This post on the New York Times’ site is by a guy who decided to stop using e-mail (as much) and to communicate more efficiently with people via forums such as blogs, wikis, instant messaging and (*GASP*) the PHONE.
I think it’s kinda neat.
I think today was my first day off in a month and a half where I didn’t have either school or work (or homework). It was so nice. Rachael and I went on a bike venture around Fairbanks. Mostly errand-related. Deposited my tips for the week, dropped off a movie, got some Hot Licks ice cream (of course! it’s like 85 degrees today!) and then we rode across town to get birthday goodies for her aunt, and hit up some grocery shopping too. We were gone for like 5 hours in the hot hot sun.
Funny story about biking. Yesterday on my way to work, I caught up with one of our bussers (Bart), who had slowed down to ride beside another coworker who was walking to work. He asked me why I wear a helmet. And I pretty much answered with a “why not? it’s safer, and I already ride a dorky bike”-type of answer. So, on the way home from work, me, Bart, and another busser (Krysztof, I think that’s how you spell it) were riding together, three across, on the road, and he’s smoking a cigarette and tells Krys to hold his handlebars for a second.
I’m not quite sure what he was doing, but I knew it would end up bad, as it went Krys, Bart, me, ditch. So– go figure– his bike swerves into mine, and I hit the ditch. Not wanting to land on my bike (or to have it land on me) I jump off and fall into the grass, no real harm done, a little scratch on the hip, some grass-stained shorts, but as I was flying through the air, I thought to myself ‘THAT’s why I wear a helmet!’ I made sure to point that out to him as he apologized profusely, but we all had a good laugh.
I thought there was a week or two break in between the two summer sessions, but I was wrong. So class starts up on Monday! woo-hoo?? I think it’ll be a fun class. Anyways, I decided that I’m going to try to add the Sport Management minor. I think I can still finish it before graduating in December, since I’ve already taking the Sport Management class, and I’m taking Sport Psychology in this next session. There’s only three other classes that you need and two are offered in the fall and I’m trying to petition one. So I think I can get it done.
Happy 4th of July! I don’t really have any plans, as today is my one day off, and it’s hard to plan a party/bbq when I don’t get off work until somewhere between 10:30 and 12. Today was nice though. I did buy some hot dogs at the store, so maybe I’ll have a solo BBQ tomorrow or Saturday before work.
So, again, it’s been a while. I really wish I could do this more often, but with Nanook Notes, and a summer class, I just find it hard to find the time. The only reason I can really be on here now is that I don’t have a reading assignment for class today. Who’da thunk it? Summer classes take up more time than regular classes! Absurd!
Anyways, I’ve finally started riding my bike around. Well, actually, I finally got a bike to ride around. Jake and I went to the Sustainable Campus Task Force (SCTF) bike workshop and found an oooold Schwinn. It’s one of those dorky ones with the curvy handlebars (not like a race bike), fenders and a rack on the back. It’s pretty sweet though. It started out as a “loaner” but Jake went and bought it yesterday. I think he loves it a little more than I do. Later today I’m going to throw a basket on the back of it and take it to Fred Meyers for some shopping. I want my big old mama truck to sit around as long as possible.
Biking is fun. It costs less (say, $50 for the bike instead of half a tank of gas) and it actually doesn’t take too much longer to get anywhere that I need to go. The only pain is that to get anywhere, I have to go through at least 3 stoplights and an on-ramp. But it’s not too bad. I do want to pick up some of the trash along Chena Pump road by my house. It’s pretty yucky. But that also requires time.
Sometimes I feel like one of those “damn hippies” as some Alaskans call them. I forced my roommates into recycling cans. (Come on, 5 college students– that’s a lot of cans, before you even get into drinking soda). I want to clean up the road, and I bike to class every day. Very hippie-like, but within reason, I guess. I’m not going vegan anytime soon, you can count on that.
Yesterday was the first day I biked to work. I did learn a lesson: don’t bike to class, then work, and expect it to still be hot and sunny 10 hours later. I had to take all of my work clothes (including shoes) to class with me and didn’t think about/have room for a sweatshirt or raincoat. It was raining when we got out, and I had a. work clothes, and b. tank top. Luckily, my friend gave me (and the bussers, who all ride bikes also) a ride home. Yay. I will be stashing a raincoat in my backpack now though, and probably a sweatshirt.
The job. So I’m a night waitress at a hotel/lodge of a tour company (who needs names? really? if you know me, you know where I work). It’s been alright so far. Tips are… good…ish. We have a lot of very average nights. By average, I mean I make about as much in tips as I do by the hour. That’s alright, but not too amazing. Some nights I’ll quadruple that, which is really nice, but those are the stressful nights.
I find myself saying the same things over and over to every table.
Me: Hello, my name is Kortnie and I’ll be your server tonight.
Diner: Well, that’s an interesting way to spell Kortnie (I have a nametag).
Me: Well, my parents had to make a compromise, my dad was stuck on a K name and my mom got to pick one she liked, so they went with Kortnie and spelled it with a K.
….
Diner: So are you from here?
Me: Well, I grew up just north of Anchorage and came up here for school.
Diner: Oh, so you’re a real Alaskan, a native. You have a really beautiful state.
And it goes on and on. I do those two at least three times a night each, I’m sure. Anyways, it’s been pretty fun. I like most of the people I work with, and the others I can at least tolerate, so that’s always a plus. Most of my bussers are GREAT.
Well I’m out for now. I’m going to switch the laundry over. Lata
So here I am, at the library, at 1:45 a.m., just starting a 15-page paper that’s due in precisely 13 hours and 15 minutes. UY. Just thought I’d share, I’m taking a mini brain break.
I did this as a (late) assignment for my InDesign class. We had to use transparency and a vector image. The only vector I had saved to my computer was the logo for my fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, so I decided to make a generic little flier.
My final project will be a double-sided tri-fold flier. The ASCE chapter wants to send out a brochure to their sponsors to thank them and show the success they had (see my previous post), so since that fits with my assignment, and they have a similar timeline, I’m going to do that.
It’s finals time! (for me, anyways) and I have a paper due Thursday (15-pager, I’ve got nothin’ so far) and a presentation on Friday (that one about the Penguins) so wish me luck!
The UAF site featured the ASCE Steel Bridge Team. Take a look and see what my boyfriend has spent all of his hours not-hanging out with me doing 
Also, scroll all the way to the bottom and watch the SoundSlides presentation that Todd Paris made of them practicing assembling the bridge.
They went to Portland State University last weekend for the Pacific Northwest Steel Bridge competition (sponsored by AISC and ASCE). Out of 17 teams (I think, maybe 16?) UAF took first overall, and in subcategories took first in lightness and economy, second in aesthetics (they had little Alaskas cut into the tabs that they bolted together, I’ll put up some pictures later), third in stiffness and construction speed, and fifth in construction speed.
They get to go to Florida in the end of May for the national competition. Lucky ducks!
So, in facebook, everyone has a choice to put up their “status,” like “bob is studying” “Alice is recovering from a wild party, etc.” Well, on my friends list, eight people have statuses directly directed at the SNOW. UGH. Just thought I’d share that.
I’m taking a brief study break from my Edward Taylor and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. They have a new (I think) Pomegranate Lemonade flavor, SOOO Delish. If I had a whole six-pack of it, it probably would be gone by now, as opposed to the three of the multi-pack I’ve finished/started (a pomegranate and cranberry lemonade down, a lemonade started).
I’m listening to iTunes radio now, I found a “pop” station in France, but I’d say 80 percent of the music is in English. Bands make it big in Europe before they do here I guess. It’s pretty good. Some songs I know, some new ones, but all pretty good.
Back to my homework I go, I guess.
Well it’s “spring” time… at least it was yesterday. All sunny and warm, and I wore a 3/4-length sleeved jacket to class. Imagine my disappointment when I peeked up my head this morning and it was SNOWING! Good thing my roommate was already up, because I yelled “Noooooo!” (okay, maybe it wasn’t really a ‘yell’ but definitely a loud, sleepy whiny utterance). Super sleepy because I was the DD to T-Bell last night. Brushing my teeth and my friends call, “We’re starving, can you give us a ride?” why not? besides the fact that I have class at 8 a.m. Oh well.
I’ve been SO busy lately with homework and projects. People always ask me “How is your finals week going to be?” Finals week will be just dandy, it’s the week before when all my papers and projects and presentations are due.
For my English class, I picked THE HARDEST subject for my paper, and the “draft” I turned in mid-semester is essentially useless. So I’m starting from scratch. That’s my big troublemaker as far as stress goes.
For my Sport Management class, we have a group project. And what’s funner than researching literature and latin? Researching the Pittsburgh Penguins! I find it extremely difficult to focus on finding structure in a latin book I don’t know how to read that also has little to no indentations of paragraphs, when I could figure out how many games Sid the Kid sat out because of his high ankle sprain, or how many saves my cousin’s best buddy Ty Conklin has made, and whether Jordan Staal alone is the reason for the team’s explosion out of a losing record last year, or if it was Staal, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. That’s WAY more fun that Puritan literature. (And I must admit, my portion of the project is KICKASS).
Anyways, apparently blogging is more fun than researching my paper too. But I should get back to it. CIAO!
Well, I have more than four minutes to get to class, but I just figured I’d post this Miley and Mandy show video that apparently caused a stir in the entertainment world. It’s a dance video to Madonna/JT’s “Four Minutes.” Apparently some Hollywood buffs were asking “Is Miley trying to upstage Madonna??” yeah, because I’m sure that at 16 or however old she is, she’s that big of a cocky little twit. Are celebrities not allowed to dance to each other’s songs?
In other words, Channing Tatum is hot, and this dance video makes way more sense than the actual video for the song, which I didn’t really like a whole lot. If you’re going to save the world, do something about it!
Enjoy:
It snowed! (note: that is not an exclamation mark of excitement). What the hell?
In other words of un-excitedness, I rented a car this weekend in Seattle for the conference. Quoted price: $66.99, with the “I’m a young driver” selection checked.
Actual price: $403–what the hell? Apparently the “young driver fee” wasn’t incorporated into the quote I got online, and I asked for the full coverage which is now like $50 a day.. ridiculous! Definitely calling them up and being a bitchy customer. On Spring Break we rented a car for 10 days for like $600. Also, their “young driver fee” is now $25 instead of $15, almost twice as much. And that wasn’t factored into my quote.
Update: I did talk myself out of paying the $9 highway helper fee– I know I didn’t ask for that, I have AAA… but yeah, $9… that’s SOOO lame. Not renting from Advantage again, I only did because their young driver fee *was* so cheap, now it’s the same as everyone else’s. There’s no way a 3-day car rental should cost ANYONE $400. That’s just ridiculous.
