My Crazy Thoughts
my thoughts on various topics.

So, this morning when I watched the biochem lecture from yesterday I was thinking wow, the service is really nice today, it didn't buffer nearly as much as it did last week. I was really impressed. It wasn't too bad when I watched the PSR lecture either. Then I tried to watch my practicum lecture, which I really wanted to see because I want to know what we're actually going to be doing in it. But it kept buffering, and I kept loosing sound, and it kept stopping, which it doesn't normally do. Then I tried the PBD lecture. It was better--at first. So I switched over to the slower speed version. I was able to watch it but had the same problems and the quality isn't as good with the slower speed version. This is the problem with an apartment complex sharing a broadband connection. I guess someone out there or probably more than one someone is downloading Charlies angels 3 or something. Why can't they do this at 3 am or something while I'm sleeping? Why does it have to be in the middle of the day with me having 2 more lectures to watch and then some library presentations so that I will know exactly what to do for what they want for this pub med search I have to do. Because right now I have no idea how to print out a history. I didn't know you could do that. So I'm hoping that it is a special pub med feature, and I have to watch a ton of presentations to find out. Blah! Do your downloading some other time, when it doesn't interfere with my learning people! The connection was so good this morning, now I'm all dissapointed.

posted by Malissa at 3:53 PM | 0 comments |

So...Already I'm a little behind with the lectures. It was bound to happen, I knew it would, I'm really just not driven to do stuff like that except when I'm on a regimented schedule. If I had a scheduled lecture then i would be in class every time, because it's on the schedule, but with the lectures online, they aren't even always on at the same times, sometimes they are on 2 hours after the lecture in gainesville, sometimes it is longer. And it is wierd, because whenever they ask a question I always answer it, that's the way I've always been, even if I don't know the answer and am guessing I would often answer out loud. Well not really loud, just a whisper or something. I learn better with active learning. Interaction is important. Now I don't have that so much. I still answer but then I feel wierd, like my roommates can probably hear me and think I'm wierd for talking to myself. But I'm trying to make it feel like it does when your in the class room. I even notice the clothes of the people up front. There is this tall guy that sits in the front, I can always see the top of his head. It makes me feel more like I'm taking an active part in the class. But it isn't the same. I hope we can cover the class material in our group and lab meetings, at least then I will be able to interact more. I think maybe I should get a job, that would make it so that I HAVE to do certain things at certain times, but I know that classes really haven't started getting down to it yet, so I need to wait a while still to see if I can handle it all together. Plus I've heard from several people that it isn't really a good idea to work the first year. So I guess I should wait to make sure.

We're doing something in fundamentals of medical chemistry where we are calculating pHs, and we have these assumptions and then according to the outcome of the assumptions we change our formulas, and I can't figure out why we change the formulas, and how this is the short version when it takes like 10 steps to get to the answer and at least a page of math--and that's just for the ones where the assumptions are right. And if we are going to check if they are right and then changed them if they are not then why calculate based on an assumption? Could this possibly be shorter than the actual calculation?

Also, I thought I would share my pizza recipe. I really like them. So you take a premade pizza crust. Put ranch dressing on the crust, like you would with pizza sauce. Not to much just a thin layer. Slice mushrooms and place them on the crust, use as many as you like. Then take fresh spinach and pile it up. It shrinks a lot so you will need a pretty big mound. Sprinkle garlic salt on top. You might need to use more salt, depending on how you like it and sometimes the spinach needs more salt. Then put mozzerella cheese on top. I like to use slices, but most people like shredded. Bake according to the crust directions--mine are like 10 minutes at 400 degrees. It's really good. I sometimes add tomatoes, and you can use pepperoni if you like.

I'm sure everyone will now run out to try that.

Okay, I need to stop stalling now and watch some lectures.

posted by Malissa at 12:35 PM | 0 comments |

Right now I'm waiting for the updated powerpoint slides for my lecture to print. I went on for a little while without them, but I really needed to make some notes, and I got to the point where I was sure I wouldn't remember what I was supposed to know when they were finished printing. It's taking forever, but I guess that's not uncommon for 12 pages. Pharmacy school really isn't good for deforestation prevention. Someone told me that if you take an empty ink cartridge to Office Depot they will give you a reem of paper free. Now it's not like a reem of paper is all that expenisive but if I'm going to be using this much paper and ink I might as well try to take advantage of a deal like that.
So, I have a question. Do you think that turtles ever get sore muscles while they have themselves pulled into their shells? Do you think that in times of crisis or danger they ever get tired and are no longer able to hold their little arms and legs in? Or is it more like it requires active muscles to keep their arms and legs outside of the shell, but then they walk around so much. Well gopher turtles do. Does anyone know?
I'm going shopping tonight, I haven't decided what kinds of things to get. It's really hard to come up with something for just one person that is easy to cook, and won't leave to many days worth of leftovers, doesn't make too much of a mess to make, and is relatively good for you. So that's another thing, does anyone have any food ideas? I'm talking mostly about dinner here, I have breakfast and lunch covered--mostly.
Okay, I'm done printing the slides, so off to watch class I go.

posted by Malissa at 6:35 PM | 1 comments |

So isn't it interesting how the stress changes? Was it only a few months ago that I was worried that I wouldn't even be in school this year? How long was it that I worried about it? It's interesting how fast I went back to the way things used to be, now the stress is about whether I will do well in a class, and about the traffic (yeah a lot of stress there). It's like that year plus that I spent worrying my that I wouldn't get in and I wouldn't ever get anywhere weren't even there, or at least didn't last nearly as long as they really did. It's amazing how realieved I am. Everything's back on track.
On the traffic note, I keep trying to tell myself it's not that bad. I could be living in Atlanta, and having to drive on that interstate everyday. If I went to Mercer I wouldn't have had to drive the interstate everyday, but I would have had to drive it and I that would be worse. Also, it's not like memphis that we can't ever seem to get through without getting lost in the getto. And at least it's not half way across the country where I couldn't drive back at all. And UF was my first choice, and if there are this many people in Jax then it can't be that bad. So I tell myself it could be worse. I don't know if it working, probably not, but it gives me something to think about while I get used to the traffic.
I'm going back to jacksonville in the morning. I don't have to be on campus until wed, but it's easier to be at my apartment for the lectures. I'm working on getting my mom to get high-speed internet, so that when I'm here it isn't a problem. I'm starting to like the idea of having this flexible schedule. But I'm also starting to get worried about this course load. The schedule still doesn't look to packed, but I was looking ahead and pretty soon it looks like we're going to get busy. So, even though it is flexible, it's not going to be that flexible for long.
Since I've been changing this layout I decided I'm going to link everything that I look at on a regular basis. But...before I do that I want to make sure it's okay. So...Brook, Heather, I know you guys sometimes read this, is it okay if I link you? If not, let me know. Also, let me know if there are any problems with the layout, well, aside from the teeny-tiny print.

posted by Malissa at 4:54 PM | 0 comments |

So I'm at the mall now, I had to come back to watch a lecture, I thought I had 2 but it turns out it's just one. The service here is great, better than at my apartment or on campus. Anyway, I had to post because, of course, since I'm sitting here concentrating, some wired guy had to sit at the table next to me. This man, whose cologne reeks, should have tattooed on his forehead, "DO NOT LET ME NEAR YOUR KIDS," since sitting down, an entire plethora of children have come over to talk to him, not so quietly, since I could hear them through my headphones, about topics that 8 year olds should not have conversations about. Example sentence I heard out of 8 years olds mouth through my lecture, "You just called me a freaking LESBIAN!!!" It's really not safe to dump your kids at the Crystal River Mall and leave them unsupervised, they've probably found friends like this.

posted by Malissa at 5:48 PM | 0 comments |

Books I ordered today:
Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correclations, Devlin, 5th ed.
Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Deliversy Systems, Ansel, 8th ed.
Review of Organic Functional Groups; Course Packet, Lemke, 4th ed.
Pathophysiology, Porth, 7th ed.
Clinical Skills for Pharmacists: A Patient-Focused Approach, Tietze, 2nd, ed.

I also called and am having the fedex/kinkos place fedex me that course packet. I was going to try to find it again today but when I got downtown the traffic was busy, so I decided to just give it up. Anyway, all this stuff should get here the beginning of next week, I hope there are no problems. I don't know how this apartment complex deals with stuff like this. So I guess before I leave tomorrow I will stop in and just check with them, or I'll call them if they aren't open yet. I think I worry about too much stuff, it's just that when I don't it never fails that I should have.

I watched "The Doctor" and we got our clinical pharmacology CDs. I think there is going to be a lot of really cool info on that CD. And I stayed for the ASP meeting. They gave us food, which was good because I was STARVING. There was someone from the national headquarters there to give a little talk, I really liked it, I'm definitely going to join.

I was on campus early, so I was in the lab, and the lectures never got online and now blackboard is down, which they told us about, but I can't get in to see if the lectures ever went up and I have 4 to watch tomorrow, so I'd rather not have to watch 6. I hope it comes back online soon. I'm going home tomorrow, I hope that the connection at the mall is fast enough, 'cause I know our dial-up isn't.

posted by Malissa at 9:29 PM | 1 comments |

Today I have another lateish campus day. I'll be there until 7:00, and then I'll come back here, luckily I think that today is a lighter lecture day. I'm not really sure because the scedule is a little confusing sometimes, so I will wait and see what comes up on blackboard later. I'm going to try to find the fedex/kinkos again. Wish me luck. Today we have to watch a movie for our PSR class. It's called "The Doctor." And then we get our clinical pharmacology CD, and that is sceduled for an hour and we have to bring our laptops so I assume we will also get an information session on them. I think next week we start with our groups and labs, so it will be interesting to really get into the learning. We had a biochem assingment that is due on Monday. It took me a while to do it, and he didn't go over the stuff it was on in biochem so I was worried for a sec, luckily it was a little familiar, and I remembered that my Med Chem professor went over most of it. So I did the assignment based on Med Chem, I'm still not quite sure if I did it right, and a couple of the questions I was even sure exactly what I was doing, but I finally got answers for everything, I'm going to check with people today to see if they've done it and try to find someone who can tell me if I did it right or if I made everything up. It's possible. They have this rule that we have to do our work on our own and stuff, but then they keep telling us that we should help each other out, so I figure that since I did it on my own and then am going to check with others that it is okay. Besides, if you don't teach it to us in class then how are we supposed to figure it out?
Well, I have to go get ready to leave for campus, 1:15 is a good time to get there, the traffic isn't so bad, plus I don't have to worry about being late, and I can talk to people before things begin.

posted by Malissa at 12:31 PM | 0 comments |

So...today was a busy day. I got up this morning at 8:00, I can't really sleep later than that on school days because I feel like I'm being lazy and I feel guilty about being lazy during the first week of classes. So I've decided to get up at 8:00, which is aparently late to some people. Anyway, the problem with that is that my lectures don't get online until at least 11:30. So I print out powerpoints for the days lectures if I haven't already done that and then I read any readings that are online, because I still don't have my books, and it sounds like I will only even need them as a reference anyway. Then I have nothing to do for a while, and I again feel lazy. The problem today was that I had to be on campus for a couple information sessions and groups. So I spent the time I would normally spend watching lectures on campus, and now I still have 2 lectures to go, so it will be a little late tonight. I'm thinking about doing what some other people do and watch the previous days lectures in the morning, because I think I would like to do them in the morning better, and then I would not have downtime until everything was finished. But I'm afraid I might always feel like I am behind. I am thinking about it.
So, it wasn't just me that had the problems with Biochem yesterday. Everyone else was going what is he talking about? What is "this"? It made me feel better to know I wasn't the only one. So I know that a few e-mails went out about it. Hopefully he will fix it. Which is good, because I'm still not liking pKs, I get the info, but I'm not comfortable with it, if that makes sense. But it appears that that is what we are going to talk about in just about every class. That and the Henderson-Hasselbach equation (I know I probably didn't spell that right, I'm not sure anyone does). Next week we find out our practicum assignments. I can't wait to get out in the field and do something, even if it is trivial. I'm just worried about getting lost on my way there, hopefully I get one that is easy to find.
Today we had a library info session about how to use all the library resourses, it was required, and it ran over so, I and everyone else in my group had to run all over the hospital trying to find our way out. People were really nice and kept asking where we were going and giving us directions, they didn't always help though. But I met my peer advisor. I couldn't remember any questions that I might have had for her. Maybe I'll think of some later.
It's still pretty easy right now, but I guess the third day of class shouldn't be too rough. It just seems like the hard part should be here by now. I know it is coming.
I was going to go to the student council meeting today, but we ended an hour early, and I didn't want to wait an hour. I wasn't really sure I would even join student council, and I really don't want to be an officer, so I didn't go. I'm going to the ASP meeting tomorrow though, I think that is what I'm going to join. I think I'm only going to join one this year though. But I want to join at least one.
Nikky called me today while I was at school and had my phone on silent but she messaged me while I was watching a lecture, I think she is having a rough time, she doesn't have any friends, but I'm pretty sure that the problem is that she just doesn't talk to anyone in her classes. I don't know why she expects that friends will just appear magically. I hope she makes some soon though because I'm afraid that if she doesn't she will decide she doesn't like it and quit and settle for what she can get from the dive shop and what Brian tries to convince he is enough in life, and I would hate her to do that before she can experience all the great things college is about. I mean I never was a partier and I didn't do many of the things college students typically find fun but I wouldn't give the experience up for anything. But then I think she is actually probably partying pretty hard, at 6:30 she told me she was going to eat, shower and go to bed. I think that is probably her way of excusing herself from being online later, I bet she is on her way to ybor right now. I'm on to her.
I tried to get to the fedex/kinkos today, but ended up on Kings, so I didn't get there. I might try again tomorrow, but if I don't make it then I will just have them send it to me.
I still don't know why the font is so small, I will work on it when I have time.

posted by Malissa at 9:15 PM | 1 comments |

So I went to Wal*Mart to buy hear phones and also a hole punch so I could put all the powerpoints I'm printing into the binders I have. I also bought a reem of paper and some more hangers. Now I can hang up ALL my shirts. 2:00 is a good time to go to Wal*Mart, not too much traffic.
I am now done with all my lectures for the day, so I have to find stuff to do to fill up my time. People should post more so that I can read all about their lives, mine is boring, I need some vicarious living.
I need to review Biochem though because I've always hated pKs and pHs and stuff having to do with logs. Blah! Plus whenever he was lecturing from the slides the camera people just showed a picture of the slide from the computer, so when he was saying "this" or "here" I had no idea which "this" and "here" he was talking about. I hope they work on that so I can see where he is pointing. It also took them a long time to change from slides to the chalk board so sometimes I wasn't sure which equation he was talking about. So I want to go over it again by myself just to make sure that I was guessing which "this" and "here" he was talking about correctly. Wow, I hope that sentence makes sense to other people.
I called fedex/kinkos to order my course packet and the guy was like, "you don't have to order it, they are already made up." Which I figured they would be (that's they way they were with USF and ProCopy) so I don't know why they would tell us to order them ahead of time.
I talked to Heather Monday Lamb the other day online, she sounded really happy, she also wanted to know what Marissa thinks of Fort Campbell because they are thinking about trying to transfer, so now I have to remember to ask Jenn the next time I talk to her. I talked to Jenn last night for a couple minutes to wish her happy birthday, but it was late by the time I was done with my lectures--we not really--like 9:30--but anyway she was getting ready to go to bed, but I guess I would be too if it were my birthday and my husband was leaving in the next day or so. So anyway I didn't have time to ask.
My aunt and uncle have AOL for her ISP and they get into personalizing everything. Right now whenever they come online and go offline it makes this high pitch caw noise (like a bird), it scares me to death everytime I hear it because my sound is permanently turned up so I can hear the lectures. So I finally just made it so everyone has the door, so much better. When I got back with my headphones I wanted to try them out and make sure they work. I decided that I will always use them because it's like putting blinders on, I concentrate so much more, and distractions aren't so distracting, and it's almost like being there, except I can watch them in my pjs if I want, and the picture is so small. So it's not like being there but I like it better.
Also, I still need to know how to get wireless. I have ethernet and want to get something that will make it wireless, how to I do this. If you think you know I put more specifics at the end of the last post. Please, please, please share your knowledge with me.

posted by Malissa at 5:12 PM | 2 comments |

Wow, it is taking them FOREVER to get the lectures online. On days that I have to be on campus for labs and groups I'm going to be up forever watching them after. So I'm not at all looking forward to that, I also wish there was like an e-mail that went out whenever the lecture was up so I wouldn't have to keep checking over and over again. This morning I read some online reading assignments for biochem, they were just reviews, it was at that point that I realized that biochem wasn't the class I thought about taking and decided I didn't have time for, it was the class I dropped, because it was hard and I didn't need it. Jeezzzzz that was a long time ago. So anyway, now I need it. At least I'm not like the other people who already took it and have to take it again now--that would be boring, easier but boring. And plus at least this one is geared toward pharmacy so it will have practical applications.
I think I'm going to wal*mart later to buy head phones, that way while I'm on campus tomorrow for my computer training I can watch some lectures, that way I can go early (you know, my fear of traffic), and then I won't be wasting all my time, and maybe I can get a lecture out of the way and I won't have to watch it tomorrow night. Also I need to get that packet from the fedex/kinkos. I wish they would just have them at the campus. That would be faster.

Oh, and maybe someone can help me out here with my problem. I have ethernet in my apartment. But I have to plug into it in the wall. But, I have a laptop and believe in full mobility. So how do I make my ethernet wireless? I guess I need a router? I don't really need one that will allow multiple users because it is just me, what kind do I get? How hard are they to set up? And, where can I get one cheap? Any help is much appreciated.

posted by Malissa at 1:28 PM | 0 comments |

So the first day is almost over. I watched all the lectures. It wasn't too bad. But by the time I got around to starting the last one I was a little worried I would have a hard time doing this but once I got into the lecture it went pretty fast. They are only like 50 min. long. Anyway, I haven't really needed the books yet, but I need to get to the fedex/kinkos to pick up that packet because it has all the powerpoint notes for the lectures. But they didn't follow power point so I'm not sure how that works, maybe it is just outlines and I misunderstood. Anyway, it was okay. Of course I'm sure that I will get lazy later in the semester and in a couple years I will have a real problem with it. I'm very determined to succeed at this even though sometimes I do think, what have I done? But I really know this is what I want to do, I would just rather not review chemistry, or anything else that was hard. I mean, can't I be done yet? I've been doing this FOREVER. I would go to the campus to watch the lectures because then I could make myself do it on a schedule but did I mention that I HATE driving in this traffic? Hmmm...Maybe I will look for a Panera. But I don't know if there is one close enough to stay out of the traffic, it seems like from here everything is either downtown or at the beach. I guess the beach isn't too far but that doesn't mean that it can't get far in the traffic. Ahhh!!! Eventually I will get used to it. Then I will have to be careful not to run over the old people when I go home. That could be a problem. Also I think everyone should post more often since I will now be permanently linked to the computer, that way I have something to do during my down time. So...get on that people!

posted by Malissa at 10:55 PM | 0 comments |

So I'm back from my meeting now. It didn't last long--5-10 minutes tops. But the drive there was good, in fact I was going to post about it while I was there on campus using their wireless internet but there were so many upper class people there watching lectures I felt like I would be being lazy if I wasn't doing work, so i just read a reading thing that was assigned. Anyway, for the meeting she just asked questions like where you in jax before you came here, and where were you, and are you working, are you going to get involved in something. Turns out she spend a year in Homosassa when she was in middle school, went to lecanto, and lived in sugar mill woods. Cool. Anyway, because I didn't post like I was going to I think the gods decided I needed a little reminder of their power and rained on me. I'm not talking about a spring shower here. I'm talking it rained so hard that traffic on the interstate was brought to about a 30mph crawl. And this was not rush hour time, we had been traveling pretty good until then. But actually over all the trip wasn't bad at all. I just keep telling myself, "see, it will get better, you just have to get used to it." Anyway, I have to go watch like 3 lectures now because they weren't online until after I left and by now they are probably all up or will be by the time I'm done with one and move onto the next. But after that I'm going to publix to get a sub for dinner, the rain made me not want to cook or do anything requiring motivation. So lectures...Here I come!

posted by Malissa at 3:37 PM | 0 comments |

Went to Wal*Mart. It wasn't bad. But if the people walk like they drive we will have problems. My roomate just left, I hope that wasn't a publix uniform he was wearing, because I hope that he wasn't working while I was there and that I didn't just ignore him because I didn't recognize him, 'cause I just met him and wouldn't recognize him except that he seems to have a key to one of the rooms. Anyway, I would hate to think that I was ignoring him because I wasn't. I bought socks. And since it was raining I have to change my pants now because the legs are wet and that bothers me. I think I'm going to watch a movie, nothing has been on tv all day, and I set up my dvd/vcr last night so I might as well get some use out of it. I read the first part of a reading assignment, there are 4 parts and they are 8 pages long, so it's rough, but it's online which is good because I don't have any books yet so I wouldn't be able to read it if it wasn't. It's actually not too boring. I'm going to go eat some fruit right now, and if you're bored you could message me.

posted by Malissa at 2:30 PM | 0 comments |

Color me BORED
I haven't done anything today except eat, watch tv and play on my computer. I was going to go to wal mart at about 1:15, because I figured at that time people would be done with lunch or still at lunch. I didn't want to drive in the traffic, it's difficult to get into wally world here, the turn into it is in the turn onto atlantic, which is always backed up. But it is raining, not hard, just a sprinkle, but I don't want to carry my stuff in the rain. So I'm going to wait for a bit and see how it goes.

posted by Malissa at 1:12 PM | 0 comments |

So this morning I woke up at 8:00, I couldn't sleep any longer. All these orientations have really messed up my sleep schedule, plus I'm in a new place so when I wake up I guess I'm not as comfortable as I would be at home. Anyway, soon I was starving so I wanted to make breakfast. Since I'm not going to have any morning things I decided to get eggs, and turkey bacon so that I could make myself breakfast everyday if I wanted. So I went out to make breakfast, normally I would have just made it in my pajamas, that's what I've always done before and it's not like I was anywhere near naked. But now I'm living with a guy I don't know, and I don't know if he would be uncomfortable with me there in my pjs. So I just put on jeans, but it's not like anyone else is up this early on the sunday before school anyway. Yep, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.
Driving here is crazy, they need more stop lights, at least on this road, it's impossible to turn left at certain times. I don't really want to think about how it will be when UNF starts because it is right down the road from my apartment. The traffic is still scary to me but I just keep telling that I will get used to it, but I don't think I'm ever going to like driving downtown in this place. I have to pick up something from the fedex/kinkos downtown, so I have to get out my map and decide what roads to take, and then I have to pray that I don't choose one way roads that only go the wrong way. And I have to pray that I don't get carjacked because downtown is not exactly a good place to be. I think i have just about everything I want and need moved in, it was a lot of trips up those stairs, and I could only take so much stuff at a time because I was afraid I would trip and fall back down them. I'm really going to have to work on not feeling like I'm going to vomit while I'm driving to school functions. When I had to drive to gainesville for the orientaion there I had the same problem. Hopefully it won't be a problem tomorrow because I've already done it once. I think it is just a fear of the unknown. Tomorrow I have to drive downtown for a 15 minute meeting, thats 1-2 hours in the car depending on the traffic. I think I'm going to take my computer and hang around in the office, that way I can use their wireless and maybe meet some more people. I have a feeling I'm going to need some study groups.
I have to go to Wal Mart today and buy socks, I didn't bring any with me.

posted by Malissa at 9:24 AM | 0 comments |

Yesterday I moved to Jacksonville. It was a long trip. Well only 3 and a half hours but it was long while I was doing it, and I had never driven that route before so I wasn't quite sure I was not going to get lost most of the time. But I didn't get lost. And I found it. They didn't have my room keys ready when I got here but they said that they would be ready by today. When I got to my room the site manager was in my apartment and was going to send up the carpet cleaner to re-do my carpet because when they painted my room they oversprayed onto the edges of the carpet. I was suprised that they were so worried. But after tons of trips I got all my stuff up to the third floor and settled in. Then I read an article I needed to read for orientation and prepared for today.
Today was orientation. I was pretty scared about the traffic this morning. I was not happy about having to drive downtown during rush hour. So I freaked myself out about it but I managed not to vomit on the drive. I think that something has changed about me in the last several years. I don't remember ever getting this stressed about little things like I do now. I was really sick to my stomach driving today. I was afraid I would go the wrong way, not be able to get into the correct lane, and afraid that I would wreck my car. It was the same for coming back to my apartment this evening (in rush hour traffic again). Eventually I will get used to it and actually know which lane I should be in. By the way, I must thank my orientation leader for giving me the heads up about I95. And I am now going to make a rule. When you are building an interstate and you name it I95, there should never be only one lane for that road when there are two for a different interstate. And you should give a lot better signage if this is going to be the case. So thank you to my orientation leader for letting me know that I should hand left, that way I only had to squish into one other lane. Traffic in Jacksonville is the thing I dislike most about this city.
So enough about the traffic. Orientation was good. I feel really good about getting this started. I think it is because since it is started I can see the end of it all. In four years I will be done and able to practice. I will be able to live a regular life. I'm a little worried about how difficult the curriculum will be. But I'm really glad that I'm going to UF. It feels really good to know that I am at one of the top 10 pharm schools. They even went so far as to say today that if they were still doing the rankings that we would be in the top 3 and with our distance campuses they could argue that we would be the number 1 school. I don't know how much that is true and how much it is just trumping themselves up. But I'm happy to know that I'm going to one of the top schools in the nation. And I think that if I can just get past the driving to campus part I will really like it. I guess I shoudln't really say anything since I interviewed at Mercer, and I really would have hated driving through Atlanta even if I only had to do it when i drove home.
So, when I got back to my apartment today I went to go get my keys. Then when I walked into my apartment I noticed my carpet was a different color. And had to stop and decided that I couldn't be in the wrong apartment because my key worked. And I noticed that my bedroom door was open, my furniture was moved, and all my stuff was gone. I panicked thinking someone had stolen my stuff and changed the carpet. It was really quite jarring. But then I realised all my stuff had been moved into my bathroom so they could change the carpet. So I had to again arrange all my furniture and put everything away again. They unmade my bed and took the bedskirt off. It took me forever to get the thing on correctly.

Things I need to bring from home
Trash cans (2)
Hangers
vacuum
longer cable cord
surge protectors

Things I need to buy at a store
Trash bags
dish (washer) soap
food
clorox wipes or something like that
a USB/parallel port converter

posted by Malissa at 8:17 PM | 0 comments |

So, I told you we were going to have another hurricane today right? Well, we are. So to prepare I set my alarm for 9:00 a.m. this morning, I wanted to know what was going on because if it gets bad we could get tornados, which are really bad because of the unpredictability and the damage that they do. Mom decided I should make chicken and dumplings since people would probably come over if it got bad. This morning at 6:00am our neighbors called to tell my mom we should evacuate and that they were going to be leaving. So I got up and immediately Nikky called me. I don't know why she didn't just call mom. Anyway in her slow disjointed phone speak she managed to tell me that we were going to be evacuated. I don't know what kind of social disfunction she has picked up from Brian but she is now incapable of carrying on a phone conversation without pausing for like 5 minutes before she replies to anything you say. Anyway, I told her we were outside the evacuation zone and not to worry and thought she would be coming over because last night when she brought her car over it seemed like she would be coming over this morning. But after another call to tell me that we were in fact in a mandatory evacuation zone (which we were; we are just outside the mile east of 19 line), but still she was told that we were safe and staying, but they (Brian, her, Ron (the dive shop owner) and the rest of their crack team brain trust) were going to Daytona to weather out the storm. So by 10:00, I was showered, Aunt Doris was here, and Nikky was here to drop off the cat. Then she went back to Crystal River, on the west side of 19 RIGHT ON THE WATER where she stayed until about 2:00 when it was really too late to evacuate and then they left. They are in Ocala now having dinner. They waited until too late to get all the way to Daytona especially since if they did they would end up crossing the hurricane's path. I have one message for Brian and Ron from American Pro Dive and the rest of the formerly mentioned brain trust. When there is a hurricane there are some rules to be followed. First, don't panic and especially don't try to panic people who even though they have lived in Florida their entire lives have apparently never watched the news when we had a storm, which we have EVERY year. Also, if you live west of 19 you should evacuate. You should not sit around telling people who are in a safe zone outside of the normal evacuation zones to evacuate while holding a hurricane party whose participants are only there out of fear of the sky falling. If you can't remember that I'll put it in easier terms. If you live west of 19 evacuate, if you don't then batton down the hatches and weather the damn storm. Simple.
So we've watched the news like all day. They've been talking about the trajectory of the storm, the things you should do to get ready for the storm, county by county coverage. We're under a Hurricane warning, and tornadoe warning and a flood warning. They've talked about how bad the storms here are, how bad the bands are hitting us and how much rain we are having.

So yeah, we're having a hurricane.
You can see the severe wind damage we've had. And the rain; our yard is just flooded. It's terrible here in Homosassa. I'll keep you all posted. The news is sure that we are going to experience weather more severe then we are feeling right now.

posted by Malissa at 4:38 PM | 0 comments |

So...I'm at the mall again. I was here yesterday to take advantage of the free high-speed wireless internet connection but my battery died before I was able to post the post that I wrote yesterday. It is okay though becacuse my post was a little bit disjointed. Anyway, I was saying that I finally know about my apartment. It is a 3/3, and so I only have 2 roommates. One guy and one girl, I don't know anything about them. But they said they were pretty sure they were both non-smokers, but that pretty much means that they probably are and they didn't want to say they were because then I would want them to find me different roommates and they didn't want to. It's on the 3rd floor which means I will die when I'm moving all my stuff in but it will be good for me for the rest of the year as long as I don't break anything that is necessary for walking, then there could be a problem. But let's hope that doesn't happen, I don't need that kind of stress. Anyway...I move in on the 16th, have Orientation in Jax on the 17th, and come home then on the 19th I have orientation in Gainesville, and sometime between then and the 23rd I go back to jax because that's when school starts. Wow, I'm really looking forward to school starting because then it will be over faster but I really am afraid of it too and not looking so forward to it. I'm very afraid of it. I'm worried that since I don't have any experience I will be behind and then everyone will be like, "well she doesn't deserve to be here, she doesn't even know what she's doing." And I'm worried about books because they keep changing the editions of the books but I heard that if you order them from the bookstore they will wait until the edition is for sure

Okay, back again but it's 8:46 now and I'm at home. Soooo...where was I? Right.

And I'm worried about books because they keep changing the editions of the books but I heard that if you order them from the bookstore they will wait until the edition is for sure and then they will mail it to us. But then the problem is that I don't know the address to my new apartment and I won't be there until next week, so if I get a package I'm not sure if they will hold it for me, and I'm afraid that several hundred dollars worth of books that I REALLY need will get misplaced and I will have to go through the whole process again. And spend money that I really don't have. Did I mention my loans yet? Wow do they freak me out when I think about it.

Did I mention there is a hurricane? Or two? Yeah, technically the one that hit today was a tropical storm but the one coming tomorrow is supposed to be a hurricane.

I was supposed to help Nikky move stuff out of her apartment this morning but there was a tornado watch so she said she didn't want to stay there because it is in Crystal River, where it floods, the apartment is pretty rickety wood frame and there are lots of trees, so she just came over to the house, then we went and got lunch and then decided to go move some stuff from her apartment after lunch. Then we went to the new apartment place that Brian will be moving into and saw it, it's better but still not the best, but like a bazillion times better than the other one. Anyway then we went to Wally World to get some soccer ball patches so she could sew them onto her towels, and we were driving through the parking lot and I was like, "What are all these people doing here?" Then I was like, "Oh, there's a hurricane" There were soooo many people there it was crazy!!! And while we were all the way in the back in the crafts department the power went off and it was pitch black in there. And the power stayed off for like a minute then came on and went off a couple times and then stayed off and finnally the emergency generators kicked in and a few emergency lights came on, so we just left, and then I noticed that the stop light was out so I drove through the publix shopping lot and there were like a bazillion people there and we almost ran over all of them, but they didn't have power either and that light was out and I was afraid I was stuck on the wrong side of 19. But there was a cop there directing traffic so it was okay except that we had to wait forever for him to let us go. Then we decided later to go and move some stuff out of the apartment and it was all stormy and rainy and HOT. But the time we got home I was completely wet just from the humidity because it only really sprinkled on us. And my pants were like falling off me because they were wet and so heavy. It was unpleasant, so I changed my pants and then we decided to go to the mall to play with their high-speed internet. But we only had an hour because Nikky had to get Brian because his car never works no matter how cool he tries to make it sound. And by the way, your car will never be cool if you can't even move it out of a flood area. And then Jenn called and then Nikky had to leave so I ran out of time and couldn't finish this post.

Anyway, Jenn is good, but her husband is leaving on the 23rd, her B-day for something and then he will be back for two weeks and then he will go to sea for 6 months. But she got an apartment, it is pretty expensive (I think) but it sounds like it has some really nice amenities, and it looks nice, you can see it here. She sounds pretty happy, but sad that she won't have much time with Carlos before he leaves again. Hopefully I will get to visit her sometime, but I'm afraid my schedule is going to be a little full for the next few years. Can't imagine why I think that.

Lori was in the chronicle the other day. That was cool. It was for being a teacher who came back to the same county to teach that she went to as a kid. She told me the other day that she had redone her hair, she said it was a shag and it was darker. In the pic her hair looks darker but I don't think the do is like a shag. It looks like she just got it shorter and left her bangs longer maybe, so I wonder if this is before or after the she had it done. I can't decide. I think the way they took the pic is wierd. It is interesting that now they have to wear their ID badges all the time. They never had to do that while we were going to school. I think it makes us old when they change things so drastically. I guess we are old, we graduated 5 years ago. Hard to believe we are half way to our reunion and I just signed on for 4 more years of school.

posted by Malissa at 5:13 PM | 0 comments |

I'm changing from enetation comments to blogger comments. I'm not sure how it will go so bear with me for a while

posted by Malissa at 12:50 AM | 0 comments |

I got my brand spanking new laptop today. Yea! I even watched a DVD on it tonight. It was cool. I'd rather watch it on TV but it was cool.
I really hope that the people from my apartment call me and let me move in early. I really don't want to have to stay in a hotel the night before orientation and I need to check out my internet connection so i know if I am going to need to get a different provider than the one that comes with the aparment. Hopefully everything will work out okay. I have faith. Plus I heard that there is wireless high speed access on campus in the labs and study areas. So maybe I can use this if it is not fast enough, at least at first. When we were at the mall on Friday I saw a sign at the coffee place advertising free wireless internet so when I got my computer today I went to check it out. It works, and I even was able to play the school video on it. On our home connection I can hear the sound perfectly fine but there is no picture. I think that our ISP has a firewall or some kind of blocking thing. Hopefully that won't be a problem for me anywhere else.
I got another paper about my immunizations. I already sent it in. It said something about an MMR but I read the paper and I'm sure that I had them at all the right times, so i have to call and see if they have recieved my first form and I did it wrong or if they sent another because they hadn't recieved it yet. I hope they just didn't get it yet. I know it is right and I don't want another shot. Blah!
I'm so excited about school. I can't wait until it's over. Until I'm a real person. Until I can buy my beamer. 'Cause that's what I'm going to buy, as soon as I can afford it and I have a decent place to live. But I'm not looking forward to the loans. I think what I'm taking out for my first year in loans is probably more than most people take out for their entire undergraduate years. But I keep trying to tell myself that I'm lucky because I didn't take any out during undergrad. I"m sure some people in the program did have to so the loans they are going to add to it in pharm school will make their totals even crazier than mine.
Oh and I vote that anyone who votes for Bush should have to pay the national debt off, clean the environment, and enlist in the military, and should there be a draft and women are drafted they should have to take my place. I can't for the life of me determine why people would vote for the man. If your a Bush fan let me know. I'm really wondering here.

posted by Malissa at 11:36 PM | 0 comments |