Well its About Time...

Holy moly! It feels like its been forever since I've posted on here. Believe me when I say that I would have posted more, because i really would have. I have so many things that I could and would have like to share, but unfortunately, my computer has not been working for quite some time, so just the other day, I took it in for repair. I really wasn't concerned about whether or not the computer could be fixed because, lets face it, it is an Acer that I've had since about 2011 so I'm quite surprised that it's lasted as long as it has. No, I was not concerned about the computer itself, just all of the files contained with in it. You would think that after all the years of hearing college and university professors remind students to "back up your work because computers crashing is no excuse for a late assignment" that I would have listened.... NOPE! I guess I like living dangerously. It is also fair to mention that I was the type of student who would be assigned work one day and have the assignment completed that same day or a day later even though the work was not due for about three weeks after the date it was given, but I digress.

When I took the computer in, the man that was helping me said that I may end up needing a new laptop. No problem. Much to my surprise, he called me the next day and assured me that everything was going to be fine and that a Windows install has crashed when the computer was updating which was causing the problem. SO, for the small fee of $84.75, I ended up with a working computer... kind of. There is also one small twist though; when they fixed the computer, they updated it from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Wow! What a change to get used to. I guess its for the best really. About two months ago, a Windows message appeared on my screen saying something to the effect that by the end of the year, they will no longer be providing updates and support to Windows 7. So it all worked out, right? Yes, I would say so. I was quite pleased that the computer repair place was able to fix my computer. I was happy that I didn't lose any files, and I'm happy that my wifi is working again. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I got home and turned my computer on, the wifi was disabled and no matter how many times I would switch wifi to 'on' it just wouldn't stay on. After an hour or so of research on my cellphone, I finally figured it out.

Oh happy day!

Day by Day Nothing Changes, but When You Look Back Everything is Different

Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different? This quote by C.S. Lewis is something that I think of quite often given the truth behind it. When we simply go through the motions of our daily life - following our routine, we can hardly distinguish one day from the next. When we look back at the past month or year though, so many things seem to have happened that we barely seemed to have noticed at the time. I am happy to say that this is the case for me.

So many wonderful things have happened in the past month and a half that it is almost unbelievable. In that short span of time I managed to graduate from university with distinction (one of only three people in my program!) and get a full-time, permanent position doing a job that I absolutely enjoy, and that is in my field of study. In today's job market, many people are forced to either go to school and study subjects that they aren't completely interested in to get a decent paying job, or study what they love only to realize that it is very difficult to get a job in that industry. 

I realize that this is not a long post, but I just wanted to share this good news and be mindful of the wonderful things that each day can bring!

The Thrill of The Hunt

This past week, my little part of the world was hit with a great deal of snow. As a result, many roads were closed, preventing me from going home. Thankfully, my girlfriend’s parents do not live too far from where I work and were kind enough house me for two days while we waited for the storm to pass. The morning of day two at their house brought somewhat of a winter wonderland – the snow was deep and everything looked spectacular.

Somewhere around 8 AM, my girlfriend’s mother let out one of their two cats (Scooter). She called me over to the door to watch the cat on the back deck and the birds digging for seeds off in the distance. As cats do, Scooter noticed the birds in the distance, crouched down, and went into attack mode. Given the depth of the snow, my girlfriend’s mom and I were quite certain that Scooter would not be able to reach the birds without blowing his cover, so we just stood at the door and watched. As Scooter made his mad-dash for the birds, the ones that we could see all flew away. As he ran behind the tree, we saw feathers fly and thought that the worst had happened, but just then, we saw a bird fly away from behind the tree. We breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, we began relaxing moments too soon. As more feathers flew, we came to the stark realization that not all was as it seemed. At that moment Scooter came running to the door from behind the tree with a sizable dove in his mouth. My girlfriend’s mother and I could not believe what just happened – or the fact that we let it happen! When the cat got to the door he dropped the bird on the mat as if to say “I brought you a gift”. The dove hobbled/flew a few feet away from the door and landed in the snowbank. My girlfriend’s mom did what she could to protect the bird from the cat, however, the bird was beyond saving.

The moral of the story: never underestimate the innate animal instinct of a cat, even when you think the odds are stacked against it.

There is Nothing Common About Courtesy

There has been many a time where I find myself simply shaking my head at some of the things that people do. It is during these moments that I think to myself "what ever happened to common courtesy?" More often than not, however, I remember that there is nothing common about courtesy. In this post, I would like to tell you about two experiences that I had recently; one was today, the other was just a few weeks ago.

I am going to start by telling you about the one that happened a few weeks ago. Not too long ago, I decided to order some prints from the Walmart Photo Center website. The online transaction went smoothly, and at the end I was informed that I would receive an email when my order was ready for pick-up. When I received the email, I went to Walmart, approached the service counter in the photo center, and kindly asked the man working there if he would collect my order so that I could be on my way. As he is looking through a drawer of photos that were ready to be picked up, a woman who appeared to be in her mid 20's approached the counter, interrupted my order pick-up transaction, and asked the man working there if her photo was ready yet. I was somewhat annoyed by the fact that she interrupted (perhaps she thought her time was more valuable than mine), but I was left dumbfounded when the man stopped helping me without a moment of hesitation. By the time he was done helping the woman who interrupted, about five minutes had passed. I am a fairly easy-going person so I did not react negatively or cause a scene, however, I was unimpressed to say the least. When the sales associate came back to me he did apologize, although I'm not certain that he saw the error of his ways in that moment, but again, given that I am fairly easy-going, I was satisfied with his apology. He began searching for my order again, only to come to the realization that it had been lost. He informed me and asked if I wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes for him to reprint it. I obliged. So now, not only did I have to wait for him to stop helping me in order to help someone else, I also had to for a new set of pictures to be printed. What should have been a quick in and out had me standing at the photo center for about 20 minutes. It is then that I remembered that there is nothing common about courtesy.

The next little story that I have happened just today. I work in an office and usually find myself going down to the lunchroom on the first floor of the building to heat-up and eat my lunch. Today I did just that. There are only two microwaves in the lunchroom; one was being used by me, the other by someone else. About halfway into the time that my food was in the microwave, a woman walked in, opened up my microwave (while it was still running), and then just closed it and stood there annoyed that she had to wait. I'm sure that you have likely noticed that I didn't mention anything about her turning the microwave back on after she had opened it and saw my food in it. That's because she didn't. Nope, instead she just stood there for about a minute before asking me if i was done using it. At that point, I walked over to the microwave, looked at her, turned it back on, and then went back and sat down. When it beeped, I went back and took it out. At that point it didn't really matter anymore though because the other microwave was free, but it really made me shake my head in disbelief. All I can say is that if you happen to open up a microwave that still has food in it PLEASE check to see if there is time remaining on it. If there is, go ahead and turn it back on.... its just common courtesy!

That's all for today!

I'm Almost Finished...

Here I sit in an empty house wondering what to do. There are many things that I could (and probably should) be doing right now. You see, I am in my final semester of university and the feeling is bittersweet. This is the time of year when final projects are well underway and must soon be handed in. The problem that I am having is that I do not really feel motivated to do the work. On one hand, I could simply just put my mind to it and get it done, but on the other hand, I almost feel that I want to drag it out for as long of possible because these are the last projects that I will every have to work on (that I know of, at least) in university. By completing them, it almost feels like this chapter of my life is coming to an end, but I'm not sure I'm ready to let go just yet. I have an appointment to have my graduation pictures taken tomorrow, and although I am proud of everything I have accomplished, it is difficult for me come to terms with the fact that in a matter of weeks I will no longer be a university student, but instead, an alumni... who knows, maybe one day they'll consider me a notable alumni! I guess for now I will just carry on with my work until I have no more to do. I am curious to know how other felt at the end of their schooling journey. Feel free to share!