Is Blogger Broken?

Apparently so. You see, when I've looked at my last post (from several different computers), Blogger is quite sure that only 4 people commented on ideas for fluff classes (specifically Grandpa, Rebecca, "Guess Who," and Kathy), yet others have also insisted that they made comments as well. Seeing as how I've got no reason to doubt them, I'm guessing there must be something wrong with Blogger.

So, here's how you can help test if this is a one-time problem or something ongoing; please leave a comment to this post. You don't really have to have much to say (although funny/random/weird anecdotes/jokes/etc and public declarations of your undying loyalty to my ongoing campaign for world domination are always appreciated), except that I also want you to say how many comments are on the post at the time that you are posting it (including your own). If you aren't one of the four above whose Fluff posts are actually showing up and you have something to say on the matter, I still haven't decided on my fluff class yet, so please throw that in.

In other news, I have three exams between today and tomorrow (one today in Airline Indoc, one tomorrow in Financial Accounting, and one take-home for Aviation Security due 5pm tomorrow via email), so I can't really stop to make a full post. I'm also trying to Ghost the Lappy (it and Norton Ghost don't get along very well), so I have a backup in case I don't like Vista when I install it (which will be as soon as I get it backed up to my satisfaction).

As a warning, if you give me a call, don't expect me to know who you are from Caller ID. I got a new phone a couple of days ago, but I'm going to have to manually re-enter all 246 contacts because I can't transfer them over the SIM card. So, until I get those re-entered, my Caller ID only shows numbers and my only knowledge of who's calling is if I recognize the area code. Albert was nice enough to sell me a halfway-decent Bluetooth headset he's not using, so don't be surprised if I become like the Fack with a small plastic bug perpetually perched on my ear.

Update 9/27/06 11:27am: As soon as I uploaded this post, Blogger suddenly decided there were two more comments on the Fluff post. I don't know why it's acting this way, but there is definitely something wrong going on. That said, please go ahead and leave comments as I requested above so we can figure out if it's still acting up like that.

Fluff Me Up

Hard to believe, but yesterday morning I registered for classes for the last time. I guess my time at Elgin Community College paid off; I will complete my Purdue career without ever taking a Math or English course here and I have only 11 credits left to take. Actually, I don't really need those 11 credits as credits, they're just required classes for my major (to graduate in my program you need a minimum of 128 credits and I've already got 132 at the start of this semester).

Naturally, of course, this 11 credit business raises a slight problem; you have to have 12 credit hours in a semester to be counted as a "full time" student (and I have to be full time to keep my scholarships). Thus, I need to find a "fluff" class to fill that extra credit. The question is, which one?

I'd take the Wine Tasting class that's so highly rated, but it meets for 3 hours on Monday nights, which is time I've already dedicated to Kent's Action Group. I took Music Appreciation a year ago and really liked it, but I've heard that most of the other similar '_____ Appreciation' classes (Art, Jazz, Theater, etc) tend to be a fair amount of work (yes, I'm lazy. I don't mind having a little homework, but I don't want to have enough stuff to do that it ruins my ability to take the class purely for fun). I haven't ruled out Tree Climbing yet, but I don't know if they offer it in the Spring (and yes, it actually is a class; forestry majors need some sort of certification in it to work certain jobs). Bowling was a lot of fun and, considering I already have my own ball, is my backup plan in case I can't think of anything else to take.

So, here's how you can help. Please leave a comment and tell me two things:

A) Any ideas you might have for a good fluff class. Even if you haven't taken it yourself and have just heard good things, I want all the ideas I can get. It doesn't have to be something silly like Bowling either, it can be a legitimate "let's learn something here" class. I just want something that's any combination of fun, interesting, useful, different, or predominantly female (shut up, we flight guys have it even worse than you engineers; out of 70 seniors in flight there
are a total of 5 girls! And yes, before any of you wiseguys suggest "Concepts in Modern Feminism," I am totally kidding on this one).

B) Tell me your favorite class you've ever taken in college (...and why. Your short-essay, double spaced, standard margins, APA-cited answers will be graded and turned back to you by Monday...jk). Yeah, even if it's just something required for your major and a ton of work, I still want to hear about it. I might know nothing on the subject and just barely able to survive a pass/fail setup, but I'm just eccentric enough that I might try if it catches my interest (at this point, Chip's probably pondering suggesting some 600-level Orbital Mechanics class where the math is so weird it'd make Einstein's head spin).

By the way, I still want those ideas from you even if you didn't go to Purdue. Frequently different universities will offer classes that are essentially the same, so I could probably find something similar in Purdue's course catalog.

In other news, I have a field trip today for my Aviation Security "class" (is it really a class if you spend your time watching Mythbusters and playing Terrorism History/Organizations Jeopardy for candy prizes?). There's an airline having an emergency drill simulating a mock crash, terrorist incident, something (not real clear on the details) and somehow our Professor hass arranged for us to be able to watch. Apparently it's a privilege for us to be able to do this because it is a drill for them to practice on and thus not a public event, so being able to get in is pretty special.

I've just ordered a new cell phone which is supposed to get here on Monday. It's the Cingular 3125 (a rebranded HTC Star Trek), a flip phone the same size as Motorola's RAZR (except a milimeter thicker) that runs Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition. That's a fancy way of saying that it's basically a Pocket PC without a touchscreen. It'll be really useful for me because I already use the primitive calendar functions in my phone (which is rapidly dying) to keep track of my life, so now I'll be able to use Outlook's Calendar and just sync it up with my phone. I also might be able to use the EDGE network (high speed data for cell phones) and Bluetooth to use the phone as a wireless modem for my laptop if I ever really need to do something and don't have any internet access. A good friend of mine also has a pretty decent Bluetooth headset that he's willing to sell me for cheap, so I will finally be able to part with the annoying headset wires. I've been stalling on getting a new phone for as long as I can because there just aren't any phones that I like on the market and this one just came out. I'd continue to stall longer if I could, but my phone has gotten so bad that when I answer it, nearly half of my calls have the problem that either I can't hear them or they can't hear me, so it's just getting frustrating. I'm also getting a new plan with more minutes (and I figured out how to get a small discount through Purdue), so I won't have to worry about my minutes as much anymore.

Anyways, it's time for me to go get some lunch before the field trip. Have a good one and don't forget to answer the fluff class questions!

Arrrggh! (or: Talk Like A Pirate Day)

Sorry, no time for a real post today (life has continued to be crazy around here). The latest: car is working, Lappy needs to go back to Toshiba because they botched the repair, the King Air trip to Boston last week was so-so, and I just got an email that a couple of my classes today and tomorrow are cancelled because Prof. Bernie Wulle is in the hospital (that's all I know, so please pray for him). That's all for now (check back later today or call me for one of my new favorite pirate jokes, I'm not going to post it now because I don't want to spoil my ability to tell it today).

ARRRR!!!!

A Conversation From This Evening

Me: "Hey, let's go to Walmart, I need to pick up a few things."
My car: "It's not in my nature to be mysterious, but I won't start, and you don't know why..."

150

Wow, post number 150. I've had 19,104 hits since I started tracking in April 2005, and over 76,200 page views (mostly for the M4 review, of course). Wow. 'nuff said.

Good news! I've just received word that the Lappy is finally repaired and about to be shipped back to me!!! If they ship it tomorrow, I'll probably get it Wednesday or Thursday. If they didn't re-image the hard drive, I should be up and running at full strength by the time classes start on Monday (it'll take me a couple of days to finish the stuff I was working on when I sent it off for repairs and get my essential data loaded onto it). w00t!

Scott's wedding was absolutely amazing yesterday (Scott Carrington, my former roommate, not my brother Scott)! Outside on the side of a hill in beautiful weather while the sun began to set over one of the few lakes in Indiana in the background. Instead of focusing on traditions and the marriage itself, they made prayer and dedicating the union to God a huge part of the ceremony (at one point, they had the couple that mentored them come up and huddle with Scott, Rita, and the pastor while they prayed for about 10 minutes on stage with the microphones off, so we just sat in silence). And to top it all off, it wasn't even 40 minutes start to finish!

It was like a Quad reunion at the reception; Andy and Bob were there (former roommates of Scott and my cell group leaders freshman year) along with their wives. So were Mike and Hope, Pat (one of the guys who lived in SW225 the year before I came), Sean, Shane, Chip, Adam, Eddie, Cobb, etc. Yeah, we had a lot of fun.

I spent the night at Buddy's Playhouse (home of Buddy and Leeann Pollock, Chip's parents) with Chip, Bliggy, Shane, Amy, and Rachel. We pretty much all collapsed when we got there, but not before Luna (Chip's black lab) decided that Bliggy was the first person she didn't like, ever (she changed her mind once he changed out of his nice clothes). This morning we got up, and after some Krispy Kreme's and playing with Luna for a while, we decided to brave the not-so-cold air (at least, I thought it was nice, others were cold) and head out on the jet ski. They'd already taken two of them out of the water, so we had to take turns on the only one left. I took Rachel out for a ride while she kept a death grip on me (we only *almost* tipped once!), then later on I sat in back and held on for my own life as I taught her how to drive it. I rode with Chip on the way back in the TransAm convertible he talked his dad into lending him for a week (I'm beginning to sense a trend, every time Chip and I drive home together from a weekend event (all 2 of them), we spend almost the entire time having a deep discussion about the same subject. Different variations, but always the same subject...lol)

I know what I want for Christmas! Yeah, ok, so it may be a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but how supremely cool is this? That's right, an official, Boeing-licensed, Lego model of the 787 Dreamliner (with a 27" wingspan!). If I hadn't just spent so much money on the Compy (and soon will be spending more, because I'm going to return the mobo for a different make/model that's more expensive, and hopefully, more reliable), I'd go out and buy it right now. Sadly, I'm simply too broke to display this thing on the top of my desk just yet (*hint* unless of course, some reader is feeling really generous today! *hint* jk)

Ok, that's it for now. Post #150 signing out...