Month: March 2017

Monday, March 27, 2017

This is how Boo and I spent our weekend – being lazy.  Tiago played Xbox while I studied the slope intercept form and graphing equations for my college algebra course that I’m trying to wrap up in the next two weeks.

College algebra (actually, any math course) has been my biggest stumbling block on my goal towards completing my BA in Business before my birthday this August 12th.  I’ve decided that I need to study, study, study and fully comprehend the subject matter before moving onto the next subject, which currently is Cartesian Coordinates.  While I understand some of the subject, I find that I don’t fully grasp y = mx + b and I need to before I move onto writing equations, systems of equations, functions, exponenets and monomials, ploynomials, factoring, and finally, quadratic equations.  

I feel left behind in that I’m almost 50 years old and I’ve never been exposed to these concepts before…and yet still graduated high school.

On top of all of this, I’m still trying to get in at least two hours of Portuguese each day.  I’m pretty happy with my progress and found that review of the material I’ve already learned, over and over again, is the key to retention.  Tiago says I need to start watching a lot of Brazilian TV shows with subtitles so I can train my ear to recognize and comprehend Portuguese. 

Five more days of work before a week of vacation for Spring Break!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

I ♥ my beard and I’ve found my spirit animal at last.

This is my beard without any product.  I had no idea that there’s quite a substantial “beard” care market.  I already have beard balm and beard oil.  Next, I’m thinking of getting an little beard straightening iron, but I need my bear to get a tad longer first. 😉  I wonder if I’m going to get completely obsessed with facial hair.  I’ve always had some form of scruff, but I don’t think I’ve ever had anything this unwieldy before.

I had a great time with my Boo and our friends in Seattle over the weekend for the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb.  I’m really looking forward to doing it again next year.

I sometimes get sentimental about Seattle; I spent a lot of good years there, but whenever I go back for a visit I realize how amazing my life is and what a privilege it is to live in the Methow Valley.  Life is funny in that regards; sometimes one has to leave a place to fully appreciate it.  Luckily for me, it was just for the weekend. 😉

Thursday, March 9, 2017

After my webcam mishap on Tuesday prevented me from taking my Macroeconomics assessment, I had to purchase a new external webcam and had to fashion a workaround in order to be able and take my assessment last night.

Assessments at WGU are done by having a proctor watch you while you’re taking the online exam to ensure you’re not using any prohibited material (also known as cheating).

Here was my solution.  I ended up taping my new webcam onto the top of my broken one.  The cam had to be elevated and able to rotate 360º so the proctor can see that my test environment is free of any reference material.  I was worried that my cam wasn’t able to give a wide enough field of view, but everything went off with out a hitch and I was able to take my assessment yesterday after work.

I passed Macroeconomics with a score of 73% and have 64 of the 121 credits I need to complete for my BA in Business.  I’m on a mission to get these ALL done before June.

I was feeling unstoppable after passing my assessment and decided to run into the bus garage and see if I could replace the blower motor in my Jeep Commander.  I’ve gone for a couple of weeks without a working heater and thought now was as good a time as any to “get ‘er done”.  I had already replaced the blower relay…nope.  Then I replaced the blower motor resistor…nope.  After eliminating the cheapest items, I finally decided to buy a new blower motor and replace it.

Here’s the old blower motor:

Here’s the new blower motor installed:

Hosanna!  I have heat again. 😉  Next, I’m going to fix my right windshield washer – it’s been busted for the better part of two months.  Tiago can vouch that I’m horrible at keeping my rig in good working order. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

What a disappointing night.  I had everything ready to take my assessment for Macroeconimics and was online with my proctor when, all of a sudden, my external webcam stopped working.  After several unsuccessful attempts, it was clear that my WGU issued webcam was kaput, so I had to reschedule my assessment for today and then went to Walmart (I know) and bought a new external cam.  Hopefully, this webcam meets all the requirements.

The Moses Lake area got a lot of rain yesterday and when I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM the temperature was 36º.  I decided to go out and check roads for ice and almost ended up in the ditch several times in Mae Valley.  When I got into work to met with my supervisor, we decided we needed a two-hour school delay.  Here we are in mid-March and still having late starts – knock on wood this is our last one this school year.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Boo finished installing the floor in our living and dining room and sent me this picture.  I can’t believe it’s taken us so long to decide and rip out the carpet and I plan on stopping by Costco in Wenatchee on my way home from work this Friday to pick up another 20 boxes so we can do the family room downstairs.

The time is almost upon us!  This Sunday, March 12th, is the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb at the Columbia Tower in Seattle and my husband will once again climb 1,356 steps (69 floors) in full gear to help raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and he’s already raised $1,550.  If anyone still wishes to give to this wonderful cause, here’s the link to his page.

I’m on a tight deadline to complete the remaining 19 courses (60 credits) before June 1st.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

…or so they say. 😉

Monday, March 6, 2017

And yet again I allowed the daily distractions of life to interfere with my keeping a journal.  This is a habit that I’ve got to train myself to do everyday.  What I notice about keeping a journal is that I am apt to get a LOT more done, especially in my studies and personal life.

There’s something about stating an anticipated outcome and then working on achieving that outcome and then posting about that outcome.  I think one way of looking at it is that these events act as a type of “filler” for my blog, and, whatever the reason, I get more done when I post about what I’m doing/done.  So, to that end, I’m going to make sure to jot down something, anything, every day.

What a busy weekend!  Our friend Sheila stayed over on Friday night and she and Tiago went out to Arrow Leaf Bistro for dinner.  I have to make the three-hour drive from Moses Lake on Fridays and I didn’t get home until after 9 PM, but we stayed up until almost midnight visiting.

Saturday morning I made us eggs benedict for breakfast.  Tiago and Sheila like having theirs with smoked salmon; I, on the other hand, am a traditionalist and had mine with Canadian bacon. 

I wanted to go see Logan in Wenatchee at the VIP theater (no minors allowed) and Tiago wanted to stop by Costco to look at laminate flooring that was on sale. 

We’ve been talking about tearing out and replacing the carpets with laminate.  We weren’t considering real wood flooring since we have four dogs and want something scratch resistant and while we were at Costco we decided on-the-spot to buy enough to replace the living and dining room area which is approximately 400 ft².  The cost is only $1.36 per square foot and we really like this material since it blends in so nicely with our existing tile that’s in the kitchen and hallway.

We got up early Sunday morning and started tearing out the old carpet and padding.  We then went through removing the molding and pulling all the staples and cleaning the sub-floor surface before installing the laminate.  Tiago and I worked on the installation until 5:30, but I had to iron my clothes for the work week so Tiago worked on it by himself until he went to bed at 8:30 and he was able to get around two-thirds of the floor installed.

The $8.00 off a box sale continues through this Sunday and we might have to make another run and get an additional 1,200-1,400 ft² so we can save around $500.