Homework?

I realize that for some of you, homework is something to be done in the wee hours of the morning (and something that encompasses your life like Bridget and Ryan).  But the fact that it is 12:35 Tuesday morning and I just finished working on some homework is crazy.  I’m not 20 anymore.  Now that I’m 30, I just can’t stay up late like I used to.  So the homework I stayed up to work on tonight will cause me to fall asleep during class twelve hours from now.  The worst part was that I was done with the part that is due on Tuesday by 10pm.  For the last 1:30 hours I have been working on my project that is due in 3 weeks.  Which ultimately means that I didn’t have to work on it tonight, I could have gone to bed and done it later.

I know I shouldn’t whine.  Some of you have no time to do anything but homework, but I need my sleep or I’m even crankier than I normally am (that should make Ryan happy!).  So now that I’ve wasted valuable sleeping time bitching about homework, I’m actually going to bed. 

Addiction!

I’m not sure, but I think I’m addicted.  I’m not addicted to alcohol, or tobacco, or drugs, or even sex.  I think I’m addicted to exercise.  This was the fourth Saturday morning in a row that I have gone to exercise with “the gang” (which started with three and was up to seven today, even Cat came with us).  We were at the PEIF for about two hours today, and got a pretty good work out.  Now, this doesn’t make me an addict.  But I think this might…

This afternoon Cat realized that she had left the power supply to her laptop at work and her battery was dead.  She isn’t feeling to well (I think Dan gave her his cold), so I told her I’d go get it.  Normally I would drive the 0.6 miles to her office to get it.  But today I decided to ride my bike.  Not only did I ride there, but I actually took a bike ride first.  I went down to McCarty’s Cove and then to her office and then home.  The total mileage of this trip – 4.2 miles.  Now, this may not seem like much to some of you, but I’m not a bike rider.  I’m an around the block kind of guy.  So this was big.  Making it bigger was the fact that it was raining.  I voluntarily subjected myself to physical exercise in the rain.  So that either makes me crazy or addicted.  Although I am occasionally crazy, I don’t think that’s it because even crazy me doesn’t like to go out in the rain (the sugary part of me melts you know!), so it must be an addiction.  Plus, I enjoyed it.  I’ve never actually been “high” so I can’t compare, but I think I was on an exercise high.  After I was done, I had a ton of energy, which I shouldn’t have had, and I felt great.  So there must be something to it.

I don’t think I’m an exercise junkie, because I have no desire to subject myself to it all the time, but I do like how I feel when I exercise.  Cat and I have even talked about trying to get to the gym at least one other time during the week, if not more.  Maybe my brain just realized that it was time to get my fat ass off the couch.  Maybe turning 30 while feeling like I’m pushing 40 has something to do with it.  Maybe I just want to be in shape so that when we have kids, they won’t run me into the ground.  It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, I’m doing something and enjoying myself.  I guess some addictions can be good!

I hate homework!

Ok, when I was in college the first time around, I didn’t like homework (which is obvious, since I didn’t finish my degree).  But now I like it even less (though I am much more apt to do it now then I was then).  Let me explain…

Ten years ago I went to class 16 hours a week.  Ok, I had class scheduled 16 hours a week and I went, what, half that.  I worked 20 hours a week.  I slept 70 hours a week.  That left about 8 hours a day for parties, friends, a social life, excitement, and of course homework.

Now I spend 4 hours a week in class, 48 hours a week at work (gotta count lunch hour), 50 hours a week sleeping.  So far, that gives me 4 more hours a week (do the math if you don’t believe me) but I have more now.  I have major volunteer commitments that take up at least 10 hours a week.  I have a wife that I have to spend time with if I want to stay married, which I do.  I have chores around the house (in college I just let things pile up) and other various things that take up no less than 20 hours a week.  So mathematically this leaves me an average of 5 hours a day for friends, excitement (I don’t get much of that) and homework.

So when it comes right down to it, homework takes valuable time away from me spending time with the people I love (or Lost and Grey’s Anatomy, which are more important than everything, except my wife).  I manage to get it done, but I don’t like it.  Of course, now I’m more committed to doing it than I was when I was younger, which makes it more bearable. 

Now that I’ve gotten that out, let me give those of you on your first college go round some advice.  Just suck it up, go to class and do your homework.  It’s much easier to only have to go to college once!

Am I too nice?

Ryan informed me this evening that I was too nice.  I believe he said something like “You’re too nice, I miss the old Rob!”  Perhaps he was smoking something he shouldn’t have been!  Ryan and I have a lot in common.  We are both VERY sarcastic and tend to see a lot of negative in things.  I don’t see this as bad, because I don’t think I’m bad.  This is the way that I have been for most of my life (my mother seems to think I was cute and sweet when I was young, but I don’t remember that).  I must admit, that I have been becoming more and more “nice”, so-to-speak, over the years.  I credit that to the influence of my wife.  I have learned to follow her example of politeness, honoring and general nicety.  I have also learned because of her bitching about how mean and sarcastic I am (see, even now I can’t stop at just saying she’s a good person, which of course she is).  I can also credit that to my ever growing faith.  Church seems to take the edge off of you after a while.  Something about loving others as you love yourself.  So maybe that’s it, perhaps I’ve learned to love myself more over the years (which I think is actually true, but is a whole different topic I don’t want to discuss with the masses). 
So what makes me different to Ryan now as opposed to four months ago?  I hang out with a lot of infectiously “nice” people.  Most of my coworkers are “nice”.  As mentioned previously, my wife is “nice”.  The campus ministry gang just oozes “nice”.  There are people who love to dole out hugs, people who see the positive in everything, people who will do anything for you just because, and people who generally just can’t help being “nice” (I won’t mention any names, but you know who you are).  Of course there are others, like me, who throw in a healthy dose of sarcasm so as keep “nice” at an acceptable level so everyone’s heads don’t explode.  I suppose, the more “nice” you are around, the more it starts to soak into your being.

Now, I’m not going soft.  I can still give out back-handed compliments and roll out a guttural “baaaaaa”.  I still don’t think the glass is half full (and if it were, I’d drink it so that it was more than half empty).  Sarcasm is in my blood, and I don’t think it’s ever going away.  So Ryan, I may be a bit more “nice” than I was last year, and that’s probably a good thing, but I’m still ready to dish it out with the best of them!

I'm Hans, and I'm Franz, and we want to Pump you Up

So today was the day.  Dan and Andy and I went to the PEIF to work out.  Let me start by telling you that at this moment the only part of my upper body capable of moving are my fingers.  I haven’t lifted weights since I was, I don’t know, 22, and since I am now 30 I am quite a bit more out of shape.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a good work out, and a good time, but it didn’t come without a few surprises.  I thought Dan would be Mr. Load up the Weights and pump until we die.  I thought wrong.  Yeah he’s good the goods, but watch out for Andy!  Dan and I had no clue.  Follow this conversation…

Dan: So you want 25’s?

Andy: Na, (yeah he’s going lighter!) put on the 45’s (crap, he want’s to show Dan up).

That’s how we started.  Andy muscled right through that (135lbs) and each set we ADDED more weight.  By the third set Andy was up to 205, Dan had to stop at a close 195, and I was left back at 115.  At this point Dan had christened Andy as “A Beast” and I am feeling more and more doomed by the second. 
In the end, I got psyched up enough to get the job done (mostly out of not wanting to be laughed at) and I pushed myself, but only as far as I could handle, as we did incline benches, tricep curls and a bit of an abs workout.  It really was a good workout, even the part where I decided it might be fun to jog home.  So, we jogged the 3 blocks to my house and I collapsed on the porch in sheer exhaustion. 
When my arms regained enough strength to pick up the laptop I did.  Now I have to put it back on the table, though I don’t know if I have enough strength to do that.  I have one week to recover until I dive back in and punish myself again. 

I love freshman classes

Technically, I am a senior.  I have accumulated enough credits for NMU to think that I am somewhere in the vicinity of graduation.  This can’t be farther from the truth.  I have started taking CIS (computer information systems) classes at the request of my employer.  These classes are very far removed from the Speech Communication classes (and other various botched attempts) that make up my credit list.  So, I have to take the lower level CIS classes to “get up to speed”. 

 

One class in particular, Intro to networking concepts (note INTRO) seems to be aimed at even the lowliest computer users.  Yeah you have to want to take this class, but if you do, you already know most if not all of what we have covered in the first two weeks of class.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.  My senior status speaks nothing of my GPA which is not all that high (note the previously mentioned “blotched attempts”) and a class like this can only help bring it a little higher.  So today we had a quiz.  This was not a pop quiz, the instructor told us we were going to have it at our last class.  Here’s the kicker…We spent the first half of class going over, in detail, the review questions in the book.  Now, the quiz questions weren’t directly from there, but they were pretty darn close.  The prof walked us right through the answers.  He even gave us “tips” on how to study and retain this information.  I am not saying that I aced the test, but I’m sure I did pretty well.  But I guarantee that there will be at least one person in this class (probably a freshman) who didn’t read and didn’t pay attention as we were handed the answers on a silver platter.

 

Anyway, for me, I gotta tell you, I love freshman classes!!

Making the Flab list

So Ryan has deemed me Flab.  First of all, I was unaware that I was required to declare my blogging intentions to him, or anyone else for that matter.  Second, and I apologize for this, I improperly named the link to his page, which is worth being upset about.  However, when I added it, it was very late and I was tired.  Plus, I FIXED IT.  So, I may be on the Flab list, but I don’t really care all that much.  I could be upset about it, but the fact that I made Ryan’s page at all is sort of honoring (in a sick, demented kind of way).

 

 

 

I've been kicked out!

Ok, I just posted a new entry and discovered that Cat has changed all of the information to be all about her.
I must go back a bit.
Cat jumped into the world of blogging and I refused. Some time later I thought I'd try it. So I used her blogger login to create my blog. We shared very nicely for some time, until today. Today she decided to update the profile and she pretty much got rid of me. Now my blog was signed Cat and all the info is about her. I guess she didn't want to share anymore. So I'm leaving her behind and creating my own blogger profile. So if you want to read my previous blogs just go here. As part of the settlement she has to keep the old ones!!!