Fear the Crab

I registered for fall session today. It was a bit of a nail biter, because I woke up at 1030 hours to check the availability of ICS 211 and there was only 1 seat left open. My registration appointment was at 1330, so I had 3 hours to wait on the edge of my seat hoping that class wouldn’t close. I did have another section open to me, but it would have been on a different day at a different time, and I didn’t want to go to campus more than I needed to. Thankfully, that 1 remaining seat stayed open until it was my turn, and so I nailed that sucker with double-stick tape and a big sign stating “MINE!” That was a huge relief, especially after stressing about the class for the past week (the second class, ICS 241, had stayed open the entire registration process, so no worries there).

After registration I drove to campus to pay my tuition ($1135.30) and renew my ID card. Then I walked to the bookstore to buy what I needed, which only turned out to be one book ($75) because the materials for ICS 241 remained the same as the one I had for 141. Since I had saved a bit of money on that, I decided to splurge those monies into getting a wireless internet PC card. I’ve already installed it, but I can’t configure the card until I actually return to campus and talk to the IT department (and also to be in range of their wireless servers). In the meantime, I can take the rest of the week to enjoy the last days of summer vacation.

I took a two hour nap and I must have been exhausted, because the moment my head hit the pillow I was out like a digested green apple. Perhaps that wasn’t the correct metaphor to use, but given the experiences of today, I don’t care because I’m happy and content. Maile and I took Titan to the nearby school in the evening to walk him, and he had tons of fun running around the big field. It seems he has happy memories of that place, because when he was younger Maile would take him to that very same field and he’d run amok. I guess when he’s at the dog park he’s not too familiar with the area, so he prefers to stand around, drool, and mooch attention from the other owners. We plan to go to the park on Thursday, if nothing else interrupts.

Today turned out to be another lazy day. We were supposed to go to the dog park, but the sky was cloudy and gray, and the temperature was at the right degree for lounging around. We did eventually step out of the house because we had to go to LCC to buy books for Maile’s upcoming semester. It’s odd how the price of books just keeps going up and up. $140 for 3 books! I think they jack up the price just for kicks.

I found out today that the Japanese have what they call “costume play.” Basically it’s a big dance party where everyone dresses up in costumes of video game, manga or anime characters. They have a costume contest, of course, but the main idea behind it is just to meet people and have a good time. I don’t know if there’s alcohol involved, but I suppose mixing alcohol and anime costumes could have some dangerous results.

I had a glass of water for breakfast, scrambled eggs and pancakes for lunch, and a hamburger macaroni casserole for dinner. For dessert I had a creamcheese poundcake that was very delicious!

There is a gecko living in my bedroom. I think it’s because of all the silverfish that wander about when I’m not looking.

No cavities. I also had no return appointment for my next six-month checkup. I wonder if I’m supposed to call, or they will call me?

I found out what was wrong with all those spec codes on CheesyMUD. Seems I forgot one itty-bitty = sign and that threw off the entire thing. I guess it’s the same as what a little atom can do when it’s split in two.

However, now it seems as though none of the code I made before is working. I’m not sure if it’s another mistake I made, or if something else is happening. I’ll have to ask Kyrol about that.

I finally experienced the air conditioner I bought for Maile for her bedroom, and it came in really handy today. The only way to beat a hot muggy day is to spend it entirely in cool comfort with a queen-sized bed and a great dane.

I remember walking around Pearlridge Shopping Center with a friend from Japan, Nana. We were at Phase I, or what’s known today as Uptown. On the second floor near the escalators, I saw George, who was the one that first introduced me to Nana, sitting in front of Software Etc. She went over to say hi, and the first thing that popped into my (dream) mind was that George was going to be very upset that Nana was here and he didn’t know about it. I also began to think that he would become further upset with me because I was hanging out with her, even though in my dream nothing had occured and there was nothing that was going to happen. Nana had come down and I just happened to be there, but would George come to that conclusion?

Before any of that could come into play, however, the dream changed and I was now wandering through a department store with Maile. It is unclear what we were looking for, or perhaps it was Maile’s intention to shop, because I never felt like I was there to actually buy something. I believe the store was Macy’s, still in Pearlridge, and it seemed we were in a department that sold ashtrays and other knick-knack paddywhack goods. I picked up a small item and held it fully within my closed fist, then turned to Maile and, showing her both fists, asked her to guess which hand the object was in.

She never got around to guessing, because I woke up with both my arms and hands tingling from the lack of circulation. I hate when that happens.

I think I know the reason behind this morning’s dream, at least for the girl who had a hard time with math. Irene is taking a “practical purposes” course in math, where students use formulas to calculate everyday things like compound interest or matrices for bus schedules or airline flights. She understands the formulas well and good, but when it comes to assignments she can’t seem to cut it. The reason? They’re all word problems, and she hates word problems. She says she panics when she sees them, and I guess her brain locks up and can’t figure things out. I recommended she circle the important facts she sees in the problem, and then once all the facts are circled, put them into the appropriate variables in the appropriate formula. Here’s hoping she does well.

However, I have no idea why Booger was trying to kiss Maile.

There was an accident on the freeway that backed traffic up for a good mile. I got caught in it on the way home from work. We were stopped for a good 15 minutes before we slowly started moving again. From what I could see, some car or truck either lost control or skidded from the right lane all the way across to smash into the center barricade. I didn’t look too well, because I was more interested in getting home, and I hate rubberneckers.

Maile says I need to be more curious. I need to pry my nose into and squeeze every drop of information from whatever it is I’ve encountered, just so I can relay the entire story to her when I tell it. I told her I’ll try.

Today’s Invader Zim episode(s):
Door to Door
FBI Warning of Doom
Megadoomer
Lice

I was sitting in some sort of cafe, only instead of being there to drink coffee and eat food I was there to take some sort of math class. There weren’t enough seats for people to use, so many were sitting on the floor. I don’t know what kind of math it was, for there were strange symbols like (0 0) + -0/-0, which I think stood for a weird twist on boolean logic; true and true + minus true over minus true. We had some kind of test to take, but sitting behind me was a girl who was supposed to be smart, but she never seemed to cut a break from the professor. She would ask me to look over her work to see if anything was wrong, because the professor would just jump all over her case if there was even the slightest mistake. This was strange, because the professor only treated her this way. Finally the test we were taking was over, and to my horror I realized that while helping this girl, I had neglected to fill in my own results. Thankfully the prof didn’t approach me for my answers, rather he went straight to the girl and confronted her. She spoke an answer that was correct to everyone’s opinion, but the prof wouldn’t accept it. There was some trivial detail that was wrong, like she hadn’t written in one of the ( signs in the right place, and so he flunked her completely. This time the girl got fed up and ran out of the classroom crying, which at this point had transformed into a giant bus. Going against my better judgment, I decided to go after the girl, taking with me my girlfriend. Except we couldn’t catch up, because I was driving her car, which wasn’t the car she has now, but rather an older model used years ago. I was having trouble driving because, as I said in my dream, “The gas and brake pedals are right next to each other, not separate on other sides of the drive shaft like my car.” Every time I wanted to press the brake, my foot would reach over and hit empty air, causing the two of us to momentarily panic before resuming a normal state.

So we got lost in a parking lot, and all the while my girlfriend is shaking her head and sighing at my ineptitude. Finally we get out, and we’re at this big college party. We step onto this wooden deck where three guys are playing basketball, only they’re not playing it with a hoop and net but rather giant fruit and a giant vending machine. Don’t ask me how that game worked, in my dream it felt like it was commonplace. My girlfriend and I asked around for the girl that ran out of the math class, and everyone seemed to have their own idea of where she went.

Then to my horror one of the guys at the party starting to make the moves on my girlfriend. He looked.. well, right now I can say he looked like Booger from Revenge of the Nerds. At this point in my dream, I started to treat it like a rewind/fast forward videotape. I first went up to the Booger impersonator and punched him in the left eye, hard enough to shatter his sunglasses. Then it seemed like the dream rewound itself back to the moment I caught the guy trying to kiss my girlfriend. Perhaps I was doing something wrong, and my dream was giving me a second chance to do the right thing. So I ran over and started yelling and doing the macho bump-your-chest thing. Then I grabbed him and THEN punched him, this time in the stomach, and pushed him down the stairs that were magically placed next to us. The dream fast forwarded to a weird scene where I’m standing on the sidewalk of a two lane road in the middle of the night, watching cars edge slowly forward in rush hour traffic. The only significant thing I remember from that is a taxi parked on the side of the road suddenly pulling out into the lane and nearly getting T-boned by a limousine.