Neighbors

Having neighbors as close as I do now is a new and interesting experience for me. I don’t mind people being in my near vicinity, I don’t even mind that a couple of the people down the hall look a little shady.

I do mind that the pleasant Hispanic/Mexican couple across the hall have relatives in on what appears to be at least a bi-weekly basis.

Now, mind, I only mention their heritage because it bears on the story, they’re very pleasant people from what I’ve seen of them and their baby is just cute as a button.

However. Once in a while baby’s Abuelita comes to visit. I’m not even sure which one of the couple she’s related to, but when she comes to visit, it’s a riot of kids in and out of the apartment, stomping up and down the stairs, and *every* time the door opens, it sounds like the Spanish-Language network version of Jerry Springer on Location over there.

Abuelita apparently doesn’t approve of a lot of things across the hall.

Seeing as how my Spanish is limited, I don’t understand all of it, but the tone is pretty clear.

Things just aren’t up to her standards, over there. And she’s letting them know about it.

Fun stuff...

So, I was flipping through the mail I'd gotten from the college that I'd brought with me, and found the orientation schedule. Thanks to that bright yellow pamphlet, I realized that the student services center was open today, so I went down and got my student ID, parking pass, and hiring packet for my work study.

(Edit: I just realized that they got my name wrong on my student ID. If they're not extremely busy tomorrow when I go in for my books, I'll get it fixed. If they are, I'll worry about it when they slow down.)

I also got my book list. I thought I'd be smart and look the books up on Amazon, see what kind of prices I could get. One problem, apparently my school uses esoteric textbooks. So, I'll hit the bookstore tomorrow (10:00am-2:00pm) and pick up my books. Thats what the financial aid is for, after all. I just thought I could be cheap on it.

I also have to hit the bank Monday and set up a checking account for my work-study earnings to go into. Payment is by direct deposit only. Blah. So, I'll get all the paperwork filled out and have it ready as soon as I have an account number.

I'm getting kind of amused at the sheer amount of paperwork that the Department of Defense is getting on me.

Or maybe you don't know about that.

A lot of jobs nowadays require a Department of Defense form to be filled out. You have to have copies of your driver's license, social security card, and fill out the form so that they know you're you and that you aren't a terrorist about to blow up the highway/school/whatever is handy.

The last three jobs I've held, Combined (insurance, I have no freaking idea why I had to do it on this one) the job on the road (I had to do it when I renewed my flagging certification) and now the work study job, which basically is me being employed by the college, have required the same DOD form.

Not that I've got anything to hide, as the background checks for the insurance job and my concealed carry permit show. I just amuses me a bit that the Department of Defense probably has a file with my name on it somewhere, accumulating these forms.

Its possible, although highly unlikely, that when this newest one crosses someone's desk they'll say "oh! she got a new job.. at a college?"

What? So I'm easily amused, so what?

WTF?

My loving grandmother bought me a brand new printer for my new apartment. She bought me extra ink cartridges (which is a good thing since it only came with a color cartridge.)

One small problem. For some reason, the folks at Lexmark didn't think it was necessary to include the USB cable with the printer. So, I'll have to pick one of those up. I also need a USB hub, because, well, I have a lot of USB stuff. My wireless mouse, the power source for my external speakers, my external hard drive, and now my printer. And only two USB ports on my laptop. Yeesh, I need a desktop machine.

What ever happened to the box including everything you needed, though?? I mean really. Used to be when you bought a piece of computer equipment, inside the box was everything, cables, all of it. In the case of printers, there would be one of each type of ink, if it used more than one.

I don't know about ya'll but I'm not keen on using only a color ink cartridge. That gets a bit expensive.

So, here in a bit I'll get motivated, get dressed in something other than pajamas, and go to Wal-Mart.

I want to print out some more pictures for my walls, anyway. That is, if the Kodak Photo Printer has *paper* in it today....

I have TV!!!

So, thanks to the generosity of my parents, and the good graces of T, who hauled it up here for me, I have another TV now. All for the low low price of a couple of slices of leftover Pizza Hut for the delivery boy. This one works, so I have DVDs to watch. Granted, a small number of DVD's but it's better than what I had.

Classes are just around the corner. My nerves are starting to run amock, but I'm getting settled in in the apartment, so at least that's good.

My horse comes up the weekend of the twenty sixth... which kind of makes me sad, I wanted to start riding right away.

My alternate academic advisor, (Read: The head of the Ag program, I love my small college) advised me not to get all of my books right away, but to see what use each instructor plans to make of the books, and see if I even really need one.

Seems weird to me, going to school without books. But, I guess if I don't really need them, it'll save money for other things.

First thing Monday I go and get my student ID, and my parking permit. First thing Wednesday, I have class.

Folks, I gotta tell you, there have been times that I never thought this day would come. I'm finally continuing my education.

... I get to LEARN! From BOOKS! Books that don't have the words "Lane Closure," "Warning Signs," "Emergency Flares," or "Cone Disposition" in them.

I'm downright giddy about that.

Geekdom

Our society is home to several different classes of geeks. I'm not using geek as a derogatory term, as many people use it, but rather as a descriptive, and often as a title of respect.

See, to me, being a geek means you're into something, be it Role Playing Games, computers, console games, comic books, books in general, sports, sport statistics, or whatever. I've run across geeks of every imaginable interest, either in my "flesh" life or online.

Being a Geek, with the capitol letter, means that not only are you into something, you're very very good at it.

I'm a book geek. I read constantly, and although my selections are rarely the classics: Jane Eyre, Emma, any of Orson Wells's books, I do try to read a few, or re-read my favorites, every year.

Like so many others around the world, years ago I was caught up by the Harry Potter craze. I'd heard a lot about it, but hadn't picked up an actual Harry Potter book until after the second one came out. I finally decided to check it out of the school library, and see what all the fuss was about.

I was hooked. And shortly, so was Farmmom.

We've kept up with the books and movies ever since.

Tonight, we're going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It'll be the first Harry Potter movie we've watched in a theater. We've always waited until they came out on DVD so that we could own them and watch them a couple of times in a row, once to see the movie, and once to point out all the flaws and missing pieces from the book.

And of course, if Daniel Radcliffe's run of Equus is ever filmed and released in the US on DVD, we'll probably own that too.

What can I say... he looks yummy in the publicity photos.

A Forward from Farmmom

Someone finally said it.
How many are actually paying attention to this?

There are African Americans,

Mexican Americans,
Asian Americans,
Arab Americans,
Native Americans, etc.
...And then there are just -
Americans.
You pass me on the street
and sneer in my direction.
You Call me "White boy,"
"Cracker," "Honkey,"
"Whitey," "Caveman,"
... And that's OK.
But when I call you Nigger,
Kike, Towel head,
Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey,
Beaner, Gook, or Chink
... You call me a racist.
You say that whites commit a lot
of violence against you,
so why are the ghettos the most
dangerous places to live?
You have the United Negro College Fund.
You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month.
You have Cesar Chavez Day.
You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.
You Have Yom Hashoah.
You have the NAACP.
And you have BET.
If we had WET
(White Entertainment Television)
... We'd be racists.
If we had a White Pride Day
... You would call us racists.
If we had White History Month
... We'd be racists.
If we had any organization for only whites
to "advance" OUR lives .
... We'd be racists.
We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
a Black Chamber of Commerce,
and then we just have the plain
Chamber of Commerce.
Wonder who pays for that?
If we had a college fund that only gave
white students scholarships
... You know we'd be racists.
There are over 60 openly-proclaimed
Black-only Colleges in the US ,

yet if there were "White-only Colleges"
... THAT would be a racist college.
In the Million Man March,
you believed that you were
marching for your race and rights.
If we marched for our race and rights,
... You would call us racists.
You are proud to be black,
brown, yellow and orange,
and you're not afraid to announce it.
But when we announce our white pride

... You call us racists.
You rob us,
carjack us,
and shoot at us.
But, when a white police officer
shoots a black gang member
or beats up a black drug-dealer
who is running from the LAW and
posing a threat to ALL of society
... You call him a racist.
I am proud.
... But, you call me a racist.
Why is it that only
whites
can be racists?
There is nothing improper about this e-mail.
Let's see which of you
are proud enough to send it on.

Authority Envy

I like to play around with the stuff that is connected to these blogs. Its really rather fascinating how many people have come up with nifty ways of saying "I'm better than you!"

The Technorati Authority system is one of them.

And I have authority envy.

I have an authority of 7.

One comes from AD (Hey wow, thanks man!) who has an authority rating of 253. Holy crap!

Also, BabsRN who has an authority rating of 113. Again, holy crap!

AD, Babs, someday I hope I can grow up to be as good as you guys!