year old 13″ Beagle that was owned by an older lady who had to give her up to enter a nursing home.  We brought her home today and all is well so far!  She’s a sweetie…haven’t heard her bark yet…although she does whine a bit…  She’s a little overweight, so we’ve gotta limit her food for awhile and be sure to take her on frequent walks, but that was the plan, anyway…

So far, Sam isn’t a fan of his new roommate…  He spent most of the day hiding under the bed, but finally came out around 8:30 to see what the deal is…  He’s checked Edie out a few times, but has yet to really “make friends”…  I’m sure it’ll work out, though…

Anyway, there are more pictures on my Google Photos page…check ’em out…and come visit if you want!

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Update!!

So, today we visited Andy’s grandma in Lohman, and when we got back to our apartment there was a message on the machine from Barry at Bridges, offering me the job that he originally thought would be open in April, as a Coordinator.  So, now I will be in charge of about 10 staff and all of their paperwork, hiring and firing them, and making sure they’re doing all of the things they need to do for their clients as of the 22nd.  I’m really excited about my promotion before I’ve even started and can’t wait to get going, even though I still have 8 days left at HTC.  Hopefully, the next 2 weeks will go by without incident and I’ll have more news for you soon!

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Yay!!

Well, it looks that way, anyway. So, I had a spur-of-the-moment interview today with a company called Bridges Community Support Services. It went really well, and at the end of the conversation, the CEO/owner offered me a job as a Community Support Worker. Basically, I’ll be going into mentally and physically disabled people’s homes to make sure that they’re safe, healthy, organized, and successful. So far, the position sounds nearly perfect (except for a small pay cut)….but at this point, just about anything would be better than DYS. The guy I met with today was really nice and seems genuinely interested in putting people who want to make a difference into jobs where they can do so. There’s also a pretty good chance of advancement pretty quickly, which is also a huge improvement over where I am now. So, I’ll be starting as soon as I have a starting date and can give my notice at Hillsboro Treatment Center. Let the questions begin…

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Don't hold your breath…

…but keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for me.  I’m hopefully closer to a good change than I’ve been so far (as long as my assumption that mentally handicapped people are easier to deal with than delinquents!).  Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

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Don’t hold your breath…

…but keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for me.  I’m hopefully closer to a good change than I’ve been so far (as long as my assumption that mentally handicapped people are easier to deal with than delinquents!).  Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

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Updates…

1. I found porn two nights in a row in the parking lot at work.

2. We’re moving in 20 days.

3. Even though it’s only November, a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake can put any one in the Christmas spirit.

4. Good old HHS didn’t win the 4A State Football Championship, but at least they’re second.

5. Only one more week of working the 4-12 shift!

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I Voted

So yeah, I got up bright and early and hit the polls at 7:20 am… (bet you’re surprised, eh Mom? Happy Birthday, by the way… ;-)) Overall, the experience was rather positive… In years past, I’ve always just voted absentee rather than visit polls in Kirksville, so this is actually the first time I’ve ever voted on election day.

Regardless, I had the option of using the electronic, touch-screen device, or I could have used the more traditional “scan tron” paper ballots… There were more people using the touch-screens, but still a good number using paper ballots. The touch-screen machines were quite easy to use and also included a roll of paper to print your votes, as well as store them within the machine. I’ve been reading through various articles about how easy it is to have an election stolen (great article, but a long read…) with these electronic voting machines, since many of them (the Diebold AccuVote TSX in particular…) have no sort of secondary printer to, in effect, “back up your vote.” In case of a recount, my vote can still be compared between the electronic copy and the paper copy that was printed and stored within the machine… So yeah, I felt much more comfortable about the whole experience after using that machine…

Note: If you want to watch the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy,” regarding Diebold’s shenanigans, you can watch it on Google Video (for free)…it’s about 1.5 hrs long, but worth it if you don’t want to watch election coverage tonight…

…however, I did have one complaint, and that was with the actual voting using the machine. In years past, when I’ve done my absentee, I could always not vote on a particular issue or judge I knew nothing about… Unfortunately, each circuit judge on the ballot (and there were many…) had a “yes” or “no” option, not an “abstain”… Perhaps you could have just hit “Next” and skip over them that way…I dunno…and I didn’t try… I figure all those judges are doing alright, so whatever… 😛

For those that voted, what “methods” of voting did you have? Were there voting machines with rolls of paper included, or were the completely electronic with no paper “backup?” Were there lots of people still using paper ballots?

Regardless, I participated in the process of government today…

Tonight’s returns should be pretty interesting….

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An AUDIO ADRENALINE Concert

(not a Mercy Me Concert)

So, last night, we had tickets to Mercy Me, Audio Adrenaline, and Phil Wickham. The concert started at 7:00, so we thought if we got there a little after it was supposed to start, we wouldn’t have to hear a bad opener or wait for a whole bunch of stage changes. However, we got there at about 7:15 and only caught the end of the last Phil Wickham song, then Audio Adrenaline was ready to go on in about 5 minutes. We went to the concert because it was Audio Adrenaline’s last tour stop in St. Louis ever, since their lead singer’s voice is shot. They were pretty good, but the set was only about 35 minutes long and it’s pretty obvious that the singer’s voice is not doing so well. After the reason we went the the concert, we decided to stay to hear Mercy Me do “I Can Only Imagine.” Of course, they sang about a bazillion other songs first and talked and preached and talked. Their show was so polished and timed and had synced videos and way too much preaching. Andy and I were both bored and ready to go, but were waiting for “I Can Only Imagine” and stuck it out, then got out of there before the masses. So, the moral of the story is Audio Adrenaline=Good, Mercy Me=not-much-better-than-average.