Rest in Peace



photo credit

 "They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach."

Joe, you made Penn State a better university in so many ways.  Thank you for never forgetting that your players were students first, and athletes second.  And thank you for your personal contributions to the university.  Your memory will live forever, both as a football legend and as a great Penn Stater.

Out With the Old

Look who got a new scratching post! I thought a nice before & after shot would show just how much (and how hard) the cats love these things.  The new one (#4 since we moved here I believe) was only $8 at Ross.  You never know what sort of awesome crap you'll find on the shelves there!

I'll post a picture when it starts looking nasty and tattered like the one in the foreground, so we can see exactly how long it takes them to destroy one.

(and yes, the Christmas tree is still up. it's on today's agenda. Scott had a day of overtime last weekend so we didn't actually have a day off together.)

Student Loans

Did you know that student loans are intended to not only cover tuition, but also books, supplies and living expenses?  I realized that this week when I received notification that I'm getting a check in the next few days.

My first thought: I'll just send the money back to the lender - that's less to pay later on.

My second thought: The interest on my credit card is WAY higher than the interest on the student loan. The money should go there.

My third thought was a rapid-fire slide show of all the electronic things, all the sparkly things, and all the needed things (oh man, you should see the worn-out pants I'm wearing right now!!) that I could buy with the money.

So...I'm leaning towards option #2.  Can anyone tell me why that's not the best choice?

School Update:
I got an 80% on my first Psychology quiz, and I'm fairly annoyed about that because it was open book/open note.  The questions I got wrong were mostly questions where the correct answer wasn't something from the lesson (but the other 3 answers were from the lesson and were wrong, so I guess my powers of deduction suck).  I saw today that the average grade on the first quiz is a 75%, so I feel a little better about that.  I'm also about 1/4 of the way through the reading for the first two weeks, so I'm right on track there.

I got a 100% on my first LER quiz. This one had questions that might as well have been "This class is offered in Mandarin. True/False." It was literally a 10-question review of the syllabus.  I've been participating in the discussion forum, and have completed all of my reading and assignments (including an essay...can't wait to see how badly I did on THAT!) due between now and Sunday.

Oh, and Monday is a holiday, so I get a bonus study day this weekend.  Yay, me!

Gloating

Last week, I had a bit of a snit with one of the managers I support.  Here's the quick rundown:

Him: How are you today?
Me: I'd be better if there were more training forms in my mailbox.
Him: It's the holidays dear, every day we open on time we're lucky.

See, he is part of the department I refer to as my Bad News Bears or my Mighty Ducks, depending on how far behind they are on their training that week.  And since about Thanksgiving, I've been warning them that they had a lot of training due in December and that "but it's the HOLIDAYS" was not going to be an accepted excuse for delinquency.

Yeah, I'm kind of a bitch sometimes.

OK, most times.

Anyway, needless to say, they got really behind on their training. Also in case you missed it, the man called me "dear" AND used the holiday excuse in the same sentence.  I was foaming-at-the-mouth angry for the whole morning and my office mate has been calling me "dear" on and off ever since just to tick me off. 

Since I knew the managers weren't on Team Jamie, I contacted every person with overdue training and told them what was due.  I also e-mailed all of the trainers to tell them who needed what.  And this morning when I stopped by my mailbox, I had 15 training forms filled out and ready to be recorded.  That's right, on the busiest week of the year when the manager told me that there was no time for training, somehow the people actually doing the work found time to get it done.

Cookies are going in the oven shortly, and oh dear I think there's only going to be enough for my trainers and not for their bosses.

Mostly Unrelated...
My office mate brought me a bunch of back-to-school supplies today - a bin for my homework, some giant paperclips for my homework, pink and purple pens, Peanuts pencils, and a Mario Cart pencil case.  She apparently thinks I'm going back to the 1st grade, but I totally love her for it!

Looking Ahead

I'm not making resolutions.  They just don't work for me.  But here are some things I expect from myself this year:

* Fiscal responsibility! It's hard, but necessary.  I plan to limit spending on my credit card and to use any extra cash I get my hands on to pay down that balance.

* Straight A's!  That's my goal and I'm sticking to it.  I'm only taking two classes at a time, and there are no excuses for not doing my best.  If I'm not going to take this seriously, then why bother doing it at all?

* Move my A$$! I'm not making some huge ridiculous goal of running a marathon.  I'm starting small.  I just bought myself a balance cushion for work.  I know this isn't going to get me thin, but it should at least strengthen my core muscles (and save trips to the chiropractor).  I'm also planning on doing a "walking league" at work with some friends.  It's six weeks in February and March.  I can commit to anything for six weeks...right?  (that's why I roped in friends...if I can't motivate myself, maybe I can be peer pressured)

I just realized that I have a mantra for the year: $$AAA$$ (money, A's, ass). Mantra? Slogan? Symbol? Whatever it is, it's a palindrome and I like it!

Happy 2012, everyone!  Let's make it a great one!