Fear the Crab

Work was blah, as usual. There was nobody to talk to, so it was quite a relief to be able to take a break and talk to Maile on the cell phone. During work, I busied myself not by helping customers or tidying up the store, but rather jotting down some notes for a new zone I was planning to build on CheesyMUD. It’s a step up from the areas I previously built, because it’s going to incorporate several aspects I’ve never tried before (like mini-quests). It sounds hunky-dory in theory, but the actual implementation of my ideas may or may not pan out.

It seemed that I was not the only one who had a blah day. Maile related her excruciating experience at the beach. One might think it strange that people from Hawaii have bad experiences with beaches, but rest assured it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. It was hot, the food was late in preparation, and those foodstuffs that were ready were quickly gobbled up by inconsiderate clods that had all the manners of a grapefruit.

Maile and I are a bit apprehensive about our respective classes this fall. It’s a mixture of not knowing what to expect and whether or not we’re capable of handling the workload. In the end the only thing we can do is hope, and try our best.

Tonight’s Invader Zim episode(s):
Attack of the Saucer Morons
The Wettening

Work surprisingly kept me busy. I suppose it’s not too abnormal, considering that Fridays are run nights and the night hours are generally the busiest. Still, it was a change from previous months of boredom. Thankfully I did not have to help that many customers, since I took it upon myself to put away most of the run. I did have to break down and sell things to people, though.

When school starts, I’ll be seeing less and less of Maile than I care to think about. We both have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but mine start in the morning and finish around lunchtime, while hers start at lunchtime and finish in the late evening. Then she has to work the next day. Combine that with my working more nights, and it seems only Wednesdays and perhaps Saturdays are when I will get a chance to see her. That also means I won’t get to see Titan as often.

In the name of all dairy products, WHY?!

Tonight’s Invader Zim episode:
A Plague of Babies

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.

I was back at the U of Puget Sound, in the basement of the Student Union Building. I was in some office, for reasons which I do not know, and I was actually not supposed to be there. I was sneaking into this office as a favor to someone else, who required a paper or file from the back rooms. I felt highly paranoid as I conducted my business, but I was able to leave without being stopped.

As I left the building, a professor came up to me and said I needed to come with him to the Fiscal Office. The reason was because he had forgotten to tell them that I was now living in a special house-dorm with a few of my friends, and we needed to correct it if I wanted to remain there. As we were walking to the office, I noticed that the professor was accompanied by a few other faculty members, and I came to realize that they were all sycophants and hung around him merely to leech off his fame. I could overhear their whispers, and they said amongst themselves that I was the teacher’s pet, though I had no recollection of even taking that professor’s classes.

On the way to the office, I received a phone call from Jumi. We engaged in idle talk, and then she made mention that she was still working at the sheriff’s department. That conversation seemed to twist the dream into a “daydream” within the dream, because I was then thinking about a fictional time when I worked at a television station, helping their broadcasts by positioning lights, and I even began to think about the fictional time that I had to apply make-up to these actors and actresses.

My dream returned to “normal,” and we made it to the fiscal office, which turned out to be a mock-up of the Customer Service Counter at DFS. The line was long because the person working the counter was slow and did not do things in a timely manner. I realized that after we had all approached the counter, we would have another wait for the fiscal office cashier’s window, and I began to worry that I wouldn’t have time to get my next class. Yet I couldn’t leave, because I needed the professor’s help in telling the office where I was living and why I was living there (I think he had to vouch for me and sign some papers). I remember thinking that maybe if I at least made it past the CR counter, I could skip out and go to my next class. A foolish thought, but it was the last one I had before I woke up.

Nothing much happened today. I bought The Transformers: The Movie DVD, and justified the purchase by observing that the video I have is grainy and the color contrast is less than acceptable.

Turns out my desktop computer is still acting slow. The defrag and cleanup/scan seemed to have helped some, but the desktop is otherwise affected by some unknown factor. This only goads me towards buying a new computer. I need to wait until after I pay for my tuition though, and it looks like this semester’s costs will run me a little over a thousand dollars, not including books. I’m only going to take two classes, too. If it seems like an unreasonable amount of money, you’re right. The university, however, considers me a post-baccalaureate student, which is a level that is between undergrad and graduate. I also register last, and am ineligible for financial aid. This is the price of pursuing a second degree, but there are some benefits that counteract the high cost. For example, I only have to take those courses that I am interested in and that count towards my final goal of an ICS degree. I don’t have to fulfill any cores or accumulate a specific amount of credits. It may seem difficult, but hopefully the end result will open up new paths for me in life.

I was back at the Univ of Puget Sound, visiting the old dorms. However, I wasn’t going back as an alum, but rather as a student. And the dorms were all underground bunkers that were surprisingly “sunlit” inside. I say underground because the front door to all the dorms was accessed down a stairwell, and there were no floors above ground level. It was raining very hard, where I could feel the water drumming the top of my head.

I know I had a roommate, but I don’t know who it was, and all I really remember from that part is that the desks were falling apart and I had no idea where to put all my stuff.

The inventory for the store was today, so much of my time was spent in preparation. There wasn’t much for me to do since most of the back rooms were already accounted for. I just had to check the displays for any merchandise that we still sold. There was another job that had to be done, that of logging all the sunglasses in the drawers so that the inventory people wouldn’t have to count them. That job was supposed to go to Lynn, but she’s a putz, and not to be trusted with assignments of high detail and meticulousness. Seeing as how I am probably the most anal retentive employee in the company, that task fell to me.

I discovered today that the classes I wanted to take in the fall were closed. Those last few seats were snatched up like the last calzone at Boston’s. Of the two classes I want to take, one has another section offered at the same time on the same day (I assume it’s held in different rooms), so that I foresee no problems with. Unfortunately, the second class has another section at 0745 hours. That in itself would not be so bad, but I would have to kill 3 or 4 hours before the next class. That’s a lot of time to spend at an accredited university. I think it will only serve to heighten my quirky insanity to extremes beyond mortal comprehension.

Some good news, though; I bought doughnuts for breakfast.

Tonight’s Invader Zim episode:
A Room with a Moose

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.

I seem to have broken my spec codes on CheesyMUD. Everytime I think I fix it, the same problem occurs. What happens? Well, first let me say that the code is supposed to prevent access into an area unless that person carries a ticket. If they don’t have a ticket, the code is supposed to tell them they can’t pass without one. Unfortunately, when I finished the code, anytime I tried a command I would be told I needed a ticket. In a nutshell, I had “frozen” myself and “locked” all my normal game commands (including the commands to try and fix the code). I’d hate to think what I would have done if there was no other immortal who could have helped me. I’d be stuck forever!

Work was actually busy today. There were lots of customers all wanting to buy things. After we closed the registers, I noticed a good-sized stack of traveler’s cheques and whole heap of long greens. That’s something the store hasn’t seen in a long time. Still, I’m very glad I don’t have to go to work tomorrow.

I found out today that I register for the fall semester on Aug 20, Tuesday at 1330. That’s the last day of registration. As of last week, there were only a few seats available. The pessimistic side of me is saying that now I won’t get a seat in the classes I want, and I’m going to have to spend the first week of school sitting in on classes and hoping someone will drop. The optimistic side of me is saying that the classes I want have certain prerequisites that need to be fulfilled, so my chances of getting a seat only depends on who else is pursuing the same field of computer science. I’ve already got the requirements needed to take the class, so if everyone who’s taking it with me already registered, odds are those open seats will remain open. I’ll just have to keep checking the class status every day to see any changes.

I think this will be a very stressful week for me.

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