MA 154

Math isn't very cool. I spent most of the day today going over most of the stuff we did through the semester. I would have had a better day had it been math-free.

I don't want to take the math final.

I want the math final to be over.

When I think of math, my forehead gets kinda clammy and I get the urge to nervously crack my neck.

Other than that...

I shoud go to bed for worship in the morning.

School wraps up

I have nothing left until finals. Apparently, my floormates are in similar situations. The free time has afforded some interesting sights.

Cair Paravel gets hitched

29 rolls of toilet paper
15 aluminum cans
4 cans of shaving cream
2 mischevious girls
1 of their sisters
me

I must admit, none of it was my idea. And I really didn't contribute that much. But I did have a camera.

Foot!

I hate foot injuries. Just thinking about them makes my stomach turn. So last night after Christie and Ling returned my bike, I was seeing if I could make the bike hop. I lost my footing and sorta injured myself in a couple of spots, but the one spot that really bugs me is my heel. I was wearing sandals, so my heel got scraped up pretty good.

Of course I took a picture. I won't put up a thumbnail of it since it might bug sensitive viewers (especially ones sensitive to foot injuries, such as myself). So here's the link to the pretty picture

Note: The pretty picture isn't very pretty.

Good news!

I just got a very happy (though somewhat intimidating) email from Charley Moore informing me that I have a job for the summer! This is definitely a huge blessing from God!

(giggling maniacally)

Calvin and Hobbes is cool

No explanation necessary.



Click to enlarge

Big week, scattered thoughts

From Friday last week to today has been pretty huge. It was last week that we headed out to Bloomington. At that time, the items that weighed heavy on my mind included a layout and elevation presentation in AutoCAD, a research paper, math exam, English portfolio, and OLS marketing project.

Now, the only thing that remains is the English portfolio.

In the midst of it all, I managed to get the stomach flu (again). There seems to be a direct relationship between eating at Earhart and how much time I spend running to the bathroom. Despite this, I ended up eating at Earhart only two days later. They had foot long hot dogs, so it was worth it.
Anyway, Bloomington was a ton of fun. The car trip down was of course cool, as car trips tend to be. My poor little Topaz was quite loaded down. Even with just two bikes on the bike rack, the back end was sagging quite a bit. Add to that another bike, luggage for three more people, and three guys in the back seat, and what you get is a very loaded down car. Despite this and some severe weather, she got us to our destination as she usually does.






I really like how the bikes set off the Environment plate.



If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time a girl has driven my car. It was quite a special time.

Among the things we did in Bloomington were shearing goats. In this picture, we can see how we didn't quite let Ticky (sp?) out of the garage in time.



The goats looked very funny.



After Andrew got back from purchasing a new used car, we all headed out to go "around the block" which was just over 10 or 11 miles. I was really surprised to learn that we rode that far, it didn't seem that long at all. We even stopped to enjoy the scenery a bit.


Later that night after dinner, we headed out to the IU campus and met up with Nathan and had a grand ol' time. We ended up having quite a bit of fun with Orson Wells and his statue.







Nathan gave me a piggyback ride. It was a pretty special bonding time.


Nathan did a few other things that night. Pictures of said things won't be posted here. If you want to see them, you'll either have to get creative or know who to talk to in order to gain access to them. I bet Sara is thanking me for this.

Though it was apparent before Sunday, it really wasn't until that afternoon that it sank in with me that I have gained a new biggest fan. Paul Wegener has developed quite the liking for me. It's really kinda cool to have a biggest fan. Everyone should have one.

On Monday I think I ran across some verses that I think just might rank right up there along with my favorites. John 11:49,50 says "But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.'" It struck me as amazing first of all just how clearly it lays out the role Jesus Christ was to carry out while he was on earth. Earlier, Jesus was explaining that no one was taking his life, but he was giving it like a shepherd for his sheep. That just blew my mind that he would willingly go through what he did, being separated from God the way he was, so that I, a sinner, wouldn't have to be.
Then it struck me how Caiaphas was speaking in political terms, rather than in terms of salvation. Despite this, God used his words in quite a profound way.

Then I did lots of homework. It's kind of a blur. My sleep cycle is messed up, hence how late I am up right now.

Today I was able to go out on a bike ride with Andrew, Kara, and Sara. It was only to Wal-Mart, but it was still nice to get out and enjoy the weather after turning in my projects. And along the way, we saw a really cool turtle. Kara, convinced that it wasn't a snapping turtle, tried picking him up. What the turtle did in response to that was amazing. I did not know that turtles could move that fast. I also did not know that Kara could move that fast.

Then there was a rally. Pastor York encouraged us to memorize the book of James, which seems like a lofty, but good, goal. Afterwards we went on a photo scavenger hunt where we crammed about ten people into my tiny room (I got some comments from my floormates about that one) and then we got on the roof of the recitation building. It was pretty cool. I should go to bed now.

Goodnight, I'll catch you on the flip side.

Ode to Earhart

I wrote a haiku for Earhart Dining court.


Earhart Dining court
You make me so freakin' sick
I don't want your food

Interesting Accident

This is old news, since it happened a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

So I had the strangest accident on my bike. I'll spare you all the details, lest I embarass myself. Anyway, it left the most interesting mark on my jeans--a perfect imprint of the front gear and chain.

Your guess as to how it happened is as good as mine.

Amazing!

It's Ross!

He elegantly does cartwheels across courts with ease!

He sweats a lobster on his shirt!



But he doesn't have a heart in his shirt...

But he does have a mighty fist of fury on his back!



It's Ross!

He's Amazing!

Around this time two years ago...

When we set out to find me a car, I insisted that it should have an automatic transmission. So my dad and I were on our way out to look at a '91 Escort or something when we drove by a farm with a nice looking Topaz sitting out front with a price painted on the window. We decided to stop and take a look at it. We noticed it had a V6, automatic transmission, it was in solid shape, and the price was fair. We were sold.

We didn't even look at the Escort that day.

Anyway, it wasn't long before I got tired of the automatic transmission. There are lots and lots of reasons I was tired of it, but for the sake of time, I'll condense it by saying that automatic transmissions are boring.

I wanted to make my car a five speed.

It was probably about now two years ago that we were trying to find a Tempo or Topaz with a V6 and a 5 speed transmission. Let me tell you, it's not a car that you run across every day... or every week, or even every year. Ford simply didn't make too many of them. But I'm getting off-topic. Anyway, with the help of the internet, we were able to find an elusive specimen out in Pennsylvania and seal a deal on it. It was quite a specimen. It was teal in color, and made of rust. It had a rough life.



After the whole ordeal of swapping transmissions, I decided I was pretty much done with cars. Seriously. Working on cars is a huge pain in the neck. And a pain in the hands, back, feet, eyes, chest, and occasionally shins.

Then I realized that owning a car requires that you occasionally must work on it.

I thought I was done doing anything related to my car and that transmission. Well, here's what I get for thinking. The shifter rod snapped (remember how I mentioned that the donor car was rusty? Yeah.) So I spent the better half of yesterday afternoon taking apart my console and then under the car taking out the shifter assembly to fix the broken rod.





These parts were a huge pain in the butt to put on my car the first time. My car was made to take an automatic transmission, so the heat shield and other various parts did not jive well with the shifter rod. It was a huge mess with lots of sparks and cutting and pounding and such and such. This time, those bugs were ironed out. That made things go a lot smoother.

I still hate working on that car.

I'd still like to get a high-overlap camshaft and put it in.

Me and my car...the ultimate enigma.

Thinking is overrated right now

So I haven't really had the time to come up with anything (halfway) amusing or (marginally) insightful, but I've managed to find time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. I suggest you find some time to do that yourself, if you haven't already.

As requested...