Jon's ramblings

Fall Break

2008-10-07T15:10:00.003-04:00

So, for Fall Break most people have left school and either gone home or gone on vacation. Not me. Celena and I have applied for food stamps, seeing as how neither one of us has a job. So far, we've been living by the grace of God. Hopefully we can get jobs soon so that we can get some income and pay bills/buy food/do things again.

VP Debate Thoughts

2008-10-03T10:18:00.003-04:00

So, like many Americans, I watched the VP Debate last night. I thought it was very interesting as a look into each of the candidates, as well as their running mates.

I thought Palin was phenomenal. While she did change the subject a few times to talk about topics different than the question given her, she did it so tactfully that it was hardly noticeable. She had many strong points and called Biden and Obama out on many of the inconsistencies in their campaign.

Biden tried to do the same, but I never felt like he took the initiative. He seemed to always be reacting to what Palin was saying, and had no answers for her allegations about his support for Obama differing before and after he was added to the ticket. Not only that, I heard nothing new from Biden. It was the same story over and over and over again; the same story spouted by Obama on a nearly daily basis: "Change, change change! Change for change's sake! Redistribution! Oops... no, not redistribution. That's not what we call it. It's taxes for the rich and breaks for the poor! Yeah!"

It seems to me that either Biden has no idea what redistribution is, he's never studied history or economics, or he's simply firmly in Obama's pocket now.

On a lighter note, my wife finally has some job leads. Her CNA degree may actually be usable after all. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, though. We're not through this yet.

Hiatus over

2008-09-30T13:38:00.002-04:00

I apologize for the gap in posts. I have no excuse.

Last semester went well. Managed to pull my GPA up enough to keep my scholarship. Also, I got married August 12th. It was a simple, civil ceremony. The full wedding is still scheduled for December 20th.

My wife has a new laptop that, although the graphics capabilities of it aren't the BEST (shared memory nVidia running Vista.... urgh....) they are far better than my own pathetic laptop (Radeon 7500.... so old....).

Classes are much harder this semester. I will have to work much harder to keep my grades up. If nothing else, I can take easier courses next semester to boost my GPA. Also, I plan on beginning work on my Computer Science major next semester, along with my History major. Hopefully I can still graduate in 3 years with both degrees.

On the gaming front, I have been keeping my eyes on graphics cards. NVidia seems to be winning the war against ATI, at least from my perspective. ATI cards are still very good, but I haven't seen a new ATI match an nVidia in a long time (in anything other than price, that is). Intel also seems to be edging AMD out in the power category, but AMD was leading in sales the last time I checked. Also, Spore is amazing. I can't play it much anymore, seeing as how I have actual work and studying to do. Seriously, no game since Alpha Centauri has kept me up FIFTEEN HOURS without my knowledge. I'm utterly impressed with Will Wright's new game. Looking forward to trying Fable II when it comes out, if I can bum a 360 and the game off some buddies...

That's it for today's post. Gotta head to the post office and then it's off to class. Yay, Russian History!

2008-01-15T19:33:00.000-05:00

So I'm back at school after a month-long Christmas break. It was good to have such a long time to spend with Celena and her family, but it's good to be back. Classes started today, and it's time to get back to the grind. I have a 7-page paper due in ten days, on January 25th, about a movie we're watching in Youth Camps and Retreats, and Ethics seems like it will be a very interesting class. I've gotta sign up for the lab for Intro to Computers and Information Processing, but other than that, I have no work tonight. Well, other than my paper, but we're not done with the movie, so I can't start on it yet! Also started playing WoW again, and played some Assassin's Creed on a friend's Xbox 360. Gotta say, that game is frickin' AWESOME!

Anyways, that's all for tonight. See y'all later!

2007-12-13T19:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm heading home for Christmas. Celena has dial-up at her house, so I probably won't be able to post much while there. I'll try and get something up for Christmas and New Year's, but no guarantees. Gonna leave now, as soon as I lug all my stuff down to my car. Also, something for Christmas that's hilarious. It had me rolling through the whole thing.

Ok, so apparently YouTube is being a pain and I need to get going, so here's the link. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

2007-12-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

So, finals are starting for this semester. Ugh... Plus, my finances are getting kind of low. I think I'll have just enough to cover my phone bill for this month. As usual. Hopefully we'll get our work study checks soon. Either that or Christmas cards from people.... ^_^;;

Anyways, Celena and I are doing great. For those that don't know, Celena and I are engaged, and will be married on December 27, 2008. I can't wait for the day. When we're together, somehow it just feels right. Like I'm standing next to myself, or that we're one person, not two. I know that sounds really weird, but it's the best way I can describe it. We act and feel like we're already married, except for the fact that I'm only home every two weekends (although, I guess that's normal for some families....). I'm also looking for any housing within 10 minutes of the Central, SC campus of Southern Wesleyan University for no more than roughly $450 to $500 per month, utilities included (or at least water included.

Not much else to tell... running on about 6 hours of sleep over 3 days right now... and I still have two classes.... ugh.... ik wil slaapen.... mag ik? I think I'll just go collapse and shut down for a few hours, als ik kan. En, voor de mensen wie kunnen mij niet verstaan, my mind switches between English and Dutch. I lived in a Dutch-speaking country for four years, and learned just enough Dutch that my mind has trouble remembering welke taal ik moeten spraaken. Anyhoo, I'm gonna go collapse. (=_=)

2007-12-07T01:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this is my first attempt at blogging. I know, I know, "get with the times." The problem is just that: time. I can't ever seem to find enough of it to sit down and write out my thoughts. But, I feel that this will be a great way to help me stay organized and on track here at SWU. If anything, it'll provide a nice diversion or pathway for me to vent when things don't go so well one day... :)