A lot of catching up

Wow! I haven't written in here since Thanksgiving! Sheesh!

Well, this is probably cause shortly after Thanksgiving not much happened. I worked, and I also had to prep for finals. That kept me busy.

Let's see...what else happened? Well, finals. I only had four but it still was a good deal of work. There was a lot to remember. Plus I had my stupid paper for Lit to finish. Fortunately, somebody in my Lit class got the bright idea of splitting up the final exam study guide among all the members of the class, so each of us did a little bit, and then after we all did our bits she sent us all the complete study guide. This helped a good deal. I think this girl probably got the idea from how everyone was comparing study guides for the midterm right before class, trying to get answers they hadn't been able to find, or better answers for questions they had answers to.

Oh and also in early December my group for Bio had to give our presentation. I think it went well. We needed the points, given our bad quiz record.

Since finals, I have been working primarily. Oh and I joined the forum for the Pokemon podcast I've been listening to, now re-named The Pallet Tribune (apparently due to some copyright thing -- they never really explained it).

Oh speaking of work my position has been changed somewhat. I am now a floor GMC rather than bakery. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do much GMC work due to having to help bag a lot. I don't see how this can be helped, but Peter (the GMC who they told to show me how to do GMC stuff) isn't happy about it. I suppose more experience would've helped for times like Christmas Eve when I had to go stock beer by myself. I have had to face beer and stuff before, but since we had sold a lot of beer that day there was a lot of stocking to do, and the beer room (a refrigerated walk-in case) is cold. Plus, people were getting beer while I was stocking, making my job even harder.

Hmm just checked my fall grades. A- in History and Lit, an A in French, and a C+ in Bio. I'm not happy about the C in Bio -- I would've rather had a B than a C -- at least I passed. And my cumulative term GPA -- cumulative of my enrolled classes and my transferred units -- is 3.152, which means I still have a B average. That Bio class was hard though, seriously. Those quizzes and tests -- I'd be surprised if anybody did really well in that class, unless they were science majors. It's ridiculous to make that class a GE class. But at least I got an A- in Lit, which was a 400-level class, and an A- in History, in which I bombed the midterm. The French grade is not as high as I expected (given my track record with French classes, I expected an A+), considering I aced every test I know the grade of, did all the workbook stuff (which was extra credit), and did well on the other assignments. But oh well. Also, I just checked WebCT and there were no grades posted for that class, despite the fact I had a final grade posted on MyCSUSM. So maybe it will change? Hard to say.

The Sunday before Christmas, the shelf above my desk fell off the wall, landing on my open computer. The screen display was subsequently messed up, and according to people more knowledgable than I in these matters, the screen is cracked. Therefore, I have not been able to use my computer since then (I'm using my mom's computer right now). I am currently trying to see whether I can get it repaired or if it will be cheaper to get a new computer. Even though I just got paid today, I don't have a ton of funds in either of my accounts, since I had to take over $700 out of my savings account to pay off my current computer, which I had purchased on credit and missed a couple bills on (which isn't good for my credit, my parents say). Strangely enough, I only paid $600 and something for the thing in the first place. I think cause of late fees and the 30% interest on the credit, the amount got bigger.

Anyway, I called this place called Data Doctors, and they called me back and told me the screen was broken and referred me to another place called Laptops Plus. I called that place this morning, and they said they would have to look at the screen before they could tell me what it would cost to replace, since screens are often made by different companies than computers are. Then they would do a diagnostic ($85), the money for which would go toward the labor, which the guy said would take about 30 minutes. Mum still wants Papa to go with me, since she thinks the guys at Laptops Plus are crooks. So I will have to go soon, while Papa is still on vacation. Maybe on my next day off.

My Aunt Jane was supposed to come for Christmas, something we found out a few days beforehand. But then she had some chest pains on December 23rd, was hospitalized, and was thus unable to come out. My dad drove to Vegas (where she lives) to be with her and drove back in time for Christmas. She is out of the hospital now.

Christmas morning finally came. I got a lot of presents, way more than I actually bought (I always buy 4 presents each for my mom, my dad, and my brother -- I figure each person having an equal amount of presents is fair). But I did get almost everything I'd put on the list I gave my parents, and some other things besides. I got:

~Prince Caspian DS game
~Princess Peach DS Character Stylus
~ESV Study Bible
~Cinema Sweets lip balm set
~Wireless headphones with transmitter
~Prince Caspian DVD
~2 jackets
~1 pair of jeans
~David Cook CD, by David Cook
~John Adams DVD set
~The Freedom Writers' Diary (book)
~Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World (book)
~Loving God with All Your Mind (book)
~Mythbusters: The Explosive Truth Behind 30 of the Most Perplexing Urban Legends of All Time (book)
~Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg (book)

Plus I got miscellaneous candy in my stocking, including 4 packs of Mentos, as well as (ironically) Aquafresh toothpaste and a Crest SpinBrush toothbrush. Also, I got the traditional stocking stuffer - a Life Savers Sweet Storybook (my brother's traditional stocking stuffer is a Chocolate Orange).

In addition to this stuff from my family, I got a 2-disc Pokemon Diamond and Pearl DVD set and a DVD of Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai (the most recently-released-in-America Pokemon movie) from Amy (as a thanks for me sending her presents, I think, but anyway - yay!) and a copy of the DS game Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (the new game in the Ranger series) from my "Secret Santa" in the deli-bakery "Secret Santa," Chase from the service deli. (double yay!) Actually, Chase totally gave himself away - bad boy! I mean, I guess you might have to ask questions to find out what the person you get for Secret Santa might like, but don't ask the actual person for goodness sake! Still, I am happy he got it for me, and I have been playing it for a few days now. I am now (as of today) at Ranger Rank 3. In my case, I got Juan from the bakery, and I got him a Walmart gift card, which he was happy about.

Apparently, however, over the holidays, I caught a bug, because right before I went to bed Christmas night, my stomach felt weird. I took an antacid. But this didn't do much, as my stomach still felt bad. I didn't sleep well, and at around 1:30 am on the 26th, I threw up. I spent some time cleaning up the bathroom (and my bedroom door and the nearby wall, which got the first bit of the throwup, from before I reached the bathroom) then went back to bed. I put a trashbag by my bed, should I throw up again.

And I did - around 5:30am. It wasn't as bad as the first time, though. But I found it strange that I had thrown up again.

When I got up at 6:45 (since I was supposed to work that day but wasn't sure when), I wasn't sure I should go to work, and Mum told me to take a shower and then call work to see when I was supposed to be at work. I called after 7am (when the store I'm at now opens) and found out I was to be in at 11. But even after the shower I threw up once, and long story short -- I called in sick. I spent the day lying down, and threw up a couple more times during the day. I also slept a lot. I was able to hold down some ginger ale in the evening though, and today (my day off this weekend) I feel better, aside from an aching head and back. I actually ate some food today too, and haven't thrown up since last night. I think I can go to work tomorrow and be fine. I'll just have to watch what I eat perhaps. I'll make my own lunch.

Today I was well enough to not lie down so much, but my aching head and nervousness about taking any pills made me sit around a lot. I alternated between reading and playing my new Ranger game.

And that's the catchup report. Nothing else really to say. Bye.