So I've finally graduated college...again. I know I haven't posted in a long time, but I've been busy with papers, finals, and setting up my new business. Hopefully it will get off the ground soon. I set up my website today, and my business cards should be ready soon. I know businesses spread by word-of-mouth, so whoever is reading this should really tell everybody they know that I'm an editor and technical writer who needs work. My new web address is www.reulandeditingservice.com.
Till my business gets started I'm going to be sending out cover letters and resumes to publishers around the country in the hopes of getting some work. I just wanted to let you all know what's going on in my life, hope it's not too boring.
Since I graduated I have gone from being totally stressed and busy to having virtually nothing to do. I have planted a garden, tried to fix the spots on the lawn, and other homey activities. Please God give me something to do!!
18 May 2009
25 March 2009
11 March 2009
Sidewalk Shoveling
Okay, so we've had a very mild winter, to put it lightly. My tulips are already coming up and it's only March. For those of you reading this who don't know, winter here lasts until June. Anyway, now that we've had some real snow, one of my other pet peeves (I know there are quite a few) is that people seem physically and mentally unable to shovel the snow on their sidewalks.
I don't expect miracles, and that a person should be out shoveling snow when it is still coming down, or to dig themselves out of a six-foot snow drift, but after a day I do expect sidewalks to be clear. Being a student and walking to campus, I usually have to park a few to several blocks out. Walking down the street in anything other than gym shoes proves completely hazardous. What makes it worse is that lots of other students have tramped their way over the snow and with a day like yesterday when the sun came out and melted half of it, this turns to ice quickly. What really irks me though, is when people shovel one little path right down the middle of the sidewalk and nothing else. I know I should give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they just were in a hurry or didn't have time to completely clear their sidewalks. But when several days go by and they still haven't cleared out the rest, I get really mad.
It's not completely the fault of the homeowners though either. While the Laramie Police Dept. is happy to write students tickets for parking in the designated permit parking places, it never and I mean never, gives out citations for people not clearing their sidewalks. I should purposely trip, fall, break my hip and sue both the city and the homeowner so maybe more attention would be paid to those people who are too damn lazy to get out their dusty shovel and move some snow.
Okay, my rant is done. Now I feel better.
I don't expect miracles, and that a person should be out shoveling snow when it is still coming down, or to dig themselves out of a six-foot snow drift, but after a day I do expect sidewalks to be clear. Being a student and walking to campus, I usually have to park a few to several blocks out. Walking down the street in anything other than gym shoes proves completely hazardous. What makes it worse is that lots of other students have tramped their way over the snow and with a day like yesterday when the sun came out and melted half of it, this turns to ice quickly. What really irks me though, is when people shovel one little path right down the middle of the sidewalk and nothing else. I know I should give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they just were in a hurry or didn't have time to completely clear their sidewalks. But when several days go by and they still haven't cleared out the rest, I get really mad.
It's not completely the fault of the homeowners though either. While the Laramie Police Dept. is happy to write students tickets for parking in the designated permit parking places, it never and I mean never, gives out citations for people not clearing their sidewalks. I should purposely trip, fall, break my hip and sue both the city and the homeowner so maybe more attention would be paid to those people who are too damn lazy to get out their dusty shovel and move some snow.
Okay, my rant is done. Now I feel better.
09 February 2009
Life
So, the semester ended well, I got pretty good grades (not as good as I would have liked, but still good). Phil and I went on vacation to Phoenix for a week and we had a lot of fun. We went to a wild animal park that was up near Sedona. Phil and I took video of each other feeding the tigers. Maybe I'll upload them some time when I figure out how to do that.
So this semester is going well. I thought I wouldn't have time to read any of my favorite books because of all the reading assigned in my classes, but this doesn't seem to be the case.
Phil has gone to training in Little Rock. He'll be back in about a month and I miss him already. Interestingly enough, when he went to Virginia Beach and Kuwait and was gone for a year I was fine. But I assume I've gotten used to having him around for long periods of time and now I am not used to not having him around. Go figure!!
I've been doing a lot of shopping lately, buying new clothes and putting together a new wardrobe. Just this past weekend my mom and I went shopping for some new shoes. Since I don't have to wear orthotics anymore I can wear whatever kind of shoes I want. Yeah!!
Recently I've gotten into this show called Mystery Diagnosis. It's pretty interesting, it's like House but without the mean doctor, just stupid ones. Anyway it's a pretty good show, it's on TLC in case you're interested.
So, I mentioned in a previous post my embarrassing problem of falling asleep every night at 9pm. I went to the doctor and found out I have a low thyroid. The doctor gave me some medicine. That was about a month ago and I still don't feel any better. Today I called and went in for another blood test. Hopefully we can get a good dosage of the medication so I can start feeling better.
I've mostly decided on being a freelance editor, but I'm not sure how to get started on this. Who wants to hire an unproven editor for their piece of work? I'm thinking about advertising in The Branding Iron for people who want help editing their thesis or papers, or whatever. So I think this will be a good start. Plus, with my background in physics and engineering, I'd be good at academic editing. I already bought a bunch of books from Amazon like English Usage, a new dictionary, thesaurus, etc. I'm pretty excited about graduating this semester and getting started on my new career.
So that's what's going on with me. I know, I know, I didn't really say anything cynical, but there you go. Have fun knowing all about my life.
So this semester is going well. I thought I wouldn't have time to read any of my favorite books because of all the reading assigned in my classes, but this doesn't seem to be the case.
Phil has gone to training in Little Rock. He'll be back in about a month and I miss him already. Interestingly enough, when he went to Virginia Beach and Kuwait and was gone for a year I was fine. But I assume I've gotten used to having him around for long periods of time and now I am not used to not having him around. Go figure!!
I've been doing a lot of shopping lately, buying new clothes and putting together a new wardrobe. Just this past weekend my mom and I went shopping for some new shoes. Since I don't have to wear orthotics anymore I can wear whatever kind of shoes I want. Yeah!!
Recently I've gotten into this show called Mystery Diagnosis. It's pretty interesting, it's like House but without the mean doctor, just stupid ones. Anyway it's a pretty good show, it's on TLC in case you're interested.
So, I mentioned in a previous post my embarrassing problem of falling asleep every night at 9pm. I went to the doctor and found out I have a low thyroid. The doctor gave me some medicine. That was about a month ago and I still don't feel any better. Today I called and went in for another blood test. Hopefully we can get a good dosage of the medication so I can start feeling better.
I've mostly decided on being a freelance editor, but I'm not sure how to get started on this. Who wants to hire an unproven editor for their piece of work? I'm thinking about advertising in The Branding Iron for people who want help editing their thesis or papers, or whatever. So I think this will be a good start. Plus, with my background in physics and engineering, I'd be good at academic editing. I already bought a bunch of books from Amazon like English Usage, a new dictionary, thesaurus, etc. I'm pretty excited about graduating this semester and getting started on my new career.
So that's what's going on with me. I know, I know, I didn't really say anything cynical, but there you go. Have fun knowing all about my life.
14 November 2008
Jury Duty
So I got the summons for jury duty a couple of weeks ago, and went in last Monday. It was a pretty boring day, but someone I know from class was there also. I found out it was a child pornography case, so I was not really interested in hearing what the defendant had to say. When I got up to the jury box, this is what I told the judge and was dismissed on the spot. I was pretty happy I didn't have to serve, but felt a little guilty for not being able to suspend my pre-conceived notions about the defendant. Plus the prosecution said it would be showing a graphic video of children being abused. I don't think I could have handled that. There was one lady who was in the jury box who started to cry when she heard there'd be a video in evidence. She was dismissed too. Anyone who had any background or family incidences with sexual assault was also let go. Guess they didn't want the jury to be too biased. Oh well. It was interesting while it lasted. Now I'm just waiting to get summoned again. Maybe I won't, but you never know. Just thought I'd update you all on my life, before I go all philosophical again.
30 October 2008
Analog Vs. Digital
So here is my first attempt to write a purely philosophical discussion without being too nerdy.
I was thinking recently about the way things seem to change and the way things stay the same. Take clocks for example. Way back when we had the old analog clocks, with chimes to tell us the hour of the day. Before that we had sundials. But along came the newer, spiffier digital clocks with go-faster stripes and we were all "Cool, let's all buy one!" But the thing is, the manufactures of digital clocks didn't really invent something new, just something to help us be more tied down to time in general.
TV is the same way. When it was invented, it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. But since the advent of commercials and other more annoying things that suck the joy out of watching television, new technologies have come along to make our experience more diverse. For example, DVR. Now, for those of you who know, I have DVR and I think it is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Now, if I could only get it to work half the time, that would be another thing. But the experience of watching TV is basically the same. I plant myself on the couch, turn on the tube (or in my case LCD) and pick a show I want to watch. The process hasn't changed much but we tend to believe it has. Like somehow the advent of the DVR and TiVo has fundamentally shifted the way we experience television. Sure, we can fast-forward through the annoying commercials, but we still basically enjoy the same thing.
Another example of this phenomenon is the radio. It evolved from a large box in the living room to a small box on a shelf, to the car, now we have satellite radio. The more it changed, the more it stayed the same. So my question then becomes, are you for the old or in with the new? Are you analog, or digital?
I was thinking recently about the way things seem to change and the way things stay the same. Take clocks for example. Way back when we had the old analog clocks, with chimes to tell us the hour of the day. Before that we had sundials. But along came the newer, spiffier digital clocks with go-faster stripes and we were all "Cool, let's all buy one!" But the thing is, the manufactures of digital clocks didn't really invent something new, just something to help us be more tied down to time in general.
TV is the same way. When it was invented, it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. But since the advent of commercials and other more annoying things that suck the joy out of watching television, new technologies have come along to make our experience more diverse. For example, DVR. Now, for those of you who know, I have DVR and I think it is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Now, if I could only get it to work half the time, that would be another thing. But the experience of watching TV is basically the same. I plant myself on the couch, turn on the tube (or in my case LCD) and pick a show I want to watch. The process hasn't changed much but we tend to believe it has. Like somehow the advent of the DVR and TiVo has fundamentally shifted the way we experience television. Sure, we can fast-forward through the annoying commercials, but we still basically enjoy the same thing.
Another example of this phenomenon is the radio. It evolved from a large box in the living room to a small box on a shelf, to the car, now we have satellite radio. The more it changed, the more it stayed the same. So my question then becomes, are you for the old or in with the new? Are you analog, or digital?
25 October 2008
Exhausted
As many of you may have heard, I've had the rather embarrassing problem of falling asleep every night at 9pm. No, I'm not old or sick, but no matter how much caffeine I drink I still seem to fall asleep every night at the same time. The conundrum comes in when I go to bed at 10 and get 9 hours of sleep why I'm still so damn tired every night. It's like, as soon as the sun goes down, I start to get sleepy. It's really put a damper on my lifestyle, as I like to be able to stay up a little later and spend some time relaxing or hanging out with Phil.
Other than my small problem of falling asleep all the time, things have been going well. I have a load of homework this weekend, including two papers, a translation for Chaucer, a presentation, and studying for an exam. Yeah me!
I've been reading a lot of Nora Roberts books these past couple of months and I have to say I find them to be quite fun. They distract me from the boringness of my real life and let me live vicariously through the characters for a short time. I think it's important to have something like that, especially when you find yourself overwhelmed with work or school in my case.
I've been thinking about what I should write on this blog, since I've lamented not being able to show my deep profound thoughts in any meaningful or intelligent way. I'm sure you are all sick of reading posts about how my life is going, as I am sick of updating my blog about how my life is going. It's the same people! It's always the same! So, with that in mind, I will try to have purely philosophical discussions from here on out, as much as humanly possible. Don't worry for those of you who love misery, I will still vent occasionally and let you know all the little things that piss me off.
Have a nice day and try to not think hateful thoughts too much about other people (I say too much because I know it's not possible for me to not think hateful thoughts, so, there you go!).
Other than my small problem of falling asleep all the time, things have been going well. I have a load of homework this weekend, including two papers, a translation for Chaucer, a presentation, and studying for an exam. Yeah me!
I've been reading a lot of Nora Roberts books these past couple of months and I have to say I find them to be quite fun. They distract me from the boringness of my real life and let me live vicariously through the characters for a short time. I think it's important to have something like that, especially when you find yourself overwhelmed with work or school in my case.
I've been thinking about what I should write on this blog, since I've lamented not being able to show my deep profound thoughts in any meaningful or intelligent way. I'm sure you are all sick of reading posts about how my life is going, as I am sick of updating my blog about how my life is going. It's the same people! It's always the same! So, with that in mind, I will try to have purely philosophical discussions from here on out, as much as humanly possible. Don't worry for those of you who love misery, I will still vent occasionally and let you know all the little things that piss me off.
Have a nice day and try to not think hateful thoughts too much about other people (I say too much because I know it's not possible for me to not think hateful thoughts, so, there you go!).
17 September 2008
School and Stuff
Classes are going pretty well. One of my teachers doesn't know when to quit so he keeps talking about poetry he had us read in the first week of classes. I haven't read anything new in that class in about a week and we still haven't caught up.
Spanish class is going well. I have a presentation to give today which I'm not looking forward to. I wish I could remember the verbs better, but I feel like when I memorize one thing something else falls out. Like I only have a capacity for a few things. It's frustrating.
Chaucer isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've learned a lot about history in the Middle Ages and that's interesting. We have a paper due next week so I'm going to work on that this weekend and hopefully make a decent finished product.
I'm still feeling rather out-of-it though. I don't want to go to class and when I do go, which is always, I just sit there and feel like I don't want to be there. I must have senioritis really badly, but I remember last semester I was all excited to be there and ready to learn. I don't feel that way this semester at all. I'm ready for school to be finished. The way it's looking that won't be too long from now considering this is the fourth week of classes and it feels like the second. My how time flies when you are anxiously awaiting the weekend.
My work schedule is pretty good this semester. The only days I hate are Wednesdays and Thursdays because I have to work four and six hours, respectively. Wednesdays suck pretty badly because I have to work in the same lab for four hours straight. At least on Thursdays I change labs a few times. But by five o'clock I'm ready to go home, but I have to stay until seven.
Anyway, that's about it. I just thought you all might like to know. I don't have anything really profound to say at this point, just that school sucks and I wish I could do something else right now. Hope that cheers you up for today!
Spanish class is going well. I have a presentation to give today which I'm not looking forward to. I wish I could remember the verbs better, but I feel like when I memorize one thing something else falls out. Like I only have a capacity for a few things. It's frustrating.
Chaucer isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've learned a lot about history in the Middle Ages and that's interesting. We have a paper due next week so I'm going to work on that this weekend and hopefully make a decent finished product.
I'm still feeling rather out-of-it though. I don't want to go to class and when I do go, which is always, I just sit there and feel like I don't want to be there. I must have senioritis really badly, but I remember last semester I was all excited to be there and ready to learn. I don't feel that way this semester at all. I'm ready for school to be finished. The way it's looking that won't be too long from now considering this is the fourth week of classes and it feels like the second. My how time flies when you are anxiously awaiting the weekend.
My work schedule is pretty good this semester. The only days I hate are Wednesdays and Thursdays because I have to work four and six hours, respectively. Wednesdays suck pretty badly because I have to work in the same lab for four hours straight. At least on Thursdays I change labs a few times. But by five o'clock I'm ready to go home, but I have to stay until seven.
Anyway, that's about it. I just thought you all might like to know. I don't have anything really profound to say at this point, just that school sucks and I wish I could do something else right now. Hope that cheers you up for today!
29 August 2008
20 August 2008
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