Saturday, December 31, 2005

Thrift Store

I stopped in at the Salvation Army on my way home from the library today. The librarians decided since New Year's Day is a Sunday and thus they would have gotten it off anyway, they ought to take New Year's Eve off too, in order to get a head start on causing their New Year's Day hangovers. Watching the Rose Parade with a pounding headache must not be very fun.

Anyway, I stopped in at the Salvation Army to browse their book selection. As a connoisseur of cheap used books, I have determined that any thrift store worth its salt (on sale for $1.50, donated by The Salt Emporium in an uncharacteristic act of philanthropy) must have a copy of a book written by Rush Limbaugh along with the obligatory Tom Clancy and P. D. James paperbacks. I'm not sure why this is, but based on a small number of particulars I am abstracting a hasty universal. So if you go to a thrift store to buy used books (you can usually find some notable titles for $1), make sure they have El Rushbo on the shelf. And if you see any notable titles, buy them and then sell them at a slightly higher price at your local used bookstore.

Happy New Year! And Merry Christmas (because it still is Christmas, even though your neighbors tossed their tree out for curbside pick up right after they finished opening presents on the 25th.)

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Vacation summary

I haven't blogged at all this vacation. This lack of words can be attributed to two things: no internet connection and a complete apathy towards letting anyone and everyone who cares about me (and knows about this blog) know how and what I am doing.

Well, here I am. I will try to fix this as quickly as possible.

I am currently sitting in the new "computer lab" in the Hanford Public Library. The man to my right is searching eBay for radio accessories. The kid to my right has a lot of ads in his browser with titles like "Which one is hotter?" I have four browser windows open because the enlightened folks here at the library don't know about Firefox.

I am doing well. Christmas was one of the best in years. I didn't get very much stuff but I had a great time, due in no small part to the fact that I must have played 20-30 games of pool with my youngest cousin Adam. The pool table is part of a 13-in-1 game tables. We got it either one or two Christmas (what is the plural of Christmas anyway?) ago.

I have been to the dentist for the first time in two years and my teeth are wonderful, according to Dr. Peterson, my new dentist. He told me multiple times I would be a great canidate for an expensive bleaching proceedure not covered by my insurance. He also called me "Bruce," my father's name, at least five times.

I had quite an eventful day yesterday. I woke up at the crack of ten, went to the gym, went to the dentist, did some errands around town, went to Visalia, sold the remainder of my rock cds for $129.50, closed the car door on a cat's paw after having locked the door and not having the key on me, and I also spent twenty minutes figuring out what to do about a stray dog which was wandering around on our lawn, trying to discern the best place to piddle. I finally decided that the dog would go away, taking my responsiblitities towards stray dogs with him.

I have to pick up my brother from an all-night computer/video game orgy that he and his friends call a sleepover. I will possibly write some funny and/or touching accounts of my vacation later. Oh, and Tasik, Caged Bird's Shaddow (aka Mok-san) gave me the heads up about that unknown personage.

P.S. I hate the Blogger spell checker.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Finals

In today's installment of "Something Completely Different," we join our protagonist sitting in the computer room of the library, pre-occupied with finals.

Finals are officially a mere three days away. It's not sinking in yet, but I will have to spend approximately ten to eleven hours this coming week writing in blue books, possibly less than eleven hours sleeping, and who knows how many hours studying. It doesn't help that only one of my tutors has handed out a study guide. For music, we have been told to know everything. Math is going to be philosophical. Whoopee. Oh, I've already contained my excitement to a small box, lest it get out and cause an accident.

Philosophy is also bad. The reason isn't the subject matter, but the uncertainty and confusion about what exactly is up with the philosophy final. Miss Zedlick had to go to Germany because her father is dying of leukemia. No one is sure who is going to write up our philosophy final, what will be on it, or even who is going to grade it. Lab on the other hand is dead certainty. Berquest will write it up, grade it, tell us what to know. And word on the street about last year's lab final is that no one finished in under two hours. Word is the test was murder.

So, like I said, I'm rather pre-occupied. But in exchange for hearing me complain, here is a funny comic strip mocking the UN.