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The title may make this sound boring, and it might be for some of you, but I think my mom will like this.

Today in Econ we were talking about various policies adopted to instigate growth, one of them being population growth controls. If there are too many people, there's not enough capital (machines, dollars, etc) to go around, so income per worker is low. So we were discussing why women in less-developed countries would have more children in the first place, for several sad reasons: infant mortality rates are high (so you have to have more kids to make sure someone will take care of you when you are old), there's not much else for women to do but be mothers (not too many women lawyers running around in Tunisia, probably), and because of child labor (the more children you have, the more income is generated for the family).

In further discussion about child labor, Prof Beckham Gramm commented that it wasn't so long ago that we had legal child labor in factories, and she mentioned "Iowa farm families", where they have like 8 kids and all the kids do chores.. Okay, so that's like my Grammy, only they had 9 siblings total on their Iowa farm, I believe. :)

I forgot to post this back in the day, or I was waiting for everything to be confirmed (I didn't have a Spanish class for a while). Anyway, these are my classes (plus Yoga on Wednesdays 6:00 - 7:30).

I was on the Ameren website trying to look up what its stock ticker was, so I could practice a couple of the skills we're talking about in my Finance class. Instead, I got side-tracked and went onto the Jobs page, and among positions like Senior Auditor, Gas Service Worker, or Forecasting Specialist (to predict the weather so electricians aren't left working in the rain), there was Temp Laborer - Mosquito Fleet. That sounded kind of like you would get to be some sort of spy, zipping around and investigating as part of a top-secret team.. but that is incorrect. Here's the job description:

"Summer employment for several current college students and for an adult located in the Warsaw area to spray the Lake of the Ozarks for mosquitoes from a pontoon boat and from foot in certain areas. Ameren supplies a boat, the spray, all equipment and training for the job."

Imagine being on a pontoon boat all day, in the middle of muggy Missouri summers, spraying for mosquitos. Yeah, delightful.

It's getting better. It's getting better, all the time. I called AAA on Wednesday and got them to put the spare on. This was more complicated than it sounds, because the new entrance they've put on my side of campus is limited access: only if you have a Rhodes key fob to swipe, or if there's a security guard present and you can ask them to let you in. There's hardly ever a guard on this entrance, so I had to wait out there for the AAA truck to show up so I could let them in with my key fob. I had to let him out, too, but that was okay because I was on my way to Walmart. I was actually pleased with Walmart's performance this time, because it didn't take 6 hours for them to get it done (more like 2, which is fine because I had to shop and eat lunch), and they ended up not charging me because it was a faulty valve stem. I'm not sure if they just stuck another one on there and gave me the same tire back, or if I got a whole new tire out of the goodness of Walmart's multibillion-dollar heart.

While they were repairing the tire, I returned the defective shelves. That was surprisingly easy: I just presented the product, my receipt, and my reason, and it was like cha-ching: cash register open. After that, I bought some food (including Oatmeal Creme Pies--what a mistake, I must never buy these again--I will end up a 400 lb spherical person), an air purifier (which works only marginally), and a different set of shelves (stainless steel, with nuts and bolts or screws or something.) I got some lunch at McDonalds and when I went to check on my car, it was done. You have to love Walmart, even if they have some issues with giving their employees healthcare (Walmart's side, employees' side).

I got back and put the shelves together (with a screwdriver, how skillful am I). They're a little wobbly because I didn't have a wrench to hold the nuts in place, so not everything is perfectly tight, but perfectly stable. I could stand to have just one more shelf in there, and if they sold it separately, I'd just buy another one and put it in, but I don't think they do. However, I am pleased with how they turned out.

I finished them just in time to go to my Yoga class, which was INSANE. I mean, there are still like 45 or 50 people in there so it's really crowded, but if you go toward the front of the room (which is where inexperienced people don't want to be), there's more space up there. But what was really insane was the experience I had: I don't mean anything spiritual.. just the physical effort. I didn't feel like anything was particularly difficult during class (I really enjoyed the downward-facing-dog partner-work I did, with Kelsie giving me some help with the strap to lengthen my back), but the next morning I woke up and I was just STIFF. All my muscles (the backs of my legs, my triceps and forearms, my lower back, just everything), just shriveled up in pain overnight. It was a good pain, though, because I had earned it. I decided Thursday night that I was too stiff to go to sleep, so I did some Yoga (from a tape) before taking my shower, and I think that actually helped.

Friday: class, laundry, do homework due Monday, get food with Drew, rent War of the Worlds and 12 Angry Men. We watched WotW, but because I had taken some Tylenol PM for a headache (my first time taking this crazy medicine), I fell asleep intermittently throughout the movie. I might watch it again today, with Spanish subtitles. I wonder how you say "Tripod" in Spanish.

Saturday: play hours and hours of X-Com. I seriously need to beat that thing already because it's a little addictive. I did review one chapter of Accounting, so I wasn't completely useless. Drew had a Comp Science assignment due at midnight, so he came over late, for about a half hour to say goodnight and then to bed.

Today: I didn't wake up til 11:30. How delicious. It was raining. But today I kind of have to work, at least some. Like I said, all my stuff due on Monday is already done, but Tuesday/Thursdays are my heavy classes anyway. So between today and tomorrow evening, I have this: read 5 chapters for HR Mgmt (around 300 pages), review 5 chapters of Accounting and learn 1 new chapter, read 3 chapters for Finance (about 75 pages) and do 3 problems.. I hate this Business major. I should've just been a poet or a potter (one who pots). I bet there's not much homework in pottery school, or at least it'd be something enjoyable, like make a ceramic kettle or who knows what.

Like I told you yesterday, the shelves failed, and all I managed to do was stir up about 8 lbs of dust, which ended up in my head. I feel like a leaky (and congested) faucet today. But it didn't matter much--I got up early to get ready for my dermatologist appointment at 9:00, and I'd go to Walmart later this evening to return the shelves and get an air purifier and some medication. I also was going to get my advisor's signature on my Add/Drop form before leaving for my appointment, so I went down the stairs and was at the door to leave Voorhies and I think "Hmm, do I have my keys?" And sure enough, I don't.

I call Campus Safety and they let me back into my room; I grab my keys and shoot over to Buckman (more like trudge, since it's been raining here for more than 12 hours straight), where I get his signature and then I go to my car, and notice that the back right tire is completely flat. ARGHSGDKDKJFKDS!!! HOW MANY FLAT TIRES IS THIS STUPID CAMPUS GOING TO GIVE ME??? It's so frustrating. My car just sits there and suddenly, it's flat. I swear, this is probably the 6th or 7th flat tire I've had in this state.

Maybe Tennessee just has it out for me, but it's really depressing. And I know if I called AAA right now to put on the spare and went to Walmart to get a real tire, I wouldn't be back by 11:00. And if I went tonight after class (after 4:45), the tire department would probably be closed. So no dermatologist for me, no air purifier and medication, and no new tire. Today, at least. Dermatologist is next Tuesday, the other stuff I'll do tomorrow immediately after class, I guess. I think I'm going to need Prozac or something.. things aren't happy.

It always rains in Memphis, like every other day. I'm fine with this, except that I always feel like hanging out my window and watching it, while the hours go by.. Unfortunately, I don't have extra hours to spend like that.

I've got to spend all my time reviewing Financial Accounting. The review is going well.. Yesterday and today I went through Ch 1 - 5, which is a little less than a third of the material in that course. I'm feeling a lot better in that regard, but I do have a quiz in Accounting class tomorrow, over stuff (Statement of Cash Flows: Indirect/Direct Methods) that Thompson says is review.. but that I never learned in the first place--perhaps we didn't have time to fit it in that year or something, because we ended the semester with Investments, not Cash Flow. So I'm bummed because I have to learn that material between now and noon tomorrow, or fail a quiz. Tell you the truth, I don't really care if I fail it. That's not a great attitude to have, but I'm just kind of apathetic and tired lately. It'd be nice to shake this off...

I was watching Animal Planet this morning, and there were these shows where animal cops would go arrest people who were neglecting their pets and it made me very sad, but it also made me wish we were allowed to have pets in our dorms, because I would probably get a cat. As it is, we're only allowed to have fish.. and I'm seriously considering getting one and naming it Galileo. Because you could call it Lil for short if it's a girl, or Leo for short if it's a boy. I don't think it really matters what gender the fish is, anyway.

All this studying Accounting made me realize that I really didn't have enough room on my desk.. I had my printer on there, my scanner, my laptop, my makeup mirror, books, etc etc etc = crowded, not helpful to studying. So I decided to get another set of shelves (like the metal rack ones I have for the fridge, microwave, etc) to go by my desk to hold all this crap. Today, Drew and I went to Walmart and I picked out a pair of shelves. They weren't the ones I exactly wanted--they were white plastic which just screams TACKY but they were only $15 so I figured, eh.. but when I got them back to the dorm and opened the box, everything was all broken. I got everything out and tried to make the best of it, assembling it the best I could despite all the damage, but the thing wouldn't stay together--and no way was I going to let the printer sit on that unstable heap.. so I'm taking it back tomorrow, to get my whopping 15 bucks back.. And maybe to get some decent shelves, but I doubt it because Walmart sucks.

The End.

So today was also kind of a bummer. I guess. I'm just kind of down about everything these days, so.. Anyway. First I had Personnel & HR Management with Birnbaum, and we talked mostly about this monumental, monstrous, HUGE term paper that we're going to be doing the entire semester. It's so depressing just thinking about it.. reading 15-20 sources (from scholarly journals... zzzz) on like, job involvement or absenteeism or something. You're allowed to work with a partner, but no way is that going to work with me.

After HR is lunch, and after that was Cost Accounting with Thompson, who I had for Financial Accounting in Fall 2004. That's right: EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO. (And yet, he remembered my name, even though he was forgetting the names of people he had had last semester. I'm inclined to think this is because of the way I behaved in class. For whatever reason, he'd never call on me when we were doing problems in class, so I just started calling out the answers from time to time. Either I impressed him or irritated him with my stubbornness, so much that he learned my name.) Thus there is little or none of the information left in my brain. I felt so lost with what we were going over today, I almost started crying right there in class. So I approached Thompson after class, told him what I was going through, and that I was planning on refreshing a bit over the long weekend, but that I had misplaced my Financial Accounting book. He said he'd loan me a spare, so we went up to his office and he also gave me the Solutions Manual so I "wouldn't have to struggle through it". Whew. So that's how I'll be spending a good part of my weekend.

After that is Financial Management, which was probably the most boring of the classes. Prof Trimm has kind of a monotone voice, and it's late in the afternoon (3:30 - 4:45), so .. I don't know. Crystal Jessee is in there, so that's a consolation; she's a really nice, funny girl. I think the actual class experience may be a drag, but I also think that I might like this class's material best.. financial analysis, investment decisions, cost of capital, and procurement of funds. At least it sounds interesting, which is something.

Kate F, from high school, added me as her friend on Facebook and I was looking at her photo album and I saw that she has a fiance! She says he's 6'8" (she always wanted a guy taller than her). I'm glad she's happy, but it's still kind of shock to see how fast people are growing up around me.. two friends pregnant (unless they've had their babies, I'm not sure) and two others engaged.. It's pretty amazing.

Laura came to visit tonight. It was the first time I've seen her since she left for Europe. I don't know why I expected her to come back with an accent or something.. I guess because she's a musical person and she's very tuned in (pardon the pun) to auditory stimuli, a bit like myself. But she came back without an accent, but she did clear up the difference between British and English for me: British = member of Great Britain (England, Scotland, etc.) English = member of England only. And we had a good talk about silly things. She is a good friend.

Other than that, I'm still pretty blah. Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. And tonight I can only breathe through one nostril. Goodnight.

Well, I got into that Spanish class that I wanted--I was right: it will be devastatingly easy. The chapter we are to read for Friday discussed uses of ser and estar, which is high school material. Excellent. Prof. Ballinger commented that I speak Spanish well (at least considering the rest of the students in Span 302), which was really nice to hear. I guess maybe Henager's class reduced my fear of making mistakes out loud.

My other class today, Intermediate Econ, is taught by Prof Beckham-Gramm (my other econ prof, Prof Gramm's wife), but we didn't meet her today. I'm not too psyched about my business classes, but.. whatever.

I also got into the Yoga class, though it's suuuuper crazy because there's FIFTY people in that class. Awfully crowded. Hopefully about half that many drop, or it won't be at all comfortable. I'll go either way, because I like it so much. Anyway, I'll let you guys know how tomorrow's classes go.

Joe: Kittens are the root of all evil.
Me: Oh, are they?
Joe: Yup.
Me: Explain.
Joe: Though they are sweet and cuddly, their root motive is to destroy, and crap in hard to clean places.. mostly to destroy, though.

My cold is worse + I'm out of Nyquil + Classes start tomorrow = Disaster.

Well, maybe not. Yoga will be at 6:00, so that's something.

So I've developed a lovely cough--it is loud and hoarse and sounds like the bray of a particularly aggravated moose. Which is basically what I am. Except: I did get 3 packages today--one (gingerbread candy bites) was slightly squashed, but two (one of which was chocolate covered cherries, and the other was the second half of Drew's Christmas present) were not. The food items were Finals Week gifts from my parents. That what you get when you don't check your mail 2 weeks before school lets out.

I'm not excited about classes starting back up, but I did buy one more textbook today (Fundamentals of Corporate Finance -- if that doesn't make your heart say WHEEE, I don't know what will) and I looked at the textbook ("Repase y Escriba") for the Spanish class I am hoping to get into (Span 302, with Ballinger).. I swear, if I got in there.. So easy. Which is precisely the kind of class I need, piled on top of classes whose textbooks are titled "Managerial Accounting", "Human Resource Management", and just plain "Macroeconomics". I feel less and less excited about the classes I am taking--Business is such a bummer. But I think about it like this: at least I'll find a job, and that kind of stability will allow me to enjoy my extra-professional life more. If I were, ohhh say, an English major.. I'd have relatively few choices, but as it is, a Business degree is basically equivalent to a paycheck. An MBA, even more so.

Who the heck is hammering in my stairwell?!?!?!? CUT IT OUT.

So I'm thinking about making a new layout based on Yoga. I'm trying not to make it totally ugly, but that is difficult, because my concentration levels are at an all-time low, which means I have to diagram out every little detail and stare into space for extended amounts of time. Lame. Too bad classes start Wednesday--if I had more time, maybe I could come up with something really beautiful and complicated.. but as it is, it's either simple or stick with the same one for another SEMESTER. Argh. Posting would totally cease because I'm REALLY REALLY tired of looking at this neck.

It's weird to be back. I think I might be getting kind of sick.. I woke up at 7:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep because I was so congested and coughing.. Anyway, so I've moved all my stuff in and have put the mattress pad on my bed and am just waiting for Drew to call. He wanted to eat dinner separately since he thought he wouldn't get in until 6:30, but I got in around 4:45 and haven't eaten.. so.. I don't know. We'll see about that. I think I'll lie down for now. Goodnight.

So I leave St Louis tomorrow, to go back to Rhodes. I've got several hundred things to do to get ready, plus grocery shopping. See you guys on the flip side.