Multimedia message

I really don't have a lot to say overall. Between work school, and family I really haven't had much time to think nor have I really wanted to think because if I start thinking then I start worrying about everything and that doesn't do anything other than keep me up at night and I need as much sleep as I can get. Although as far as school is concerned I shouldn't worry because I've been keeping up with my homework, but that doesn't seem to keep my mind from worrying anyway.

The best part about school so far is that I am praying more than I usually do and I can't express what that is doing for my overall spiritual well-being, now if I could get back to my daily scripture reading them that would be great. I can't seem to figure out how to seperate paragraphs on my phone so I will have to fix it later.

Thanks for the Graffiti!

As I was going to church this morning I saw this painted on our church wall. I will admit that we don't live in the safest of areas but I always thought that there was always an understanding that you don't defile churches, I guess I give these people too much credit. So I just want to say thanks to the guys that thought that it would be fun to spray paint a church. I hope that someday they will see the error of their ways and find repentance.

Mo-Bloggin'

I always like to try new things, especially when it comes to blogging. So here I am out and about, trying this mobile-blogging thing.

Now I remember why I didn't like going to school

I've put off going back to collage for a while now and now that I'm back into the swing of things I am reminded about all the reasons why I've been putting it off.

1. Humility; One of the great things of working in my current job is that most of the people don't have an education that exceeds a basic high school education. It's kind of fun to be able to tell people that I speak two languages and that I got my associates degree. It's a high knowing that I am among the most educated people at work. Now that I am back in college it's not that way anymore. Most everyone has read the same books I've read, speak more than one language and are probably doing better in their courses then I am because I have to deal with a little more than just school, (ie, work, family, bills)
2. Homework; One of the great things about my job is that the second I exit the building then my job is done for the day and everything gets to wait until tomorrow. School on the other hand has a workload that I get to carry around with me until it gets done or is do late to do it. I have to make space at home in order to be able to do my homework, I have to find the time to do it and I have to keep the kids off of me in order to do it.
3. Stress; I guess I could have added this one with the Homework section but it's not just the homework that causes a little extra stress. It's the tests, it's the schedule, it's the lurking knowledge that you have to have something done by a certain date and you have to do it right. Work is more of a trial and error kind of deal. Mess up at school at it will haunt you for the rest of your education.
4. Social; I've never been a social person, but Universities breed a social environment. Now I have all these people that I have to deal with on a daily basis with all of their agendas. I have to depend on them in order to learn and they expect to learn something from me. And since I'm married there is a whole other aspect to the social dynamic. Singles don't really want to deal with the married people and the married people have all sorts of issues that they are trying to deal with other than just school.
5. Teachers; There is almost nothing I hate more than having a teacher that doesn't seem to care about whether or not their students learn. Especially in lit. classes, I've got this teacher that runs through the story in class at breakneck speed after she's already quizzed you about it. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Give us the information then quiz us on it, and in lit classes it's even worse because most of the information is subjective. I might be wrong but sometimes I can read the same story as someone else but get something completely different out of it.

Ah, school. I didn't miss you at all, I sure hope that I'm not dragging myself into all this debt for nothing.

On the down swing

If depression were a disease (well, a disease caused by a virus or bacteria), then I would have no immunity. Seems like every time I come across someone that's depressed I can usually hang around long enough to help alleviate their depression for a time. Then in only a matter of an hour after I've left them I begin to find myself sinking uncontrollably into the same abyss. Worst part is that my ankle still hurts, I have a headache and probably bad breath.

The cost of saving a dollar

So as I continue my sometimes foolish quest to get more education I am doing whatever possible so that I don't spend a penny more than I have to. Beyond the costs of tuition there are all sorts of costs that the University tells you you need to spend at there are all sorts of these spendatures that you really can avoid.

• Parking Permits: I've always hated these things because the chance of actually getting a decent parking space is so remote that I imagine the day that I actually find a good spot will be the very same day that a meteor hits the planet. Here are a couple of my tricks in order to avoid this delightful fee.
  
• Park off-campus and hoof it. This is tricky but it can be done, if you have someone that lives close by and you can park in front of their house would be the preferred method.
• Ride Your Bike . Although I still had to pay a buck to have my bike licenced with the city it still beats the unbelievable fee to park. One advisement, bike+snow=sprained ankle. Not a good idea, but overall a good idea.
• Bum a ride. For me I know people that are usually in the area of the University so I can usually find someone that can either drop me off or pick me up. Although I usually like a backup plan so I am always prepared to walk.
• Take the bus. Ahh the beauty of public transportation. This always takes lots of planning and no matter what you do the universe will always make sure that any and all bus stop times are going to slightly interfere with your overall plans, so always plan to leave way early or get there way late. Once upon a time I heard that students could get a free bus pass, but the university is telling me that I have to pay for one, I am looking into this and hopefully it goes well. It would certainly help me on the days when bikes and snow don't mix.
• Walk. Think of all the exercises
• Books
• The internet, okay, this is really the only solution to this problem as I can get. Bookstores are out of the question. They will always charge you more and give you less. Buy all your books online, sell them back the same way. It's the only possible way we are going to get the price of books to drop.

For some reason when I started this little entry I thought I had a lot more to say, I probably do but since I am at the University my mind must be blocked or something. Anyway, there you go.

And as a side note my ankle is doing fine, if you define fine as it hurts like it's ready to walk off on it's own because I haven't really changed my patterns other then I'm not riding my bike, but I'm still doing a lot of walking. I did go to the doctor's office and he gave me an aircast that stretches my shoe out taking a least a couple of months off of it's life span. So I just want to thank my local municipality for not plowing the roads either during this snowstorm or the last one, because had they actually plowed the road I wouldn't be hobbling around like a gimp.

Feels like High School all over again.

From time to time men get together in front of women and try to impress them with how they were total rebels back in High School. Some people have stories of streaking, ditching class, putting a tack on the teachers chair, etc... but I usually trump all of my Mormon friends because I can say in total honesty that I was kicked out of school. You got it, I was told to go to the principle's office in the middle of class and then they sent me home.

Oh, it sounds a lot worse then it is. You see growing up in Utah some schools have strange rules. One of these rules is that you have to come to school clean shaven. I got kicked out of High School in the middle of the day because I wasn't clean shaven, and I couldn't come back until I shaved.

Let me give you a little background on this whole situation before I run to the climax of my story. As a child I grew up real fast. I am the same height now as I was in the sixth grade, and I started shaving about the same time. Puberty came on so fast for me my voice never cracked, it crumbed. So throughout middle school, I shaved, though out Jr. High, I shaved, though out High School I shaved. The problem is that I have very sensitive skin, so shaving on a daily basis only causes me to bleed, so my shaves would be about every three days or so and I had a high-end razor to do it. Well as I was in my senior year I began to really hate shaving, so my little shaves began to be once a week, then extended into whenever it began to itch. None of my teachers had problem with it, until a friend of mine and myself began to rub one teacher the wrong way. So she threw me out for not shaving, I deserved it the first time, the second time I had only shaved the day before, she was just being mean.

Anyway here I am years later. I shave more or less when I want to, but hardly ever within the three days of having shaved before. As I am starting to go back to school this year I had to go and get a student ID card. I fought traffic, walked around campus trying to find the place that gave out ID cards and when I finally found it they told me that their policy is that I have to have shaved that same day. I shaved two days before. Then they told me that I could come back another day -I REALLY hate traffic, so that wasn't going to happen- or they could lend me a razor and shaving cream and I could shave in the men's room. I took their rusty piece of tin they passed as a razor and their shaving cream and into the men's room I went, I would rather cut myself before fighting traffic again. So I shaved, and I cut myself, several times. Took me a good ten minutes to stop all the bleeding. Then I marched back into the ID place and they took my picture, she even had the audacity to ask me if I wanted her to take it again. "Sure, take it again, maybe all my cuts that I have on my face will have healed by the next one." I thought.

I have two children, a house, a job some say is a career and I've been reduced to shaving against my will in the men's bathroom. Thanks College.

Even YOU can be a sexual predator!

When I first got home from my mission my first calling was primary teacher of the 5-6 year-olds. I don't think I did a great job, but I think the kids had a good time and they didn't seem to hate me. Then again how could they hate someone that would bring candy almost every week. Well once again I'm in the primary with my wife. Last Sunday my wife didn't get much sleep. My son is trying to get potty trained, the bad part is that he is waking up in the middle of the night to let us know that he needs to go to the bathroom. When I'm working my wife gets to suffer through it.

I volunteered to take the kids to church while my wife stayed home to get some much needed rest. When I sat down with the kids in Sharing Time the primary presidency about had a heart attack when I told them that my wife wouldn't be coming. They scattered and found another brother to help me out in the class. I told them that they didn't have to and that I've done it before and that it wouldn't be a big deal. They insisted and I didn't care all that much. When I got home and told my wife about what happened she explained to me that it's a rule that they can't leave a male teacher alone with the kids. (Now, I think it's worth explaining here that my wife has a natural distrust toward men in general. It took me forever to gain enough trust with her just to have the relationship that I currently enjoy with her but she still distrusts pretty much all men and every little once and a while I still get thrown in with the rest. Would you believe that my wife had the hardest time getting used to the idea of leaving our daughter with me alone?) I responded that I've never done anything that would warrant this kind of distrust. She stated plainly that she completely agreed with the rule. I understood her position and dropped it.

I find it odd and disheartening that as a man I'm suddenly a potential sexual predator. Why should every man be treated as if none of them can be trusted with children? Well I guess that it's not entirely because they think we could be sexual predators but to protect us from some kid or parents that want to sue the church saying that we abused their children. At least that's what they told us in scout master training.

It's sad really. Welcome to the world!