Quick update…

Fall quarter is over and Winter quarter starts up on January 3rd.  My GPA dropped, as expected.  My car is running better, but it is not quite fixed yet.  As an educated guess, I suspect that the fuel pump is going out.  I am in Chewelah for the Holidays, and then will head back to Spokane when school starts up again.  I deleted my MySpace account.  I decided that it was too much of a distraction from what I should be concentrating on.  I also deleted all the movies I had posted on youtube.  I almost deleted this blog, and still might.  I will have to see how things go next quarter.

Well, my battery is almost dead, and I am sitting in front of the Public Library in my car, so I better go…

Video Playlist

Here is a random playlist of videos picked from all the mixed playlists that I have created over the last few months at FIQL:

http://www.fiql.com/channels/sludwig234

Online dating site…

About two months ago I was lured onto eHarmony’s website where I created a quick profile.  (I would provide a link, but they don’t have an easy way to do that…)  Now after after the last few months eHarmony has created a list of 44 compatability matches for me to begin communications with, based on the many questions I answered when registering.  I am given very minimal information about each ‘match’, and the catch is I cannot view their picture unless I subscribe, and when I attempt the first round of communication I am brought to the eHarmony Subscribe Now page.  Here I am asked to provide a credit card number.  Now in reading over the minimal profile information that I am able to access, one or two of these women sound remotely compatable with me, and maybe this alone might prompt me to get the credit card out of my wallet.  But this Subscribe Now page removes all interest in paying even one dime.

What does eHarmony provide?  What expenses do you think they incure? 
A simple software program would be able to match up my answers with those of others. 

Here is what eHarmony charges:
12 months for $251.40  ($20.95 a month)
6 months for $173.70  ($28.95 a month)
3 months for $110.85  ($36.95  a month)
or 1 month for $59.95

People really fall for this?
What does eHarmony provide or do that requires such outrageous fees?

Yes, maybe one of those 44 compatability matches might just be the one… 
and maybe not…  but I am not going to pay $251.40 to find out.

Dead Day and a New Endevor…

Yesterday was the official last day of the quarter.  After the official last school day of the quarter, the school takes one day off before finals begin.  Rather than “study day”, or “cram day”, or even “finally a day to relax day”, it is referred to as “dead day”.  Yesterday was “dead day”.  Finals are the first three days of next week.  I will be taking two finals, one in Managerial Accounting 105, and one in Finite Math 201.  I will need to study up for the Accounting final, but I will need minimal brushing up to be prepaired for the Math final.  I am really looking forward to the up and coming time off, and plan on making the most of it.  Lately I seem to have forgotten how to have fun, and I intend to remind myself, or better yet, be reminded.  Either way, school and all the responsibilities that go along with it will be set aside while I again enjoy a few weeks without assignments, required reading or quizzes or tests.

I am really looking forward to next quarter.  I will be taking Microeconomics 202, Business Statistics, Begining Weightlifting, and another PE class.  I will have a much easier quarter than this last one was.

Over the next few months I am thinking about embarking on a new project with a friend of mine.  Over the past week or so I have been gathering quite a lot of information on what we are up against.  Hopefully what I am learning will end up being the right information and advice to allow our endeavor to succeed.  Regardless, this project will be a learning experience for the both of us, but along with the knowledge gained, the more prominent goal will hopefully bring us substantial revenue.  Over the next few months we will plan and strategize, and determine profitability, all before any initial investment is to occur.  I feel extremely confident at this point that the combination of what each of us has to offer will end up being the right mix, and if we do this right, if we plan ahead and think this thoroughly through, we both stand to gain rewards above and beyond merely the learning experience.

Car-less and car-pooling…

I wasn’t going to write about the car problems I have been having…  at least not until I had figured out what the problem was.  But this one has me stumped.  I’m not even quite clear on how to describe how it’s acting…  rough idle, lacking power, most noticeable during inclines and speeds over fourty-five.

These symptoms could be many different things, and one by one I have been checking each of them.  First off, if the problem was a faulty sensor, then a code would have been tripped.  No code.  Could be fuel so I’ve taken off the inline fuel filter and blew it out.  Fuel pump is working fine also.  Could be spark so I’ve inspected the distributor and all wires and plugs.  They are fine.  Battery is two days old, alternator is about a month old, and I just re-built the starter today after it stopped working; I replaced all four brushes.  I’ve checked and inspected all vacuumn hoses.  All fine.  I have taken off the air intake and both air filters.  Not a lack of air.  The exhaust is not plugged up and I’ve cleaned up all ground connections in the engine compartment.  Until I get this problem fixed I am car-less and will be car-pooling.

I’ve said this before, but had I not become interested in computers I would have made a great mechanic… and some days I wish I would have chose that path.

I will continue to beat the odds…

Well, my Office 2007 trial expired on Friday. Great timing since I have a 2,500 word report due in ECON tomorrow that has yet to be finished. I ended up getting a 96% on the Accounting test that I crammed for and a 100% on my last Math test. I can’t get to my Excel spreadsheet to figure out my exact grades, but I feel that I will still need to keep on top of it and I have a lot of studying to do for final which are coming up.

---

If you’ve read my last few posts you’ll agree that I’m currently at a minor low in life. Yet i will get through this, and I will prevail. When all is said and done I will have a renewed commitment to my higher education. I will create the motivation required to continue on this path I have chosen.

When I was 10 months old I took a fall, my head split open on a rickety sidewalk. “If he makes it through the next few hours, he will have a 50/50 chance of living”, was the doctor’s diagnosis. I beat the odds then, and I will continue to beat the odds. Even at 10 months old I wanted to live life, I wanted to have the chance to succeed.

When I chose this road I was well aware that it would not be easy. I knew that the farther I progressed towards my ultimate goals, the more difficult the road would become.

---

I’ll end this post with an update on the videos I have posted to youtube. With the winter themed Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire video: The Sky now at 603 views, my total youtube video views have surpassed 1000, and are now at 1100.

---