Now that the Democratic and Republican Conventions are over, and some in Social Media Land on Facebook have stopped taking thinly veiled shots at President Obama (really – putting quotations around the word ‘man’?), let’s turn our attention to better things, such as: The Olympics starting in 2 weeks, 2 Drum Corps circuits in the home stretches of their seasons, school starting in 2 1 /2 weeks, and my phone back in service for the first time since April. 😉
- Here’s some peppy-type music by The Soul Rebels Brass Band, for your listening pleasure:
“Halftime: Stand Up & Get Up!” - The saga with University of Louisville President, Dr. James Ramsey, has finally been resolved. Despite his successes at UofL, the last few years were filled with missteps, public snafus, scandals, and some very shady-seeming business dealings.
LINK - One of my favorite baseball players – no, SPORTS FIGURES – went into the Baseball Hall of Fame this past weekend: Ken Griffey, Jr. If he had stayed healthy just a couple of years during his time in Cincinnati, he would be up there with Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron, in the “Greatest Of All Time” discussions. In my opinion, he’s the greatest player of this generation (1990-present).
He gets extra brownie points for this:
LINK - There has been a record number of condoms handed out at the Olympic Village. Wait… men and women, roughly 18-35 years old, in peak physical condition, in one of the most exotic places in the Western Hemisphere for 2 weeks, needing to blow off some steam after finishing/celebrating what they’ve trained their whole lives for, are having sex? Perish the thought!
Also, consider me slightly jealous. 😉
LINK
- World Of Warcraft released Patch 7.0.3, their “you better get used to the changes we’re adding now, because the World Event launches in 2-3 weeks are you will be ****ed!” patch. More on this in a separate post but I’m liking the changes, so far. For those interest, or who play but haven’t been on in a while:
LINK - A local story: a teen, as punishment, was told by his Mom to cut the grass in the abandoned lot on their street. He enjoyed the ‘punishment’ enough to enlist his 2 brothers and their cousin. Now, after weeks of cutting grass for free, they got an unexpected gift:
LINK
On the personal front:
- A good friend from High School posted on Facebook that she felt like she “keeps moving but feel like [she is] getting anywhere”. You are not the only one in that boat; now, let’s see if we all can make some kind of progress in the rest of 2016.
- I did not get any grants this semester so, for the first time since 2006, I accepted loans as financial aid. I currently have 4 classes (12 hours) but might add a 5th, if I can buy textbooks out-of-pocket:
1) CIT 300: CIT Foundations
2) CIT 302: Web Development
3) FLK 280: Cultural Diversity in the U.S.
4) SPS 300: Systems Thinking
With CIT 300 and CIT 302 going in the Fall, I can take 4-6 of the CIT classes needed in the Spring (provided that I don’t fail either Fall class). I still aim to graduate with a Bachelor’s by December 2017. - I got ‘pre-screened’ – I really don’t understand that phrase – for a Developer job at QSR Automations and pre-screened and interviewed for a Traffic Operations Monitor position at Northrup Grumman (technically; TRIMARC is who actually runs the day-to-day operations). The TRIMARC job would be a part-time, 2nd job; QSR would be a new primary job (making my current job the part-time, 2nd job… possibly). I am still searching for a paid Internship or Co-Op, but if either of these pan out, that would be cool. Have to wait and see.
- I am very glad that I could raise some money for a friend fighting Ovarian Cancer, even if I don’t think it was much. Hopefully, it will help her out. I remember all of the people that helped me when I had my heart surgery 6 years ago; I wanted to return the favor to a friend in need. 🙂 I would not setting up another fundraiser somewhere down the line.
- I have been lucky the last few weeks: during this heat wave in the midwest, my INR has gone up to 3.7-4.0 (high, but not terribly high) but hasn’t spiked. Warfarin, INR readings, and Heat Indexes do NOT always play well together. When it is high, I am very lightheaded and nauseous, sometimes extremely fatigued. Kinda sucks, since Summer is my favorite season, but when temperatures are 93-97 and Heat Indices are 99-108, and I haven’t prepped for being out there for long, then I am staying indoors as much as possible.
- Speaking of the Dog Days of Summer: the Dog Days of Summer Sports are almost over! I listen to Baseball more than watch it (because it’s rarely on network TV); I can’t watch NHRA unless Fox broadcasts it nationally (which they did last weekend); I’m not a huge Soccer fan but will turn it on, if nothing else is on; NASCAR has gotten almost unwatchable with its “let’s have 3 or 4 lead cars get pushed around the track by 15-20 others” philosophy; Golf makes me want to gouge my eyes out… then gouge the eyes out of whoever is within 50 feet of me; Tennis is “meh”. I need some College and Pro Football!
I have traveled around the sun 38 times now! **cheers**
The Nexus 