January 2005

1/31/2005
Monday

Today was a dark and cloudy day with a temperature just above freezing. I went to accounting class at 9, and turned in my first homework assignment. We had one last week too, but I did not do it because my book had not yet arrived. As I was leaving class, light snow was falling, but the temperature was too warm for any of it to stay on the ground. I spent my one hour break sending email at the library computers. I recieved a message from Johanna that said she had booked her flights to the United States today. She will be arriving in Chicago on March 16th, and will leave on the 29th. After reading her message, I sent one to my dad asking him to borrow a car on those days, so I can go pick her up.
I went to Macroeconomics class at 11. A girl sat on either side of me, and the two of them kept talking and passing things over me during class. They made fun of the teacher outloud several times. I really didn’t mind because the class is usually very boring.
I ate lunch at the student center cafeteria after Macroeconomics. It was the first time I had eaten at the cafeteria this semester, as I have been to Mcdonalds every other time. Today I ordered spaghetti and garlic bread for just $2.39. I ate my food in the dinning area. As I was finishing, I saw Brian Holder at a nearby table, and talked to him for a minute. He used to be a friend of Gretchen years ago, and we have had other mutual friends since then.
I spent the rest of my break in the library, studying Chinese on the Internet, and reading parts of a free student literary book I picked up. I went to HPWES at 2, then came home at 3. There, I first took Damien outside for a few minutes. Mike and Carolyn came home about 3:30, and went to the rec center at 4.
I then fell asleep for a few minutes. Jen K. called at about 4:30 to tell me that she had booked tickets to a GoldFinger concert for her, Buckley, Mike, Carolyn and myself on the 19th of Febuary. Mike and Carolyn came back home at about 5, and I made myself a sandwich for dinner at that time.
I went in to work at 6, and my shift ended at 11. I arrived to work a few minutes early, so I cashed my check at the bank, talked to Nic for a few minutes and read some of a magazine about digital video editing. I worked with Todd and Mark, and Mark let me borrow two movies that he had brought with him.
After I arrived back home, Mike and Carolyn were already asleep. I made myself another sandwich and then spent a about an hour on the Internet. I had planned on just going right to sleep, but I found some new software for my website that I just had to install. I will tell about it tomorrow.

1/30/2005
Sunday

When my alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, I felt like I had only been sleeping for a few minutes. Getting up and riding my bike to work was not pleasant, even though the weather was not bad. I worked with Clayton in the morning, and Fred, Mark, Paul and Randy later in the day. I got a chicken meal from Burger King for lunch, and brought that back to the store and ate it in the break room with Mike Robert and Clayton.
Kerry worked seafood today, and she crawled inside her glass display case to clean it. Clayton walked by at that time and saw her behind the glass. He said, “Oh, it looks like we are selling whale today”. Clayton will say anything. I have worked with him for years, but I am still shocked at some of the things he says to people. There have been a couple times in the past when he really made someone irrate. One such situation happened when he was running the Deli. AJ’s husband had shot a gun at her, and Clayton said to her, “So what did you do to get shot at?”, and he laughed at her. I am not bothered when he makes these kinds of comments towards me because I have a similiar sense of humor(although I watch more closely who I share it with), so we have always gotten along well.
Towards the end of my shift, I gave Paul, Randy and Fred a riddle that Aaron had given me last night. Here it is…..I say things like “I can go to the moon, but not the sun. I can swim in a pool, but the the ocean. I can eat a pizza, but not a pie…….etc”. Last night, it took me about 10 minutes to understand the pattern, but nobody could get it today, so I gave the answer before I left. I stopped at Family Video on my way home to rent the movie, “The forgotten”, which I had heard Fred and Clayton talking about today. The cashier at the video store told me that I had $78 in late fees, and that I had to pay at least $2.50 of it. I told her that I only wanted to pay $1, and she let me.
Back at home, I took Damien outside and threw his tennis ball for him. Mike and Carolyn came home from the grocery store while I was outside, and I helped them carry the food inside. Mike had a school group meeting to go to around 5, and Carolyn cooked a rump roast and vegetables while he was gone. An onion sprayed juice in her eye when she cut it, and she was in extreme pain. She came into my room with eyedrops in her hand and tears streaming out of the injured eye. She is unable to put drops into her own eyes, so I did it for her.
We ate the dinner after Mike returned home. After that, Mike, Damien and I went to the liquor store to buy 2 beers and a pack of cigarettes, then went to his dad’s office so he could print out a 100 page paper for school. Back at home, Mike, Carolyn and I watched the movie I rented today, in which everyone in the world except one lady loses thier memory. I recommend the movie. Afterwards, I watched the video that Tavis made about him and his friends skating in the mid 90’s. He uses the same software I do, and I know it must have taken him dozens of hours.

1/29/2005
Saturday

The morning was not good. My alarm wnet off at 5. I had set it early because I thought there would be a layer of ice outside. The temperature was actually a couple degrees above freezing, which made everything a lot easier. I had expected to have real trouble getting to work on a bike, but I was surprised to find that there was only about an inch of slush outside. It appeared that the temperature had risen since I went to bed, and that nothing frozen had fallen out of the sky the entire night.
The ride to work was not pleasant or boring. I left home 45 minutes early, and then I went very slow so my bike tires would not throw water from sidewalk onto me. Since the ground was not slippery(temp. above freezing), I got to work within 15 minutes. I then bought a small package of chocolate doughnuts and chocolate milk, which I ate in the break room while I waited for my shift to start.
Then came the day. Kevin(meat department manager) came in at 7, and Randy (coworker, bitch) came in at 10. It was the first time I had worked with Randy since he hurt his back 3 weeks ago.
Work………………
Tom(store manager) paged me as I was just walking out of the building and asked offered me a ride home. He told me I could put my bike in his truck, but I looked outside and realized I did not know which truck was his. I then saw Jeremy(customer service manager) outside and asked him where I could find the truck. Tom pulled up at that time, and I put the bike in the back of his truck, and he brought me home.
Mike and Carolyn came home just a few minutes after me. They had been to the mall, and they had gifts for me. The first gift was a sock-cap, and the other was a sweatshirt.
Note: (They cook almost every night and….now they bring gifts……..must be
planning on killing me)
I talked to Johanna on the phone from 3:20-4, as Mike and Carolyn slept. She is really planning on coming to the US in March, and that is great. Mike and I went to play raquetball just after 4, and Carolyn went to work at 5. The games of raquetball were not normal today. I did not try during the second game, and Mike did not try during the third. We may be finally getting tired of the game.
After returning from the games, I found a note on my door from Carolyn saying that Jen had called me. I had been planning on going out with Ericka tonight, but she had not called me back, so I then called Jen and headed to her house. Her and Steph were there when I arrived, and they gave me food. They had deep-fried zucchini and eggplant, and they gave me the left-overs.
Aaron came over about 30 minutes after I did. The four of us went to Old Town Liquor at 8 to buy drink. A while after we got back home, Martin and Eathen came over. Later after that, many more people came over, including Brent(work), and Erin and AJ and about 6 others. I left the house at around 11 and then rode my bike home.
As I was getting my bike out the girls back yard, I noticed that I was surrounded by giant trees. The two trees in the backyard could easily be well over 100 years old. I can not remember seeing a tree as big as this anywhere else within the city.

1/28/2005
Friday

I was late for class today because Carolyn was in the bathroom when I was trying to get ready for school. I arrived to accounting class just about 10 minutes after 9. My 10 o’clock Chinese class met in a new room again today. Me meet in two different rooms during the week, and both of those rooms have changed this week. Once again, I could not understand most of what was said in class today. I think I will fail, but this is the lowest level class that is offered this semester. It is best that I take this class this semester, even if I fail, because my degree progress will be very far behind if I take nothing. If I pass this class, then that is great, but if I fail, then I will still be able to retake it the next semester and pass for sure. At least I am making progress this way.
Since my Chinese classroom moved today, it is now very near my Macroeconims class, which meets directcly afterwards on Wednesdays and Fridays. After Macroeconomics class today, I ate lunch at the student center, then spent the rest of my two hour break in the library, using the computers.
After HPWES class, I played ball with Damien for a while, then came inside, and Carolyn was there. She asked me to marinate some steaks, then left while I almost fell asleep for a second. I got a call from Johanna at that time. Carolyn was back home as I got off the phone, and Mike arrived shortly after that.
Mike and I cooked the steaks on the grill outiside, and I used his truck to go to the gas station and exchange the extra gas canister, because we thought we might run out. Mike and Carolyn went to at party at his cousins house after dinner, and I did the dishes. I was asleep before 9.

Thursday
January 27, 2005

I had a dentist appointment at school this morning at 8 A.M.
Mike had to go to work at the same time, so he dropped my bike and I off at the engineering building, which is where the dental clinic is. I first had to fill out several pages of paperwork that asked a couple hundred different “yes or no” medical questions. I have been going to this clinic for years, and they make me fill out all these forms each time.
Dental hygiene students do all of the work at this clinic, and this work is checked by their instructors, who are real dentists. In all the years I have been going here, I have never seen one male student. It used to be free to have an appointment, but now it costs me $20. People with really dirty teeth pay twice as much. The clinic decides who pays what by rating each persons teeth. My teeth are the cleanest on the scale, at a level 1. The worst possible teeth would be a level 5, but this clinic will only see patients that have level 4 or better teeth. Level 4 pays $37.
Getting your teeth cleaned here usually takes two appointments. It takes two because the first appointment involves many things that a regular dentist would not do. The students are required to do these things so they will learn more. These things include taking temperature and blood pressure, coating the teeth with a red substance that shows were dirt is, recording information about each individual tooth and giving a facial massage. The facial massage is done to check for any abnormalities under the skin of the face.
The student hygienist who saw me today did not like her job. She complained repeatedly to me that she hated having to be in the clinic so early in the morning. That is not to say that she was not friendly, though. She at least didn’t hold it against me that I was there. She skipped most of the extra things that she was suppose to do on the first appointment. She did not take my temperature, coat my teeth with the red stuff or give me the facial massage. I was glad that she skipped everything except the massage.
My appointment was finished about an hour early because so many things had been skipped. I then went to the student center and ate breakfast while I waited for my Chinese class to start at 10. During class, I rarely had any idea what the teacher was talking about. I think I might fail.
Chinese was my only class of the day, and I rode my bike home after that. There was a stiff wind blowing me in the opposite direction during the entire ride, which is very annoying. Once I arrived home, Damien greeted me holding a tennis ball in his mouth. I spent a few minutes throwing it around for him outside, then went inside and received a call from Johanna. She is staying at her parents home through the weekend.
After the call, I ate the last of the leftover lasagna for lunch, then sat down at my computer. I used the computer for the rest of the afternoon, mostly studying Chinese. Mike came home from work at 2:30, and left for school at 3:30. He got the mail while he was home, and two more of my books arrived. The most expensive one, accounting, had barely made it. Its packaging had been ripped to the point that it almost fell out. The Chinese book was a workbook that accompanies the textbook. It is the wrong version, as I need one that uses a different kind of Chinese characters, so I will have to try and sell it back.
Carolyn came home while Mike was at school, and I continued studying Chinese on my computer. Carolyn cooked dinner at about 6:30, and she made chicken quesadillas and bean dip. After the meal, Mike, Damien and I went to Buckley’s house, where we stayed until about 10. We spent most of our time playing “Grand Theft Auto” on his Playstation. We have played this game the last three times we were at his house, but we never actually try to accomplish the goals of the game. We just steal automatic weapons, tanks and fighter jets, and then open fire on the police and civilians. Jen came home from Wal-Mart while we were there, and she brought Damien two squeaky toys, which he noisily used for the rest of the evening. Mike and Carolyn had coincidentally bought one of these same toys for Damien yesterday, which he noisily used then also.
I went to sleep shortly after returning home from Buckley’s, and I then had dreams about riots……..must have been because of the video games.

1/26/2005
Wednesday

Wednesdays are now my busiest, with 5 classes and a 45 minute break from 11:50-12:35. I went to all the classes today, and spent the break eating lunch in the student center. I arrived home at 3 to find that another package had been delivered to me from Half.com. I was hoping it would be my Chinese textbook, but it was only a set of audio tapes, which I do not need or even remember ordering. I checked my order online and found that I did order the tapes for $6, though.
Mike arrived home shortly after I did, and Carolyn was at work until 8. I spent from 3:30-6 chatting with Johanna online. After that, Mike and I went to Big Boys Q’n for dinner. We were the only customers in the restaurant when we arrived, even though it was right in the middle of dinnertime. I ordered brisket, baked potato and breaded okra, which was all very good.
We returned home after the meal, and I spent time online looking for a new video conferencing program to use with Johanna. We have already tried two of them, but had no success. I spent the rest of the evening studying Chinese, then went to bed early at about 10.

1/25/2005
Tuesday

Today is my earliest day of classes, which start at 8 in the morning. Last week I missed my first class because I thought Tuesday was Monday, so this was the first time I had been. The weather was still descent for the early bike ride, and later in the day it was about 50 degrees(10 Celcius) and sunny.
My 8 o’clock class is Management 345, Business Computing, but most of today’s class had nothing to do with that subject. Some accounting grad students came in and told us that we would each get 25 bonus points and a chance at winning money for filling out a survey. They told us that the first section of the survey would be conducted today, and the second part in two weeks. The survey had nothing to do with Business Computing or accounting, which was a bit strange. It had to do with romantic relationships. The information had come from a website called ThePerfectMatch.com, and it consisted of a 5 page questionnaire that had been filled out by some couple somewhere. After reading this couples answers to the questions, we were asked to decide if they would still be together in one year. The survey directions said that the accuracy our answer would determine our odds at winning three $100 raffle prizes, which were being given away in addition to the 25 bonus points. Our odds would be further determined by the accuracy of three more similar surveys that we would be asked to fill out in two weeks. Furthermore, we were asked to place bids for a kind of “cheat sheet” that we could get with our survey’s in two weeks. Getting the “cheat sheet” was said to decrease your odds of winning the raffle prizes, though, because the object being bidded with was the number of raffle tickets each correct answer would give you.
Today’s survey of the couple asked them questions about everything from parental discipline histories to sexual experience. After we had read through all the questions and decided if the couple would be together, we were then asked to put our cheat sheet bid amount into an envelope. This got stranger after all our materials had been collected. We were then told that we had been deceived and there would be second survey or raffle prizes. So weird. Maybe someone was getting money for us to fill out these surveys for a website.
The last 20 minutes of the class was taught by our real teacher, and he talked about our real subject, business computing. Class got out at 9:15, and I then went to Mcdonalds for breakfast. I picked up a Daily Egyptian on my way in the building, and I found the article I had been interviewed for on the second page, which was about studying abroad. Ninety percent of the article was written about my experiences in China. Jane did a good job at writing it. My website address was not published in the printed version of the article, but I did find it later on the Internet version. It is probably a good thing it was not published, because I sometimes make fun of students and teachers that are in my classes.
After leaving Mcdonalds, I then went to the computer lab in Faner for a few minutes before going to Chinese class. Today was the first day that Dr. Hammond, the head of the Chinese department, taught the class, because he was sick last week. Today we moved out of the tiny classroom we had been in all of last week, and went to a bigger one in the Parkinson building just next door. During class was the first time I had really ever seen a white person speak good Chinese. It was also only the second time I have really ever been around Dr. Hammond. I did meet him once about a year and a half ago when I was enquiring into studying abroad in China, but we only spoke for a few minutes. He was not at all how I remembered him, because I used to think he was very serious, but now I think he is a strange combination of serious and goofy. Maybe Chinese has made him crazy. Normal teachers are boring, though, the strange humorous ones are always my favorite.
A student mentioned to me that I was in the paper at the beginning of class, and the teacher told me, “Thanks for bringing publicity to the Chinese program”, when he called my name for roll.
Chinese was my last class of the day, and I rode my bike home afterwards. I then played ball with Damien for a while, and Mike came home while I was doing so. He had decided to work at home the rest of the day. He told me that he had just taken $30,000 cash in his truck to a bank in Murphysboro. He should probably consider getting his truck armored if he has to do that often.
At noon, I started chatting with Johanna, and we stayed online for almost 3 hours. She bought a headset today, but we were still unable to get the voice chat working. We did at least have the webcams, though. After the conversation, I downloaded a videoconferencing program that will hopefully work with both video and audio. We will try it tomorrow.
I fell asleep for an hour and a half from 5-6:30, and Damien joined me. I then got up and had some ice cream and watched the Simpsons and a few minutes of American Idol. After that, I spent a few minutes in the utility room working on my bike. I adjusted some of the controls and oiled the chains. It is like new.
I then went to my computer and began study Chinese. I still have a lot of catching up to do, and my book has not yet arrived. I have at least found some good material from the book online. I did receive my Macroeconomics book today, and I got my Chinese dictionary yesterday. Waiting a little bit is definitely worth the $200 I saved by not buying them at the bookstore.

1/24/2005
Monday

I got up this morning at 8, and went to Accounting class at 9. During my one hour break, I used the library computers, then went to Macroeconomics class at 11. After that, I spent my two hour break eating lunch in the student center, and studying Chinese characters back at the library computers. I rode my bike home after HPWES class.
When I arrived home, I found a note on my door from Carolyn. It said that a woman from the Daily Egyptian(the university newspaper), had called wanting to do an interview with me about my study abroad experience.
After playing ball with Damien outside for a few minutes, I went back inside and called Jane, the reporter who had left me the message. I then spent 20 minutes answering questions about my trip. Jane asked if the newspaper could publish the address of my website, and I told her yes. I am curious to see if it gets alot of hits after the paper comes out tomorrow. After the interview was over, I adjusted a few things on the site to make the parts about my trip easier to find.
Mike came home from work shortly after that, then the two of us went to the Rec center to play racquetball. I beat him 21-19 in the first game, and the second game was interupted because our court had been reserved. Mike was far ahead when we ended the game, but I am sure I would have won because I am better.
We then spent some time in the weight room before coming back home at 5:30. I then got ready for work and ate some leftover lasagna for dinner. I rode my bike to work at 6. The place was a mess when I arrived, and it took a couple hours to get everything in order before I began cleaning the meat department. Carolyn worked with me until 8, and she had to take apart and clean the sausage case, because ice had built up inside of it and caused it to quit working.
I rode my bike home at 11, and the temperature was still in the 40’s at that time. Mike and Carolyn had already gone to bed by the time I got home. I made myself a sandwich for a snack, then used my computer a while before going to sleep.

1/23/2005
Sunday

I worked from 7-3:30 today. Kevin and Clayton were there when I arrived. I returned the disks of movies Kevin had let me borrow, and he brought in several more for me. Paul and Carolyn came in to work at 11. I took my lunch at Burger King, and had a Whopper value meal. I took my break at 2, and then did some shopping for bathroom products before leaving the store. The weather for the ride home was much better than yesterday, but it was still below freezing.
Mike was home when I arrived. I turned on my computer at 4, and found that Johanna was online, we then chatted and viewed our webcams for 2 hours. Carolyn came home from work at 5:30, and Jeff came over at 6. I ended my conversation with Johanna at that time, then everyone ate lasagna together. Mike, Jeff and I shared a bottle of wine. After the meal, we watched the end of a football game. I gave Jeff the silk bag I had brought him back from China. It had a lighter in it that is the shape of a small hammer, and some Chinese money. Jeff left when the game was over, then Mike and I watched the movie, “The Village”. I had some ice cream to eat during the movie, and Carolyn made cupcakes towards the end of it. The movie was not as scary as the previews led on, but I liked it quite a bit. I went to sleep at midnight.

1/22/2005
Saturday

I got up at 5:30 this morning and rode my bike to work. The store became busy early in the morning because it began snowing. All the extra business made time go by very fast. One of our first customers of the day was an old crazy lady that shops there regulary. She came to the meat department at 7 this morning and first asked Kevin if he knew the difference between a lamb and a yew. He told her no, then she asked him if he would cut her a lamb crown roast that was just two inches wide. This type of roast if usually at least 12 inches wide, and it is impossible to make one just two inches. Kevin told the crazy lady this, and then she stuck her middle finger in his face and walked off.
The rest of the day was uneventful, but I stayed very busy all day. Fred came in to work at 10, and Carolyn came in at 11. I rode my bike home at 2:30 and the weather had become terrible. The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees since I came into work. It had stopped snowing soon after it started in the morning, but the little snow we did get turned to ice in places. But, the worst part of the weather was the wind. Gust were sometimes as much as 25+ miles per hour and I was riding against the wind. I am sure the wind chill was well below zero.
Mike was home when I arrived, because he had just worked from 8-12 today. We left for the racquetball courts soon after I arrived home. There were hundreds of high school kids at the rec center when we arrived, and the parking lot was almost completely full of cars and buses. The kids were involved in many different type of athletic competitions all over the building. Unfortunately, they also were using almost all of the racquetball courts. There are two different kinds of courts at the rec center, and all of the kind that we usually use were full. We do not like the other kind because the rear walls are made of glass, which looks out onto the large gymnasium which holds the basketball courts and running tracks. The problem is that both much of the gymnasium and the racquetball are blue. It is almost impossible to see the blue ball against the blue background when it is moving over 100 miles per hour, which it often does. These rooms also give off very extreme echos of every sound that is made. The sound made by the ball bouncing off the glass resembles something straight out of a science fiction movie.
In our first game, I beat Mike 21-10, but he beat me 13-21 in the second game, and I also lost the last game by a few points. During the second game, I hit him in the middle of the back with one of my fastest balls. After our three games, we spent a few minutes in the weightroom, then ran some errands. We first went to get gas, then Mike shopped at Schnucks while I took his truck to the liquor store, where I bought beer and wine.
I then picked him back up and we went home. There, we found that Damien had thrown up for about the dozenth time in the last 3 days. Mike called the veternarian, and was told that the dog was constapated. The veternarian said that the options were a $200+ trip to the vet, or a home rememdy. The home remedy involved either giving the dog milk, letting him soak in warm water, getting him to drink mineral oil, or injecting mineral oil into his butt with a needle-less syringe. After the phone call with the vet, Mike gave Damien a huge bowl of milk, then went to Schnucks to buy mineral oil. He told me to watch the dog while he was gone, in case of a milk vomiting disaster. I then shut the door of my room so the dog could not leave my sight. At the first sign of any heaving, I was prepared to quickly rush the animal outside. I only hoped I would make it in time. There were several false-alarms, when I heard very suspicious stomach noises, but nothing ever happened.
After Mike returned from Schnucks, he mixed mineral oil with a brand of food that was known to give Damien diareah. We were then sure that the dog was going to explode at any moment, but nothing ever happened. Mike cooked a frozen pizza at about 6:30, and Carolyn came home from work just after 7:30. I then prepared to begin studying for my Chinese class. I downloaded various software that I needed to display Chinese characters and to run study-aid programs on the Internet. Mike, Carolyn and Damien left around 8:30 to go to Mike’s brothers house. I then continued studying Chinese until I went to bed at about 10.

1/21/2005
Friday

I had 4 classes today, starting with Accounting at 9, and then Chinese and Macroeconomics. The Accounting and Macroeconomics classes had only a fraction of the people present that they did on the first day. People had been sitting on the stairs on Wednesday because there were no available chairs, but half the seats were empty today.
I have a two-hour break from 12-2 on Mondays and Friday’s. Today I had lunch at Mcdonald’s during that time, where I had the $1 McChicken, Double Cheeseburger and small fry. I am sure I will eat many more of these same foods during the rest of the semester, because I always do when school is in session. I sometimes also eat at a kitchen near the Mcdonalds, which serves many homemade-style foods, but the quality is not always that great. And on rare occasions, I might be seen ordering at the Taco Bell, which is located inside of the kitchen.
I went to the library after the meal, and then realized that I had forgotten to pick up the Chinese CD’s that the Media Center had copied for me yesterday. So, I walked back to the Faner building and picked these up, then returned to the library. There, I rented headphones and tried to listen to the CD’s, but they were not very useful without the book, which I will not receive in the mail for a few more days. I did use the headphones to listen to some Internet radio stations and Chinese language teaching websites. While I was sitting at the computer, I noticed that the girl sitting next to me was Megan, who had sat next to me in an English class in the fall of last year. I talked to her for just a minute, then walked to History and Philosophy of World Economic Systems class(that name is too big, so I will call it HPWES from now on).
I arrived at HPWES class a few minutes early, and had to wait outside the door with other students until another class left the room. There were about 7 or 8 students waiting, and one of them is one of the oddest creatures that I have ever encountered. I am still unsure as to the sex of this creature, because it has the body of a large male and the voice of a young girl. The creature is extremely friendly and peaceful, and it talked to everyone while we waited to go into the classroom. It appears to have some kind of a disease on its hands, which causes a very severe rash that the creature treats with a white powder. The creature sits behind me and spoke to me a couple times during class today.
At the beginning of class, a bag was passed around that had the names of different countries inside of it. Each student had to pull a name out of the bag, and the country chosen will be the topic of a paper that is due in April. I chose Guatemala. I had a hard time staying awake during the first half of class, but a heated debate woke me up during the second half. There are many older students in the class who appear to be very knowledgable and opinionated about world events, and the teacher loves to get them going. I think that this is going to be my favorite class once everyone gets comfortable with each other and the arguments become more frequent and heated. Today was only the second day of class, and everyone was riled by the end.
I got out of this class at 2:50, and I then rode my bike home. Noone else was home when I arrived, so I took Damien out into the backyard and threw his tennis ball around for him. He never tires of it. I then remembered that I had forgotten to stop at Schnucks to buy the steaks I needed for a meal that I had promised Mike and Carolyn tonight. Before I left, I took a shower, and trimmed my toenails. There was no need to pick up the clippings, because Damien ate all of them.
I then rode my bike to Schnucks and purchased 3 porterhouse steaks for $23.47. Carolyn was working, and I talked to her for minute also. I then rode home and organized the things I needed to cook later. I also cut up some lettuce for a salad, and I marinated the steaks in a mixture of ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and a premixed steak seasoning powder. I then waited to start cooking until after 6, because Mike and Carolyn did not get home until that time. Rufus called me while I was waiting. I had sent him an email yesterday with my phone number, and today was the first time we had talked since I returned from China.
I then cooked the meal, which also included augratin potatoes and long grain rice. Everything turned out to be a complete success, and I ate until I could eat no more. After the meal, Mike, Carolyn and I looked at some summer 2003 pictures on the computer. At 8:30, we all went to Josh T.’s house to play poker. It was the first time I had been there. Josh and his girlfriend, Courtney, live together in the same trailer park that Mike and Jared used to live in together. They were the only two there when we arrived. They had a fold-up poker playing surface that fit on thier kitchen tabletop. Everyone played but Carolyn. I was much more successful tonight than I have been at poker in the past. I won 3 good sized hands, and then Carolyn played my hand for two rounds and won both times also. We only play for nickles, dimes and quarters, so nobody ever loses more than 5 or ten dollars. I am usually one of the people that loses all thier money, but tonight I came out one dollar ahead. I would have had more, but I lost almost two dollars to Josh in one hand. On a couple hands, I tried slipping Hong Kong and Chinese currency in with the pot, but Courtney quickly realized both times.
Jared joined the game at about 10:30. At 11:30, Mike, Carolyn, Jared and I all left and went home. I quickly went to bed because of work at 6A.M.

Thursday
January 20, 2005

I accidentally set my alarm an hour early for class today, and went back to sleep after I realized what I had done. Carolyn’s mom called the second time I got up, and she said, “Hello Garth, this is Ann Stiernaman, Carolyn’s mother, is she home?”. Before she got the last part of the sentence out, I thought she was surely a telemarketer, because she had used my name and I did know who she was. Carolyn had the day off, and had been sleeping before the phone rang. After a short conversation with her mother, she told me that her mom had called to tell her about a business idea that she had thought of while using the treadmill, which actually sounds like it could have a lot of potential.
I rode my bike to Chinese class at 9:40, and it was my only class of the day. They are using a lot of vocabulary that I do not know, but it is still going to be a few days until I get the book in the mail from Half.com. Most of the students used the first half of this same book in their level one class, so when I get it I can go over those parts to learn the words that I do not know. The class also seems to be better at writing characters than I am.
After class, I went to the library in search of the CD’s that go with the Chinese textbook. We were told in class at the beginning of the week that we were allowed to copy these CD’s. Three different librarians tried to help me find the CD’s, and we finally realized that they were in another office, called the Media Center, which is in the Faner building. It turns out that the Media Center handles all the foreign language media. I found a girl sitting at an office desk in the entrance of the Media Center, and she was just downloading and listening to music on the computer at her desk. I told her what I needed, and she asked me for 2 blank CD’s, which I had brought with me. I was then told that my CD’s would be ready tomorrow. As I was leaving the office, the girl told me that she could copy the CD’s for me right now if I wanted, but I declined because I had to be in the same place at the same time tomorrow, and the girl looked like she was enjoying her free time.
Next, I rode my bike to Schnucks. There I picked up my check from Marsha(secretary), and then went to the bank at the front of the store to cash my check and open a savings account. I had tried to do this last week, but was turned down because I used to owe the bank money two years ago. Today was a success. I was waited on by a younger lady named Lori, who had worked at the bank when I left for China. She first asked me how my trip had been, then opened the savings account for me without any problems. She even gave me a promotional deal that deposited 10 free dollars to my new account.
I then rode my bike home. Carolyn was home when I arrived, and she worked on a scrapbook at her desk in my room while used my computer there. At, 2, Johanna and I were able to use our webcams for the first time. We tried to also set up a voice chat, but that did not work. Still, it was very nice to be able to add video to our text chat, and we stayed online together for over an hour. After that, I spent a couple more hours sending emails and copying videos and pictures off of my hard drive in order to free space.
Mike came home from work at about 3:30, then took a nap and left for class about an hour after that. Carolyn cooked dinner while Mike was gone, and we all ate dinner together when he returned. Tonight we had tenderized round steaks rolled with cream cheese and spinach, salad and mashed potatoes. I did the dishes after the meal, and Carolyn later successfully made tapioca pudding from scratch for desert. While the three of us ate that, we watched Crank Yankers, South Park and a news special about government invasion of privacy. I went to sleep around 11.

1/19/2005
Wednesday

I went to my accounting class for the first time at 9 today, which is on the second floor of the Lawson building. I never knew the building had a second floor before today. The class is called Managerial Accounting, and I am quite sure that it will be as boring as it’s title leads me to believe. You can’t always judge every class by its title, but you can always judge an accounting class that way. I recognized the teacher from the last accounting class I had at SIU, because she was always present during exams. I at least think that she will be a descent teacher.
Next, I rode my bike to the Faner building and attended Chinese class. More students showed up in the tiny room today. I don’t know if there is enough oxygen in there to last us all one hour, so we should be careful to always keep the door or windows open. Today, we had to interview another student and then give a short presentation about them.
My next class, Macroeconomics was a little bit hard to find, even though it was in the same building as the Chinese class. I walked up and down the length of the huge building for about 10 minutes before I found the 1300 block, which appeared to consist of just one classroom that had an entrance hidden in a corner behind a row of vending machines and a pile of garbage. Noone else seemed to have a problem finding it, because it was full of about 150 other students by the time I arrived, and class had already started. I was surprised at how nice the room was, considering the location and condition of the entrance. It was a large tiered lecture room with very comfortable padded seats, only a few of which were available due the number of students present. I finally eyed a convenient seat after scanning the room for a few seconds. The spot was just one seat from the end of a row, but the person sitting at the end made it seem like it was a very big deal. This student had his coat sitting in the seat, and he at first pretended to ignore me. So, I said “Could I have that seat, man”. He made a long sigh and moved his coat without looking at me. It must have been the worst thing that had happened to him all day. Poor guy.
After Macroeconomics class, I had a break for 45 minutes, so I walked to Mcdonalds at the student center. This was the first time I had eaten at a Mcdonalds since returning to the US. The cashier who waited on me has worked there for about two years, and she asked me, “How was your trip?”. The last time I had seen this person was in May of last year, and I have only ever spoken to her in passing just a few times as I purchased food. I was very surprised.
Next, I rode my bike to the Rehn building, which is where the School of Business is. I found my classroom for Management Information Systems downstairs in a computer lab. My accounting teacher from last spring was at the front of the room when I arrived. I first thought that she was the teacher, but she just told us about a survey that will be taking place next week, then left. Our real teacher, then put us right to work after briefly reviewing the syllabus. The assignment was a 3-part Excel project, and no review of Excel was given. Many of the students had no idea what they were doing. I did remember some things I learned about the program last spring. There were girls sitting on both sides of me, and I could feel them looking over my shoulders throughout the class period. They very shyly asked me for help 3 or 4 times. My Excels skills were not that good either, though, because I could not finish the assignment in class. We were told to take it home and email it in before next week.
My last class of the day, History and Philosophy of World Economic Systems, is in the Lawson building, which is just a few feet away from my previous class. The teacher has some kind of a foreign name and accent that I do not recognize, and he is very animated. He seems to be funny without trying to be, because he has a personality that is both crude and knowledgeable. I look forward to hearing more strange things he will surely say during each day of class.
Next, I rode my bike home. I then spent about 20 minutes throwing a tennis ball around for Damien. Mike came home around 4, and my dad stopped by for just a few minutes at 4:30. I gave him a check for the money he lent to me while I was in China. Mike and I went to the rec center to play racquetball at 5. The enormous parking lot was full when we arrived, and I was sure that all the racquetball courts would be taken, but there just happened to be one available. I beat Mike bad during the first game, and was up by 10 during one point in the second game, but he surprisingly came back to beat me. I made a huge comeback in the 3rd game, but lost by two points in the end.
We stopped by ABC Liquor on the way home to pick up a 30 pack of Keystone Light. Back at the house, Mike cooked bratwurst and macaroni and cheese. After that, we watched the movie LadyKillers. Carolyn came home from work after 10. I finished my Excel project at that time, then went to bed around midnight.

Tuesday
January 18, 2005

I missed my first class of the semester this morning because I thought that it was Monday. I got up at 8 to be at a 9 o’clock class, but realized that it was Tuesday as I was getting ready. But, I did go to my second class of the day, which was Chinese. It was below ten degrees as I rode to campus, and it was the worst bike ride of my life. By the time I got to class my hands and face hurt, and the rest of me was numb. I am skipping class if it is ever that cold again, unless I have a test or something.
The Chinese class is in the Faner building, and it meets Tuesday through Friday. The classroom is tiny and just has 3 small tables in it. There are 19 people signed up for the class, but only about 12 of them were there today, and it was still crowded. I think that is a good thing for a class that requires a lot of interaction, though. Our teacher was a young Chinese woman. She will be teaching two days a week, and the head of the Chinese Department, Dr. Hammond, will be teaching the other two days.
Today in class, we were asked our names and what we had done over the break, in Chinese of course. We used some words that I did not learn in my class in Macau, but overall I understood what we talked about and could respond correctly.
After class, I went to the bookstore in the Student Center to write down the names of all the books I needed, then I rode my bike to Office Max. The temperature had risen about 10 degrees by this time and I was no longer riding against the wind, so my trip was much more comfortable than it had been in the morning.
At Office Max, I returned the DVD drive and DVD-R’s that I bought yesterday. I decided to take these things back because I think I can manage without them. I did buy a 50 pack of CD-R’s. While I was looking for the CD-R’s that I wanted, the security officer came up to me and asked if he could help me. I guess I looked suspicious wearing black leather and a backpack.
Next I returned home and logged on to MSN Messenger to see if Johanna was online, and she was. We chatted for an hour, then I took a break to eat lunch and throw the ball outside for Damien. After the break, we chatted for another hour.
After that, I used the list of books I had made earlier at the bookstore to buy my textbooks online at Half.com. I bought all but two of my books, which were unavailable online. I spent $250, but I saved that much as well. I will never shop at the bookstore again for textbooks. I hope that something happens to make textbooks cheaper, because it is such a ripoff.
I took a break from textbook buying to throw Damien’s ball outside for him again, and Carolyn came home from work while I was out there. I had put up a “No Parking” sign in her parking spot, which I had found on the ground when I was riding home today. Mike came home about an hour later. It was his first day at his internship with the bank today.
We then had a dinner of rice, vegetables and marinated pork tenderloins. After that, Mike, Damien and I went to Buckley’s house. We stayed there for about 2 hours, mostly just watching TV and playing video games. I quickly went to bed after coming home

1/17/2005
Monday

I got up at just before 10 this morning, and went with Mike and Carolyn to the rec center shortly afterwards. We met Mike’s dad, Bob, at the front entrance of the building. Carolyn went to work out, and the rest of us went to the raquetball courts. We played the first game all together on the same court. Playing with 3 people is a completely different experience, and I have only tried it a few times.
I had only played Bob one other time, which was last year. He was pretty good then, and was pretty good today; at least for a old guy….just kidding, he might even be able to beat me one-on-one. At the end of the 3-person game, I had the lowest score, 15, and Mike won. I let Mike and his dad play the next game together. I was hoping that Mike would lose, and I watched the game from the observation area on the second floor, but unfortunately, Mike won.
Bob only wanted to play till 11 points with Mike, and he left to go back to work after that, then Mike and I played a game. I slaughtered him, as he did not even get 10 points. We then collected Carolyn and came back home. There, Mike and Carolyn made a great breakfast of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and waffles.
At around 1 o’clock, Mike took me to jail. I recently discovered by accident, that I had a warrant out for my arrest. I check my court records online every once and a while, just for fun, and last time I noticed that it appeared I had paid too much money for a past case. My balance for the case in question was a negative number, so I thought that maybe I could get some money back. When I called the courthouse to ask about it, they said, “No, that does not mean you get any money back, but do you know you have a warrant”.
It turns out that I did not pay all my fines for a DIU 2 years ago. The warrant had been on me for the past year. It would be nice if they told people these things.
So, today Mike and I walked into the jail in Murphysboro, and I went to the front desk and told an attractive looking policewoman that I was turning myself in. She went to a big set of file cabinets and pulled out a folder with my name on it, then asked me to sit in a chair by the doorway. A cop came into the room about 5 minutes later and took my folder from the attractive policewoman. The cop then came up to me and asked if I had bond money. I told him I would use a Visa card, and he told me that they quit accepting credit cards last week. I said that I would need to use an ATM machine, and he replied “sorry buddy”. So, I gave my debit card to Mike, and the cop took me into the booking area of the jail. We had to walk around the outside of the building to get there, and along the way the cop explained to me why they had quit accepting credit cards.
Inside of the booking area of the jail, I could hear people in cells screaming “Turn up the f—-ing heat!”. I was taken through 3 doors to a woman sitting behind a long wrap-around counter. The cop who had escorted me then asked that I take my coat off and empty my pockets. After that, I had to lean against a wall and be frisked. The cop then left and the woman took over. She seemed very serious at first, but began to joke around as she asked me the routine questions. She told me that I looked too young to be married and divorced, and that she had the same birthday as me. I asked her about a strange looking device in the corner that resembled an electric chair. She said that violent people are strapped there during the booking process, and that a football helmet is also placed on their heads.
After I had answered a few dozen questions, the woman took mug shots and fingerprints of me. She then went to a waiting area to get the bond money that Mike had taken from the ATM for me. Then, I was free again.
Next, Mike and I went to my home so I could pick up some things. I mainly needed to get my work shoes and an alarm clock, but I also got a couple other things, and moved my small red suitcase from the house to my storage area. My dad was working in the living room addition with a man named Ryan when I arrived. They were putting up drywall. I was surprised to see him working on the room, as it has not seen much change since it was partially constructed several years ago. I also saw Clara for just a minute as I was leaving the house.
Next, Mike and I returned to Carbondale and went to Staples, Office Max and Kroger. I bought a webcam at Staples for $19.99, and at Office Max I bought a DVD-RW drive and 100 DVD-R’s for $107 total. Mike did some quick grocery shopping at Krogers, and I just followed him around. Kroger is now playing recorded bird noised to its customers.
We returned home after leaving Kroger. I then installed my webcam and got ready to go to work at 6. Todd worked with me until 9, and it was moderately busy up until that time. I performed regular tasks until 8, then had a sandwich on my break. After that I cleaned the meat department. I finished that job at 9:30, then had 1 and a half hours until the end of my shift. I spent that time organizing mountains of unorganized equipment and supplies that had been piling up for a long time on the sink and on the shelves of the backroom.
I bought some Colgate after I clocked out at 11, then rode my bike home. It was about 10 degress during the ride, and that made it a painful process. But, when I arrived home, there was a note on the door saying that my dinner was in the fridge and cookies were on the counter for desert. Dinner was great.

1/16/2005
Sunday

I rode my bike to work today at 7:15, and it was brutally cold outside. There was wind blowing and a few flurries in the air. My ears felt like they would break by the time I got to work. On the way there, I realized that I was actually suppost to have been there at 7. Clayton was there when I arrived, but he had not even tried to call me. He just said that he knew I would show up.
I first ground the hamburger, then cut most of the meat we needed. Fred and Carolyn came into work at 10. Fred had to walk a long distance because the alternator belt came off of his girlfriend’s car yesterday. He looked like a frozen corpse when he arrived. I took a lunch at around noon, and I ate a chicken sandwich meal at Burger King. After the lunch, I made signs on the computer upstairs and then cut more meat and made sausage. I did not take my break until 3P.M., which meant that I clocked out right after the break was over.
I then bought some bread and went to the bank to open a savings account. Since I deposited my student loan check, there has been several thousand dollars sitting in my checking account. I do not like that because I have used the debit card for that account on the Internet multiple times. I was going to transfer most of the money into a savings account, but the bank would not let me create that account. I was told that I could not open the account because I used to owe the bank money two years ago. I thought that was rediculous because I paid them that money back a long time ago. I was told to come back on Tuesday, when a manager would be on duty. If they do not let me open the account then, I will take out all my money on-the-spot and go somewhere else with it.
My bike ride back to the house was almost just as brutal as it had been in the morning. Mike and Carolyn were gone to dinner at his mom’s house when I got home. Jen K. called me about 30 minutes after I arrived. She came by the house shortly afterwards, and I then rode with her to run an errand near Carterville. We also stopped at the hospital so she could drop off the trachea monitor that she had been wearing recently. I was back home by 4:30, and I called Johanna at that time. I talked to her using Skype.com until all my credits ran out, then she called me back. She is going to send me her sisters email address so I can give it to my brother. We will see what happens…..
Mike and Carolyn came home from dinner at 6. I spent the entire rest of the evening using my computer. I created a video and photo album from the poker party last night, downloaded MSN Messenger and worked on my website. As soon as I downloaded Messenger, Stephan(friend from Germany) saw I was online and sent me a message. I have never used Messenger before, and mainly plan on using it for videoconferencing with Johanna. I made a sandwich for dinner and washed laundry while I was using the computer. Mike and Carolyn went to sleep at about midnight, and I watched the movie “DreamCatcher”.

Saturday
January 15, 2005

I had to work this morning at 9, and I did not go to bed til 3A.M. last night, so I was very tired. I stopped at Burger King on my way to work and bought a sausage, egg and cheese Croisant, which I ate in the break room before I clocked in. My shift today was only 5 hours long, and I was busy the entire time, so it went by quickly. I took a break at noon and ate macaroni and cheese and breaded mushrooms from the deli. Kevin(meat department manager) brought in some burned movies for me to borrow. There are 3 movies per disc, but I only plan on watching LadyKillers and DreamCatcher.
I rode my bike home at 2P.M., and it was still freezing outside. Carolyn and Mike were home when I arrived, but Carolyn left at 3 to go work the late shift. I was able to call Johanna using Skype on my computer. Our first call was cut off after just a couple minutes, so I called her back, and the second call lasted and was mostly clear. But, several dollars were taken off my account balance for the 30-minute phone call. I could call cheaper on a regular phone. Skype does not even work half the time, yet, their slogan is “Skype.com – Internet telephony that just works.”
Mikes brother met us at the house around 7P.M., and Mike and I then left with him in his truck. We first stopped at ABC Liquor. I bought a 30 pack of Keystone Light beer there, which offered a $3 mail in rebate. How many people actually remember to send in the rebate after drinking 30 beers? After leaving the liquor store, we went to Wendy’s so Mike and I could buy some food, which we took with us to the Potter’s house. The Potters are a family that Jared housesits for in the winter. They own a large, nice and well secluded house. Going there in the summer time is especially nice, because it is surrounded by quite a bit of property, which includes a lake, forest and a network of ATV trails.
Tonight, we went there to play poker. Mike, John and I were the first to arrive, and Jared was cooking the snacks at that time. He made quesadillas, little smokies and bean dip, which was all very good. Other people did not start arriving for another hour and a half, except for Jared’s girlfriend, Holly. While the five of us waited for others to arrive, we played the card game “Asshole”, which involved enough drinking enough beer to slow my poker skills down a little bit.
Between 9 and 10P.M.., Josh T., Courtney, Jeff, Nic, Sara and Tim also arrived. Nic and Sara were the last to arrive, and at that time we split the game up into two tables; one in the kitchen and one in the dining room. I started playing in the dining room, but moved to the kitchen when that table was formed. I brought my camcorder and Mike’s digital camera with me to record the events of the evening for the Internet. I felt like a reporter.
I was winning money during the first hour of play, but began to lose money to Courtney later. She is pretty good for a girl. At about 1A.M., I took what little money Courtney hadn’t taken from me, and gave it to John at the dining room table. He asked what he did to deserve it, and I said “Nothing, you’re just lucky”. I later heard that the money was passed on to Mike, who was able to turn it into $15 before losing all of it.
I gave up my money at 1A.M. because I had to work at 7A.M., and I knew everyone would play until 3 or 4. So, I wanted to get some sleep until that time. I started sleeping in the living room, but Jared offered me a futon in the basement, under the condition that I did not let the cat out. At 3A.M. Mike came to wake me up so we could ride home with his brother. I fell back asleep as soon as I arrived home.

Friday
January 14, 2005

Got up at 9:30 this morning and Mikewas on the phone with Verizon once again. He was able to get the Internet back up and running, then went off to work. I then was able to finally give my computer it’s first taste of the Internet. I am sure that it will never be the same. My network connection through Mike’s computer was finally functional….after 3 DAYS of Working on it!
My bike ride to work today at 11 o;clock was cold. Temperatures were no more than 25 degrees. I ate two cheeseburgers at Burger King before clocking in. My shift was difficult today because there were thousands of students arriving back into town. I stayed in the back and cut meat until 7:30 in the evening. The district manager, John was in the store mid-day, and spent some time asking me about China. I took a break with Carolyn, and ate a peice of fried catfish and an orange. I took my lunch at 6P.M., and just drank a Mr. Pibb at that time. The beggining and end of my shift were the hardest. Things were behind schedule when I arrived, and customers kept bringing me meat to cut as I was trying to leave. One pair of foriegn ladies asked me to cut 60 pounds of sale chuck roasts for them, then asked me to slice them after I had already spent 20 minutes packaging them. They had tried to tell me to slice them in the beginning, but the communication was unsuccessful.
Mike picked me up when I got off work, because he, Carolyn and I had planned a dinner out to celebrate our defeat over the machines. We went to El Bajio and had Mexican food. I was starving. After dinner, Mike and I went to Buckley’s house. Jen was wearing a trachea monitor. Mike, Buckley and I played Playstation. At 10 I called Steph, then went to her house. Jen was back tonight with her new car, a 2000 Dodge Stratus. There were also about 8 other people there, including Cheech, his brother, Arron, Martin and a Japanese guy named Now.
I left at around 12:30 and came home. Then spent about 2 hours on my computer. Sleep.

Thursday
January 13, 2005

I slept until about 11 today. The phone rang once at 8A.M, and I answered it in my room, but there was nobody there. It rang two more times between 9 and 10, but I didn’t answer it. It rang a fourth time at about 10:30, and this time I answered. It was Mike on the line from work. He told me that his computer was having even more serious problems this morning, and that he was going to reinstall Windows tonight.
I tried to use the computer to check my email, but it would not allow me to do that. It was strange, because it would let me go to all other websites except the two email sites I use. So, I downloaded Netscape to use until Mike fixes the computer; Screw Bill Gates….Netscape worked fine. I received an email from Kaisa today, and she sent my some pictures that she had taken in Hong Kong.
For lunch, I ate two enchiladas that Carolyn had left in the fridge for me, and they were the best I have ever had, even out of the microwave. In the afternoon, I filmed some things around the house, then finished the video I was making for Johanna. I also went outside with Damien and threw his tennis ball around for him, but it was cold and wet today. He was quickly becoming a muddy mess, and I did not think he would allow me to give him a bath, so I discontinued the tennis ball throwing.
Carolyn came home at about 4. I checked the mail at 5 and was happy to find my student loan check there, all $3995.75 of it. A technician from the phone company called at this time, then came over a bit afterwards. He had come to get the static off our phone line, which was being caused by our new DSL modem. Our technician was a medium sized mediumly burly young guy who was very happy to help us with our problems. I heard his truck pull up, so I locked Damien in my room with Carolyn, who was working on her scrapbook there at her desk. As soon as the technician came in and looked at our inside wiring, he explained how he could quickly fix the problem in a way that would both get the fuzz off our line and increase our Internet speed.
Mike came home as the technician was outiside working, and the technician finished at about that time. The technician told Mike and I that everything was finished, and then picked up the phone and listened to it. After holding it to his ear a moment, he handed it to us and said, “That’s as good as it’s going to get”. The technician must have just been being modest, becuase it sounded perfect. We should call and give him a compliment.
I went to work at 6P.M., and worked the cleaning shift until 11. When arriving for the 6 o’clock cleaning shift, you are usually first faced with a scenario that resembles the aftermath of a house party from hell. Blood soaked trash stretches for almost 100 feet through two connected rooms, which are the meat cooler and cutting room. On a slow night, you will be able to clean up the carnage at a relaxed pace, but on a busy night, it can be nearly impossible to clean up in time, as customer’s will ring the service bell relentlessly.
After all the trash is picked up, all the equipment must be taken apart. This includes the grinder, boneless saw, bone saw, sausage stuffer, slicer and tenderizer. On some nights this may also include an automatic slicer and hamburger patty maker. Each machine can have as many as 15 parts to disassemble, with the hamburger patty machine being the most dreaded thing to find in need of cleaning. After everything is taken apart, the 3-stage hose system is used to clean walls, floor and equipment all at the same time(even the ceiling on a really bad night). The first stage is soaping. After a layer of soap has been sprayed on every surface, I will then let it soak in as I push all the gathered trash to the dumpster chute in the back room, clean smaller items left in the sink, wipe off my shoes and put on the communal cleaning boots. Next, stage two of the hose system is used to rinse the soap, blood and scrap meat from the room. I first spray everything onto the floor, then use the hose pressure to push everything towards the drains in the center of the room. If I am lucky, the hot water will have lasted until this time. After the entire room is cleaned, I will then use stage 3 of the hose to sanitize every surface of the 2 rooms.
So…..the description above explains exactly how things went for me once again tonight. I did take a break when Carolyn brought me in food from a dinner that her and Mike had just made. I had a salad with spinach, bacon and mandarin orange slices, and a rice dish with salmon. What a deal I have here.
When I arrived home at 11, Mike was sitting in front of the computer with a defeated look on his face. He had been trying to reformat his hard drive and reinstall Windows for hours, but had been unsuccessful. He had given up home on his computer and brought Carolyn’s unused computer out from storage, but that machine was also giving him problems. He was ready to go to bed, so I agreed to stay up for a while and attempt to fix the computer. Mike helped me get his computer hooked back up, then went to bed.
I then spent the next 3 hours fighting the machines. I decided to switch back to using Carolyn’s computer just after Mike helped me hook his back up. I wanted to use her’s because it had more USB drives amd a bigger case, but I could not get it to start up, so I switched back to Mikes again. By this time, almost 2 hours had passed by. When I had Mike’s computer running again, I reinstalled Windows WP successfully, which takes about an hour. I attempted to get online after that, but the computer would not recognize the moden, and I did not feel like putting up much more of a fight.

Wednesday
January 12, 2005

I got up this morning at about 10. Carolyn and I were both off work for the day, and Mike worked at noon. Carolyn spent about 2 hours cleaning the house, while I worked on getting the bugs out of our new Internet connection. I called Verizon about the problem with the fuzz on our phone line. The first time I called, there was over a 30 minute wait to talk to a person, so I called back an hour later and only waited about 2 minutes. The person I talked to had me hook things up in different ways and ran tests on my phone line. He determined that there was a problem with our modem, and said that a technician would be sent to the house.
I then called computer stores in town to try and find a cable to connect my computer to Mikes, so we can share the Internet connection. The cable I needed is called a crossover cable, whatever that means. When I called Computer Warehouse, they told me that they could convert a “straight” cable to a crossover cable, and it just so happened that Mike had accidentally purchased a “straight” cable several months ago, which he had been unable to return. I did not have money to get the cable converted, so I borrowed $11 from Carolyn, partially in quarters.
So, I then got on my bike to go get the cable. The weather was again great today. It was mostly cloudy, but with temperatures in the 60’s(16+Celcius). The bike ride to the computer store was just about 15 minutes, but when I got there, there was a beauty supply store where the computer store used to be. There was just one woman inside the store, and she looked suspicious when she saw a guy(me) get off a bike and come into her store. But, she was friendly when she realized I was looking for the computer store. She told me that it had moved 3 years ago to a location that was another 5 minute bike ride away.
There were several young technicians working at the store, and one of them took my cable to the back with him. A large young woman wearing red came into the store while I was waiting, and she tried to return something that she bought a year ago, just because she did not need it anymore. They told her to wait to speak to the manager. She offered me a piece of Big Red gum while we waited.
My cable was ready in about 5 minutes, and it cost me $8. On the ride back home, I stopped into a thrift shop for a few minutes, looking for an old pair of brown shoes that I could wear to work, but found nothing. Just as I was arriving back at the house, it started raining. Carolyn was at the rec center when I arrived home. I tried to call Johanna on the computer, but could not get through. My attempt did at least make her phone ring in Finland, so she called me right back. I then threw the ball for Damien outside as I talked to her.
After the conversation, I rearranged my room in order to get my computer closer to the door, so my new cable could reach Mike’s computer. Mike arrived home at about 5, and I rode with him and Damien to buy some wine at ABC Liquor. Back at home, I ran the computer cable across the floor and fastened it down with cable staples. Mike made spaghetti during this process, and I took a break to join him and Carolyn for dinner.
I then finished hooking my computer back up, and turned it on. It instantly recognized that it was connected to “Damien”, which is the name of Mike’s computer. Unfortunately, I could not access his Internet connection, and we were not able to fix this problem on our own. We first called Mike’s brother for help, but he did not know what to do, so we called Tim. Tim was at work, but he called us back when he arrived home. He told me that we would have to set up the computers differently to do what we wanted with them.
Mike and I still spent some more time trying to get the computers to work, but his was having a serious problem. It had earlier been infected with a virus, just minutes after we had hooked up the high-speed connection for the first time. The virus causes a countdown timer to pop up on the screen, and when the countdown reaches 0, the computer restarts. Earlier in the day, I had been unable to erase the virus, but I had found a way to stop the countdown. Now, the computer is experiencing multiple problems, which may or may not be related to the virus. The main problem is that the computer denies permission to do most things. Even when we try to shut it off, it says, “Sorry, but you do not have permission to shut off the computer”. Creepy.
I fell asleep on the couch at 11, as Mike and Carolyn were backing up their files on the computer, in preparation for reinstalling Windows. At 11:30, Steph called to see if I would like to go out again. I had planned on doing that, but falling asleep had made me too tired to even think about getting out on my bike again.

1/11/2005
Tuesday

I worked today from 6A.M. till 2:30P.M. Carolyn came to work at 7, and we worked alone together until Fred came in at 10, then Todd came in at 12:30. Carolyn ground the hamburger and I cut all the meat. After taking our breaks, we made 50 pounds of bratwurst and 25 pounds of Italian sausage. During the last part of my shift, we worked the load of frozen foods that came in today.
While I was on my break, I ate Italian beef that I brought from home. I put the meat in a separate bag from the bread because I did not want the meat juices to make the bread soggy. I heated up the bag of beef in the microwave, but it had too much juice in it when I took it out. I squeezed the juices out of the bag while Dee was sitting across from me in the break room. She said, “I don’t know what you are doing with that, but it is grossing me out.
I found a crisp $20 bill when I was going down the stairs at work today. I wanted to keep it because I only had $15 to my name, but I knew that only one person, Anthony, had passed downstairs during the time I was upstairs, so I took the money back to him.
Shortly after I arrived home, Mike and I went to the rec center to play raquetball, and this time, I was slaughtered. In the first game, Mike beat me 21-6, which was a new record. I don’t know exactly how this happened, but I hope it is just because I had small cramps in both my right wrist and back. The cramp in my back kept me out of breath during most of the game. Mike also won the second game by a few points, but I won the third game by 3 points.
Just after we arrived home, the UPS truck arrived with our new DSL modem. Mike told me that James Earl Jones(Verizon spokesman) had called earlier to announce that our service was now active. So, we hooked up the modem in hopes of getting to try out our new service, but things were not that simple. After a bit of trouble understanding the setup procedure, the software would not connect the modem to the Internet. We called Verizon and were told that the service would not actually be active until tomorrow. James Earl Jones is a liar. Another problem was that the modem did not have a router built in, which meant that I would have to purchase more hardware to connect my computer. And yet a third problem was that the phone line was fuzzy when making calls. Mike spent about 45 minutes on the phone trying to resolve the problems, but eventually hung up because too much time was being spent on hold.
Carolyn was out with Amy and Amy’s cousin for the evening, so Mike and I just barbequed a quick burger and French fry meal. Later, we drove to WalMart to check prices on the hardware needed to hook my computer up to the Internet connection. The things we found there were a little bit overwhelming because we really did not have much of an idea what we were doing. We eventually decided to leave, and I agreed to call some computer nerds tomorrow and try to figure things out.
Carolyn was home when we arrived back from WalMart. I spent a little time talking to Mike and her, then spent some time on the Internet. Steph called me at 10 o’clock and invited me to hang out with her, Beth and other friends of theirs(Jen, Steph and Beth are roommates). At 11 o’clock, I rode my bike to buy some beers and go to thier house. Jen was suppost to also be there tonight, but she had called me earlier to say that she had decided to go home and buy a car to replace the one she totaled on Christmas evening.
When I arrived at the house, everyone was sitting outside on the front porch, as the temperature was still over 60 degrees(16 Celcius). They were all sitting around a table that had just been bought recently for $3 at a garage sale. Beth had a set of oil paints out, and everyone was painting sections of the tabletop. I painted a flux capacitor on my section. During our discussions, someone mentioned that the man who played R2D2 in Star Wars recently got a DUI; he was over 70 years old
Later in the evening, some guys in a blue grass band came over carrying instruments. I think they were friends with another guy there, Martin. They stayed for a couple hours, and we played the same electronic charades game that Mike and Carolyn have, which is actually called Catch Phrase. I rode my bike home at around 3A.M. and it was still about 60 degrees outside.

Monday
January 10, 2005

I slept in til almost noon today. Carolyn had the day off also, and she slept til almost the same time I did. We both heated up leftover breakfast/lunch at that time. I had a piece of knish that Mike cooked yesterday, and an Italian beef sandwich. Randy called me as I was doing the dishes, and he came over shortly afterwards. Him, Carolyn and I then talked for a few minutes, then him and I left in his truck. We first stopped at True Value so he could buy some hardware that he needed, then we stopped at Burger King. He ordered a full meal there, and I just ordered a cheeseburger and coke.
Next, we went to his house. After eating the Burger King, he showed me a large custom entertainment center he had made for a 42 inch TV that he bought. He said he got the huge TV for just $400 at a pawn shop. We then spent the rest of the afternoon in his basement building a bench for a router that he had recently purchased. I mostly just watched and talked to him, but I also did some saw, drill press and nailgun work. After we finished the router table, Randy used it to make a plaque, and he engraved the work “thanks” into it, then stained it and gave it too me. I told him that I would hang it above my bed. He brought me home at 7.
There, Jared was over to visit, and tacos were just being served. After the dinner, we all spent time playing cards and the electronic charades game. I was on a team with Carolyn and we kept loosing. The last game was tied and became very heated at the end. Carolyn and I beat on the table when it was Jared and Mike’s team’s turn, and they beat on it when it was ours. Carolyn and I only won one game, so Mike and Jared must have been cheating.
Jared left at 10:30, and I went to bed at about 11.

Sunday
January 9, 2005

Carolyn and I both had to work today at 7. I made a sandwich out of leftover Italian beef, but I forgot it at home. I spent the first half of the day cutting meat, and the last half checking the dates on lunch meat. At 11, Mike noticed that I had left my lunch on the countertop and he brought it to Schnucks for me. He also picked me up when I got off work at 3:30, and we then went to his dad’s house in Murphysboro to pick up a shelf that his dad had made for Carolyn.
When we got back to our house, I checked my email, then Mike, Carolyn and I went to the rec center. Mike and I played three games of racquetball there, and I slaughtered him in the second game, 8-21. He won the first game in overtime, and I won the last game by 3 points. Before I left for China, he usually beat me, but maybe things are changing now.
We went to the weight room for a few minutes after the ball games, then met back with Carolyn and came home. She had left a pot of chicken-n-biscuits cooking on the stove while we were gone, and we ate that for dinner. Mike and I drank a half bottle of Vodka that had been left at the New Years Eve party. We mixed it with grape juice. Now everything is gone except for the Apple Pucker.
At 10, I spent some time working on the video I plan on sending to Johanna, and I got most of it done. I rode my bike to Mugsy’s at 11 to meet Jen. She was there with friends from work(Panerra). The bartender was Sara Hazel, who I went to high school with and who used to work at the bar Key West just down the street. She told me that Key West got new owners that she didn’t like. I also saw Walt, whom I used to work with at Schnucks.
Later in the evening, I played darts with Jen and her friends. We wanted to play shuffle board, but it was broken. In darts, I was on a team with her friend Kelly, who told me that she had to pick a serial killer to write a paper about. Kelly and I won the first game, but two guys formed a third team and beat us in the second game.
I rode my bike home when the bar closed, and then spent a few minutes on the Internet and sent an email to Johanna before going to sleep.

1/8/2005
Saturday

I got up at nine this morning, and Carolyn said that she would give me a ride to work because she had to be there just 30 minutes after me. She was planning on getting a doughnut to eat while she waited. But, Mike had to do some grocery shopping, so I decided to put my bike in the back of his truck and ride with him. Before leaving the house, I made a sandwich out of a leftover porkchop from last night.
Things were in bad shape when I arrived in the meat department because the case that holds our lunchmeats had broken down. The section that broke holds thousands of packages that hang on pegs, so it took hours to put everything back after the technicians had fixed the problem. The first couple hours of my shift, I cut meat, then I helped Kevin put all the lunchmeat back into the case. After that, I spent the rest of my shift putting out all the new lunchmeat that arrived on the truck today, and building the displays for the new sale that starts tomorrow. For lunch I walked to Burger King and ate two cheeseburgers and a 5 piece chicken tender.
I rode my bike home at 6:30 and took a shower. Mike arrived home shortly after me. He had been helping Jeff move out of Brandy’s trailer for the last 4 hours. Carolyn arrived home shortly after Mike, and then the three of us ate Italian beef that Mike had let cook all day long. Chris Peters called us during the meal. I had sent a couple emails to him from China, but I had not talked to him since I surprise visited him in San Francisco shortly after he moved there two and a half years ago.
After Mike and I had both talked to Chris, we gave the phone to Carolyn and then took a trip to dispose of an old desk that was sitting in the back of Mike’s truck. Mike and Jeff had called me at Schnucks today to ask me if I wanted the desk, because Jeff did not have room for it. I told them they could take it to my home in Murphysboro and put it into my storage area. When they arrived there, the gate at the end of the driveway was closed, so they turned around and came home. I had talked to Clara on the phone while I was at work, and she told me that nobody would be home after 7 and the gate would be closed, but it would be unlocked and could be pushed open. I called Jeff and left him a message saying this, but apparently he did not get it.
When Mike came home, he told me that the desk had been damaged while they were moving it, so I decided not to bother taking it. So, we drove to an area by the Rec center were his brother has an office trailer, and threw the desk into a dumpster there. Back at home, we drank a bottle of champaign that had been left at the New Years Eve party. All the alcohol that was left from the party has now been consumed except for a bottle of Apple Pucker, which neither of us seem to have much of an interest in.
While we had the drinks, we watched a show on the Travel Channel about a 23 day cruise to Antarctica that costs $25,000. It looks nice but I will save my money for space travel after retirement

January 7, 2005

I rode my bike to work at 6 this morning, and it was cold and dark. I worked with Kevin, Matt and ?. I cut meat during the first I half of the day, and stocked lunchmeats during the second half. I left work at 2:30 and nobody was home when I arrived. I checked my email and sent a message to Johanna telling her I would be home if she wanted to call.
Carolyn came home at about 3:30. She had been shopping at Hobby Lobby and told me she had purchased a $90 nativity scene for $16. She soon left again to meet Mike’s dad because they were building a shelf together for her. Johanna called just before Carolyn left, and we then talked on the phone for about half an hour.
After the conversation, I downloaded a program to convert video formats, then worked with it on my computer. If you are a Disgracefuls fan, you might want to see the new video I made today. Mike and Carolyn both came home at around 6. Carolyn cooked a breaded pork chop dinner. While we ate, Mike told an interesting story about a Rolex dealer that had come into the bank while he was working today. This man came to Mike’s teller window and saw that he was wearing the fake Rolex from China that I gave him for Christmas. The man said “Could I see that”, so Mike took the watch off and handed it to him. After examining the watch, the man said that it was a very good fake, then asked Mike if he knew how much the real one cost. Mike guessed $10,000, and the man replied $55,000. It was worth more than the house we live in.
Just before we finished the meal, John(Mikes brother), Amy and Dylan came over for an hour. John told me about a dead dog that he had seen at work today. He was on a boat in a river when he saw a dead animal floating. He went to take a closer look and found that it was a dog with a mayonnaise jar stuck on its head. He said that it appeared the dog had stuck its head inside to lick out the food, and then got stuck that way. Weird.
After the guests left, Mike and I drank a bottle of wine that had been left at the New Years Eve party. We have now drank most of what was left from that party. All we have left is a partial bottle of Southern Comfort and a bottle of champaign.

Thursday
January 6, 2005

I woke up at least twice an hour all night because dreams kept waking me up. In one dream, I remember being in the city of Chicago, but it was a futuristic version. I walked out of the city with my friend Greg from Key West. In the countryside, we witnessed a spectacular fireworks display that resembled mortars being fired. Dozens for mortars would be fired at the same time, and each one would leave a different colored trail. They would be fired from a great distance in front of us, and explode a great distance behind us. Each explosion left spectacular colors. We met my dad in a park and watched the display with him. As we were walking back into the city, the fireworks display turned into a spaceship air show, with formations of huge Star Wars looking vehicles coming up from behind us and firing blank rounds at us.
At 3 A.M., I found that I could not go back to sleep, and I layed there until I had to get up for work at five. Before leaving the house, I put several things in my backpack to eat for lunch. The bike ride to work was cold, but at least it had quit raining after almost a week of wetness. As I was walking into Schnucks, I saw the night manager, Jim, and talked to him for a few minutes, then went to work Kevin clocked in at 7, and Paul came in at 10. At 12:30, a guy that I have never met before, Matt, came in. He is in the band Trailer Park Romeo with Fred. During the course of the day, I saw many more employees that I had not seen since returning, and talked to all of them briefly.
I rode my bike home at 2:30. I then watched the end of a medieval themed movie starring Leonardo Decaprio with Mike and Carolyn. After the movie, the three of us went to the Rec Center. My student ID would again not give me access to the building, so Mike scanned his card and the two of us went through the revolving door together. Mike won our first game of racquetball after exceeding the 21 points that are required to win, because our scores were almost equal and the winner has to win by at least two points. I beat him in the second game with a score of 13-21. He is such a loser.
We returned to the house before 6 because Carolyn had to go to work at that time. After she left, Mike and I cooked a frozen pizza and drank some Captain Morgan that someone had left at the New Years eve party. Many bottles of alcohol were left at that party, and tonight we decided that we need to drink everything before school starts so it does not affect our school work. We also recorded some footage for a video I am preparing for Johanna, which shows where I live.

Wednesday
January 5, 2005

Johanna called at about 11:30 today. She asked me what I wanted to talk about and I said “hamsters”, so she said that her friend is a “hamster leader”. I asked what she meant and she said that her friend was in a “hamster union”. I then realized that she meant her friend was part of a hamster club.
I was home alone all day. I made a sandwich for lunch, did dishes, used the Internet and played with Damien. At 3 I began working on my Phuket video, and Mike and Carolyn came home soon afterwards. Mike and I then went outside to throw a tennis ball around for Damien. It was very cold outside and the wet dog looked miserable in the rain, but nothing stops him from chasing the tennis ball. When we came back inside, I finished the video I was working on, then Mike, Damien and I went to Buckleys house.
There, I ate a sirloin steak dinner. I also got revenge on Buckley for putting a smoked chicken foot in my pillow on New Years Eve. I hung a chicken foot on a string from his shower head when I went to the bathroom. Mike left after staying for about an hour, but came back saying that Carolyn was watching some kind terrible romantic movie that made him want to get back out of the house. At 10, we spent a few minutes flying a Harrier Jet around in a video game, then Mike, Damien and I came home. I soon went to sleep because I had to get up for work at 5A.M. I did not have an alarm clock, so Mike let me borrow his.

Tuesday - Back to Work
January 4, 2005

I woke up at 9:30 this morning on Jen’s couch. The TV had been tuned to public television all night long, so I watched some Barney and Sesame St. before Jen got up for work around 10. She then called a cab and I rode my bike home. The air outside was chilly and a light rain was falling, which made for another unpleasant ride.
Soon after I arrived, Clayton called me from Schnucks to ask if I could begin working tonight because Randy was out for three weeks with back problems. So, I filled out some employment paperwork that Carolyn had left on my desk for me, then took another cold and wet bike ride to Schnucks. Before going in the building, I had lunch at Burger King. There, I talked to Mike Schmego, who had stopped for lunch in the middle of a Jimmy Johns delivery he was doing.
Next, I took my paperwork to Marsha at Schnucks, then put on a meat coat and went to work. It felt really weird to be back at first, but after a couple hours it felt like I never left. During my shift, I was asked about my China trip by at least a dozen other employees. When I asked what had been going on with them, everyone said something like “nothing new”. The only real change I saw was Mandy from the service desk, who was had lost a lot of weight and was suddenly looking beautiful. This is the second time a girl from the service desk has lost weight and brought about a dramatic change in their appearance. A few years ago, there was Shannon, but that actually happened just after she quit working at Schnucks. Still, it is a coincidence, so I think that Schnucks may be secretly releasing some kind or odorless weight loss gas at the service center. If they are doing this, I hypothesize that it is in the hopes of giving the company a better image. They might want service center employees to look nice because they are the main customer-company connection when any problem arises.
In the evening, Nick decided to play a joke on me, and he put black shoe polish on the handset of the phone. The first time he tried to get it up by paging me from another phone, but I answered his call using a phone in the back and not the one in the meat department with the shoe polish on it. He then waited until I was near the right phone and told me that Jeremy had asked me to call him at the service center. This time the trick worked and I got the black shoe polish on my ear. I should have known something was up, because I could tell that everyone had been acting strange.
I was suppost to work from 3-11P.M today., but Clayton did not clearly state this on the phone, so I mistakenly began working at 2. I was going to leave at 10, but I got everything done by 9, and then did not have time to begin any other projects, so I left at that time. Mike called me just as I was getting ready to leave, and then came to pick me up because it was still raining outside.
Back at the house, him and Carolyn had saved me leftovers from their dinner earlier, which was scalloped potatoes and barbequed chicken. After eating, we ordered DSL Internet service online from Verizon. The three of us then took Carolyn’s car to the Cellar to join Tavis and Katie on their last night in town before moving to Cincinnati tomorrow. Brandy, Jared and Tavis’s sister also were there. Everyone wanted to play the electronic online trivia games, but the system was down, so we just sat at a table and talked. Mike, Carolyn and I stayed for about an hour, then drove home because Carolyn had to get up for work early.
Back at the house I watched the movie “I Robot”, then went to bed.

Monday
January 3, 2005

Mike was already gone to work by the time I got up, and Carolyn left shortly afterwards. I was in my room talking to Johanna on the phone when she slipped a note under my door as she walked out. The note was signed by Damien and it was written in an intentionally messy style. It said something along the lines of “could you please pay attention to me and take me out to potty later”. Damien has also left messages on my website before.
I wanted to log onto the Internet in the morning, but the computer would not boot up. The dryer did work, and I used it to dry a load of clothes that I washed yesterday. I am so glad to be living with a washer and drier because laundromats are terrible places. For lunch, I heated a leftover baked potato and the box of food that I brought home from Hooligans last night. After the meal, I spent some time making calls about getting high-speed Internet access. I spent a lot of time on hold with the phone and cable companies and got nowhere. After waiting on hold for ten minutes, I would be told that my call had to be transferred, then I would be put on hold again. This happened twice during the same phone call, so I gave up and decided to later use the Internet to get the information I needed. Throughout the day, Damien closely followed my every move around the house.
At 1, I decided to ride my bike to SIU and attempt to sign up for classes. I did not have a lock for my bike, but I was able to guess the combination of the lock that was attached to Mike’s bike. The temperature today was in the upper 50’s, and the bike ride made me hot because I was wearing a sweater and coat. At the campus, I could not remember exactly where the FLIT(my major) office was, but I found it in the Faner building with little trouble. The massive building was eerily empty, but I luckily found the woman I needed to speak to, Brooke, sitting at her desk. She then spent about 25 minutes reviewing my degree progress, and advised me as to which classes I should take.
I then had to take the information she gave me another office in the building. There, I was suppost to be signed up for the classes that Brooke had advised me to take, but there was a problem. The woman who was helping me said that she could not sign me up for classes because I was still listed as studying abroad next semester. So, I rode my bike across campus to the Study Abroad Office, and talked to the coordinator, Thomas. He made a phone call about my situation, then wrote a note for me to take back to the woman who was signing me up for classes. As I was leaving, he asked if I could possibly talk to other students who were considering Macau, and I told him I could.
Back at the other office, I gave the note from Thomas to the woman I had talked to earlier. She made a phone call, then agreed to go ahead and sign me up for classes. My schedule did not turn out pretty because many classes were already full due to my late sign up. After leaving this office, I used the Internet at the library for a few minutes, then rode my bike home.
Mike was there when I arrived, and we talked more about getting high speed Internet, then went back to SIU in his truck. There, he first needed to stop at an office in the business building. In that office, two employees sat behind a desk. These two made quite a combination, as one was flaming gay and the other was big and scruffy with a deep voice. After leaving this office, we went to the Rec Center to play racquetball. When I scanned my student ID at the door, the door did not let me in, so we had to go upstairs to the office so I could get in. We then played three very long and exhausting games of racquetball, and it was great. Mike and I always have some really hard-core and competitive games. We spent a few minutes in the weight room after the games, then went home.
Back at the house, I took a shower and then left again. I rode my bike to Jen’s house, whom I had not seen since returning. We walked to Burger King for dinner, and drizzle fell as we went. Upon our return to her house, the drizzle had turned into a cold light rain, which was not comfortable. I then rode my bike to the liquor store and bought a gallon jug of wine, which only cost $8.99. It was hard to carry the large jug back on my bike, and the cold rain was now coming down harder.
Back at her house, we played several games of Rummy(I won) while we drank our wine. At around 10:30, we called a cab to go to Jake’s house. Our driver seemed a little slap-happy, so I asked him to take us to Florida, and he said it would cost about $30. We had the driver stop at Huck’s on the way, and he pumped gas as we shopped inside. We knew the cashier, Mark, and talked to him for a few minutes before leaving. As our driver pulled up to Jake’s house, I told him that this was a wormhole to Florida.
Inside the house, Joe and Ericka were also there. The five of us spent about 3 hours playing a card game called Grass, which is about selling weed. Jeff came over later, and my former teaching assistant from astronomy also came over with his girlfriend. Sometime very late, Jen and I called another cab to take us back to her house. I asked to have her couch for the night because I did not want to ride home in the cold and wet night. We ate sandwiches before going to sleep.

Sunday
January 2, 2005

I woke up early this morning and then spent some time using my computer. At 10, I called Johanna using the calling card that I bought yesterday. I then began working on a video of my trip to Phuket, Thailand. Jeff came over at 12, and then he, Mike and myself made lunch of the leftovers from the New Years Eve party. Matt and Chase came over just before 1, and then we all went to the Salukis vs. Drake basketball game that Mike had tickets for. I rode in Carolyn’s car with her, Matt and Chase.
The game was very close at the end, but the Salukis did win. During the game, I noticed Fred sitting a couple rows up from us. I had not seen him since returning. I went to talk to him, then he came to sit in our area. His said that he gets free game tickets all year since his girlfriend is a member of the Saluki Shakers.
After the game, we all returned to Carico St.(where I live), and then Matt, Chase and Jeff all left. Mike, Carolyn and I then went out to do some shopping. They had several Christmas gifts to exchange, so we went to several places, including Lowes, Best Buy, Walmart and JC Penny. At WalMart, I bought an audio cable for my computer and some bathroom products. We were planning on going out to eat directly after shopping, but we got done too early, so we returned back to the house for a while. There, Mike and I had a drink, and I hooked up my computer speakers with the new cable I bought.
A little after 6, the three of us left again and went to the newest restaurant in town, Hooligans. The place was very full for a rainy Sunday night, and there were several groups of people waiting to be seated, but there was one seat available in the smoking section that none of them wanted. The restaurant is dimly light and nicely decorated, which makes for good atmosphere, and the food seems fine. I ordered a 32oz beer to go with my meal, which resulted in my taking most of the alfredo meal I ordered home with me.
We returned to the house after the meal and watched the movie “Dodgeball”. After that, I spent some time editing my Phuket video and used the Internet before going to sleep.

New Years Day
January 1, 2005

I got up at about 10 today, and Mike and I then went to Murphysboro in his truck, where I picked up my bike and computer. I had meant to bring my computer here last night when I came with my dad and Clara, but I forgot it. How could I forget my most valuable possession? I surprised myself. Once I arrived at home, I just gathered my things and only talked to my dad and Clara for a short time. When I left, their friend and hired hand Randy was pulling in the driveway, and I talked to him for just a minute also. Him and my dad were planning on working on an addition to the barn today, which so far was just in the beginning stages.
Mikes gas tank was on “E” when we left Carbondale, and we meant to get more, but forgot that also. We decided we could make it back to Carbondale because the warning light was not on, but we again forgot and drove all the way to Sonic for breakfast. The warning light was now on, but we were hungry, so we took our food home and let the gas wait a little longer. This was the first time I had ever had Sonic breakfast, because they did not serve breakfast when I left in August. It was good, but the hash browns reminded my of “tater tots” in grade school. Tater tots were the cylindrical shaped hash browns that were served in the school cafeteria. I did not like grade school.
After the meal, Mike and I cleaned up the house, which was still a mess from the party last night. Leaves and mud were all over the floors, and many dirty dishes waited to be cleaned. In about an hour, we were able to bring the house back to its original condition. Next, Mike, Damien and I went to get some gas in the truck, and go to the grocery store. We first stopped by his dad’s office, then went to Schnucks. There, I stayed in the truck with Damien and waited for Mike to buy a couple things. When he came back, we went to the gas station across the street and filled up the very thirsty truck. I also bought a $10 calling card, so I can call Johanna in the morning. I read the back of the calling card as we were returning home, which listed the prices of calling each country. Calling within the US costs about 2 cents per minute, but calling Iraq costs $1.50 a minute, and calling Somolia would cost over $2.50 per minute. Glad I’m not calling there. Finland was a moderate 11 cents for each minute.
Back at the house, I unpacked the few things I had moved in. Mike hung a pole on my wall for clothes hanging, but it collapsed under the weight of just 8 T-shirts. We re-attached it to another side of the wall and it now appears to be doing well. I also set my computer up, but I seem to have forgotten the cable that goes to my speakers. After 6, Carolyn came home from work(Schnucks) and we all ate a pork chop meal that Mike had cooked. Mike likes to cook, and I like it that Mike likes to cook. This is the third place I have lived in with him, and he has always liked to cook. After the meal, Carolyn insisted on doing the dishes, so the meal turned out to be almost completely carefree for me. I did at least carry everything on the table into the kitchen.
Mike and Carolyn then watched the movie “Collateral”, but I did not join them because I had seen the movie on an airplane a few days ago. I organized my computer’s hard drive, which Raj had added a lot of things to in Macau, and which I had left a lot of unwanted video clips on. It’s 40 gigabytes were almost completely full, but now I have about 12 gigabytes free. By midnight I could not stay up for another moment, because I was still tired from the party last night.