It's happening again

I regret to inform you, but yes it really is happening again. I had hoped that the last time would be the last time, but alas, my favorite carbonated beverage is disappearing from store shelves.

It happened nine years ago with Surge, and it happened twice with Mountain Dew LiveWire--though that is now back in stores permanently (maybe). Now it's happening to Mountain Dew Throwback--for a second time, though I didn't care for it the first time it came out. I hope that it does come back like some are suggesting, because after going 4 months without carbonated beverages, I can't stand the fake sugar anymore--it just doesn't taste right. If it doesn't come back, I may just have to stick with Jones, or maybe learn to tolerate coffee for caffeine reasons.

Big decisions.....

I've been thinking lately--I know, what else is new--and I'm starting to think about changing the focus of my major. I'm thinking of switching from an education-oriented chemistry major to more of a pre-med chemistry major--with course titles like "Anatomy", "Immunology," or "Advanced Biochemistry". I mean, I've got at least 75 (I think) credits ahead of me, so I'll be graduating with around 190. You may be wondering why I'd change things this late in the game, so I'll explain.

It all stems from Perspectives the last two weeks--Malcolm Hunter then Brad Buser. They talked about their experiences in the long-term mission field, and I feel drawn to that idea. I've been thinking about moving out of the country as soon as I graduate--or maybe later, depending on relationship status and what agency I go through, if any--and possibly never returning to the familiar land known as the US of A.

I don't feel "pulled" to any particular area, so where I go may depend on the same things as how soon I leave.

I don't know, things may change, but this is where I see my life going right now.

Manual Transmission is hard

So earlier today, I had a driving lesson. Like my last one, it was because some guys in my connection group decided that I needed to learn how to drive. Unlike my last one, they didn't surprise me with the lesson.

When the guy pulled up, he was driving a BMW. Unfortunately, it was a stick-shift. About half of the driving lesson was trying to figure out how to actually get moving--I kept letting the clutch out too fast. I sort of got the hang of it, and managed to not hop any curbs--an improvement on my last driving lesson. We'll see if another lesson actually happens--hopefully with an automatic.

But hey, I can now say I've driven a Beemer. How many people with only two driving lessons can say that?

Boredom may be good for my health

Last night, I went out in search of somewhere to watch Mythbusters. I left my place at around 6, because I wasn't sure how long it would take to find someone that was home. Around 7:40, I was still walking, but my feet were getting too hot, so I took off my shoes and socks and continued walking. I kept going until around 8:30, when all the sand on the sidewalks was bothering me too much, so I put my shoes back on.

At that point I had given up on Mythbusters (and really, I gave up around 7:40, I was just feeling a little lonely and wanted to hang out with people) so I started heading home--in a very roundabout way. I got back to my place at 9:30, and saw some people I knew through the window at Jeff's. I went to my place to get rid of the hated shoes and went back down to see what was up.

I ended up hanging out in a group of 15 people--only 8 of which actually ate anything--until 11. Then I went back to my place and went to bed.

I walked around for three and a half hours last night--about 7 miles--only to end up hanging out less than one minute away from my place--three floors down and a little bit east. That seems to be the story of my life. Oh well, I had a good time anyway.

Forms

So, Kirkwood wants me to fill out another form. This time, it's for financial aid stuff. For some reason, they don't believe that I could survive by only earning $105 last year, so I need to fill a form explaining this--two words: savings account.

Anyway, I also recently filled out the Census, and there's one thing that upsets me about it. It's one little word, with no further option: White. I know, it's weird, but I don't feel that I'm simply "white". I'm 3/4 German, 1/8 Dutch, and the rest--mostly Norwegian with a little English, Irish, Scottish, and French--from a line that includes Vikings (including the last Viking to be King of Dublin) and at least one English king (and an illegitimate child of his). Hispanics can be more specific, Asians can be more specific, Native Americans can be more specific, so why can't I? My ancestry is so much more interesting than can be conveyed by the simple word "White". However, I only have to fill out that form every 10 years, so I guess I should calm down about it.

God is Great

So, warm weather is here.....again....hopefully it will last this time. Unfortunately, I seem to have caught some illness recently. Today is a good day, however, so I may be on the mend--although I tend to cycle between feeling mostly okay and mostly dead when I'm sick. Anyway, with the warm weather, I decided to walk home from Perspectives--and would have walked there if I knew how about how long it would have taken. I may want to walk there on a regular basis now.

For an update on the job interview I had last Wednesday, it went well. The interviewer seemed in a good mood, and not just a "I'm-going-to-humor-you-but-you're-not-getting-this-job" mood. They're hiring someone around the middle of this next week, and maybe one or two more before the end of the month--depending on how many people won't be back for the summer. That's one thing that should help my case: I'll be here until August. From the guy's description of the job, it sounded like I would fit in perfectly, but I won't get my hopes up too high. It's in God's hands, not mine--as it always was, and always will be.

Big days ahead

So the next three days should be.....interesting. Wednesday may turn out very well, and I'm hoping I don't screw up too much tomorrow and Tuesday.

What I mean is, for those that haven't heard or read earlier in this blog, my parents are now divorced. My mom has gotten an apartment (my dad is keeping the house and the cats) and she is moving in on Tuesday. I have been volunteered to be labor force in her move-in, so she'll be picking me up tomorrow--and I guess I'll be staying in the house overnight. The issues with this scenario are that I basically blame her for the divorce, so I've been somewhat bitter--so pray for a forgiving heart--and she is not a believer--so pray that I stop being a wimp and share my faith more than just mentioning it in an off-hand way.

Wednesday looks to be important--but for a different reason. Last week, at the Iowa City Connection Group meeting, I mentioned that I needed a job here so I could continue to pay rent past May--not to mention the post-dated check for August's rent in IC. On the way there this week, my ride asked me how the job search was going, and I told him that one of the leaders of my Salt Connection Group has a brother who may have a job staining decks for me this spring and summer. Less than two minutes after that, my phone rang, and it was the I-don't-know-this-person ring (I have 5 different ring tones currently in use, counting that one). It was a guy from Coldstone, and he asked if I was still interested in a job! I set up an interview on Wednesday at 2, so be praying for that.

On a side note, I'm getting that old feeling--either my younger friends need to stop getting married, or I need to get started on a relationship, but as the song goes:

This thing called love I just can't handle it
This thing called love I must get round to it
I ain't ready
Crazy little thing called love.
-Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen

But really, the wedding and reception were great--the stepladder for the bride during the kiss, singing Happy Birthday to the maid of honor (what 14-year-old girl doesn't want a new brother-in-law for her birthday), the cake fiasco (I think Hy-vee should give them a deal on their next wedding cake). I took off around 10:30, because I'm too self-conscious to dance around others, and I fell asleep within an hour of getting home.

Speaking of sleep, it sounds really good right about now. Good night.

Winter/Spring Retreat

I have a few thoughts on the Salt retreat this weekend, and I'd like to share them.

Firstly, I'm pretty sure that Paul Sabino is incapable of not "bringing his 'A' game". For the Sunday morning session, where the other 2 retreat speakers I've heard took it a little easy, Paul decides "I'm going to make everybody cry." He was talking about the end of a God-centered life, and looking forward to seeing the King of kings. He used his father-in-law as his example, talking about all the suffering that man went through, and how his only thoughts were "Why.....is God making me stop preaching?" "It's almost my anniversary. I have to do something awesome for my wife. Don't give me any morphine that day so I can think clearly." "I'm going to see mom first." (that one was to his dad) I was surrounded by guys, and there was a lot of sniffling to hear. I've talked to a few people that were surrounded by girls, and they were all just bawling. I tried not to cry, and I almost did every time I could hear that Paul was about to lose it, but then I looked up and saw tears streaming down his face and I lost it. I'm in awe that he would keep the level of intensity up, even when everybody in the room is exhausted. I may have to keep an "agent" here in Ames who will go to the Saturday evening sermon, and let me know when Paul's speaking at C-stone, so I can go to bed early and drive to Ames on Sunday morning to hear him speak.

Secondly, when a fraternity formal and a Salt retreat are in the same place, you get some odd interactions. On one elevator ride, I said that I was with Salt, and I didn't know how to respond to what the guy said next--I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was along the lines of "whatever floats your boat." I also heard one of the frat guys said "Hope we don't ruin your religious weekend." (not to me)

Another side effect of those two groups getting together is that you have a bunch of Salt guys suddenly deciding that the wall--or the floor, or the tabletop, etc--looks very interesting and thanking the Salt girls for their choice in clothes. We tend to overlook their modesty until we run into girls that aren't modest, and that's a shame. To any of you ladies that read this, thank you for not just chasing the next big fashion. It's a big help to us guys in our struggle for purity.

Speaking of women's clothing, some guys are way too comfortable in dresses.

The Anthem songs I seem to like best tend to be the ones that make "Whoa" into a multi-syllabic word. I'm not sure if that's a coincidence or not.

The official-ness is overwhelming

It's really happening. There is a signed document stating that I will be living in Iowa City in the fall. Yes, I signed my lease and put it in the mail so it can make its way back. My half of the rent is a little more than I'm paying here, but with the cheaper electricity (due to splitting the bill with someone else) it's about even. Then add that cable's included there, and it's cheaper. Plus, I looked on the website of the company I rent from now, and they're increasing the rent on my apartment--up $10 a month, making it only 5 cheaper than the Iowa City place.

Now let's look at some of the rules that I can remember--I read my new lease 4 days ago, so I don't remember it all.

• No more than 15 people in the apartment at one time--so maybe 2 futons, a couch (although my new roommate's current roommate is demanding the couch) and a recliner are cutting it close on how much furniture we should have
• We can't cook anything or do anything else that would make an obnoxious smell in the hallway
• We can't make noise that would disrupt others' living--so anything goes, really
• No kegs in the apartment--sorry people, the parties will have to be somewhere else

Anyway, tonight's the beginning of the retreat, and I've still got to pack and do a Perspectives assignment. This is going to be a good God-centered weekend--Salt retreat, Perspectives, Iowa City connection group. I'll have free time around Monday or so.

Rage dump

Okay, going to try and work out some rage right now.

This morning, I did my laundry, because it's Monday and I always do my laundry on Monday. When I went up to put my clothes in a dryer, I noticed that someone had kindly moved my clothes to the top of the dryer so that I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of removing them from the washer--and so they could use all 3 washers at once. On my way out, I set a timer short enough where I knew my clothes wouldn't be dry, but at least I could (hopefully) get to them before that person decided they were done for me.

When I got back to the laundry room, I saw that my clothes had been removed from the dryer and were sitting on one of the tables that are there so you can fold your clothes. In response, I threw my laundry basket across the room, knocking over a chair. When I went to put my clothes in the basket, I noticed they were still wet, and I was missing a sock. I checked the dryers for the missing sock, since obviously this person doesn't care about personal space, but I couldn't find it. I've NEVER lost a sock before when I was allowed to handle my clothes myself.

Also, while looking for the sock, I noticed that the dryers were nowhere near full--they could have easily fit their stuff in two dryers--but they just had to use all three. Why let the time-honored tradition of "first come, first served" come in the way of getting your laundry done? "Last come, first served" obviously makes much more sense.

Anyway, sorry about the rage dump. I just hope I'm not crazy for being upset about this......I mean, I'm crazy, but this is just a minor part of it.