English Comp

I'm taking a second English Composition course in order to inch ever-toward my degree. The class is interesting so far. It is focusing on examining pop culture instead of classic literature for writing assignments. We’ve been discussing/debating Barbie’s influence on young girls. It’s different and fun. Plus, with having a 3 & ½ year old daughter it has real-world relevance for me.

Personally, I think parents have the most influence over their child’s development (or lack thereof). Toys, media and society play a diminished role, but do influence the development process. Of course that depends on how much involvement the parents have. A lack of parenting allows the other influences to take over and unhealthy ideals to take hold.

I guess “bad” parents could blame Barbie for negative self-image, but “good” parents teach their children values and morals that Barbie can’t subvert. I guess I’ll see if that’s true as Chloe continues to grow. Salvacion and I are trying our best to instill good moral fiber in her, so that she can weather any storm.

Anyway, the class should be less stress than the last two (Calc I & Calc II). I get to take math again in the spring. Oh boy – I can’t wait!

Classes, cars and computers

Classes began today at the college – students are all over the place. My class doesn’t start until Wednesday, but I’m already feeling better than last year. The everyday-classes last fall and spring semesters really took a toll on me. I’m taking English 112C – English Composition. I need a second English Comp. for my degree and since it’s free here it’s a no-brainer. I’ll take it and then transfer it to keep my degree going. Eventually I will complete the thing and be done with it.

The new car is really spoiling me. I don’t want to drive the Buick, but I’m forcing myself to drive it most days. I’m trying to get the most out of the warranty on the new car. I washed the Five Hundred yesterday and it looks good. I think I’ll try to wash the truck sometime this week too. I haven’t actually taken care of a vehicle in so long that I almost forgot how.

In other news, I finished the single-player portion of Command & Conquer 3. They are definitely making an expansion pack for this game because the final cinematic leaves you hanging. It’s a good game overall. I’m now trying my hand at the multi-player/custom matches. I’m trying to get down my build order and general strategy. I’ve found a few strategies I really like, but the build order has been a little more elusive. I need to fine tune that a little better. I also have to get out of WarCraft 3 mode. The early-game is very, very different. It will just take some getting used to, that’s all.

Summer winding down

The peak of the Perseids Meteor Shower is this weekend. I think I might try to catch some of it. Since we are out in the country it should be a good show. We watched one of the meteor showers last fall and it was great. I might try to take a few pictures, though I doubt it will work very well.

We’re also having an end-of-season party this weekend for the team I played with this summer. Only a few of us are going, but we’re going out to the lake, so it should be good fun. Rob and his wife are coming (the one who’s ankle was broken) so I’ll get to know them a little more.

My work schedule is going back to normal hours, classes are starting in a little over a week, and my projects are under the gun. I can tell summer is basically over. It seems like it went by so fast.

Speaking of the end of summer, I think this will be the first Labor Day in a long time (maybe ever) I’m not actually vacationing. We are probably going to be at home, not doing much – maybe go out to the lake if the weather is nice. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

We got a new car

We bought a Maroon, 2007 Ford Five Hundred. I know what you're thinking, "Not a new car wil. Where did you get that kind of money? You’ll owe more than it’s worth as soon as you take it home." Well, slow your roll!

The car is a 2007 model, but it isn't brand new. It had 5200 miles on it and we got a great price on it through my connections. Especially considering the MSRP for the same car with 5000 fewer miles on it is in excess of $32,000. It is a Limited AWD (All Wheel Drive) version with a few extra premium options. The options are nice, but were really just the icing on the cake.

We were looking for a sedan because we wanted something that got better gas mileage (the truck only gets 13-19 mpg) and was reliable for long trips (unlike the 1991 Buick with 140,000 miles on it). We also wanted something with more leg room in the back. We wanted to actually be able take adults out with us. As a bonus, the trunk space on this car is also impressive. We couldn’t find a CAR we liked with better leg room. If we wanted to spend a lot more money we could have bought a larger SUV and gotten the leg room, but we needed the gas mileage more and big SUVs aren’t exactly known for their fuel economy.

Although, let me say that we were very impressed with the new GMC Acadia. That is one nice Crossover! It has lots of passenger room and gets good gas mileage considering its size. We didn’t have the kind of money needed for that though, and that would probably have served as a truck replacement, as opposed to an additional vehicle.

Yes, we kept the truck (and the car). The truck will become our utility vehicle – hauling things and pulling a trailer. I’ll also continue driving the Buick on my daily commute because I’d rather put miles on it than the new car. With such low miles I plan to take advantage of the warranty years. Give me a few months with this car and I’ll let you know what I really think of it, but for now it is awesome.