Cold

Well, this is going to be interesting. As most of you probably noticed, it was pretty cold out this morning. Unfortunately for me, it seems that my car doesn't like cold. I'll have to do some research, but I'm not sure what I can do besides adding a block heater (warms up the engine when it's plugged in). Because when it gets really cold, I'm going to have to find a way to get it running. Previously, It's been sluggish to start on cold mornings, but this morning, it acted like the battery was almost dead. Also, when it gets really cold out, this morning's temp (10F) could easily be the day's high. So somehow, I need to heat it up at the busing station as well. I'm going to have to figure this one out fast.

Planning ahead...

is a very good thing. I went up north for thanksgiving, and we didn't have any internet up there. No problem, right? Except that I hadn't thought about completing that weeks blog posts without internet. Not a big deal, but I feel pretty stupid. On the bright side, I have to say once again, I really enjoy vacation. Thanksgiving meal was delicious (I have some great cooks in my family), I got to spend time with my brother who I almost never see, and I didn't have to do much work (free time!!!)
-Nate

Accomplishments

So far, I've pulled all four wheels off my car, and replaced the front brakes. The back ones looked almost new, so I'm going to return them. I've put the brake light that goes on my hood back on, I've looked at (for the first time) my spark plugs, I helped my dad do some digging for a wood pile on a hill by our house, and I've enjoyed relaxing and watching t.v. I'm not sure what else I want to accomplish tonight, but my brother has a play in 1/2 an hour that I'm not sure if I want to go to... Well, I want to get some more stuff done yet tonight, so I'm done for now.
-Nate

Today

Today, I get to work on my car! Replacing brake pads, etc. Right now, it's snowing, but I'm south of the twin cities, so maybe it's not snowing there. meh. It's not going to stay long, but it's nice to watch. My dog loves this weather (german shepherd). I'm not sure what else I'm going to do today, although my room could use some cleaning. I'm also thinking of trying to rebuild an electric motor (very simple job). I really enjoy being able to sleep in on saturdays. Allright, enough procrastination, I should get working on my car... right after I check my daily webcomics :)

-Nate

Computers never work...

1. When you need them to.
2. At a convenient time
3. When you'd rather not spend time working on them

I am having so much trouble trying to get a secure wifi setup to work. If I can get wep encryption to work, I can't turn on non-broadcasting. If I get wpa to work, then I can't turn on mac filters. It's getting infuriating. And I just want it to work. There are times I would enjoy spending hours tinkering with settings until I got it to work. This isn't one of them. So instead I just get to try to restrain myself from finding a hammer... Wish me luck.
-Nate
(and I only have to post once today. :)

Voting

Well, this is the first time in several weeks I've posted during the week. The topic of this week is: voting! I'll be old enough to vote in our next presidential election. I haven't decided at all who I'm supporting, because I don't know enough about the candidates at this point, (so if any of you know of good places that tell what each candidate's opinion is on the different issues, I'd really like to see it in the comments) but I know I'm going to vote. It's very interesting to think that only 54% (about) of eligible voters cast their ballot. How many of you are planning to vote? (you don't have to say who you're thinking of voting for)


I personally think this is going to be a very interesting election, what with all the things people want changed. There are so many opinions and causes to stand by.
-Nate

Explanations

All right, once again I'm doing two posts in one day. worse yet, they're being posted about ten minutes apart. The reason is, I once again wrote the post on the bus, but I never actually posted it. Who knows why I bother writing on the bus, except that I have time. I really need to find another time I can write stuff, so that I can post it when I get done typing.

But enough on my blogging habits. I think it's interesting how every year christmas starts earlier and earlier. Even before haloween, I had heard various commercials on the radio, and just today I saw an ad on T.V. To me, that is one of the most irritating things. Every year, the advertisements start sooner, and I have to ask why? I know it's not going to change my shopping habits for the holiday season, or go by some snowglobe because it looks nice. I don't know how many it would effect. The only reason I see for the early advertisements is to get you thinking about it early (so you'll spend more money, I guess).

Sorry about the rant :) Have a nice weekend.
-Nate

What?

Having lived (if barely) through more than half of my first semester in college, I have to say that there are a few things I'd do differently. I'm fine with the way things turned out, and that's good, because I don't have much choice, but since I can, I'm going to list off the top five things I would do differently.

Or at least I was going to, except I could only come up with two things I would do differently. Sure, there are plenty of things I'm not thrilled about, but when it comes down to it, I can live with them because the benefits outweigh the bad things. I can wish I wasn't so busy because I decided to take 18 credits my first semester, but when it comes down to it, I wouldn't drop any of the classes I'm taking. I'm not saying I wouldn't switch some of my teachers if I was given the option, but all in all, I like my current schedule. I guess my point is: I like how my year at the U is going, even with the things that make it far less than ideal.

And for those of you who are curious, the two things that I do want to change are:
1. take my classes without gaps in between classes (aka one early morning class, one afternoon class)
2. Looked a bit more closely at the class descriptions.

-Nate