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All posts for the month August, 2012

De Nada

Published August 21, 2012 by Malia

This morning saw my re-entry into the world of Spanish.  Naturally, I was nervous.  It’s been ten years since I was required to say anything in Spanish.  I think it’s starting to slowly come back.  I had one moment in class that brought up a memory that I hadn’t thought of in years.  My teacher didn’t have a pen with her, and since I was sitting in the front row and had a pen readily available, I offered her mine.  When she took it she said, “Gracias.”  To which I replied, “De nada.” and I was suddenly awash with the memory of how I learned that phrase.

Back, many years ago when dinosaurs walked the earth, I took my first Spanish class.  Unlike so many people, I had an amazing Spanish teacher.  She was fun, easy going, unconventional, and just plain awesome.  (My teacher here reminds me quite a bit of her.)  Anyway, school had been in session for a few weeks, and one day I was in the hall in front of  the Spanish classroom.  I was talking with a friend and she said, “Gracias” to me.  I started to say, “You’re welcome,” but noticing my Spanish teacher standing there, I asked her how to say it in Spanish.  She said, “De nada,” and it just kind of stuck in my brain.

I hope that when I become a teacher I can be at least somewhat as awesome!

Morbid Jelly Beans

Published August 20, 2012 by Malia

My room is mostly put together.  I still haven’t gotten my desktop computer up and running, but otherwise things are going okay.  When I was unloading the van last night I felt like I had a ton of stuff with me, but looking around, I don’t think I really brought that much.  It just happened that the stuff I brought took up much packing space.  I brought a few things that remind me of home, including some things that I pulled when we were going through Grampa’s remaining belongings.  Included was a glass “Jelly Belly” jar.  Inside the jar are a few remaining “Jelly Belly” jelly beans that he never got eaten.  Mom asked me if I’d gotten a refill for the jar, and I said, “No, I’ve just got these sad little morbid jelly beans sitting here.”  I find it slightly odd to think about those things that hold memories of others for us.

Classes start tomorrow.  I’ve got a fun morning of Spanish and Modern Grammar.  I’m not incredibly worried, but I’d be lying if I said I’m not nervous.  The last time I took any Spanish was my junior year of high school, most notably remembered for the fact that A. I had to have all my wisdom teeth out that year, and more importantly B. 9/11 happened during my fall semester.  I’ve heard excellent things about my teacher, so I’m really looking forward to remembering and improving my Spanish.  I’m not sure how to feel about Modern Grammar.  I’m glad I’m not stuck in archaic grammar, but I’m really hoping modern doesn’t mean I’m going to have to unlearn everything I learned years ago.  Once upon a time I really excelled at grammar, and while I still remember the basics, I’ve gotten lazy over the years.

I’m hoping my cable to plug my television into the campus cable comes tomorrow.  I figured that even though I don’t want to watch tv ad naseum, I have a tv, and I’m paying for campus cable via my student fees (there’s no way to opt out of the cable as far as I know), so I might as well make use of the “free” cable.  (Side note: I find it interesting how things get presented as being “free,” when really all free means is that you’re not paying out of pocket at this moment.)

The truly bright and shining moment of today was the return of Taco in a Bag.  Last year I was introduced to the concept, and while initially I thought it weird, and that it looked kind of nauseating, it’s also kind of addictive.  It was just as good as I remembered, and I took it as a positive sign that this is going to be a year of excellence.

Unpacking

Published August 19, 2012 by Malia

Well, I did it.  It was hard.  I started losing it when I said good-bye to my cats this morning, and then it was all I could do to not fall apart when I said good-bye to my parents.  I don’t think people with siblings understand how hard and scary it is to leave your parents when they and you are the closest family each other has.  It’s especially hard leaving knowing how much havoc  it wrecks on mom’s health.  I wish they’d develop teleportation units and make them available for everyone so  I could go home whenever I want.

I survived the 500 mile drive, and had some amazing help getting all my stuff up to my room.  I felt like I brought a lot, and when the van was being unloaded it certainly looked like I did.  However, once I started unpacking, it looked a little less like I’d brought everything and the kitchen sink.  Now I’m sitting in my room that’s 3/4’s unpacked.  I’m really tired, but I’m also loving my room.  It occurred to me tonight, that while this isn’t the first time I’ve been in my own room in a dorm, it’s the first time I intentionally set out to get one.  Always in the past I’ve been open to sharing the room with someone, but after last the fiasco known as last year, I was determined to be on my own this year.  I’ve got a fridge and television (that’s actually my computer monitor).  This year marks a turning point.  I’m kind of on my own.  Does that mean I’m growing up?  Well, let’s not jump to conclusions quite yet, but there are certainly changes in my life and brain that are making me feel that I’m truly beginning to move on from being stuck in high school.

Overall, I’m pleased with the room.  It’s quite spacious, and has loads of shelve and closet space.  The only slightly irritating thing is that the outlet that I wanted to plug my fridge into doesn’t accept three pronged plugs.  Due to the set up of the room, it’s the most ideal place for the fridge, so I think I’ll be venturing to Walmart tomorrow to seek out an extension cord.

I’m really, really glad I’ve got an overabundance of fans.  This dorm has a wonderful heating system (something important in ND), but there’s no air conditioning.  It does get warm in ND (really, I’m not making this up), and the fact that some people’s heaters are broken and won’t shut off adds to the general heat of the building.

I’m slightly weirded out by the fact that I can hear people walking above me.  It’s been many years since I last lived anywhere other than the top floor of a building.  This dorm is pretty solidly built, so I’m not hearing much walking (either that, or people are just not around), but it still kinda makes me jump when I hear someone walking on my ceiling.

All in all I’m excited and very tired.  Sure, I’ve got a few things I need to get, but overall it’s shaping up to be a good year.

Last night

Published August 18, 2012 by Malia

Tomorrow night at this time I should be back in ND, and will hopefully nearly be unpacked.  I’m sure once I get there and get everything set I’ll feel calmer and more at ease.  Tonight, though, my heart’s just not in it.  “I don’t want to go!” my soul is screaming, even though, there’s a fragment of me that does want to go.  So, here’s to trying to get some sleep and a safe drive tomorrow.

 

Friday Night Questions

Published August 17, 2012 by Malia

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Why do some stores already have Christmas decorations for sale?

If the TARDIS translates all languages, why is the Dcotor the only one who understands “Baby?”

Is it pathetic that if I had the option at school to get BBC America instead of Oxygen and WE networks, I’d chose BBC America?

Does anyone know how to get in touch with the Packing Fairy?

What if, after the credits rolled on The Dark Knight Rises, all of a sudden you saw Sheldon from Big Bang Theory sitting there and he said, “Bazinga!  I’m Batman!”?

Plant or fish?

If you had the chance to go anywhere in the world, and money wasn’t an issue, where would you go and why?

 

The Loudest Movie On The Planet

Published August 15, 2012 by Malia

Okay, it probably isn’t, but having just sat through 2 hours and 45 minutes of pounding bass and all other noises at a super high volume it certainly feels like it.  Yes, I finally saw The Dark Knight Rises.  I’m not sure that the film was really that loud, but the theater sure had the volume up.  I spent part of the movie with my ears plugged, and I could still hear and feel every word and sound.  Still, apart from the headache inducing loudness, it was a phenomenal film.

Now, I have only seen Batman Begins.  I never saw The Dark Knight.  I really, really wanted to.  I was so excited when I saw they were making the second film.  Then the nightmares started.  I don’t dream often, but I began to have terrible, frightening nightmares, mainly featuring the Joker, and I just couldn’t ever bring myself to watch it (and I have no intention of watching it, just the thought makes me break out in a cold sweat).  So, the good news about Rises is that if you have seen the first film, but not the second you’ll be fine.  There’s enough expository material that you get then general idea of what happened to lead up to the events in this film.

What really amazed me about Rises is the fact that it starts out dark, and just gets darker and more hopeless as the minutes tick by.  I found myself wondering how they were going to resolve a trilogy of films when they’d written something that seemed impossible to resolve.  I won’t spoil it for those who’ve yet to see it.  I’ll just say that it’s well worth the price of admission; just bring earplugs in case it’s just as loud as the showing I went to.

Now to find some ibuprofen…

Photoshop

Published August 14, 2012 by Malia

This is the story of how I spent most of my afternoon at Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) and ended up buying a nice new camera for 11% of its actual cost.

I wrote yesterday about mom and I going to the zoo.  I’m not a great photographer, but that doesn’t stop me from loving photography, which is why I made sure I had my camera with me.

My beautiful, lovely camera!

We had been through the aquarium and the butterfly pavilion, and my camera was working fine.  We went and watched an IMAX film (if you have a zoo membership, you get into the IMAX for free), and then headed for the cat complex.  When we were inside the building, I got my camera out, and turned it on.  I noticed two blue streaks in the upper left hand corner of my display.  I’d never had anything show up like this, so I turned the camera off, waited, and turned it back on.  Blue smudge streaks were still there.  The camera still worked, but I was concerned that this might be a sign of future problems.

Today, the blue smudges were still there, so I finally called NFM customer service to speak with them about it.  There were two reasons for this.

A: I head back to ND on Sunday, and I’m running out of time to take care of things here at home.  If the blue smudge streaks were a omen of something truly going wrong with my camera, I wanted to be able to take care of it right away, instead of having to wait months before being able to get to NFM.

B:  Two years ago I purchased this camera from the NFM clearance.  It was the exact same camera as the top of the line they had out on the sales floor, it had just been a display camera and due to that they couldn’t sell it as new.  It was in great condition, and had so much more to offer than my little Coolpix I had bought back in 2004.  When I purchased this one in 2010, I got a 3-year accidental warranty policy.  I know some people say warranties are a rip-off, but I really liked the idea that if something bad happened, they’d fix it or replace it.  Besides, when I divided the warranty price out over the three years, it was a pretty cheap price to pay for a repair or replacement.

So, I called and after explaining the situation and giving my information, the guy I spoke with told me that I had to options.  They could either mail me a check for what I originally spent on the camera, or issue me store credit so that I could come in and pick out a replacement.  I asked if it would be possible to just get my camera fixed, and to my surprise, I was told that since what I paid was  under their limit (which if it had been new when I bought it, instead of a floor model, it would’ve been over their limit), they wouldn’t repair it.  I decided to go with the option of getting a new camera, which meant dad and I headed off on an adventure to NFM.

We got to NFM, and the lady at customer service was incredibly helpful, and everything went really smooth.  Once the paperwork was filled out, I went in search of my new camera.  First, I headed to clearance, and there I found this…

Nikon S9300

Like the one I purchased two years ago, this one is the most recent version of Coolpix, and it had also been a floor model.  After checking the information and playing around with the current one on display, I decided this was the camera.  It was meant to be.  Plus, since it was a former display camera, the price was really low, and with the store credit, it was going to cost me less that $40 out of my own pocket to get.  While finishing up buying it, the customer service rep, took it out of the box, so I could make sure it was okay.  Since the battery was dead, I couldn’t turn it on, but it appeared to be okay.

When we got home, I got ready to play with my new toy.  I was really excited.  I pulled the battery from my other camera and put it in the new one (they both use the same battery, it’s really handy).  I turned on the camera, and it clicked on, but then gave me an error message about the dial mode not being in position, and turned itself off.   I tried it again, and got the same message.  This time I looked closer, and discovered that the plate on top had gotten out of position, and the dial was sitting slightly cockeyed.  Dismayed, I tried, and dad tried, to get the plate to click back in, but it was stubborn.  So, back to NFM we went.

I was really worried that they’d not want to work with me since I was having so much camera drama, and that the customer service people would be really rude.  My worries were completely pointless.  A different lady helped us, and when she saw what the problem was, she assured us it wasn’t a problem, and said I could go find a different camera and we’d redo the process from earlier.  I found another camera that was the exact same one I wanted that was also in clearance, but they wanted fifty dollars more for it.  I just didn’t have the extra, so I settled on another Nikon, that was really nice, but not as great as the one I’d picked.  I told myself that my other camera was still in pretty good condition, and apart from those blue smudge streaks, it was still a nice camera that took good pictures.  Going back to customer service, I was surprised when the really nice lady showed me that she’d managed to get the plate down, and the camera was working perfectly.  Overjoyed, I let dad take the lesser camera back, and I set about finishing up at customer service.  The rep told me that it was a really nice camera, and she had a Canon that she loved, but she really liked this one too.  She then started talking about how she’d taken her camera with her to her granddaughter’s funeral, and she’d gotten some pictures that she was sure her son and his wife would want some day, but their hearts needed time to heal.  At this point dad returned, and overhearing what she was saying (but not who had passed away), he asked if she’d lost someone.  To this she replied that she’d lost her 3-day old granddaughter.  She said that she would’ve liked for her to live to be over a hundred, but Jesus had needed her.  She started talking about how good God is, and how much He loved us all.  I was in shock.  She was so sweet, and so genuine.  I could tell she wasn’t just saying these things because they sounded good.  She really believed it.  I’m a Christian, and I was just blown away by how much peace this woman had about what had happened.

All in all, it was a pretty amazing afternoon.  I got a beautiful new camera, and it’s a Nikon.  (I grew up in a Nikon loving household.  I don’t have anything against Canon, or other brands, but I really love my Nikons.)  On top of this, I saw someone totally living their faith and standing strong in it.

Also, most amazing customer service I have ever experienced!  I dealt with five different people this afternoon, and they were all consistently friendly, courteous, and just plain awesome!

Today Was Good

Published August 13, 2012 by Malia

Every great once in a while there’ll be a day that is just right, and years later when you look back on it, you’ll think, “That was a perfect day.”  Today was one of those days.

It started out as nothing special.  I’m sure that for others, the day would not be special.  However, the afternoon rolled around, and the weather was beautiful.  After weeks and weeks of blistering hot weather, today was cool.  It was amazing.  Mom ended up taking the afternoon off, and we went to the zoo.

If you’ve never been to Omaha’s zoo, I feel bad for you.  We’ve got a great zoo.  Due to the heat, this was the first time I’d been there since March.  They’ve been remodeling, so there were some changes, but overall it was much the same as it’s always been.  I was really excited, because I hadn’t seen the redone aquarium.

Overall, it was just as great as it’s always been, and now I need sleep.  Perhaps I’ll post the photos from my visit later this week.

Little Miracles

Published August 12, 2012 by Malia

Let me start this by saying that I’m not looking to get into any sort of religious or theological debate.  The point of this blog is to share what’s going on in my life, random thoughts I’m having, and things I’m entertained by.  I am a Christian, and so this post is about that.

These last few weeks since my Grampa died have been kind of hard.  Half of me has been questioning whether or not I’m really doing the right thing going back to ND to school.  500 miles is an expensive bit of a trip, and I can’t get home very quickly in case of family emergency.  The other half has been feeling that I finally see clearly what it is I’m supposed to do with my life.  The last three weeks I’ve been feeling really discouraged, and even kind of terrified of what this school year is going to entail.  I’m finally, FINALLY committing to a major, and for the first time I’m really starting to obsess over how I’m going to succeed.  I’ve not felt this way in ten years, it’s kind of refreshing.  Something else I’ve been discouraged about is the price of gas.  While it’s not in the $4/gallon range yet, it’s steadily creeping that direction.  I’ve been saving most of this summer, but I’ve really been feeling consumed with worry about whether or not I was going to have enough saved to have a cushion in case gas prices suddenly shoots up even higher.  I’ve had a specific amount I’ve had in my head, but I wasn’t really praying about it.  I realized late last week that while I’ll probably have almost enough, I’ll really be on the line of having enough, and there’s no way I’m going to be able to make enough to achieve what I’d like to have.  (I should note here, that I wasn’t able to actually get a legit summer job, so I’ve been doing some online data work that pays pennies, and while I did have one pet sitting job, the one I do every summer never materialized.  So, it’s been a challenge.)  Even though I’ve been fraught with worry, I’ve not mentioned it to anyone.  I’m not good at asking for help, or admitting that I may need it.  Especially, when I know how tough times are for everyone.

This morning, at the end of church service, there was a time of prayer for all the students and teachers heading back to school.  I was stubborn, and didn’t go up.  To my surprise, one of the ladies came over and prayed for me.  When prayer time was over, she told me that for the last three weeks I’d really been on her mind, that she sensed I was really discouraged, and she’d been praying for that to lift, and for me to be encouraged.  Then, she handed me a check and told me it was a little bit to help me out.  Later, after church, I looked at the check, and about fell over.  It was exactly, to the cent, what I’ve been needing.  It really was a gift.  I feel so blessed, and less terrified and discouraged.

So, here’s to committing and succeeding.  I’m going back to ND.