.: This Girl's Daybreak :.

Surprisingly, I heard back from my professor.

Unsurprisingly, he was completely useless. =/

My last email reiterated my question, and explicitly stated that I found the book and other materials unclear. So what does he respond with? 'Read the textbook'! Argh! I just...there are no words for this kind of stupidity and laziness, seriously. Who hires idiots like this?!

I fucking hate my Econ professor.

He gives us an obscene amount of material to read, between the textbook chapters and a ton of supplemental crap that he types up. (In his awkward, weird English!) And then! He gives us homework that doesn't have anything to do with any of that. No, the only time the stuff in this homework assignment is 'covered'? Is in a freaking Youtube video that he linked to, which he didn't even make. (Which may be good, since his accent is so thick, but still.) Seriously. He makes us read all this shit, and then gives homework on stuff that he doesn't even teach us. Fucking hell, this guy needs to be fired, seriously. You can't understand him when he talks, and he clearly doesn't know how to teach.

So, yeah. I'm sitting here, trying to do this homework, but I don't understand it at all. Because it was never taught to me! Where the hell does he get off giving us homework on stuff he never taught?!

...Fuck, this semester can't end fast enough, seriously.

Ugh, I swear...I feel like I haven't been on the computer (for fun) in ages...

I've been busy with school, of course. Had some tests that I had to take with that creepy lockdown browser, so I had to do that after work. I also got back into my Raspberry Pi again, and I've been playing a little Final Fantasy VI. <3 I think I'm almost half-way through it? I'm at the point right before it switches to the World of Ruin, whatever that is. The walkthrough I'm following has me running around doing things, because apparently, this is the last chance for a lot of stuff. So, once I finish doing miscellaneous tasks, I'll head into that next dungeon, and things should get interesting. =D

I don't know if I ever talked about my Raspberry Pi before. I know I meant to write a post on it, back when I got it, but I think I ended up forgetting. ^^;; Well, basically, a Raspberry Pi is a teeny, tiny computer. The thing seriously fits in the palm of my hand. And you can run all sorts of stuff on it, really, but my family uses them for video game emulators.

( Brief squeeing within. )

Oh, and I got sick. Again. =/ Earlier this week, my tonsils swelled up and I got all congested. Not fun. Honestly, I'm almost more offended than anything. I just was sick, maybe a month ago? If that? And now, here I am again. Luckily, it's not the same thing, because what I had last time was pretty rough. This isn't as bad as that. It still sucks, though.

So, between being too tired or sick to do more than watch TV, and playing some FFVI, I really haven't gotten on the computer just for fun in a couple of weeks, probably. Although, hell...I haven't read anything in even longer. =( I seriously need to get a better handle on my time management skills. I have work and homework to do, obviously, but sometimes I drag my feet too much on the homework. I get distracted, or whatever, and I end up wasting a lot of time. And it's not even fun time wasting, like taking a break to read or something. No, it's just surfing Facebook and playing stupid games on my phone. Part of the problem is this stupid project that I have to do for my Econ class. I know I need to start on it, because I have no idea how long it'll take to get it done. But it's just a daunting task to start a big paper like that. So, I sit down and intend to work on it...and I end up wasting my time on stupid stuff, instead. And then, if I have free time after work, I'm often too tired to feel like doing anything fun. Hence my being a slug in front of the TV.

Meh. I'm just feeling a little sorry for myself, I guess. It's stupid, but whatever. I just want to read. Or watch some anime. (I just picked up the two Sailor Moon Crystal sets that are out, plus I've still got stuff from Christmas that I haven't had time to watch.) I want to make graphics or read fanfic, or surf the internet for neat stuff 'til the wee hours of the morning. I want my hobbies, damn it. And lately, I just haven't had enough time or energy. I watch TV, which is nice, but it's more a way to lay around and rest, rather than that I'm super excited about what I'm watching. I want to do something because it's fun. I am having fun playing FFVI, but I'm not really playing that much. And I'm running around doing miscellaneous stuff right now, not even advancing the story.

...Geez, this post turned out really whiny, didn't it? Oops. >_>

Well, I did get sick. =P

Felt like crap by the end of the night on Thursday, then was full-blown sick by Friday morning. I worked from home that day, then basically just stayed in bed and tried to rest for the weekend. I thought I'd feel better by Monday, but no. So I worked from home again that night, too. Now it's Tuesday, and I'm finally feeling a bit better. Not over it, but I feel human enough to go to work, at any rate.

So here I am, typing this entry on my new laptop.

Yeah, that's something else that happened last week. I finally decided on a laptop and got it ordered. I went with the HP Notebook, and since it came from Amazon, I was able to use Dad's Prime account to get it here in two days. Lovely. Pretty much just in time to get sick. =/ Although, it was handy having it to use then, since I didn't feel like getting out of bed.

I think I like it okay, so far. I'm not crazy about the little arrow keys, as expected. They're awkward, and it seems like you have to hit them twice as hard, sometimes, or they don't register the keystroke. And the touchpad sucks, but I normally never use the thing, so that's not a big deal. I'm still getting used to the chicklet-style keyboard. It feels a little weird, but I'll get used to it the more I type on it, I guess. Overall, I think it's okay. There's always an adjustment period, whenever anything major changes. I don't like change; I'm a curmudgeon that way. But, other than just simply being different, I think it's mostly okay.

Okay, so I'm still looking for a new laptop. But I think I'm starting to narrow it down.

Does laptop buying have 'stages', I wonder? In my last post, I was pretty clearly stuck in 'anger'. But I think I've moved on to 'acceptance' now. I'm just so tired of all this crap, I just want to hurry up and pick one, to be done with it. So, I accept that I'm not going to get everything that I want. Now the question becomes, what am I willing to give up?

( More long-winded rambling )

So, yeah. I'm not there yet, but getting there.

Okay, so this is one of many reasons why I like online courses. Or, it normally is, anyway...

My Econ class had a live-chat today. The professor said we'd get bonus points for 'showing up', so of course I did. It basically consisted of us being able to see the professor's screen, and hear him talking, with the students being able to ask questions through text. Sounds okay, right? Well, not quite. See, I couldn't understand a word the professor said. Seriously. His mic wasn't good, and his accent was super thick. I'd be able to catch a couple of truly random words here and there, but by and large, it was complete gibberish to me. Which, okay, this 'lecture' isn't our only source of information. Still. That was something that I hated about in-person classes. Sometimes you'd get a professor with such a thick accent that you couldn't understand them. They might be wonderful people, but it sucked taking a class with them, because it made things so much harder. That's one nice thing about online classes...this usually isn't an issue. Emphasis on usually, I guess.

So now I'm wondering how often we're going to do this, and if what'll come of it in the future. If it's like today, and I can get points just for showing up, that's okay, I guess. Though, I'd much rather be able to understand my professor!

I am an idiot. And I fail at time management, or something.

I said before that Dad upgraded my desktop for me as a gift, and that I was going to upgrade my laptop myself. Well, I initially figured that I'd wait a bit. Give myself time to get used to Windows 10, acclimate and all. Then I'd upgrade my laptop. But I screwed up. See, I need Access 365 on my laptop in order to do the homework for one of my classes this semester. This semester...which has already started. And guess what won't run on WinXP? Yeah, Office 365. So, I have to have a new laptop, and I need it yesterday.

( Laptop flailing )

I've found a few that I'm looking at. I'll have to look them all over, and see what the differences are, and start deciding what's important and what's not. And how much I want to spend. Because I have got to get this thing ordered, pronto. Until I get it, I'm stuck doing my CIT170 homework after hours, on my desktop. And by that time of night, I'm usually about ready to fall asleep. Not so good when concentration is needed. Hell, I have to do that tonight! Go home and do this homework. No idea how long it'll take, but I'm already exhausted, and in no mood for this crap. But I gotta do it, so. Guess that's incentive to get off my indecisive ass and pick a laptop already. I don't want to have to keep doing this!

...For classes to be starting up. =P

Both my KCTCS classes have been opened, and material posted. I'm not sure if classes have 'officially' started yet, but I can start poking around. Neither of my MSU classes are up yet, though. Not sure if MSU starts later, or if my professors are just slower than the folks at KCTCS. Either way, I'll keep checking.

And I've already hit a snag. Or, a potential one. My database design class says we need 2013 or newer Access and Visio. Access I expected, and I have access (ha!) to it. KCTCS gives their students free use of Office 365, so I can use that. According to Google, Visio is also part of the MS Office suite, but the KCTCS freebie doesn't include it. And I asked Dad about his copy of Office, but apparently it's from 2007. I thought he had 2013, so I was hoping maybe his copy would have Visio. But if it's that old, it doesn't matter if it does or not.

So, I'm not sure what to do. I don't have several hundred dollars to drop on a piece of software that I will never use again after this class is over. So, I really need a free (or very cheap) copy. The course syllabus says that CIT majors might can get it free from somewhere, but I'm not a CIT major. (Sadly.) So, I don't know. I guess I'll email my professor in a little bit, and see what they say. According to the course outline, we won't be needing Visio until March, so I've got some time.

Still, this bugs me. It's one thing to require basic Office programs, which most people either have or have access to. But I'd bet that most people who own Office don't have Visio installed. So I really, really hope they have some way for us to get it cheaply, or free. College is expensive enough without making us spend large sums on software that we'll never use again. >_>

Oh! And I almost forgot. I am already unkindly disposed toward my database design prof. The syllabus says that not only are exams timed (which is normal), but they will have a short time limit. "To be sure you prepared". Screw you, prof. Seriously. Lots of people have test anxiety, which can make it take longer to finish a test. Even if I study my eyes out, and know the material, I get nervous, and I try to go over everything carefully. Now, not only will I be worried about the test, I'll be worried about if I'll have enough time to finish it! Freaking jackass. Why would you intentionally make things harder, when there's no reason to? Jerk.

I swear, I've been feeling short of sleep for about the past week or so. Normally, you'd think I could catch up a bit over the weekend, right? Yeah, not this time.

( This got a little long... )

So, I'm running on somewhere between 3 and 4 hours of sleep right now. I'm barely coherent at this point. I do get to go home earlier, since my shift started early. I think I'll come home, have my bath, and then try to get to bed somewhat early tonight. *Crosses fingers*

Well, I hope everyone who celebrates it had a good Christmas. <3

I had a nice one. We exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve this time, and we all got some nice things. I got a pretty good haul from RightStuf's annual holiday sale, so I've got lots of new anime to watch. Really looking forward to that. And I got other fun stuff, too. Mom got me a Princess Luna plush, which is super cute, and a neat hairclip that's supposed to give your ponytail some volume. Oh, and a mermaid tail blanket! It's really cute, and it'll be great for keeping my feet warm. And Dad's going to upgrade my desktop for me. I've needed to upgrade for quite a while, so this is a really nice gift. I'm a little worried about changing to a newer OS, but then, I always am. And I'm a little excited, too.

For dinner, Dad smoked a turkey breast again. Ever since he got that smoker, he loves playing with it. And he's good at it, really. The turkey was delicious. And Mom made some good sides to go with it; mac & cheese, potatoes, etc. It was a nice meal.

The only downside was that Rich couldn't come home. He's swamped at work, and he's been on-call for the last couple of weeks or so, so he couldn't leave. I think we're going to try to visit him soon, but I'm not sure when. I know Mom mailed him some of his gifts, so he'd still have something to open on Christmas. But we'll give him the rest when we see him, I guess.

And on a non-holiday-themed note, I ordered my textbooks for the Spring semester yesterday. That was fun. >_> Over $400 for four books. Ugh. I know it could be worse, but still. I think that's the most I've spent on books thus far. And the Spring semester starts something like halfway through January. So, I don't have much break left. Sigh. That's always a bit disappointing. All I can do is try to make the most of the time I have left, I guess!

I think I might want to try watching some of my new anime soon. I won't be able to binge watch a bunch of series like I did this past summer, but I could get one or two in, probably. Depending on how long they are. And that leads to the question, what to watch first? =D