We had another fire at work today :P

Lightning struck the tree. Tree didn't catch but the heat from the lightning caused instantaneou combustion of the ground below.

I ended up a soaking wet puppy.

Another hot spot to watch for a week.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I predict you will have 32 dreams as you sleep in the coming week. In at least five of those adventures, you will be offered a chance to wield a magic hammer like the one that belonged to the Norse god Thor. You're under no obligation to use it, of course. But if you do, it could help you smite dream adversaries, from stupid giants to evil ducks to rash-covered devils. You could also take advantage of it to build things, like a dream house or a dream boat. The proper use of the hammer will be a constant test, since you'll have to be ever-alert and adaptable as you decide whether to employ it for destruction or creation.

Alot of the lower level courses (1000's, 2000's) are designed to weed out the chaff from the wheat when it comes to college.

Basically, if you can't pass these lower level courses, you are probably not going to do all that well when you get to your 3000's and 4000's let alone have ANY chance at getting to your grad level courses.

So, I have come to LOVE blackboard. Blackboard lets me see my grades and then lets me see how I am doing to the rest of the class by showing the average score to the right.

Soooo, for example, our first exam...

I got 220 out of 250. (50 questions 5 points each, I missed 6) that gave me a grade of an 88 B+
The average for that exam was 192 or a 76.
Because 1 person scored a perfect score. (I know what I missed, isn't that wierd?) we didn't get a curve for that exam.

This last exam that I didn't think I did fantastic on, but knew I had at least a B on, well I did better. It was as he said, going to be a hell of alot harder and it was. HE WARNED PEOPLE!!!!!!!

I got a 230 out of 250. I missed 4 questions. The highest grade was a 235. So since no one got a hundred he curved it. Added 15 points (the difference between that 235 and 250). So I ended up with a 245. But that wasn't what killed me. What killed me was the mean grade for that exam.

The average was a 158 or a 63%. Holycraptastick.

Now the good news is, that we have 4 extra credit projects that you can earn up to 25 points a piece with. I have earned 69 of those. (Missed a question here or there.)

Combined with showing up to the lab and doing well on my lab work, I actually have a 108% overall for the class.

He makes it so you CAN PASS it. However, from the grumbling of many in the class, they aren't going to do that.

And there are ALOT of people I see at the Exam that I never see during class. Hmmmmmmmm You don't skip class, especially when you are cramming 16 weeks into 6.

That's right, these summmer sessions are only 6 weeks long, and you are covering 16 weeks of info in that time.

I can't WAIT to see what happens with the final next thursday. He said it's easier than this exam, but harder than the first.

By the time I am done, I will be an amature meterologist. (I'll read more into the maps, that's for sure!)

Flew right over work, and landed next to it today. It was freaking LOUD coming in over the treetops. (Of course, I was half expecting to hear Flight of the Valkeries blaring from it at any moment it was THAT loud.)

It landed on Summit Blvd.

I will be catching the news shortly to see if there is anything about it. I worked late and missed the local news earlier.

Sigh

(Trauma Hawk is well that a Trauma Heliocopter)

visited 17 states (34%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president


visited 8 states (3.55%)
Create your own visited map of The World or determine the next president

I need to get out more often :)

But I have one question for the universe.

What ever happened to adjustable lawn mower handles?

The two mowers we have (the self push, rotary and the electric one) have handles that are fixed at one angle, and only adjust so high. My hands extended fully down don't reach. I have to bend over, so my back is at an odd angle which makes it very painful very quickly to mow the lawn.

My old gas mower, had an adjustable handle where I could angle it more upright, and extend the handle out a bit, meaning I didn't have to be all hunched over to mow the lawn?

Seriously.... I am 6 foot tall, not 5'5".

Hmmmm maybe it's an adaptation to all the lawn care workers who are shorter than thou (or so it seems).

Well, I will hunt for a solution.

I worked 11 Hours today

I dropped one of my three classes for fall taking just 2... there was no way to do three with everything else, so I dropped the one with 8 saturday field trips and 4 groups projects. (I always get screwed over with group projects and my grade is NOT going to suffer because of it this time around). Also if I hadn't by the time I made up my work hours, I wouldn't have study time left. Yeah...

So I have Geomorphology and Principles of GIS....

Today's work was well....... lets say if I told you, you would have been a freakazoiding like I was all day.

Toooooo Many Fires...... none of it our fault really, and honestly, but still had to be done.

So I fall down go boom and eat more Pizza...

I now now more about Humidity, Relative Humidity, Specific Humidity, Saturation Points and how you figure them out than I ever wanted to know.

As my teacher said "This is the most boring and probably most USELESS part of your degree you will ever learn. It's for reference so you can make climatorial comparisons, and that's about it."

Exam is Thursday. It covers the above, atmospheric conditions, Highs/Lows, Global Cirulation, Oceanic Ciculation,...

Next 2 weeks? Storms, Hurricanes, Tornadoes and something else... Wheeeeee

then I am OFF for 3 weeks before begining
Geomorphology
Biogeography
Principles of GIS...

Holy craptastick...

I cannot remember the last time the mosquitoes were so vicious here at work.

I mean SERIOUSLY viscious. They are biting through my jeans!

Time to go get the little green bottle. Hmmmmmm where did Backpackers move to?

*smacks some more*

I can naow sew!

Finally set it up and ran it. Learned how to rethread.

Sewing commences tomorrow afternoon!

Major Wooot!

I can't wait to start doing my pouches again soon. Nice surged edges on the inside. :)


Also tomorrow, I have been asked to take a look at an old industrial sewing machine to see if I can clean it up a bit and get it in working order.

This happens after I go get my cell phone fixed.

I can do incomming fine, texting fine, send multi media fine, but if I call someone.. I have to call 2 or three times before I don't get a fax machine sound ;P

Your result for The Attachment Style Test...

The Free Agent

Take The Attachment Style Test at HelloQuizzy

I did a megaton of yard work this weekend. WE ended up having to buy an electric mower (trying to avoid gas/oil) because the grass gets so thick in a week now (unlike last year's drought conditions) it is impossible to push the mower through and get a decent cut, even after 4 passes. (This is a rotary human propelled mower). The Black and Decker mower we got is a dream. Works beautifully and also cuts the grass much shorter than the other... may actually reduce the cutting need.

I also spend a goodly sum of money on fabric for SCA garb. :) Most of it was 60% off. Enough for 3 full skirts, 2 chemises (found my pattern ;P) An a bodice/corset. OMG is that material absolutely gorgeous. Enough for both sides to be worn out PLUS the bottom weight trigger to in between for the grommets to actually hold onto something. I will work on the pattern for the skirts tonight. :)

Hopefully sewing will commence monday.

I was not happy with the 88 I got on my first Weather and Climate exam, but the extra credit points that I have earned so far more than make up for it. This next exam is about to be a doosie. It's all about air instability and relative humidity and dew points, frost points, fog points, etc.

Next exam is next Thursday. Studying commences tomorrow, friday and sunday. To start with. Nods affirmatively.

Kiddo's date went well... he's a college kid, just finished his Freshman year. May be going out again tonight. She wants to keep it friends, which is fine... But I haven't seen her smile this much in a long time. (we've got 2 boys we would rather she DIDN'T talk too..... sigh.. she's not allowed to date either one, already did and they weren't exactly nice.)

Finally got a walk in last night. Was muggy but got 40 minutes in. Someone suggested a tread mill, but I have an uneven gate due to my one knee and all they do is stress it so it must be on non-moving ground. (I can stride longer with one leg than another, and the tredmills tend to push the other leg to far, I tried adjusting this and that way, and no good, within 2 weeks, I am in so much pain, it's not funny.) Hopefully there will be many many more. There should be many many more. :)

Work is a disaster of immense ammounts because well... we were SUPPOSED to be in our new buildings... and um... yeah.... you know that whole constuction thing right? RIIIIIIIIGHT.

Toodles for naow.

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said for the first time on Monday that Iraq was seeking a timetable as part of its talks with Washington on the status of US forces in Iraq beyond this year.

But White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the talks were aimed at reaching agreement on a framework for future US-Iraqi relations and on the arrangements that will govern the US military presence.

"It is important to understand that these are not talks on a hard date for a withdrawal," Mr Stanzel said.

However, he added that "when you make an agreement … that doesn't mean that there won't be some understanding of time frames".


I'm sorry, but it sounds like big wigs want us there indefinately. Yeah... that isn't a war... that's called OCCUPATION....

http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-shies-from-iraq-withdrawal-date-20080708-3bgz.html

http://voanews.com/english/2008-07-09-voa16.cfm

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aDlt4.WiUuq8&refer=africa

Your results:
You are Qui-Gon Jinn

Qui-Gon Jinn 84% R2-D2 78% Obi-Wan Kenobi 75% Chewbacca 71% Mace Windu 70% Yoda 69% Darth Maul 65% Jabba the Hutt 58% Padme 57% Boba Fett 57%

Overall, you're a pretty well balanced person. But maybe you focus a little too much on the here and now. Think about the future before its too late.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)


Click here to take the "Which Star Wars character are you?" quiz...

Last night on the news, they talked about an elementary school in Port St. Lucie that used a 'new concept' in classroom teaching that pulled their school up from an F grade on the FCATS to a B grade in one year.

Guess what that concept was?

Breaking their students down by ability level/grade level.

Um.... that was how they USED to do it back when I was in school.

The students got grouped together, by ability, so they could move forward at their pace.
They would cross over if for say, they were horrible at math (they would be put in more remedial type math classes) but great at English (they had mad skillz man).

This way, the students who were behind on skills got specialized attention to help get them caught up, and the students who were way ahead, weren't bored out of their ass and become discipline problems.

So, when they did this, guess what, their scores went up because overall everyone did better. The cream of the crop did even better, and the slower learners who needed more attention, did better. F to a B? THAT folks is a huge jump.

Somehow, this idea was touted as revolutionary, and ground breaking.

No.... this idea was squashed by parents who thought that it was harmful to do this. No, it's not, it WORKS! They think it is wrong that kids understand that they are somehow 'different' from everyon else. Hell, I was ALWAYS in the top math classes, and bottom of the drungs in History. English, somewhere in the middle, and Spelling? Forget it. But everyone came to me for Calculus help. I went to someone else for spelling and proof reading. It is called taking advantage of your strenghts and weaknesses. THIS is why we don't have the huge brians anymore. We starve them. We starve them for what the really want in an effort to make everyone the same.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

( I don't rant coherently )

Ganked from springdew

Your result for The hardcore SCA Test...

The Queen's Champion

You scored 61% hardcore SCA!

Take The hardcore SCA Test at HelloQuizzy

Stolen from placidbluesky

YOUR BOY SIDE

(X) You love hoodies. (maybe not love, but like a lot!)
(X) You love jeans.
( ) Dogs are better than cats.
(X) It's hilarious when people get hurt.
(X) You've played with/against boys on a team.
(X) Shopping is torture.
(X) Sad movies suck.
( ) You own an X-Box.
(X) Played with Hotwheels cars as a kid.
(X) At some point in time you wanted to be a fire-fighter.
( ) You own a DS, PS2 or Sega.
( ) You used to be obsessed with Power Rangers.
(X) You watch sports on TV.
(X) Gory movies are cool.
( ) You go to your dad for advice.
( ) You own like a trillion baseball caps.
(X) You like going to football games.
( ) You used to/do collect baseball cards.
(X) Baggy pants are cool to wear.
(X) It's kinda weird to have sleepovers with a bunch of people.
(X) Green, black, red, blue, or silver are one of your favourite colors.
(X) You love to go crazy and not care what people think.
(X) Sports are fun.
( ) Talk with food in your mouth.
(X) Wear boxers. (damn, no X! Boxers are so comfy, but I don't own a pair!)

17/25

YOUR GIRL SIDE

(X) You wear lip gloss.
( ) You love to shop.
( ) You wear eyeliner.
(X) You have some of the same shirts in different colours. (Hey if it fits and it comes in many colors, its a BEAUTIFUL thing... I have a hard time with clothes fitting right, so I get multiples.)
(X) You wear the color pink.
(/) Go to your mom for advice. (half of the time... mostly friends)
( ) You consider cheerleading a sport.
( ) You hate wearing the color black.
( ) You like hanging out at the mall.
(X) You like getting manicures and/or pedicures.
(X) You like wearing jewelery.
(X) Skirts are a big part of your wardrobe.
( ) Shopping is one of your favorite hobbies.
( ) You don't like the movie Star Wars.
(X) You are/were in cheerleading, gymnastics or dance. (dancer, I like to dance)
( ) It takes you around 1 hour to shower, get dressed, and put on make-up and accessories.
( ) You smile a lot more than you should.
(X) You have more than 10 pairs of shoes.
( ) You care about what you look like.
( ) You like wearing dresses when you can.
(X) You like wearing body spray/perfume/cologne.
(X) You wear girl underwear.
(X) Used to play with dolls as little kid. (GI JOES!!!)
( ) Like putting make-up on someone else for the joy of it.
( ) Like taking pictures of yourself with your cell phone/camera when you're bored.

10.5/25

Print out question sheet.
Watch "An Inconvenient Truth"
Fill out sheet as you watch.

GRINS.. I own the movie, but this will be fun.

FUN HOMEWORK!

Figured I might have done three things nobody else on my friends list has done....we will see lol.

1. Won not one but 5 chicken cackling contests by chicken cackling "Stars and Stripes Forever".

2. Hung over the edge of a cliff about 400 feet up.. on purpose :)

3. Fallen through the ceiling of my house.