A long long Monday...

Whoever said Mondays are the hardest were not kidding... at least in the context of this week.

Aside from the fact that I had to work from 7Am to 1Pm, I also had an interview at 2PM and I had an appointment with the Genius Bar at 4PM. Talk about a busy day.

So work was the same old same old, but as the morning went on, I started to get nervous. After all, that's what I do. I purchased a new outfit he day before since a great deal of the clothes I have are not the most professional looking (not to mention the fact that I am in between sizes and my clothes do not fit just right.) I bought a pair of black pants and a shirt that I honestly wouldn't have picked out for myself before, but when I put it on, it just seemed to work. Its basically that black nylon stretchy material and it has a white and green design running across it. I thought I looked very professional.

So once 1 o' clock rolls around, I change and head out to Woodward Avenue Elementary School. I wasn't sure what to expect since the position just said "Media." After getting myself lost and frantically calling Tammy to get directions (thank you sooooo much by the way!) I arrive just on time. When I arrived I was told that they were running a few minutes behind and to go ahead and look over the interview questions while I waited. There were about 11 questions, so I sat and formulated my answers. A great deal of my nerves went away after I felt I had come up with some fairly decent answers. I also discovered at this point that the questions were for a Media Specialist position, which also helped calm my nerves since now I knew exactly what the position was for.

When I went into the interview room, I was introduced to Mr. Broxton, the principal, and Mr. Hayes, the AP. I sat down and they told me that there was nothing to worry about and that I was going to do fine. At this point I felt fairly confident anyway because I had a chance to look at the exact questions, but I smiled and the interview started. After about 4 questions, Mr Broxton stopped and told me that he was very impressed with the quality of the answers that I was giving and that I was doing very well. That of course gave me even more confidence and we continued with the interview. I answered all of the questions to the best of my ability and once the questions were over, I received an excellent compliment that scared me at first.

Mr. Broxton stops and says, "You concern me a little. You answered the questions with such a quality that I am afraid that my questionnaire was leaked to MySpace or something." He laughed and I was relieved at his compliment. I mentioned that he did give me the question ahead of time and his response was, "Yes, but I give everyone the questions ahead of time to relieve the pressure and I still do not get the answers you just gave us." Once again I was flattered and probably neon red from nerves and shyness at this point. He also told me that he could see the passion I had for what I do. After all of his comments I felt so comfortable with the job I had done that I was probably smiling ear to ear. I thanked them for their time and appreciated the opportunity to speak with them.

Before I left, they did mention that they will have to select someone soon because the media center would need to be set up prior to the pre-planning week of school so that the teachers could come in and get their materials. I haven't heard anything yet, but it has only been a couple days and I am sure they probably had to go through a great deal of interviews. I am hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. It would be fantastic to be able to get a teaching job and since it is at an elementary school library, I would be around children's books all day.. there is nothing wrong with that considering I collect them. We will just have to see. I appreciate all of the prayers and good wishes. I just hope that good news is on the horizon.

After the interview I was feeling fairly good about everything so I was not as annoyed as I headed back to the genius bar for part two of this disaster. When I walked in I checked in and waited to be called. I only had to wait about 5 minutes and then I got to sit down with one of the geniuses. The only thing they did was to try and turn the computer on and to reset the settings. Neither of which worked and both of which I could have told you. Ricky and I suspected the video processor, but it could have been a few other things. This apparent genius looks up and says, "It looks like it might be the video processor, but it could be a couple other things." Really? You think?

So he filled out the paperwork and had my computer sent off to Apple to be repaired. As it turns out, I received my computer in the mail today. Apparently, it was not my video processor, but in fact my logic board was faulty. So they replaced it for me and now I am back in business. I will give them the fact that I got my computer back fairly quickly and they were efficient, but considering the fact that my "appointment" took all of 10 minutes I have no idea why they couldn't have seen me on Saturday. That is a bit ridiculous.

After all of the events of the day, I decided that cooking was out, so I stopped and got Goodfellas pizza for dinner. I received a coupon for a free pizza so i figured that was in my price range and call in my order. Once I got home, I changed into PJs and waited for Ricky to get home. I think he may have been home for 15 minutes and then I passed out on the couch. The next thing I know, its 10PM and Ricky had already gone to bed. SO I went upstairs and passed back out. I slept for about 12 hours. Ridiculous.

I guess I did have a long day...

Not-So-Genius Bar

To end my day with a bang yesterday, the monitor portion of my computer decided that it didn't want to work. Under normal circumstances, I would just go to have it fix and that would be the end of that. BUT I had homework that I had to post and information that I needed to get off my hard drive (that seemed to be functioning perfectly well. Ricky and I tried everything from letting the battery fully charge to attaching it through a VGA cable to the TV. Nothing. Fortunately, our house is bombarded with computers so getting access to the Internet is not exactly a problem. So I emailed my teacher and figured I would head to the Apple store today to get my computer checked out at their Genius Bar (yes, for all of you PC users, that is the Apple equivalent of a Geek Squad.. and yes I know it is a bit presumptuous, but we'll get to that)

So Ricky and I did the research and concluded that my video card was most likely the issue since I was getting a signal between my monitor and the base portion of my computer. I decided to try and make an appointment with one of the 3 Genius Bars in the area, but unfortunately, one of them is closed for 10 days, and the other two only had appointments as early as Monday. Considering I only have one more week of class, that didn't seem like the best option. So we decided we would go in first thing in the morning to wait in the standby line. I had heard nothing but good things from multiple people so I was hoping my problem would be fixed.

Ricky and I woke up early and got to the Apple store before they opened. I felt like those people who are outside of the Best Buy in the morning holding their towers because they have a virus and their computer died. We walked in and headed straight for an associate with an orange shirt on (we read online that they are the ones we needed to talk to). She had his little hand held telxon and we explained our problem. He asked if we had an appointment and we explained that we tried, but we couldn't get one until Monday and I needed my computer checked. He gave us a quick explanation about why we should have an appointment, but said that we could wait in the queue. I was completely content in waiting because I needed my work.

About 5 minutes later a "genius" comes over and asks about my computer. I took it out of the bag and he opened it up and pressed the power button. First of all, I pressed the power button about fifty different ways for multiple intervals. I can tell you exactly what it does based on how many seconds you hold it down, but that is ALL that he did. His next statement was to tell me that I should have made an appointment which at this point was getting old. I explained again that we tried but I needed my computer checked today. We also explained that we figured it was the video processor and that it should be an easy fix. He then went on to explain that at minimum it takes 3 to 5 days and in case we forgot, that next time we should make an appointment.

So Ricky asks if there is a way to dump my information onto a separate drive just until we can get an appointment so that I can upload my homework. His response was, "you cant retrieve your information if you can't see what you are doing." Really? I mean REALLY? So I looked at Ricky and he asked him about removing the hard drive and placing it in a case to use it as an external hard drive. Since Ricky has done the procedure with PCs in the past he wanted to know if the MAC process was as easy. Once he mentioned that, all of a sudden the guy was like, oh yeah its really easy, all you have to do is this.. Okay seriously? First you have snide comments about not being able to see your work and now all of a sudden its so easy?

So we head over to the young lady who makes appointments and we go to talk to her about setting up an appointment for a later date because we are going to try this hard drive plan. She says the same thing about getting us in earlier with an appointment and that she is going to check the appointment schedule. Completely annoyed with the appointment nonsense at this portion of the game, apparently I snapped at her and told her that we already tried that and that there are no appointment prior to Monday at ANY location in the Central Florida Genius Bar, yet she proceeded to check and what do you know.. there were no appointments until Monday (hence the reason I didn't have one in the first place) So I set up and appointment for Monday afternoon and we will see what happens.

The good news is that we went and got the case for my hard drive and it worked like a charm. I got all of the information off of the computer that I will need for the rest of the week (since my class is over on Friday) and the other information on my computer was put onto back up media previously. Besides, I know now for a fact that the hard drive is not bad. So if I go into the Apple store and they tell me otherwise I will know they messed something up.

Good news is that I managed to get everything uploaded in a timely manner and now I will use one of the other numerous computers in our house until mine has been restored to its original glory.

Busch Gardens... Finally... its been a while

It was so hot outside.. but the train ride was nice

Beautiful birds, even if they weren't cooperating

A little blurry, but with a long zoom and a moving sky ride, it made picture taking tough

Not bad pictures considering we took them from the sky ride

Considering the fact that you have to take the pictures through glass with sharp glare, they came out fairly well

So yesterday Ricky and I made a trip to Busch Gardens for the first time in quite awhile. We started the with a trip to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was delicious and not diet friendly at all. It was wonderful.

When we got to Busch Gardens, the parking lot was not that crowded at all. We got a parking spot right up in the front about 10 spaces away from the tram station and to top it off, it was under a tree. Perfect shaded spot. As far as the park goes, I must say I have never seen it so crowded. The lines were 60 minutes deep and I think there were more tour groups from South America there than there were in the city of Orlando for the day. It was crazy. We spent more time swerving around groups than I can even calculate, but I must say, the animals were cooperating quite nicely. Considering how incredibly hot it was, they were active and at some points, playful.

We had specific things that we wanted to do while we were in the park, one of which was to ride Sheikra now that the floor has been removed. We waited in a 40 minute line and I of course freaked myself out by the time we got to the top. I have no idea why that ride freaks me out but it does. As it turns out, the ride didn't feel any different without the floor. Your feet were never really on the floor to begin with, so not having it there really didn't change the feel.

We also rode on Montu, Gwazi, the sky ride and of course, the train. We didn't stay for too long, but at least we were able to get on all of the rides that we have been missing for awhile. We were also able walk through Jungala for the first time. The tigers were quite active and I was able to get some decent pictures.

The other really cool thing about Busch Gardens is the fact that they reinstalled those wax or plastic souvenir machines. They were very popular when I was younger. Basically they are those machines that you put a few bucks in and a mold presses together to make an animal shape. The come out with excess plastic around the outside that you spent the rest of the day shaving off with your nails. I didn't get one on this trip, but I scoped out the locations and which ones I liked the best. I might have to get one next time.

We also found out when our passes expire. we have until February to use them. We figured that if the price is still reasonable, we will just renew our passes since we go to Seaworld quite frequently.

Guess Who has an interview ... at a school.... ME

So today I was at work when I get a call from a 386 number. Normally, I ignore calls from numbers that I don't recognize, but if they leave a voicemail, usually I will call them right back. So I waited to see if they were going to leave a message and they did. The phone call was from Woodward Elementary which many of us remember because Tammy taught there a couple years ago. Apparently they have a technology position available that they are looking to fill. I am not 100% sure what the position entails, but I figured technology is right up my alley. 

So I called Woodward back and they wanted me to come in for an interview for this position. Apparently they are interviewing multiple people because she mention that the principal was scheduling interviews between a certain set of times. Even if I do not get the position, at least I finally got an interview. I am just excited that I finally got a phone call. I am also not going to get my hopes up because I do not want to assume that I am going to get anything. This way, I won't be disappointed if this position doesn't pan out.

Either way, I am excited to find out what the position entails and at least getting an opportunity to interview. Don't worry though, I will update everyone as soon as I finish the interview. 

The Two Most Recent Additions...

Yam Solo

Luke Frywalker

So today I met Ricky for lunch at Friday's Front Row since Golf Channel employees are currently enjoying 50% their meal through the end of July. It was nice to be able to go out for a meal and only spend $12.00. I am okay with that. 

After I went to lunch with Ricky, I decided to stop at the outlets. I figured I was already out that way, I might as well walk around and see if anything caught my attention. One of the places I always check is the Disney store. It is one of the best places to find cheap Disney pins and I have managed to find several Finding Nemo items there in the past. So I decided it was time for another trip. As I walked in, I saw them.... the Star Tours Mr. Potato Heads. Since I have started collecting the themed ones, I had been waiting on getting these guys for awhile now. Normally in Downtown Disney and The Studios they were retailing at $12 a piece. Under normal circumstances, that price really wasn't that bad, but I just couldn't bring myself to break down and pay that much. 

BUT today I hit the Potato Head jackpot. Each one was marked $3.99. What? That is fantastic! Of course I had to bring them up. They did have the Princess Lea one too but the boxes were kind of beat up. So I walked around the rest of the store in a happy daze because I had found such a great deal. As I got ready to check out, I noticed that all the Yam Solo ones were gone off the shelf. In the course of about 5 minutes they were sold out of Yam Solo. Could this day get any better... why of course it can.... Once the cashier rang out my merchandise, they both rang out for $2.99  piece! Two more dollars off! So for half of the price of 1, I got 2! I was so excited!

Now all i have to do is find R2Potatoo and I will be good to go!

Volunteering @ Ronald McDonald House

Ricky, Me, BK, Erik, Ashley, Rachel, Debora, & Mike

We took this picture last week while volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House so that we could say thank you to the people at Dominos for donating the pizzas we served to the residents. The angle of the photo is quite fun and I am happy with the way it came out.

Another successful trip to the House for a great cause!

Transformers 2... has fallen....

So Ricky and I went to see Transformers 2 today. I was never a huge fan of Transformers when I was younger, but Ricky has been a huge fan since the 80s. We saw the first one together and it was relatively pleasant experience (with the exception of the movie going out twice). So When we found out that the second one was coming out, we knew we had to go see it. 

Unfortunately, because of scheduling conflicts, we haven't been able to get to the theater until today. This was much to the dismay of Ricky because he is a die hard fan and all of his friends saw the movie before he did. 

So we headed out to Oviedo today and saw Transformers at 2:30. After watching the film with an added soundtrack of children arguing and immature gentlemen behind us, it wasn't too bad of a movie. The movie had a few too many fight scenes and before you jump all over that comment, Ricky actually made a good point in that he stated that he enjoyed the cartoon for the story line. It wasn't just a constant battle. Unfortunately Michael Bay is not known for his subtly when it comes to explosions. We also felt that it could have been about 45 minutes shorter. By just cutting some of the fight scenes, the film would have been shorter and a bit better in terms of flow. Over all, I just think the story was better in the first film. 

I know there are those of you who will not agree, but remember, this review does not mean that we are not going to buy the DVD nor does it mean that we will not go see the next one. Ricky's only comment was that he hopes they bring Unicron into the films before Leonard Nimoy leaves us. 

Now we just have to wait and see which release of the DVD will have the coolest box. 

SWEAT Theory of Creativity

This was the theory we wrote for my creativity class...

SWEAT Theory of Creativity

There are many individuals that feel as though inspiration and creativity has been given to them by a higher power, while there are those who feel that they had to work for their fame. What these individuals fail to realize is the fact that their creativity instead emanated from a typical bodily function; sweat. Throughout the ages, sweat has been the process that has cooled the body down as well as released toxins from the body through the pores. Little did we know this small act of human biology was in fact that root of all creativity.

Below are some famous examples of historical creativity that demonstrates the accuracy of this particular theory. Although these individuals were unavailable for comment, we as researchers believe these findings to be historically accurate and factually based.

Examples Through History:

1623: William Shakespeare is slaving over his latest play entitled Macbeth. In all of his other plays, he felt he had grasped the true essence of the words when he came up with that one memorable line that stuck with the viewer even after the play was over. His most memorable line being, “to be or not to be,” from Hamlet. Having hit his prime so early, Shakespeare started to feel the pressure from his adorable fans and really began to sweat. Unfortunately, just as he began to reach his creative stride, one large droplet of sweat fell from his brow onto his last piece of good parchment. As he looked down at his paper, he realized that his sweat was ruining his work. As he hurried to remove the sweat droplet from his paper, Shakespeare exclaimed, “Out, out damn spot.” It was then that history was made.

1808: In a dark room a disgruntled Beethoven sat banging his piano keys in frustration. His work had been mediocre lately and the music halls were beginning to revoke their offers for concert sessions. Desperately, Beethoven knew his life’s work was about to come to an end if he didn’t compose the next great symphony, after all, a pianist can only go so far on the backs of others. Unfortunately, everything Beethoven attempted to composed resembled ‘Ring Around the Rosy.’ Not wanting to be associated with the plague, Beethoven felt that his work needed to be more substantial, but where to begin. Toiling for hours over his piano, Beethoven began to sweat. He noticed droplets had fallen onto his keys. Taking a handkerchief from his breast pocket, he slowly wiped the sweat from the G and E Flat keys to the tune of, “Da Da Da Da.” The tune that emerged became the foundation from which the great composer would arise. Who know that sweat was so musically inclined?

1929: A young aspiring artist by the name of Walt Disney was on a train headed to see a man about a job. Disney knew that this prospective employer would be looking for someone with new and fresh ideas to turn their company around. Strapped for ideas, Disney began to sweat. He knew if he didn’t come up with a good idea, his chances would be shot. In the heat of the moment Disney took a napkin from his table and wiped his moistened brow. After laying the sweat soaked napkin back onto the table, Disney noticed an image revealing itself through the sweat droplets. Three drops of sweat had converged into a seamless image. Upon seeing these shapes Disney exclaimed, “I’ve created a mouse!”

1968: It was a hot afternoon in Mexico City. The Olympic Games were underway and the athletes were gearing up to take part in these historic proceedings. For some of the athletes, the extreme heat did not play into their performance, but for others, the heat was brutal. Puddles of sweat were building up all over the track causing delays that would make a typical rain delay look like overcompensation. Unfortunately, the Games were on a time schedule that had to be kept. Multiple events were occurring simultaneously, one of which was the high jump. Jumper after jumper tried to clear the bar, but very few succeeded. The tension was mounting and the sweat was building. After several jumpers, one by the name of Dick Fosbury stepped up to take his turn. Fosbury took a deep breath and began to make his approach. Just as he plants his foot, it slips out from underneath his body causing him to fall. Knowing that all of his momentum is going forward, Fosbury throws himself backwards with his hands in the air in an attempt to find his balance. As he heads backward, he clears the bar while still on his back. For the first time in history, an athlete cleared the bar without going over face first. This revolutionary move was later termed the Fosbury Flop. In hindsight, who would have thought that something named a flop would be considered such a success?  

These are just a couple of the examples of how sweat has proven itself time and time again over the centuries as the source of all human creativity. I know there may be those who are skeptical of these findings, but we ask you to consider the following:

In an age that requires immense creativity in order to advance in this world, why are we always being told not to sweat the small stuff?

Hasn’t it been said that ‘Sweat is the cologne of success’?

And more importantly, if these findings are not factual, how do you explain the age old Art Critic saying, “You Stink,” if sweat isn’t involved?

Alana's Bedroom

Over the past month or so on and off I have been working on painting a couple of the walls in Alana's bedroom. David and Annika wanted something special for Alana's room in their new house so they ask myself and another one of their friends to do a co-op design. Basically, I get two walls and Laneve gets the other two. 

These are just some images thus far. I have a few more trips to finish it all up, but it is going well. 

Our Backyard Barbeque Birthday Bash and Boom

So this past weekend, Ricky and I decided to have a Backyard Barbeque Birthday Bash and Boom otherwise known as Housewarming/Birthday (Kenneth & Ricky)/4th of July Party. We knew that the 4th of July would be a rough day since so many people have parties and celebrations, but we didn't mind. We actually had about 30 people coming and going throughout the course of the day.

The celebration actually started the day before when Ricky had to smoke his pork. It takes about 18 hours to do, so since he had the 3rd off, he spent most of it keeping a watchful eye on the meat.

Saturday was the day of the festivities though. Aside from the fact that I had to work that morning, Saturday was a fantastic day. We got to see so many friends who we haven't seen in a long while (as well as there awesomely huge dog) and all of our families came over for the party. We basically went from 2PM until midnight. Between the food, friends, and fireworks from every angle (and on TV) I would have to say it was a successful night. I will say though, I was exhausted Sunday morning when I had to get up to go to work. Sometimes, its no fun working retail.

We have also decided that we want to do a game night sometime in August. We are not sure when that will be exactly, but it will most likely be between the end of the Summer semester and the beginning of the fall semester. This way I will not have any homework to contend with.

The ACA Blog Decision.. Moving on...

So I know I have been a slacker lately in terms of updating the blog. I think the problem I have been having is the fact that I have been trying to write about the experience I had at the ACA and every time I start to write I just cannot do it. I either get bored or annoyed and just give up. So.. I have decided that since it has given me such problems, I am going to skip over that lovely experience and move on to better things. I think this is best for all of us. If you would like to hear the story by all means let me know and I will explain, but it is becoming a detriment to my blog.

As an update though, I did receive my grades for Summer Session A. Unfortunately, the ACA class is continuing to be a reminder in the back of my brain because I received an A-. A-? Who was the genius who decided that a letter grade should have more than one value? Here's the thing, I know some people would argue that by doing the +/- system, the students who are achieving slightly higher than others will have a grade to reflect that. BUT here is my problem. Because the system does not allow the students who are achieving at the highest level to receive an A+ there is no way to counter balance an A-. With every other letter grade you have a + and a -, but not with the A. On top of that, if you have earned an A why is your A any less important than the A that your neighbor received? I know there are those of you out there saying, well why are you complaining, you still got an A? I will tell you why. I am a perfectionist and my GPA has been destroyed with no chance of revival. Now I know that reason does not necessarily make my case any better, but you also have to remember that this is coming from the person who cried when she found out she was getting a B for the first 6 weeks of sophomore English in high school. On a final note I did get an A in my Multiculturalism class.

This semester I am taking a course in Creativity and loving every minute of it. I wish that this class was a full semester long. I can only imagine the wealth of information I would be able to find. One of the projects I was required to do was to write a theory of creativity that was preposterous and totally unbelievable. How great is that? What other course can you engage in such great activities on purpose? I have posted it above so you can bask in the creative glow of this work. (Although, I must give credit where credit is due.. this project was a Heidt/Currey collaboration.. which I must say are usually the best)

So again to reiterate, if you would like to hear the story of the ACA let me know and I will actually tell you the story, because I have decided that if I were to post it here, I may never blog again.