Chris does not need shots!

By request from Sonya:
1. Chris needs your sex talk...
2. Chris needs this. (How vague.)
3. Chris needs to give me cancer. (I don't think I have that power.)
4. Chris needs tech support. (Thanks Jason.)
5. Chris needs a job. (That's why I'm in school!)
6. Chris needs quiet time on Flickr. (I don't take time for intentional misspellings)
7. Chris needs your wish list.
8. Chris needs to get laid.
9. Chris needs suggestions for 130 Christmas cards!
10. Chris needs a nickname. (Chris is a nickname!)

Oh yeah, the doctor told me I already had all those shots! Sweet!!!!

Shots

Today I have to go to the doctor and get vaccinated for school. No, I'm not five! I am, however, terrified of needles. It makes me sick just thinking about shots. No matter how many times I've had blood tests or shots and feel no pain, I'm still scared. I might be able to get out of it because I was vaccinated before my short lived stint at FIU in 2004. I'm not sure how long the vaccines work, but here's hoping... Speaking of FIU; I hated that place more than junior high school. Every system they had was designed to be a big pain in the butt, and my advisor put me in classes for which I was in no way ready. I dropped calculus at FIU and felt retarded; then I went to TNCC and got an A. Back to shots - I was reading the fine print on my vaccines, and it seems and can get a waiver. The recommended ages for these things is 18-25. I think 32 is old enough to be able to get out of it; also, I worked for a year as a waste water treatment plant operator. That must have built up my immunity!

Computers aren't cheap, but I am.

As I can't contain my excitement at transferring to VCU, I've been fiercely reviewing their website for advice and general expectations. VCU requires all students have a computer - preferably a laptop. Well, I own a laptop which I purchased in 2003, which was super-fancy back then, and which is quite antiquated now. Upon looking at the price of new fancy laptops, I remembered the pain I experienced the first time I shelled out the dough for my VAIO, and I couldn't bare to go through it again. The problem I now face is that my laptop is showing its age and runs a little slow. It also has a small, by current standards, disc drive. I have endeavoured on a quest to maximize my computer for the least possible expense, and this is what I've done. First, I have upgraded my memory to the maximum 1 gigabyte at a cost of $25. Second, I bought a 160 gigabyte disc drive for $80. Third, I bought a new battery for $70. Finally, I removed Windows from my laptop and replaced it with UBUNTU which is a free Linux-based OS. My buddy Jason is a computer whiz, and managed to get my Belkin wireless PC card to work with the new OS. Linux is the OS that all engineers and people in the know swear-by.
One of the deciding factors for me in keeping my laptop and switching the operating system to UBUNTU was the poor reviews I've seen for Leopard (the new MAC OS) and VISTA (the Microsoft OS debacle.) Mainly, memory has become so cheap that software writers have become lazy in their programming, and they have gone graphics-crazy with the interface. Linux is simpler, more secure, and more adaptable. It does require some know-how, but UBUNTU has been nearly Windows-like in its ease of operation. Their are plenty of other Linux-based OS options out there; most folks seem to like Red Hat's Fadora Core.
I think the UBUNTU folks must know me, or I am just a perfectly predictable demographic, for they included all of my favorite games. You get solitaire, mahjong, and Tetris. Also, all of my old files open without any issue using the Sun Microsystems open-source OpenOffice.

2 blogs for the price of one.

Blog #1 - Charlottesville

Sonya and I decided to cut down on our Carbon Footprint this year and keep our vacation fairly local. This is easy because Virginia is a remarkable place. We drove the measly two hours to Charlottesville and stayed two nights at the Boar's Head Inn. Upon our arrival to Charlottesville, our first stop was for lunch at Michie Tavern. You can read all about their strange hours of operation and delicious food at the link. After lunch, we drove the short distance up to Monticello where we found large crowds and construction of a new visitors center, so we turned around and headed to Ash Lawn-Highland. We've been there once before, but it was late in the day so we didn't enter. We did notice the last time we were there that Ash Lawn is owned and operated by the College of William & Mary, so we figured we might be able to get a deal this time since Sonya is under the employ of the college. We were right; Sonya got in for free! The location of Ashlawn is arguably even more beautiful than Monticello though the house is much more humble. We spent an hour on the guided tour of the house and another hour walking the self guided tour of the grounds. By the time we were done with Ash Lawn, it was nearly check-in time at the Boar's Head.

We checked-in at 4:00, and Sonya took a nap while I hooked up the laptop to research dining options. We decided on C&O Restaurant. What a great place! Sonya had the Grilled Ahi tuna filet with horseradish-ginger sabayon, bulghur-feta croquette and Endive radicchio salad, and I had the Duck breast with blueberry-rhubarb glaze and curried Israeli couscous. Delicious! After our dinner, we realized the restaurant is right next door to the Charlottesville Pavilion where Willie Nelson was playing that night! Sadly, the concert was sold-out, so we headed back to the inn.

The next day, we awoke to realize the power was out in the room. Thankfully, the AC was running on generator power, so it was still comfortable in the room. Sonya was supposed to have a massage at 2:30, so we decided to walk down to the spa around 11:00 to check-in and enjoy the pool. We put on robes and walked over to the pool only to be told it was closed due to the power outage. By this time, I was getting a little more than annoyed and certainly not relaxed. They told us the the power was still on at the Sports Club, and we could use the pool there. So we walked the several hundred yards in our robes. By the time we arrived at the pool, we were sweating. The Sports Club pool is not private and was filled with screaming and yelling kids. We swam briefly and read our books. I am reading The American Sphinx, and Sonya is reading Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. It was too loud for me to concentrate, so we decided to ask someone there if the power was back on at the spa and if the pool there was open. The kid we asked ran over to ask someone - though he had a phone right next to him - and he said the spa and spa pool were open. We walked back down to discover that he was of course wrong. I was very un-relaxed at this point, and it was now quite hot in the spa, so Sonya cancelled her massage appointment. We walked back to the room, and as we approached the door to our room, the rest of the generator power went out, and the emergency lights came on. We entered our room and the AC was off. Nooooooooo! Seconds later, the power was fully restored! Huzzah!!!! Sonya called the spa and rescheduled her message for 3:15, and we headed down. The pool was open, the AC was on, and life was good. I was still a little disappointed to discover children playing at the spa pool, but they were reasonably quiet, and I was able to read. Aaaah, this was relaxation like I've never known it. Sonya got her massage, I swam to cool off, and life was all better.

That night, we decided to head to Staunton for our second-favorite German restaurant. Edelweiss is first for atmosphere, but second for quality of food compared to Eckhard's. We pigged out and bought our favorite German dark beer - Köstritzer Schwarzbier.

The next day we ordered breakfast in bed, and checked-out at noon. We headed up for a wine tasting at Barboursville Vineyards. The ruins of the Thomas Jefferson designed estate are there in the background as you taste 16 different wines for a mere $4 per person. Virginia's wine country is simply amazing. Next we drove to James Madison's Montpelier. Go there.

If anybody thinks we defeated the initial idea of reducing our carbon footprint though all the mountain driving, we reduced our carbon emissions by at least 1.47 metric tons by avoiding air travel.

Blog #2 - VCU

I found out upon our return from Charlottesville that I've been accepted to VCU. I have orientation on August 12th, so I'll be transferring in the fall as long as I can get all the classes I need. We're now considering buying a tiny, fuel-efficient car for my commute. I'm also looking into a vanpool service, but class schedules are a highly limiting factor on such things.

The Miami Druekes have returned home from their trip to visit we Druekes of Georgia and Virginia, and we are sad to see them leave. They flew in to Richmond on July 4th and stayed for a long weekend. It was a brief visit, but we managed to see the sights.

Abigail has been snapping pictures with her new phone and took this one of Elizabeth. I showed dad how to send the photos via bluetooth to the computer, so now we have a copy of Abby's picture.

The family left on Monday, July 7th for the mountains and eventually Atlanta. They took a leisurely five day drive to Atlanta and looked at mountain towns in which they may soon wish to retire. After a nice long weekend in Atlanta, they returned to Richmond for their flight home. We were able to join them on Tuesday to take in some sights in Richmond. First we visited Bottoms Up Pizza where Lisa and Jeremiah both served duty.

We were surprised to find no dish named for Jeremiah or Lisa, but there did seem to be some homage to Uncle Steve and Aunt Jo-Jo. I'm not sure on their connection to the Restaurant, but we were happy to see them honored.

In 2004, Hurricane Gaston made its way through Shockoe Bottom and flooded many of the businesses. We took these photos of Dad (since he's the tallest) in front of the flood line painted inside Bottoms Up.

After lunch, we headed over to the VCU Engineering School so they could see where I should be going pretty soon. Sonya was also interested in the decor since she's in charge of the committee for the interiors at the new Mason School of Business at William & Mary.

Sonya was happy to see the equations painted on the walls and knows I'll be quite happy there. I can't wait to transfer!!

Summer, Fall, Spring, Summer

I finished up my second summer semester at TNCC, so that means I've officially been there a year. I'm a community college veteran. I'm finally free of classes that involve knuckleheads, and everybody that has made it this far is in it for the long haul. That's not to say the classes are getting any easier, or that everyone gets an A or even passes, but everybody needs the classes they take. I have been a little surprised that students still don't seem confident enough to contribute. Professors are like performers, and they appreciate a response. They also seem to reward students for actively participating in the class discussions. That must be how I got my B in Linear Algebra. A B is a weird grade to receive because it implies that I worked hard enough to get an A, but I simply never got the material well enough to receive an A. Linear Algebra is the first class I've ever taken where I can do every exercise in the book but not get an A on a test. This is a very important lesson. I can understand pretty complicated stuff when it's phrased in a way in which I'm comfortable, but this professor made the tests straight from his own notes which didn't really relate to the text. Luckily, a high theoretical mathematical ability isn't really necessary in order to be quite capable of applying the techniques. I've already gone back to my Statics text to use the techniques I learned in Linear Algebra, and my new skills are paying off in spades.


Also, I got an A in Microeconomics, but who cares.

There's a sucker born every minute.

I've been getting phone calls everyday from some recorded voice telling me Macy's has some "important personal business" to discuss. Since I'm not retarded, I hang up. I sent Macy's an email stating that if they do not cease from using this tactic that I would personally start boycotting their store and encourage everyone I know to do so as well. They are just dying to get me to use their useless credit card. Sonya and I use our Master Cards exclusively to purchase everything and pay our bills because they give us money. I don't need airline miles, points towards a purchase, or any other hair brained scheme. I got an email from them this morning telling me I can call the number on the message and ask them to stop calling. Wouldn't it be nicer if they asked me the last time I was at Macy's if it would be okay if they called me for promotions. I could simply chuckle and say, "of course not," and that would be the end of it! I wouldn't be getting solicitations on my dang cell phone, and I wouldn't be ranting like Andy Rooney! The whole thing made me think of the new American Express commercials with Tina Fey and Martin Scorsese. Scorsese entices Fey into the first class lounge with an "important opportunity." She gets excited thinking it's a script or something, but he's just trying to pawn off a time share. The commercial cracks me up because I picture Amex hearing the ad pitch and not even realizing the irony that their credit card offer is just as lame as a time share. Hmmm, Amex charges a fee, and Master Card gives back cash. I'll take the Amex and a punch in the balls, please

.