2007 Year in Review

It is time for the much awaited year in review for

As I reflected upon 2007, I realized that nothing much happened most of the time. However, I want to fill in an event for every month, so I may borrow stories from the news and just change the names around so I can pretend I was involved in the story.

In general I am happy to say I did not work for scam of a school ITT this year. I’ll be devoting a post to that experience in 2008, but in summary don’t even consider associating yourself with the school, be it as a recruiter, administrator, instructor, or student.

January – Probably my most traumatic month, my hard drive died. Let me back up a little. I didn’t use the old clunker all that much, instead opting to use one of Will’s computers (despite that my using it wasn’t an option in his list, but I can’t help that is was an option in my list). And, well, I guess I used it too much because the power cord/adapter stopped working (for the second time). While I waited for the newly ordered cord to arrive in the mail, I was forced to use my laptop with a non-functioning screen and a fan whose sound pressure was that of jet engine’s. Because of the lack of a screen I had to hook it up to a desktop screen, further forcing me to remain stationary as I worked in my cold, dark dungeon (office) in the basement. (Okay, enough complaining, I must have your sympathies by now.) Well, long story short, my hard drive decided to croak as I was working on a program due the next day. At the same time Will was racing against a deadline on a paper, so his computer was out of the question, and the power to his other computer still had not arrived. I ended up helping another classmate with his assignment in exchange for the use of his computer. I finished my assignment and made a new friend.

February – I won the lottery! Actually, I didn’t quite, I just beat some really low odds. I was on my blog obsessing over its ghettoness when I decided to hit the ‘Next Blog’ link that is in the upper left hand corner. I often check other blogs out to get ideas or to just plain steal their ideas. Well, the “next blog” was that of a college roommate and good friend I lost contact with and hadn’t seen in 11 or so years! So after shaking for about a half hour, I wrote the totally awesome Sariah, aka S-dawg, to say ‘long time no see’. Even then, I found out my email went into the spam folder. I beat the spam odds too. I am that good!

March – I won $20 in Blackjack. A married couple that I teach wanted to experience an American casino, and trying to be the best damn teacher I can be, we took a trip down to the Muckleshoot Native American casino. The environment was pretty depressing, so we only played a few games before they wanted to leave, but every game I touched I won, with a profit of $20 (that will probably be the most I ever win, so I felt I should mention in my YIR). I promised them that Vegas was not like Muckleshoot. Vegas hides the desperation and despair of its regulars with simulated cities and eras and artificial lights.

April – I have no idea what happened this month. I even looked back at my old posts for that month and found nothing meaningful. I enjoyed life in April.

May – I got what I hope is my last speeding ticket. I’m bitter about every ticket I have received. I will admit that I was guilty of every infraction, but I dislike the sting operation type ticketing. I don’t get my tickets going 100, which I have done, nor dangerously weaving in and out of traffic, which I haven’t done but have seen. I get my tickets where cars and pedestrians are sparse or non-existent; it’s just me, open road, and some cop hiding behind the bushes.

June – I got my second visitor, the one and only Sarah. It was towards the end of the month, but it still occurred in June so I’m counting it! In my almost 2 years of being in Seattle, I only had 1 other visit from my friend Mari. Everyone else comes up to visit Will, no love for the Caredog. Seeing the Sarah was great and I will return the visit with a trip to Ireland. I WILL be there Sarah

July – I got married! July 5. Although, I have no idea who Carrie Lewis is. I also don’t know why this is my shortest review.

August – Mariner Month. I attended a lot of games this month, much more than I have attended in a month for the Angels in Anaheim. However most of the games I went to were Mariner v. Angels, so that should count for something. The best game was on Mariner Monday, where the Angels kicked some Mariner a$$, ha ha. My apologies to the B-man though, the guy I went with. He’s a good Mariner fan, but I think he got booed along with me because of my Angels paraphernalia. I’ll make it up to you next season B-man.

September – I became another year older. The birthday bash was fun. I can’t say I remember much of it anymore. I was told I sang happy birthday in French to my fellow Virgo friend Janani and I still have the receipt for 5 popsicles I bought around 2 in the morning. Popsicles?

October – I started school in September, but October was the darkest month. The material in one of my courses was so novel and tough that despite my starting my assignments as early as possible, I usually finished them with only an hour or 2 to spare. In retrospect, the mental anguish was useful, as I am now well prepared for the prerequisite class I skipped, but I hated life at the time.

November – I managed to escape Seattle for a weekend for the sunshine of the California shore. Sure, I only saw the sun from my window most of the time, but I have learned to appreciate any exposure I can get to the rare golden orb.

December – I successfully completed my first quarter at the UW! My sleep cycle is still recovering.

What does 2008 have in store? We shall see…