When Life Gives You Fire…Make Smores? (part 1)

Hmm, I thought about writing about the recent fire that destroyed my mother’s house. I was going to make it password protected, but I am done trying to protect them from themselves.

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

1:47 AM I get a phone call. For a moment I think it is my alarm clock, I ignore it. 1:48 AM I get another phone call. I once again ignore it, but I do look at my phone, it is not a number I recognize at all. This time I get a voice mail, the voice does not sound at all familiar. As I am listening to the voice mail, not understanding what is being said, I get a beep from the number again. I decide to answer it.

“Jenna, the house is on fire I don’t know what to do.”

It is Scout, but it does not sound like her at all. I think maybe her and her friends are just messing with me or something, then she continues.

“I am at some ladies house I don’t know who she is.”

From her voice I realize she is not lying.  Holy shit. I ask her where Gage is. She doesn’t know. I tell her to find him then call me back. She calls back in less than two minutes. She tells me everyone got out of the house. She says she is worried what the police will do when they realize how drunk mom is….

…yeah, I was not surprised my mother was wasted. I ask Scout where she is. She says she is in an ambulance going to Primghar Hospital. Scout is not sure why Mom is being sent to the hospital. She has no idea where Robert is, but she does know he got out.

I am 110% awake now. I tell Scout I will call Kylee and see if she can go pick her ad Gage up. I live 50+ miles away from my Mom, Kylee is only 13 miles away from her. I call Kylee and get no answer. Then I call her husband, he answers the phone I say “Mom’s house is on fire, can I talk to Kylee.” He is not even awake but gives Kylee the phone. I explain to her what happened , she shoots awake. She agrees to go get the kids but she is going to stop at the hospital first.

I called Scout again, she seemed more collected so I asked her what happened. She said Mom started a fire in the ’smoking room.’ That is a room on the 2nd floor that they used to smoke in. She said once the fire started Mom woke her up. Scout didn’t believe Mom. Mom gets drunk and stupid on a nightly basis so I do not blame Scout. However, 30 minutes later Scout woke Gage up while  Mom was trying to put  a fire out with a gallon of milk and baking soda…even though there was a bathroom with perfectly working water about 10 ft away. (Milk and baking soda were all the way down stairs in the kitchen) From there everything happened very fast. There was smoke everywhere, my mom told Scout to call 911 because she could not dial or remember the number. Scout called in the fire.  The only thing Scout could think to grab was her glasses. Gage grabbed his shoes and some clothes and a blanket (lol, wtf) and after checking on Pocky, the dog, who was in the laundry room, they went outside.

Sometime during all this Robert woke up and got out of the house. Meanwhile my mom kept going back into the house to the room with the fire. Scout said she kept screaming for mom to come down, but mom would not listen she insisted on going back up there over and over again, she even fell down the stairs a few times. The police and fire dept showed up and got Mom out of the house and into an ambulance. Neighbors woke up and it was one of these neighbors that let Scout and Gage into her house to warm up and calm down. The other neighbors grabbed lawn chairs to watch the fire…That is about when Scout called me.

After hearing all about what had happened I was very grateful everyone got out,  however I was uncertain what was going on with my mother. I called Kylee back, she informed me that she was at the hospital with Mom. Mom was going to be transferred to Sioux City hospital, her blood alcohol level was very high, she had domestic bruises on her body, she was not being cooperative and kept saying she was sorry for setting the house on fire, she was fighting with everyone and would not put clothes on, she also was asked what medicines she was on to which she listed several and said she had to get them off the internet because she did not have insurance, she also had controlled substances in her system. I should mention she blamed the domestic bruises on her ten-year old son, later it was found out those bruises where from falling down the stairs multiple times.

I did not know what to even think about everything I was jus told about my mom. I knew she was an alcoholic, I did not know she was using controlled substances and pills. Kylee was off to get Scout and Gage, so I called Scout and talked to her some more. She was shaken up and I think in a state of shock. Gage was the same. Scout told me the fire fighters had saved Pocky. Pocky was unconscious when they found her, but they gave her some oxygen and she started to move. I talked to her a bit some more, then got off the phone.

I did not know what to do. Should I go to Sioux City and see mom? I did not want to, I was full of anger towards her, I figured going to the hospital and yelling at her was not a good idea. It was 3 in the morning. I just stared at the wall. My family could have just died, and there was nothing I could do. Should I go over to Kylee’s house? She was going to have a full house, my being there would probably be a burden. So I just stayed in bed. I sent a few texts out explaining what was going on…then nothing. I could not sleep, I stared at my wall until my alarm went off…

(It’s late, part 2 tomorrow)

C++ is Awesome!

Here are a few codes I have written in C++. They are just a ton of fun to write!

/*Jenna ——–
*Lottery
*Purpose: program allowing the user to enter 3 number guesses,
*output users guesses and the 3 random numbers to determine if the
*user has won*/

#include “stdafx.h”
#include<iostream>
#include<ctime>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
/*create 5 constant int variables -
*one for each prize and one for a divisor of 10*/
const int PRIZE1 = 100000;
const int PRIZE2 = 1000;
const int PRIZE3 = 100;
const int PRIZE4 = 10;
const int DIVISOR = 10;

//create an int variable for winnings
int winnings;

/*the following random number function produces a
*random number between 0 and 9 based off of the computers
*time. srand means take an integer argument as the starting point */
srand((unsigned)time(NULL));

//create 3 int variables for guesses
int guess1;
int guess2;
int guess3;

/*the following creates 3 int variables to store the random numbers.
*The rand() function generates a random number between 0 and the constant
*RAND_MAX. RAND_MAX will vary based on the computer system.
* YOU NEED TO DECIDE WHAT RAND() IS DIVIDED BY*/
int ran1 = rand() % DIVISOR;
int ran2 = rand() % DIVISOR;
int ran3 = rand() % DIVISOR;

//create an int variable to hold the matches and initialize it to 0

int matches = 0;

/*prompt the user to enter the first guess number and store it in the
*appropriate variable. Repeat this for 2 more guesses*/
cout << “Pick a number, any number…as long as it’s between 0 and 9!” << endl;
cin >> guess1;
cout << “Good choice, now chose again…” << endl;
cin >> guess2;
cout << “One more number is all you get, chose wisely!” << endl;
cin >> guess3;
//output a message to the user letting them know the random numbers
cout << “You have chosen ” << guess1 << ” ” << guess2 << ” and ” << guess3 <<”! Excellent choices let us find out if you can quit    your day job!” << endl;

/*create an if statement comparing each guess with the matching random
*number. */
if(guess1 == ran1 && guess2 == ran2 && guess3 == ran3)
{
//matches will equal 4
matches = 4;
}
//otherwise
else
//if guess 1 and the first random number match
if( guess1 == ran1 )
{
//increment the counter (matches) using a prefix increment
++matches;
//assign 99 to the first random number
ran1 = 99;
}
//otherwise if the first guess is equal to the second random number
else
if( guess1 == ran2 )
{
//increment the counter (matches) using a prefix increment
++matches;
//assign 99 to the second random number
ran2 = 99;
}
//otherwise if the first guess is equal to the third random number
else
if( guess1 == ran3)
{
//increment the counter (matches) using a prefix increment
++matches;
//assign 99 to the third random number
ran3 = 99;
}
//repeat the above for the second and third guess
if (guess2 == ran1 )
{
++matches;
ran1 = 99;
}
else
if (guess2 == ran2)
{
++matches;
ran2 = 99;
}
else
if (guess2 == ran3)
{
++matches;
ran3 = 99;
}
if (guess3 == ran1 )
{
++matches;
ran1 = 99;
}
else
if (guess3 == ran2)
{
++matches;
ran2 = 99;
}
else
if (guess3 == ran3)
{
++matches;
ran3 = 99;
}
//To determine the prize
//if the matches is equal to 4 assign the 1st prize to winnings
if ( matches == 4)
{
winnings = PRIZE1;
}
else
if (matches == 3)
{
winnings = PRIZE2;
}
else
if (matches == 2)
{
winnings = PRIZE3;
}
else
if (matches == 1)
{
winnings = PRIZE4;
}
else
if (matches == 0)
{
winnings = 0;
}

//otherwise assign 0 to winnings

//output a message to the user telling them what they won
cout << “You have won ” << winnings << “!” <<endl;

//end the program
return 0;

}

That was an awesome Lottery code…I wrote the damn code and I can only win $10…

Here is another one, this one was difficult cause it was completely on my own and if and else statements can still be kind of confusing.

/*Jenna ——–
Chapter 3 Exercise 14
Purpose of this program is to create a program to help someone find an apartment */

// include regular stuff
#include “stdafx.h”
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
//create the your struct
struct Apartment
{
int rooms;
int baths;
int rent;
};

int main ()

{
//create your variables
Apartment yourApartment;

const int BEDROOM = 2;
const int BATH1 = 1;
const int BATH2 = 2;
const int RENT1 = 650;
const int RENT2 = 829;
const int RENT3 = 925;
const int RENT4 = 1075;

//gather information from the user
cout << “How many bedrooms are you looking for?” << endl;
cin >> yourApartment.rooms;
cout << “How many baths are you looking for?” <<endl;
cin >> yourApartment.baths;
//create error codes for invalid entries
if (yourApartment.baths < 1)
cout << “Please check that you entered everything correctly and try again.” <<endl;
else
if (yourApartment.baths > 2)
cout << “I’m sorry, the max number of baths we offer is 2. Please make sure you entered everything correctly and try again.”  << endl;
else
if (yourApartment.rooms < 1)
cout << “Please check that you entered everything correctly and try again.” <<endl;
else
if (yourApartment.rooms > 3)
cout << “I’m sorry, the max number of bedrooms we offer is 3. Please make sure you entered everything correctly and try again.”  << endl;
else
if ((yourApartment.baths == 2) && (yourApartment.rooms == 1))
cout << “I’m sorry, there are currently no units avalible that matched your search.” << endl;
else
if ((yourApartment.baths == 1) && (yourApartment.rooms == 3))
cout << “I’m sorry, there are currently no units avalible that matched your search.” << endl;
//create the valid entry codes to determine rent

else {if ((yourApartment.baths == BATH1) &&(yourApartment.rooms < BEDROOM))

yourApartment.rent = RENT1;

else if ((yourApartment.baths == BATH1) && (yourApartment.rooms == BEDROOM))
yourApartment.rent = RENT2;

else if((yourApartment.baths == BATH2)&& (yourApartment.rooms == BEDROOM))
yourApartment.rent = RENT3;

else if ((yourApartment.baths == BATH2) && (yourApartment.rooms > BEDROOM))
yourApartment.rent = RENT4;

cout<< “Your monthly rent is $” << yourApartment.rent << endl; };

return 0;
}
//dance cause that was AWESOME!

And my last code, which was just fun. My professor liked my cout statments, lol!

/* Jenna ——–
Chapter 2 Exercise 10
Create data struct and assign values */

// Ok here we go, start with all the regular stuff
#include “stdafx.h”
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;
// Time to build a struct and declare the variables within it.

struct Cake
{
int calories;
double price;
};
//Now to get the information from the user with cout and then store it with cin.
int main()
{
Cake yummyCake;
cout << “That cake looks so good. How many calories are in it?” << endl;

cin >> yummyCake.calories;
cout << “Oh man, that cake is so worth the calories! I want one! How much did it cost?” << endl;
cin >> yummyCake.price;
cout << “So what you are saying is that yummy cake has ” <<yummyCake.calories << ” calories and only costs ” << yummyCake.price << “    dollars!” << endl << endl;

//add another variable
double pricePerCalorie;
// do some fancy math to determine the value of the variable
pricePerCalorie = yummyCake.price / yummyCake.calories;
// Echo the information
cout<< “That is only ” << pricePerCalorie << ” dollars a calorie!” << endl;
//go over the code and add spaces and endl’s to make it look more appealing then end the code!
return 0;
}
//…and now I really want cake.

Not sure why any of you would care, hahahaah, but if you are wondering what I am doing in school, there you have it!

Hope everyone is doing good. I don’t currently have internet at home so I am getting further and further behind…

Help me with my homework!!!

…kinda!

So if you have got a computer just sitting around doing nothing you should have it join my SETI@home team and get searching  for Extraterrestrial Intelligence! Hahahaha, I know that sounds insane, but that is really what we are doing in my computer architecture class! It’s a test to see which group in the class can get the most people running the program.  When you run the program you do ‘projects’ every completed project earns my team more points. Whichever team gets the most points….wins! So yeah, I like winning and stuff….:D

Here’s how you join:

1. Go to http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

2. Click on ‘your account’ then ‘create account’

3. Create an account!

4. Once you have your account search for a team call ‘Fontaine Futuristics’ and join it. (You may have to refresh the page until the ‘join team’ option shows up…)

5.  Once you have your account and have joined the team download and install BOINC

6. Now umm…I can’t rememeber, LOL! I think you go to New Project to start a project.  (Make sure you attach your account and team to the project, there will be prompts helping you thru this part)

7. Now just run BOINC whenever you are not on your computer! That’s it! YAY!

SETI@home runs the same as FOLDING@home, just instead of folding proteins it is searching for  Extraterrestrial Intelligence! It uses your computers’ processor…yadda yadda yadda.

Hmmm, I need some sort of incentive to make you join and run the program. I’ll think of something…

College Update!

int main ()

{

cout << “LOL, look I am a geek!” << endl;

return 0;

}

Hahahaha! Yeah…so I have accepted the fact that I am a giant nerd. I always suspected I was, but seeing how much I am enjoying school I now know it to be completely true. I  don’t wake up in the moring with the “Ugh, I have to go to work” feeling, but with a “W00t! I have school today!!!!” feeling.  It’s great! Here’s an update on my classes and what we are learning. …if you even care, LOL!

Computer Science,  by far my favorite class. We are learning C++ and it is insanely hard to wrap my head around it. We are working on structs, and boy, I thought I would never get the hang of it.  Then I was sitting in class just working on some homework, trying to make a struct for ‘car’ with the variables ‘milesPerGallon’ and ‘yearManufactured.’ I was having a hell of a time just trying understand what the heck I was doing. Then it just it clicked. It all just came together! I don’t even know how, I was looking at it, then I just started typing the code, I complied it and ran it and BAM it worked! I wanted to get up in class and dance! I know I had a stupid goofy grin on my face!

I have created about 7 different structs. They are no big deal now! I want to learn more and I want to learn it NOW! I am loving computer programming. Even though I get lost or confused I want to figure it out, and when I do it is awesome! I never thought I would ever describe a class as addicting, but it really is!

Networking Principles & Applications, now this class is not bad…just a bit overwhelming. Right now we are learning about Networks (WAN, LAN, DAN, etc) and Topologies. (Star, Mesh, Bus,  Hybrids like Tree, etc) This class is not a difficult class, it is just very hard to keep everything straight. It seems like too many terms are getting thrown at us. Routers, modems, switches, fiber optics, bridges, token rings, transceivers, repeaters, hubs, CSU/DSU, ACL, BDC, DAP, DN, ITU, LDAP, NDS, NOS, OU, P2P, PCD, SAM, GAH! I can’t keep everything straight. I have read thru the chapter multiple times, but holy crap it is a lot to take in all at once.

Computer Architecture, I love this class too! Last week we completely took apart computers, then we had to put them back together…and they had to work! Mine did! It was awesome! I was always hesitant even look at the inside of a computer, but not anymore! Not only that, I now know what everything is! You can be told what a mother board is, but until you are holding in your hand after removing 567,890 wires from it, you really have no idea!

We are also being introduced to Binary. We were shown the basics of numbers and the Base 2 system. I really like it! I have always enjoyed math, so binary is coming pretty naturally to me. Looking forward to learning the more advanced stuff!

Introduction to Computers, this class is a giant waste of time and annoys the hell out of me. Next week we are learning how to open a word processor….really. We have done NOTHING in this class  so far.  The professor just stands in front of the class and spews off random statistics. She said 97% of the Internet is porn. I find that very hard to believe. I even asked where she got that statistic and she just said she read it some where. I guess it just annoys me going from Computer Science to Intro to Computers…there  is just something wrong with that, lol. You have to take the class for the degree though.  So I’ll just suck it up and try to enjoy this easy A.

Small Business Management, wow, just wow. This is another ‘Why am I taking this class? Oh yeah, I have to for the degree…’ type of class. I am not interested in Small Business Management at all. I will never own my own business. I give props to people who do (Hi Katie!) cause that is a ton of responsibility, but it’s just not for me.  The class is online. We have 3 days to read a chapter, then we have a quiz on that chapter. Holidays, weekends, etc, do not matter. So every 4 days I take a quiz. We cannot work ahead, the quizzes are locked until the class gets to that chapter. That is kind of annoying. The quizzes are 10 multiple choice questions, we have twenty minutes to completely a quiz. Where is the challenge in that? If you don’t have the answer just grab your book, you have 2o freaking minutes! If you can’t find it in the book then ask trusty google…

 We also have to post on the forums and have discussions on the chapter we are currently on. My problem is I am not interested in the class at all, therefore it is extrmemly difficult for me to be disiplined enough to get home and read the book especially when it is so tempting to just not read the book and wing it on the quizzes.

One thing I do like about this class is it is easy to track our grades.  I am getting a 195% LOL! 39 points out of 20! I do all the extra credit as it becomes available. I know I will need it once we get to the later chapters as I am not really applying myself. Maybe it will get more interesting. Maybe because the class is not challenging at all is why I do not enjoy it.

It’s weird, in high school I loved the easy slacker classes, now they annoy me.

I want to learn.

Anime Iowa 2009!

 I decided to post some pics up and maybe a little blog-ish stuff from Anime Iowa 2009! So here goes:

We left Thursday night. I ended up working pretty late, I got to my mom’s house a little after 9pm…I think, lol. I don’t remember exactly, but it was later then we had planned to leave. We had to drive to Cedar Rapids, which is a 5 hour drive. When I got to my Mom’s my jaw dropped when I saw Scout’s MOUNTAIN OF CRAP that she ‘needed’ to bring with:

 

MOUNTAIN OF CRAP

In that pile is 4 or 5 cosplays, some clothes, 5 wigs, 5643829845765483 plushies, make up…other random stuff…just way too much. Somehow though we managed to fit it all in the car. She was giving me a hard time saying my coffee machine was taking up too much space…

I was also driving Scout’s friend Richelle. She plays Monster Hunter so she’s ok, LOL! We finally left Mom’s house some where around, hmmm, I think 10pm. We got to the hotel at about 3am. We waited around for Richelle’s cousin to come pick her up. (Richelle wasn’t staying at our hotel) We got to bed about 4am…

…6:03am my alarm goes off. Yeah, I got maybe an hour of solid sleep. I got up, took a shower, then started throwing stuff at Scout and screaming in her face to wake her up. Hehehehe, it’s the only way to really wake her ass up, plus, it’s just fun to do!  We started to get our cosplays on.

I was going to be a Silent Hill Nurse. The problem with this cosplay is that every time I wear it I have to make a new mask. We started but covering my head in a spray painted potato sack. We had cut it and shaped and got it all ready before we left for Anime Iowa…only for some reason now we could not get it to work. SHIT!

We were in kinda of a rush. I hadn’t even registered for Anime Iowa yet so we needed to get there as soon as the doors opened to avoid standing in a line all day. They opened at 9, it was now about 6:45a.

I decided to get the rest of the cosplay on and tried to think of what I could do to cover my face if the potato sack was not going to work. Then I started to put my socks on. My super stretchy, nylon, kinda-like-my-Tobi-mask socks…. I tried to put one over my face. It was insanely tight. Scout noticed what I was doing.while it was on my face I had her cut holes for my ears, nose, eyes, and mouth. once the holes were cut it was a bit better…but not much. Oh well I was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.

We kept the sock on my head (lol) and covered my head in fabric glue. Then we wrapped gauze around it, cut some holes for the eyes, spray painted it (that sucked, I could feel the paint seeping thru on to my face and in my hair…) then slapped on some eye make up! My mask was done!

I just had to put the ‘white stuff’ all over myself! (you pervs) The white stuff is white colored lotion that Kylee made just for my cosplay! It worked like a charm!

Scout got her cosplay on in about 20 mins and we were off!

LOL! Look! The only time I ever wear heels!

Scout as...umm...Lupi (?) from Bleach!

 

We got to the convention center with time to spare! w00t! I went to go stand in the unregistered line and Scout went to go stand in the registered line. On my way to my line I was asked to pose for 4 pictures! That is so odd…I mean it is expected cause everyone takes pics of everyone…it is just odd. I am very greatful my cosplays have masks! It is fun being the nurse. I am usually Tobi, people have no problem talking to Tobi, but being the nurse I noticed people were very weary of me. I kinda liked it!

 

 I only had to stand in line for about 10 minutes! That was a record, all other years it had to stand in line for over 2 hours!

 I went to Scout’s line…it hadn’t moved. All other years we had both been registered, so the registered line is just super slow…

After we  both had our badges we just enjoyed the first day of the con while we waited for the dealers room to open!  We saw a ton of different cosplays:

Vegeta!Vegeta kept running around yelling "IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!" Some of you will know why, some of you won't, LOL! Every time I heard it I laughed!

 

 

GO! GO! POWER RANGERS!

THE POWER RANGERS! They were awesome! I saw them and insantly took my phone out cause I have a Power Rangers ring tone. I played it and they all looked around, hahahaha! They all had it on their phones too! As did Nemesis! OMG he was awesome! The BEST cosplayer there. He made his Nemesis cosplay himself, it was very impressive!

Heheheeh! Resident Evil meets Silent Hill! AWESOME!

 

Ok that is all for now! My computer is completely freaking out and Monster Hunter isn’t going to play itself! TOMORROW I will put up some more pics and junk!  You are all probably thinking “Yeah, sure…right after you write your BIG GREEN BOX blog…” Shush jerks!

I WILL PUT UP ANOTHER BLOG TOMORROW!!! I WILL!!!...I think...

 

 

***EDIT*** …so I lied, LOL! Got home later from work then expected and I have some homework. Blog will be up tomorrow!

Braining

Monday

Computer Science (8:00a- 10:00a)

Computer Architecture  (10:10a- 11:05a)

Tuesday

Networking Principles & Applications (8:00a- 10:00a)

Computer Architecture  (10:10a- 11:05a)

Introduction to Computers (11:10a- 12:35a)

Wednesday

Computer Science (8:00a- 10:00a)

Computer Architecture  (10:10a- 11:05a)

Thursday

Networking Principles & Applications (8:00a- 10:00a)

Computer Architecture  (10:10a- 11:05a)

Introduction to Computers (11:10a- 12:35a)

Friday

Computer Science (9:05a- 10:00a)

I am also taking Small Business Management online.

Total Credits:  17

 

That is my school schedule for this semester! Today was my first day. I was extremely nervous this morning. Therefore I got up way too early. I was ready and out the door with about 30 mins to spare. When I got to school there was not a single place to park. I was behind another car that was driving around the parking lot, when it broke down. Damn. I got stuck in a car sandwich cause the car in front of me could not go and the car behind me had no idea what was going on.

Once everything got settled and I was able to back out and continue to search for a spot…I realized I only had 10 minutes to spare. That 10 mins turned into 5, then into 3, then into none. There where just no spots at all, so I parked in the teachers parking lot. I figured I could play dumb if anyone noticed it being the first day and all.

I was the last one into class. That was embarrassing. The professor was already talking. I sat at the only free computer in the class. Right between Chuck and my brother-in-law. (Man, I really did not want to sit by my brother-in-law.) Chuck, he is a cool guy. Probably about 60 years old and has quiet a few tattoos. He also has a mullet, plus, his name is Chuck so that is just awesome, LOL!

Once we were seated and we did our introductions we were told to get to work. We had to hook up our PCs (mouse, keyboard, etc), install and format our hard drives, install Windows, and my favorite, we had to make our own Ethernet cables. It was awesome! We had to cut the length of the CAT5 cables, strip them, then attach the RJ-45 ends. Putting the wires in order was a pain in the ass! So was Cutting the outside of the CAT5 cable off to expose the wires without nicking the wires! We test out our cables tomorrow. I am pretty sure I did it right…except now that I think about it, when I connected the wires to the RJ-45 I think the clip was down when it was suppose to be up…so it won’t work and I’ll have to redo it…maybe..

…I would normally be embarrassed or pissed about that. However, I am not! I have never done or even attempted anything like that before and it was just cool, lol. If it doesn’t work  I will just try again tomorrow. I can go to the lab at anytime time of day. Only the Computer Science students have access to this lab and we each have our own stations. Only I know the password to my computer so that is pretty neat. My hard drive is now mine, I can take it with me if I like. If I need to go and work on my Ethernet cable, I can go anytime I want and now that I have the hang of it it will take no time at all.

I am really enjoying it. More so then I thought I would. I thought I would be a nervous wreck but once I got there and saw how nervous everyone else was that kinda calmed me down a bit. It also helps that a ton of people had no idea how to hook up their keyboards or mice, some haven’t even started on their Ethernet cables, so I don’t feel like I am behind in the class, just right where I should be.

BTW, I just got back from Anime Iowa, I want to write a blog about that. Plus I still have my BIG GREEN BOX blog…lol, I am never going to get caught up!

 

OH YEAH!!!

As of this moment I am a student of Computer Science and Networking Technology! w00t! Today I went to the college and finalized everything, got it all paid for and signed up for my books, which I get next week!

*dances*

School starts August 19th! Holy hell that is soon!

*bites nails completely off*

Hope everyone is doing good. I will get my BIG GREEN BOX blog written. I have been…ummm…busy. Certainly not spending all my time with Monster Hunter…

Monster Hunter Tattoos!

W00t! I went to Colorado the last week of June! Had a blast!

I drove out on Saturday, June 26th. I had meant to leave my apartment between 2am and 4am. Due to a medical emergency and  a police officer thinking I was breaking into work,  I did not get on the road until about 6am. (I will spare the details as it will make this blog insanely long, lol.) The drive was LONG and there was a ton of road construction. I spent most of my time thinking of ways I could set up my PSP so I could play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (MHFU) and drive at the same time…

I got to Colorado at about 4:30pm! We (John, Katie, and I) went out to eat at Red Robin (MMMM) my eyes were bigger then my stomach, (and their fries are too damn good, I ate about 48,587,346,578 of them.) I could not finish my awesome bacon cheeseburger. Once we were all stuffed, we went back to John and Katie’s for some Monster Hunter and some movies!

The next day was SUPER AWESOME DAY OF AWESOME aka Monster Hunter Tattoo Day! John started the day off by making awesome blueberry pancakes. I gave a blueberry to Lucy and she decided she liked me, all other trips she couldn’t really make up her mind, LOL. I have never seen a dog eat fruit before…

After breakfast we went to Sam’s Club!  6 lbs of Gummy Bears, 2.25 lb box of Laffy Taffy and 54 ounces of Skittles later we were off to the tattoo shop!

John, Katie and I were all planning on getting matching Monster Hunter Tattoos! We had a heck of a time deciding on what we wanted to get. We thought about the “MH Eye” symbol, the weapon symbols, perhaps a Felynx or Melynx. Then we saw the Fatalis glyph. Once we saw it, we all agreed it was the one.

We went to the tattoo shop, John and Katie know the tattoo artist, they got their Rathalos and Rathian done by him. We filled out some paper work. J and K wouldn’t let me see how much the tattoo was going to cost, it was a birthday present.

John went first, I am pretty sure it was just cause he was super duper scared!

JR before the tattoo!

Katie and I played some Monster Hunter while he was getting his tattoo.  (I know MORE Monster Hunter…lol. We can’t help it, it is AWESOME!)

JR getting his tattoo!

 

While he was getting his tattoo I was trying to decide where I wanted to get mine. I had a few places in mind, but I wasn’t 100% sure. I needed to hurry up and make up my mind!

JR's tattoo! AWESOME!

 

After seeing his,  I knew right where I wanted mine! However, I just unlocked my 2 or 3 stars quests on MHFU, so Katie was next!

JANE before her tattoo!

While Katie was getting her tattoo, I was ‘helping’ a little girl play Monster Hunter on Katie’s PSP. John had left to run to the store and was kind enough to tell the girl I would help her. John is a jerk.

JANE getting her tattoo!

I got up to take a pic of Katie getting her tattoo, I was trying to be all stealthy and ninja like…as you can tell she turned around and said, “You are taking a picture aren’t you?”

…if only my Sneak skill was higher.

Katie's tattoo! AWESOME!

John got back from the store while they were finishing up Katie’s tattoo. It looked awesome! Soon it was my turn.

As I sat in the chair, I noticed the tattoo artist had a SWEENEY TODD razor just like mine! w00t! This guy was awesome!

Me getting my tattoo!

I talked to the tattoo guy about everything from Fable II to religion. Trying to not move my arm, made my arm constantly twitch, lol. This was my least painful tattoo. I don’t know if it is cause of where I got it or cause I was relaxed just chit chatting.

My tattoo! MMmmmm Slimey!

I loved the way my tattoo turned out and I am very happy with where I decided to get it! w00t! A MONSTER HUNTER TATTOO! OH YEAH! *dances*

Dagger's, JR's, and JANE's MONSTER HUNTER TATTOOS!

 

Getting matching tattoo’s with John and Katie was awesome and they all turned out great!  After the tattoos we hit KFC (I fricken love KFC) then headed home for some…wait for it…Monster Hunter, LOL, withCid! We played for a bit then went to see Land of the Lost! We are all Will Ferrell fans and I really wanted to see a Will Ferrell movie with them. Unfortunately the movie wasn’t all that great, though it did have a Daiymo Hermitaur in it!  Plus I got to see posters for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, a preview for the new Harry Potter movie (July 15th! ….oh shut up, the books are great!)  and I got to see Will Ferrell in his undies! So w00t!

However, there was even MORE that same day…

What could it be...?

What’s in the big green box? Well that’s for another day…cause my computer is pissing me off right now and I want to go play MHFU!

Jumbled Mess of AWESOME

Holy smokes! I have a ton of catching up to do and about 3 blogs I want to write. I have managed to upload all the pics  for the blogs today, but that is all I am going to do for now.

Saturday morning, with a cup of coffee in hand I have some major writing and reading to do. I thought about catching up with WP/GAP/PSN boards/MH  Boards/ LOL TOO MUCH INTERNET STUFF today but I am sleepy and I just want to go play some MHFU! So yeah…

Long Blog is LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG! :D

Wow, lots of stuff going on lately.

Last week out of no where my mother stopped drinking.

I went to eat lunch with her when she said “I quit drinking.”

I did not know how to reply to that. I never expected to hear anything like that from my mother before in my entire life. I had completely given up on her.

 My response was a simple, “Oh yeah?”

I didn’t know what else to say. I haven’t asked her what exactly made her quit, anytime it gets brought up she just says “It was just stupid.”

She has been an alcoholic for about 13 years. Every single day she would drink herself to sleep. (AKA drinking until you pass out.) It started with a ‘few’ beers a night. At first it was no big deal, but a few beers became more and more. She would blame her drinking on everything from my siblings to having nothing better to do. She has been drunk for all but 2 years of Scout’s life and my little brother, Gage, has never known my mom sober.

I hate my mother when she is drunk. I have hated my mother for 13 years.

13 years ago my mom was an awesome mom. She had a job, she took care of herself, she took care of her family. We could all talk to her about anything. She had a very bright personality. Then it just changed.  All of that was gone. I know she will not go back to being the person she was, but maybe just a sliver of that person remains so that Scout and Gage will have a chance to get to know her. That is my hope.

Of course hope is the one thing I am trying not to have right now. I do not want to get my hopes up thinking she is finally over it. Then have them crashing down if she slips.  It has only been a week. The first week in 13 years. That is an awesome week. I am proud of my mother for her first week. Will I be proud of her second week? We’ll see…

——-

College orientation was last week Friday! WOO HOO! It was awesome! I got to meet my Instructors, fellow students, and got a tour of the school! For the first time in my life I felt ‘old.’ It was a very strange feeling.

When I got there, my pants covered in coffee, 40 mins early, and a nervous wreck, I had to go get my name tag.

Jenna- Computer Science and Networking Technology, I like the sound of that!

It was the orientation for students accepted in:

• General Machining
• Engineering Drafting/CAD
• Industrial Instrumentation & Control
• Industrial & Commercial Wiring
• Computerized Manufacturing Technology
• Carpentry/Construction Technology
• Computer Science and Networking Technology (CSNT)
• Powerline
• Powerline Technology
• Biotechnology Lab Tech

So yeah, so far I was the only girl. Oh great. I went to take my student ID picture, I of course kept BEEFY on in the pic. YAY! (That is going to be awesome, LOL!) Then I wandered around looking for other CSNT students. None. Damn.

I did notice that about 90% of the students there were Powerline students. I have no idea what that is. I mean I know what  a powerline is, but are that many people interested in them..?

We were all gathered into a room and got the run down of the school, everything from the rules to how to buy books with your financial aid was covered. Then we got a tour and I got to feel old.

I was the only girl in a group of 21. I was the only CSNT student in the group too, LOL! Everyone else was Powerline. I was also probably the oldest. I was the only one who did not have their parents with.  During the tour I asked about 56,783,948,765 questions. Every room we went into I had a question. I was starting to annoy myself, but I really needed to know the answers.  I heard a few of the guys say “That lady keeps asking questions, we should be done by now!” They called me ‘THAT LADY’  wow. I have never been called that before. I wanted to say that I would not be able to just ask my mommy and daddy later, I had to find out now…but no, I said nothing. I continued asking questions though!

After the tour we broke up into our areas of study. I finally got to see who my fellow CSNT students would be! A whopping total of 8 students! My brother-in-law Sean being one of them! LOL! Man, Iowa schools are awesome.

We met our Instructor. He is just awesome. I thought I would be extremely intimidated by him, but no.  He gave us some of his back story, completely lost his train of thought, told about how he used to work in corrections, the navy, was certified in Cisco, and a ton of other stuff. He went on and on til we were all comfortable. He said some of his students went on and worked at DDC after college! I have been working there for 3 1/2 years! That made me laugh. Whoopie DDC, lol, I am going to college so that I can move on from there.  Small classes, awesome Instructor! w00t! Why was I so afraid of college before? It is going to be great!

If I haven’t said it already (5,463,784,576 times, hahaha!)  will be studying Computer Science and Networking Technology!

My first classes are:

• Computer Science
• Networking Principles & Applications
• Computer Architecture
• Small Business Management
• Introduction to Computers

For a total of  16 credits!

‘Holy balls Jenna! How are you going to go to school FULL TIME and work FULL TIME!?’ Is pretty much what I thought to myself…

I got the class schedule…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! All of the classes are in the morning except Small Business Management and Intro to Computers! I work in the morning! I cannot go to school unless I am working full time. Crap. I had planned to only go to school part-time. Crap. Then I talked to my Instructor, and he said I needed to register for any class I was interested in so that I would have a spot saved. I could come back and adjust my classes as needed, but in order to be in the CSNT program I have to take Computer Science, Networking Principles & Applications, and Computer Architecture. All the morning ones.

I also found out I tested out of Intro to Computers. NICE! So I didn’t have to worry about that one.

After orientation I went to work and set up a meeting request with my boss.  *Gulp*

—-

Today was the big day! I had my meeting with my boss. It was at 11am,  it lasted until 12:30pm. That is a long ass meeting.

I went to my boss’ office. Luckily for me, my boss and I are buddies.  So I wasn’t too nervous but I was still wondering how she would respond to my school schedule. In the meeting request I had told her that if I could not adjust my hours and continue to work full time, with my school schedule, I would be forced to choose one or the other. I did NOT tell her I would have to chose work over school, because I still have bills and they still need to be paid.

I sat in her office and went over a mock schedule she had built for me. It was based off me coming into work right after school, unfortunately we could only get it to 35 hours. I need 40 hours to keep my benefits.

We messed around with the schedule a bunch and I was getting rather bummed out. Well there goes school…

Then she told me that Data Entry would be getting a new client. She went on and on about how we would have to start a night shift as we do not have enough computers or people to get all the work we would have done. I wasn’t following her, I mean sure I work in Data Entry sometimes but my main departments are Scanning and Clerical. I do not type fast enough to really be much help in Data Entry, but I do what I can. Then just out of no where she offered me a STAFF POSITION as SUPERVISOR of the night shift! Holy freaking balls awesome!!! I said. “Well, that sounds like it would work.” (I was crapping my pants at the time.)

I will be a supervisor when we get our new client in…that’s the problem though. We can build mock schedules, I can fill my office with action figures,  and we can talk about it all we want, but I will not 100% know my hours until we start getting in the work. That could be a month from now, it could be tomorrow, it all depends on the client. However, I do know she will keep me at 40 hours (YES!!) and it will not interfere with my school schedule. School comes first, my boss even said so. (I had her write it down and sign it so the first day she wants me to come in and I have school I can show her what she said…LOL!) Today has been pretty awesome!

We are going to start the hiring process asap. Before the week is out. I have never hired, interviewed, or anything, anyone ever before so I am pretty nervous, but I like that I get to be a part of the hiring process. It will help me get to know the employees that I will BE THE BOSS OF! Hehehehe! Freaking awesome!

I have a meeting at the school tomorrow to finalize everything and talk about just how many credits I am taking.  LOL! I should probably find out if I am full or part-time, hahaha!

Good day today. I should probably go and clean now…but why ruin it? I am going to get sit on my butt and play some FFXII! w00t!