Progress

I ordered a shiny new Macbook Pro today. I've been pondering making the upgrade and my recent issues, plus the fact that I'm probably going to be required to run Windows for most of my programming classes decided me. The main reasons I held back in the first place were that 1) The technology was new--needed to give them time to work out the kinks. 2) The programs, specifically Adobe Creative Suite weren't created for the new OS yet. And 3) the money. Well, CS 3 is out and with my educational discount I can get the whole suite for $300 (about a $1500 savings) if I bought a new Mac--which I would also get at an educational discount. Once I have all my new toys, I hope to sell the powerbook for close to what I paid for it. It still has more than a year of Applecare so I think it's much better to sell it sooner rather than wait a year. I'm really hoping this upgrade will be my last until I'm done with school at least.

Today was another productivity day. Did some laundry, worked on some school stuff--I'm *finally* registered for classes and I stopped by campus to pick up a current change in financial status form so I can hopefully wrangle some more mula from financial aid. It's ridiculous that they're basing my aid on a full time salary when I haven't worked since September of last year.

So now I've got the general ed requirements out of the way and it's time to start focusing on hard core geek stuff. I'm questioning just where I want to focus my efforts. I really would like to be able to program *and* design web sites, but there isn't really a degree--two or four year--that offers exactly what I want. I definitely don't want to do the hard core computer science degree at PSU. I started thinking about the realities of entering a profession that's male dominated and pretty sexist and decided I'd like to avoid that particular corporate machine. Buuut, I can't go straight for a graphic design degree because I'm a lover writer not a fighter visual artist. So that lead me to check out OIT and the Application Development degree. It seems close to what I'm looking for and also feels like it will play to some of my strengths in communication, teaching and writing. Also, it's a four year bachelor's degree, which I will eventually need to transfer to according to the rules of my scholarship. Yay scholarship!

Feels good to finally have my schedule set. I'm not thrilled about having to go to Sylvania, but I'm allowed to up to half my classes online so with luck I'll only have to make the trek on Tue/Thur this term. Tomorrow I'll start tackling my sorely neglected finances.

I didn't get over to LRBC until close to 3:00 today, just in time to enjoy a perfectly sweetened ice latte and grab an outside table to wait for the flavor of the day. Temps were scorching but I considered it soaking up heat for the winter. Today's ice cream flavor was sweet corn. I love corn so I went for it and got the scoop. It was good--a little strange, since I'm pretty traditional when it comes to ice cream. But I have to admire Ali's creativity--it definitely inspires me to be more adventurous. I indulged in some writing time and made a bit of progress on the Idaho bike trip report which I *will* finish and post sometime this week (uh..or next). Evan turned me onto the Pandora website, streaming radio tailored to your taste based on the artists you enter. I put in Ray Charles and got the perfect soundtrack-to-write-by.

This weekend I'm leading my first club ride for Sorella Forte. I had a basic plan for my route but didn't know how many miles it would be. I found this nifty site that lets you create point by point routes and tells you the mileage and even estimates how many calories you'll burn, for people who count those things. I have a pretty simple, one bike ride = three servings of ice cream formula that I swear by. Here's my route.

When the heat got to be too much, I got out of the kitchen and headed home. I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the house and doing chores naked which is just one of the many things I love about having our own house all to ourselves.

Terra brought us fresh basil from her garden yesterday so that pretty much mandated that we have pasta with fresh pesto sauce for dinner. That Terra, she grows a nice herb.

Tomorrow, a therapeutic road ride in the morning and then off to the cafe where I hope to finally meet Abe the wonder dog.