I got my new bike! I got my new bike!

HORAY!

A post for JP...

My two maxims for my life:

"People are stupid."

...and...

"Bears will eat you."

Welcome to Virginia!

This is what summer break is about-getting up at 4 AM. Wait, make that taking a road trip at the drop of hat.

So, Wednesday night (like 12ish), I walk into my parents room to tell them goodnight, and my dad says that he's taking a trip to Portsmouth, Virginia to repair a control system on a Coast Guard aid-to-navigation tender. I (jokingly) ask if I could come. To my surprise, he says: "Sure, I could use someone to drive me up there."

So, after just under four hours of sleep, I get up, gather my iPod, cellphone, and camera, and climb behind the wheel of a rented Toyota Camrey with my dad and an engineer to make the roughly six and half hour journey to Virginia.

The trip was fun. I got to listen to some new music on my iPod, and talk with my dad and his engineer co-worker. Coffee was the main course of the trip (3 cups a piece), with wireless internet a sidedish every now and again. (The secret is, you have to find a hotel along the interstate that had a wireless network, but one that isn't secured). "Danny, just keep up with the traffic," was the name of the game. My dad told me, "I know speed limits are important, Danny, but we need to get there as quick as we can." And you can't question your parent's authority.

One note about US58, from Emporia (VA) to Virginia Beach (VA): the world's longest speed trap, all 70-some miles of it. An interstate-capable road, the speed limit is 55, with the kind Virginia State Police sitting on the side to deter any one who thought otherwise. I've never had a problem with speeding, and I didn't then, but obviously several people passing me did. (I got to see them again a little later-blue light specials)

We finally hit the Outer Beltway, then the Inner Beltway, and made our way safely to the Portsmouth Coast Guard base. While my dad and his co-worker installed the engine controls on the ship, I, in my dad's words, was the "gopher-chauffeur extraordinaire." "Danny, climb 3 decks of ladders, turn the control head on, then climb back down here into the engine room." I thought I was in shape until I finished doing that a couple times; I found out I wasn't. In between all that, I found myself getting everyone lunch (Golden Arches Steakhouse-otherwise known as Mickey D's), chatting it up with the security guard at the base entrance ("Oh, so you know CPO Wilson?"), and taking pictures in the engine room.

The installation finished about 4PM. The rain started about then, too.

The drive back was good, too. Six cups of coffee for me, along with a near-hailstorm and rush hour traffic. Fortunately, the storm and traffic hit separately.

A stop at Denny's for an 8:30PM breakfast just across the VA-NC state line did the trick for everyone, and by 9, we were back on the road. We made it back by 11:45, which was pretty good time.

So, the first road trip of the summer is complete, and I'm ready to go for another.

Someone who understands

I know me and my roommate will get along just fine: he moved in at 4AM. Any other roommate I've had, they've looked at me like I'm crazy when I'm still working on homework past 1AM. But Ben moved in at 4AM on Sunday morning, which means that he understands the value of early morning activities.

It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

Move-out was today. Actually, clean-out is a better term. I scoured the tub early this morning (like 2:30), and was almost blinded by the results. My bathtub, which my and my suitemates shared, was a grayish black color, expect for the two footmarks in the bottom. After a little bleach and elbow grease, I was almost stunned awake by the level of brightness the shone forth.

After the tub was the rest of my stuff in the room, most of which went into convenient plastic tubs, which those went into a cool blue wheeling thing, which I took down all nine floors of my dorm by elevator. After sponging the floor (I currently lack a mop) clean, I cleaned the counters (with a different sponge, don't worry) of all coffee stains.

The bed was the easiest; I just took all four corners of the sheet and trapped all bedding material, preventing any escapes. That also went in the cool blue wheeling thing. I then took this cool blue wheeling thing downstairs and loaded my car with all my stuff.

I drove the 1.8 miles to my new apartment, and my mom and little sister met me there. I unloaded my car, then a cool little futon bed from my mom's car. This is the coolest bed in the world-not only is it extremely comfortable, but it also folds into a couch when you want it.

I also now (finally) have a roommate who dislikes the television as much as I do.

"We have a team of scientists that create the products, and one drunk guy who comes up with the names." -Lance Snack Cracker radio commercial

"I hate this class."

And now, it's over. And it's such a relief.

But my arm's sore now. I just finished 2 blue books worth of an exam for a 100 level class! So aggravating.

The common denominator

After a 2-hour study session with a classmate from East Asian Civ, the phrase the kept coming up over and over was:

"I hate this class. I hate this man."

And that pretty much sums up the class.

Click It or Ticket month

Exam [sleep-deprivation] week

All I have to do is hold out until Tuesday morning.

I was up until 4:30 this morning studying for my upcoming exams. Tomorrow is JavaScript and a take-home Criminal Courts, and Tuesday morning is East Asian Civ. And that class is hated by most everyone enrolled in it. Not only does the text cover the most obscure topics one can think of, but the prof likes to discuss everything else besides the text. I think the only reason I enjoyed showing up to the class at 11 in the morning is the sumo wrestler clips shown before the period starts.

Then there's the study guide we were given. Topics to study: Buddhism, Shintoism, World War II, bakafu, etc... Of course, that would be too easy of the prof to slim down the time line. So now he has the class studying bascially the entire book on the premise that, "...you need to learn something from this class." Yeah, I learned something; not to take a class from that prof ever again. There's something to be said from studying, of course. It's a good thing, and I'm not trashing it. But when the test is over something the instructor has failed to insturct upon, then it gets irritating.

And then, tonight, Matt, Joey, Lou, Ben, and I went on an eveing run through south campus. It felt good to run in a group, and run when there's not that many people out, either on the road or in vehicles.

USA PATRIOT Act