So a good friend contacted me yesterday, via text messaging, and we talked throughout the day. I mentioned months ago to him about thinking about going back to school, but I had never told him more than that. Well yesterday I told him that I got accepted, got the money, and that I start on the 9th. He gushed about how proud he is of me, like others have, and every time tells me how proud they are it makes me feel so much better.

I told him I hadn't celebrated yet and wanted to do something and asked if he wanted to celebrate with me. We were originally thinking of going out but there's really nothing to do around here and the place we always go to didn't sound like a good idea. So he brought me food and alcohol and we hung out here and talked for hours. Best time I've had in awhile.

So I had a little celebration and I'm still thrilled about school.

Ok, well... I am off. Laters!

You'd think the first few weeks of classes when you are starting a new course would actually teach you something about what you'll be doing the rest of the time. Nope. I have been getting assignments to do that are to be done in programs that I've never used. Programs that I have to spend hours in figuring out if I am doing the assignment correctly because I don't know specifically how to use it.

I knew the one class wasn't going to teach me these programs that I need to use. But I expected it of the other. And then the assignment for the one class was easy as pie, yet the teacher didn't do her part of it and we had to improvise! Come on. If there was some sort of emergency, I can understand. We have not heard anything from her all day. So either she's going to have to give us grades for what we improvised or she's going to have to give us an extra day so that she can do her part of the assignment.

Oh yeah. It snowed today. So it isn't the first snow, but it is the first snow that stuck. That means my sinuses are going to be clearing. It also means a ton of pain for me. I've already started experiencing the headache portion. In a couple of days I should be back to normal. Or what's normal for *me* anyway.

The closer it gets to January the happier and more anxious I am. It'll be nice to snuggle up on the couch with a friend and a hot cup of tea to watch tv. Oh yeah.. and he's mine. I'm not sharing.

I'm off. Good night, sweet, steamy dreams.

So I got the assignments that were due today completed and posted. Tomorrow I'll be working on the stuff that is due for Sunday. Should be a ton of fun, can you hear the sarcasm?

I am grateful to be going back to school, but I didn't think the first month was going to grind me down so easily! I thought it was supposed to start out slow and then pick up. They are really trying to drain every drop out of you. So I'm at work around 10 hours a week and then I come home, make dinner, eat, and start doing my assignments and participation posts. I can only participate in the discussions at work if the assignment is a regular post. If there is a word document or excel worksheet then I can open it at work. If it is a powerpoint presentation then I have to wait until I get home.

So I'm sort of worn out already from looking at the work that is due Sunday. But at least I have all day tomorrow and Sunday to work on the projects.

On another note work is interesting. Seems the current New Girl thinks she is going to get a raise starting monday. Yeah. She thinks that since she will be taking client calls full-time now instead of the ones I was told to give her that she will be getting more money. Now I have been working for this place over 5 years. It took these people over a year to hire me in "because they were extremely busy and were hard pressed for time but oh so sorry that it took so long"....

She thinks that if she tells the Boss that she wants to continue doing the paperpushing and take calls here and there that he'll go along with that. Bullshit. If he didn't take my proposition years ago to take the paperpushing, quotes and claims calls then he isn't going to take hers. I know I have nothing to worry about on that front.

I'm just tired of getting kicked. I've been passed up three times for the processing position and the people who are walking in the door are starting out at more than I get paid. That right there pisses me off because the front desk is literally twice, sometimes three times, the work than the processing job is.

Supposedly I'll be giving all the processing to a different person now. She's going to give me part of it, the stuff that needs done daily, and eventually I'll be taking over it. Their window for me taking over it is like 6 months. Whatever. I don't plan on taking 6 months to have a full time processing job. I'm taking the intranet duties, since I rebuilt the thing, and the download with me when I start paperpushing. The Techie wanted me to continue to do the download because she refuses to train someone new. I refuse to train someone new. So I highly doubt that anyone is going to have issues with me taking the duties.

Another issue I'll be having during the transition is that they are going to have someone cover my desk 3 hours a day. Two hours will be for me to do processing and one hour will be for me to go to lunch. Odd, I know. Hopefully they will find someone who can handle the front desk for 8 hours a day because I refuse to allow someone up there that is going to be rude to the clients. I've worked hard cultivating the relationships I have with clients. I refuse to have them destroyed by someone who ends up being rude just because they feel they have that right. I don't know. The person I replaced was in the interviewing session that I went through. It would only be fair for me to be involved in the process as well. I feel that way. I wonder if I told the Boss if he would be ok with that. Doubtful.

Alright well. I am gonna go and see if I can work on some interesting layouts. Laters.

Another week and a half with this class and then I go into the beginners' html class. Yeah, beginners' html. I didn't bother buying the book for that class. Can you imagine why?

I'm going to get my taxes done later tonight. Hopefully.

I got another A! 100%!

So week four sports all A's, all 100% and that brought my grade up from a low B to a high B. They really count those damn participation posts, I swear. That is what is killing me.

I know because I got a lot of "You need to post more for participation" remarks but it's SO hard trying to post 1 to 2 paragraphs to people stating "Good job!".

If you can, let me know.

Never been a straight A student before, but with this class I am getting straight 100% As. The teacher is even commenting in the grade window about my assignments to me which is normal but I still can't figure out why I'd be getting 100% on each and every assignment. Yes, I'm doing the work, along with two or three others, the rest are behind or non-existant. I think the teacher is basing the scale on the few of us who are doing the work.

I don't even want to know the grades of those who aren't keeping up or commenting.

Other than that, things are ok. Filled out an application for a clerical assistant job the other day, haven't heard from them yet. I have a dr. appointment on monday. Nothing major, but important to me.

Talked to a few people I used to work with today for a little bit. I guess my replacement has a house arrest anklet and has a bad attitude toward the place, she's only been there a week. They don't think she is going to show up on monday. I wonder what my forner boss thinks of her. I wonder if he asked her if she was creative in her interview, if he interviewed her at all.

Not my problem, not my concern.

I'm off. Laters.

So I found this great site that has a ton of tutorials on what I needed to make my homework work. I was able to finish my homework only a day late and hopefully it'll be accepted. It's hard to find information you want to tell you 'do this and this and this' and then have it backfire on you. The tutorial I used told me what I had to do in order to make it work, so I did it. I typed everything out and added my styles, fixed what got broken in the process and then fixed the styles. Then I tested it and made sure everything worked, even had a friend test it for me, too. I still haven't gotten that email though . . . ohwell, it says it goes through and it probably sends it to the value instead of the indicated mailto.

Hopefully all will be well excepted and tolerated, and whatever. I don't want to get into trouble for using a tutorial that basically gives you all the details of what to do. That is the web. You can find everything from creating a basic form to creating a flash website in minutes. Yeah.

The honey is now attempting to get his media center up and running and I am attempting to help by giving him file names. Nothing more for me to help with I guess! I am not the tech! Maybe I'll learn something new.

Sooo finished. I am going to go find out shortly what time to be ready for our trip to SF. Laters.

So Honey has been trying to teach the Little Lady and I Magic The Gathering. It's a little frustrating for me since I haven't ever played a game like it, but the child seems to be getting the hang of it. He's got a ton of cards so we don't have to spend any major amounts of money to get together a collection, which is good since we don't have major amounts of money.

(Currently his kitty, Dusty, is tearing around the house like a bat out of hell, if I had batteries in my camera I'd be recording it because it's funny as hell!)

So I got today's homework done, I got one load of dishes done, I'm going to work on another load shortly, I've gotten two loads of laundry done and more to do.

We've got some errand running to do later. I know we plan to get meal worms for Jack (Jack says YUM) and crickets. I wanted to make iced tea today, so I've got to get that started, but I have to wash the pitcher it is going in first.

I am off.

So I finally got my book - a week later than I wanted it - Learning Web Design by Jennifer Niederst Robbins. I paged through the first four chapters and it seems ok, but what is it with all of these books being geard towards beginning web designers? The class is Website Development 1 and I know plenty of html to do it blindfolded.

The problem? No one else taking this course knows anything much about HTML or Cascading Style Sheets for that matter. That is why I've ended up with beginner books. If I am working a decent paying job before the courses are over - Graduation March 2008 - I am calling my advisor to see if I can get started in the next set of courses for Web Design & Interactive Media Associates Degree. After taking 12 courses for a Web Design certificate/diploma there are 9 classes that I should not have to retake. Which reminds me, I should email my academic advisor to see if that really is the case or if I would have to retake them - which would extremely piss me off.

Anyway, the book isn't bad, it's just... beginner level. I want something that gives me a challenge. This does not. Perhaps the portfolio class will. Laters.

This has absolutely nothing to do with my education. This has nothing to do with my daughter's education. This has everything to do with taking 3 months to cash a freaking check. Can someone help me with this?

I wrote a check when school started, waited a month for the money to come out and then called the school. The lady I spoke with said it takes them 'forever' to cash the checks and it would probably be another month before they cashed it. So I took her word for it and used the money we had set aside for this particular check for things we needed (food and gas to get food).

A week later they cashed the check and subsequently put us a hell of a ways into the Red.

So I decided I didn't want to write them anymore checks because if they can't find permanant teachers (or at least subs that aren't going to change the lesson plan every time a new one comes in) then how can I expect them to cash a check in a timely manner?

Yes, I know it wasn't being held by a bank.

In September it was 6 am and the Little Lady mentioned she needed lunch money, I still don't really carry cash and I didn't want to wake Honey to find his wallet to see if he had any cash so I wrote a 10 dollar check. TEN DOLLARS. The check got cashed last week, two days before thanksgiving. I am not feeling very thrilled about this.

Is it possible to write 'void after 10 business days' on a personal check? And if I do that and they don't notice and try to cash the check, what happens? Will the bank cash it anyway? Will they actually deny it? I want to call our credit union about this and see if they have any form of policy. Honey thought about giving them 30 day cashier checks if we need to, but then I reminded him about them taking two or more months to cash them and he said yeah we should make them 90 day and if they don't cash it by then, not our fault. I figure that makes sense, right?

I want to call whoever is in charge and tell them they owe us 29 bucks!

I know it is our responsibility to keep track of our account. I had been. I had been doing so very well until it got low and I had completely forgotten about the damn check. I was sick all last week (yes, I know you know) and wasn't in my right (or left) mind when one of us used the last few bucks in there for whatever.

So I am pissed at myself but even more pissed at the school for being lazy and incompetent. There isn't a schedule to the cashing of checks it seems. They seem to do it when they need the freaking money. I don't know. I am going to find out though.

These are things I have been doing today. My kitchen sink is shiny and clean. I'm on my third load of laundry and I got some homework done today as well. I have another critique to do but I'm going to wait and see who else posts the link to their site (doing so should mean it's ready for review, right?) because there were only two people other than myself that did and the one person I feel I can't give a good critique to.

I hate to say it, but in my opinion the site (and sorry, I won't provide a link since this is educational) is completely horrible. I don't know how else to describe it. Everything on every page is centered. The buttons, which were created using a generator from a website (I feel this is lazy) don't even match the colors that were chosen for the website.

I don't know why this person is using a button generator (perhaps the kids were bouncing off the walls and there wasn't enough sleep to take the time to create buttons) and I don't know why the text is centered or why the colors don't match. I do know however that this person doesn't care to take any suggestions either. It was suggested that one button be broken into two and the answer was a blatant no, this is the way that person wanted them and so what if it was almost twice as long as the other buttons?

This student is one of two or three that have used the button generator, two used the same site, and I can't believe that it's condoned. I could understand using a generator if you are short on time (in a professional setting), but we are supposed to be learning how to create websites and graphics on our own. There are reasons why Adobe Photoshop is the graphics program we are to use.

I don't know. Maybe it isn't condoned and they get docked points for it. I create my own buttons. I create what I can and use royalty free images otherwise. Enough ranting for the time being. Laters.

My daughter's school still doesn't have a real English teacher. Why? Because every time they get a substitute who says they are going to be the regular teacher, for some reason or another, two weeks go by and poof, no more English Teacher. They've gone through several substitutes over the past few months. I wish they'd put my daughter in another English class.

The latest version of their English teacher is some sort of college professor, according to the Little Lady the teacher says that she is not used to dealing with students who are so 'energetic' and doesn't know how to handle them. She would send several of them down to the principals office at once and then sometimes she'd not even punish the kid who walked out of the classroom, walked around to the windows and was looking in. The kid then walked back into the classroom and sat down as if he'd never left the room. She didn't believe the other kids. How could she have missed someone leaving the room?

I know it's hard to deal with 30 kids. It's why I don't volunteer at school. I rarely go in for any events that are during the school day - but I was working at the time, so it's a given that I usually couldn't take the time off because I had to make sure that everyone was in the office in order to have a day off. Yes, this is extremely true.

So if there is an English teacher out there that is used to dealing with 12 and 13 year olds who aren't always so well behaved, please come to Northern California, we need you, desperately.

So I completed today's assignment and learned some interesting things regarding IPv4 versus IPv6, again who knows what happened to Ipv5, perhaps it was in the works but they skipped it and decided to straight to 6.

Thanks to IPv6, millions, wait wait, trillions, more computers and handheld devices will have access to the internet. You have to have an IP address to get a connection and they are running out of the 32-bit IP addresses that IPv4 uses. IPv6 uses a 128-bit IP address, which makes it a much longer address, but there will be so many more available that they won't have to upgrade that part of it again for several years. I'm thinking that IPv5, if there was going to ever be one, would have been 64-bit, since that is the normal in-between number of 32 and 128 when it comes to computers.

I'm not sure how much sense this makes to anyone. You'll still be able to use url's to get where you need to go, unless for some reason you need to use an IP address itself, such as at work. Offices that do use such a system will have to upgrade and make sure that their employees keep their IP address written down so they don't have to memorize it.

I have a feeling this is going to effect inter-office communications as well. The UberMachine we had (copier, scanner, printer, fax, could also email and scan) was accessed by an IP address through the server. Everyone was able to print from either office because their computer knew the IP address to the machine and it had to be a static number. We had several issues where the provider kept taking us off static and the IP number kept changing. Obviously that meant no one in either office could print until it was resolved and they hated returning our phone calls!

So I can imagine what's going to happen when someone in that office can't print and there isn't anyone in the office that can fix it or has the authority to call the provider and have them walkthrough the correction. Since I no longer work there, I find that this would give me gigglefits. Hell, even if I did work there, I'd still laugh my ass off because I always had my own non-network printer!

Ahhh the love of technology upgrades. When they are this big, this global, there's no way you can't avoid them. It's a good thing for the most part though. I can't wait to see what happens.

I wish I would have my book for this class already! It should be here tomorrow, supposedly it is 'in transit' per the UPS website. I just hate waiting and I didn't get any refund for the student loans this period, in fact, I had to pay them this time and it would have been more than it was if I hadn't chosen to take three classes at once. No, I am not at this time taking all three courses, but after this class I'll be taking two at the same time. Please don't fear if I vanish for a bit as it will be a very stressful time.

Especially if I start working, too.

So school is paid and that is the big thing. I am going to have to work extra hard to do well in this class. It's all audio and visual and I was never an AV geek. Although, when necessary, I can program the vcr.

The weekend went by so fast. I didn't expect it to do so and I didn't have any homework due on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I didn't even login and I should have. I should have gotten all the online reading done beforehand and I'm doing that now. I can even have it read to me if I want, but I prefer listening to music as I read, I feel I can read faster, better and retain more listening to music. Doesn't matter what kind as long as it isn't too distracting.

Alright, I am going to quit stalling and go read. Glad I don't have any assignments due until Thursday.

I think this class may be the death of me soon. Reading the book is like reading a manual for something simple to use but they are making it seem complicated. I can't figure out why they put a 400 level class in the diploma level program. I understand in a way, it's a way to figure out if we can handle something like this and want to continue our education. We wouldn't have to retake this class if it turned out a student wanted to take the associates or bachelor's level.

Again I am glad I decided to keep all of my books. When I took the accounting and business management courses years ago I had kept those books, too. But because of a low shelf I kept them on, the Little Lady got a hold of them when she was little and decided she wanted to color in them. Never leave a child alone when you are doing laundry, because the phone will ring and you'll get distracted and the child will get bored and curious.

I didn't have any homework today either, but I did have two assignments due for tomorrow. I completed the first assignment to the best of my ability. We had to search on some technology information and listen to audio samples of the same clip over and over compressed differently for each one, then we had to watch two videos and try to discern the differences even though they were both excellent in quality both video and sound.

I know it sounds like fun, but it really isn't. It's education at it's finest though.

Yay, I get to write a 3 - 5 page report on Symmetric Cryptography. It's due next week before the end of school on Wednesday. I've already began my research online but not writing. I am planning to look up information at the local library (online first so I don't waste a trip) to see if there are any recent books on the topic that I can look at for free.

I never thought I was ever any good at writing papers. I don't get completely technical, however I do use the terms needed in order to do the assignment. So far my professor has not had any issues with my writing, which is quite helpful. I think he likes the fact that I write as if I'm trying to explain something to him. It makes it quick to read and easier to grade.

I got a 7 out of 7 on the quiz after some extensive reading and re-taking. We are allowed to repeat the quiz if necessary to get a better grade. I got a 7/7 on the first try on the last one, but I was able to find the answers easily. The ones for this quiz were a bit out of my range and I couldn't find the answers in the book or in the online reading for a couple of the questions so I had to look online and that didn't help much either. But I did it, I got a 7/7 and I am happy.

I start my other two classes next Thursday and those are Web Development 2 and Sophomore Digital Portfolio. Should be interesting. We are supposed to learn more PHP and go over ASP (Active Server Pages) in Web Development 2. Notice I used the words 'go over'. You don't really learn anything in these classes, I swear. If you ever decide to use the Art Institute Online Division, do not take the diploma/certificate program. Instead go for the Associates or Bachelor programs, you'll actually learn something. I swear it.

I wish I had taken the Associates when I signed up but I didn't want to, I was stupid, but at least I am getting some form of education through this process. Hopefully people will heed my words. I can understand taking the diploma program if it's all they offer for what you are looking to go into, but I can't see taking a diploma program for something you want to do for a living. I'll not make that mistake again.

Why is it that when I want my books 'right now' I can't have them right now? The one book I ordered I was able to expedite it but it's still 'on its way from Chicago' according to FedEx. The other one hasn't even been sent yet because they didn't have an 'expedite' option. I think I am going to only order from sellers on Amazon who have 'expedite' in their listing. Better yet, overnight!

And then when you say Overnight it still takes THREE DAYS if you order on a friday because Saturday is a special delivery day and you have to pay an arm, leg and kidney to get it on that day. I know people need days off and weekends are the best days for having time off but with the way the economy is right now perhaps we need to rethink a few things? I'd be THRILLED to work.

So I am still in Alabama and my sister and I are going to go through boxes starting tomorrow. I have an assignment due today and it has to be a proposal on a quiz show or a shopping cart. I am going to do a shopping cart and perhaps for the hell of it I'll sell blog layouts. What do you think? Obviously it's not going to be a real shopping cart and I won't really be selling anything but that doesn't mean I couldn't in the future, right?

Alright well I am going to check in to class. I hope my books get home before I do so that I can USE them when I get there! Laters.

I still haven't received the book for my digital portfolio class! I ordered it the day before the Little Lady and I left for Alabama. I will never order from a seller that only offers standard shipping on Amazon again. Apparently I can't complain if I don't receive it by March 5th! My classes are done on March 22nd! What good is the book going to do me after March 5th? I can't even cancel the order because there isn't a button to do so! I am absolutely furious.

I really want the book. I'd reorder it and overnight it but I don't have a million dollars to do that. Food and necessities come first. If it doesn't get here by March 5th so that I can make use of it then the seller is going to get an earful. The seller's name, so that everyone knows, it's fantastic_shopping. I think their selling name is quite misleading, don't you? According to my order page it says that the estimated shipping is from the 13th - 14th. It was ordered on the 12th. It is now the 27th. The least they could have done was sent it. If it were lost in the mail that would be a different story entirely, but I haven't received any email for shipping and tracking information.

I have a feeling I won't be getting this book.

Just in case anyone needs to know where I have been these past few days in between watching old episodes of Dead Like Me, here is a link to let you know.

http://mcm5319.aisites.com/interactive.html

That link goes to the interactive piece I had to make for school. If you happen to visit it, don't use the form. It doesn't work and don't call the phone number, it's not mine. Also don't bother with the email address because it is also fake. Otherwise, enjoy the "flash"yness of it.

I'm going to watch two more episodes of Dead Like Me. Laters.

I can't stand reading the replies from my one teacher. It annoys me that the person who is supposed to be teaching me how to create something can't type english. When I write my replies, it is as if I am talking to you, pretty much the same way I write my blog posts. What I am getting pissed about (yes it's REALLY pissing me off) is that I can't seem to figure out how the hell this teacher came to be in his position of teaching online.

Teaching online requires typing skills, good grammar and proofreading skills. This teacher has none of these skills. I'd give an example of something he typed but I really think that should wait until I graduate or perhaps never. I am so close to being finished with these courses that I can feel the paper of the diploma in my hands. Literally, classes end on March 22nd, and I don't want to do anything that might upset either of my instructors.

It's not just the replies to my classwork, it's all of his replies. I don't know if he's in a rush and not taking the time to check his typing or what. I am posting here because I have this huge urge to put in all caps "COULD YOU PLEASE RE-TYPE THIS IN ENGLISH FOR ME, thank you very much!" and leave it at that.

We have surverys that we are supposed to fill out but I hate filling them out. It's the same 20 questions every time and you have to rate through 6 different levels of 'answers' and then there is a comments box. I think when I get asked to do the survey on this particular instructor I'm going to mention the bad grammar. Perhaps I'll even copy some examples of it into the box. Do you think that would get my point across?

I'm not the smartest one in the bunch (there are several students who have associates and bachelor degrees in web-related fields) but at least I make an effort when it comes to typing out my responses to the instructor and classmates. I proof before posting and I am not perfect, I have made mistakes before and I will in the future. I just find it horrid to have an instructor that can't take a few moments out of his busy day to check his responses.

Or perhaps I am just overreacting?

So for school I created a new flash project. If you're so inclined, here's a link: Photo Show Project. Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas by commenting here or sending me an email.

I am feeling a little better using Flash. I wish I could remember how the one teacher showed me how to make a cleaner project. Everything works and looks fine in this as did the last one but file-wise, it's a bit of a mess. I can't remember how to use labels and that is a huge problem.

If anyone knows of any great tutorial sites for Flash CS3, it would be much appreciated if you'd let me know.

If anyone wishes to see what I turned in for my final portfolio, feel free to do so by clicking here: My Final Flash Portfolio - This will open in a new window and it's best to be seen if you press F11 for a full screen 'effect'.

Any comments or suggestions, don't be quick to judge I got some good comments on this final project, are welcome.