School Stuff
Last time we talked I explained that I had A's in my three classes with about a month to go in the Fall 2012 semester. I went on to earn an A in both English 201B (Intro To Lit./Critical Thinking) and in History 203A (World Civ. - 1st Semester). Due to my experimenting to see if I could avoid buying books that semester and still achieve high grades I missed some homeworks and thus a bit of preparation a few times for quizzes and came up just short of an A in Math123 (Intermediate Algebra). Fortunately, for purposes of transferring to Cal Poly (which I believe is the direction I am to take at present) the 100-level classes do not count towards the GPA they measure.
I am now enrolled in four classes for 14 units (versus three classes for 12 units last semester. My current class roster is as follows: History 203B (World Civ. - 2nd semester); Communications 201A (Public Address); Math 127 (Intermediate Algebra); and finally, Health 208 (Multicultural Health) my first ever online course which should be interesting.
Worth nothing is the fact that I am taking Math 127 for the second time with the first time I took it being 23 years ago this semester way back in the Spring of 1990 right smack in the middle of my death spiral descent into the black abyss of serious mental illness (chronic and debilitating depression and anxiety which consumed my youth circa 1988-2000's). I had to apply for a special waiver to be allowed to retake a course which I had previously passed with a C which I received and am now enrolled in the class once again. Unfortunately, the rules are such that my original grade will remain the grade that counts and even earning an A now will not change my grade for that course as it pertains to my transcripts which I feel is lame. I could have passed this class by and gone on up to university-transferrable 200-level math courses but given how much I have forgotten I wanted to retake this course as a refresher and to make my math foundation firm for what math courses I take subsequently. Fortunately, math is not a huge requirement in my major (history) so I won't have much more to take in order to earn my bachelor degree.
Today I want in and talked to an awesome counselor on the (who is the most with-it one I have talked to yet, not to mention the hottest-looking one) and confirmed that with the courses I am currently enrolled in being passed I will graduate with an Associate of Arts degree with coming May! I also learned that in order to successfully enroll at Cal Poly I must successfully take a 200-level math course which I already knew and given my history major it seems that a statistics course makes the most sense (3-unit Math 236 - Intro Applied Statistics or 4-unit Math 247 - Intro To Stats) or even another algebra class (3-unit Math 232 - College Algebra). I found out from her that I also need to take one more life science (probably 3-unit Biology 211) and two Western Civ classes (3-unit History 204A&B). I may have to take the Western Civ courses online and I also have the option to crash some Cal Poly courses as a part-time student.
It appears my financial aid grants (B.O.G. and Pell Grants) will get me through all this until I hit Cal Poly at which time I will have to take on some student loans which is fine... I'll be finally joining the human rat race in that regard! In the next month I am going to apply for scholarship monies for the first time as I have neglected to act on that front heretofore for whatever reason.
Beyond a bachelor degree in history from Cal Poly I might seek a Master's Degree elsewhere such as UCSB or John Brown University in Arkansas, but not my will but God's be done so I'll cross such bridges if/when I get there!
What Winter Break?
My Winter Break/Christmas Vacation ended recently and I am left wondering where it went as I did nothing festive or fun aside from Christmas itself during that time. I seem to remember being poor and busy working every little job I could get my hands on as well as joining my friend and boss Dave on a Quartzsite shopping excursion and doing shows three consecutive weekends overlapping into the new semester. I didn't even get around to any rockhounding nor any organizing in my house or basement or storage unit. Alas!
A Three-Show Stint
I just finished a three-consecutive weekend run of Gem Faires and I am so glad that tonight I'm typing this here in my home instead of being in a hotel room following a grueling day of unloading a truck and trailer and setting up a booth to be followed by three days of sales with the public in the soul-crushing confines of Gem Faire. Worth noting for this run of shows is that my friend Dave's son Dave joined the team and worked with us and was a welcome addition to the ensemble. This run began three weekends ago in Santa Rosa, CA. At that show I contracted the strain of norovirus that is going around the world right now causing more problems than usual it seems. My experience with this pestilence can be best summed up as that at first I was afraid I was going to die and then later I was afraid I was not going to die! Someone in the healthcare industry was recently quoted in a news article as referring to it as the "Farrari of viruses". Fortunately, I got sick overnight before the final day of the show and my friend Dave had his best-ever show at that venue. A night or two earlier I had an amazing but awkward dinner with Dave and his son and his ex-wife and her niece and three other girls selling for Goddess.
The second weekend found me in the Del Mar Gem Faire for the first time ever. Previously, I had only once before been to the Del Mar Fairgrounds that time helping Dave do an antique show in 2010. This time the same antique show was going on simultaneously with our Gem Faire but we did better in the Gem Faire than in at the antique show three years ago. It was nice getting that far south in latitude and experiencing a bit more mild weather than I have been experiencing temperature-wise on the Central Coast lately. In fact, there was a mild Santa Ana Wind event the day we drove down as we passed through the LA Basin.
The third weekend (last weekend) saw me in San Rafael, CA, doing the final Gem Faire of our recent run. It went okay but due to its proximity in time and place to the Santa Rosa Gem Faire two weeks previous it was down noticeably from a year ago. It also didn't help that we did not have the beautiful woman helping us in the booth this time that we did then! This trip we found that it works better to come up US101 through San Francisco and cross the Golden Gate Bridge (no toll that direction) but return the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (no toll that direction) and head down I-880 to the 101 Freeway and on home.
It's Been Frickin' Cold Lately!
I don't mind a lot of weather extremes: in fact I love most of them. However, cold weather is not one of them! It has been a rather dry month in Paso Robles, CA, which has meant nice sunny mild days but frigid temperatures once the sun sets. Add to that the fact my little house has single-paned windows! It's not easy on the skin being dry all the time like this not to mention being a bit hard on my mild SAD-ness. realize this will get me in trouble with PETA-types but all the mosquito fish in my pond died earlier this month after success frigid days and nights caused a layer of ice that got thicker by the day developed atop my little pond suffocating all the fish. I didn't even realize what had happened until it was too late at which point the ice was 3"-4" thick which really surprised me.
I'm Single Again!
This cold weather is great for snuggling but since last month (college finals week) I have been snuggling with only my cat and dog as my short-lived relationship ended in a flash of sound and fury as the delicate magic died during our first argument (some things spoken can never be taken back). She and I are still on friendly terms but the emotional bond and sexual chemistry seem dead and it now seems apparent to me that is for the best. We are incompatible on many levels not the least of which is spiritually. You see she is not even a fellow believer although I had hoped she might become one. I need a spiritual partner as much as I need an emotional and intellectual and sexual and domestic partner. The woman I briefly dated has much potential and her fair share of positive qualities and admirable traits and feminine wonderfulness to go along with some significant character defects and personality flaws. However, I'm too old and impatient to be willing to try to fix anybody else as I have my hands full working on improving myself.
Noyes Clan News
I heard from my big little brother the other day and he wants us to all get together for a family confab while he is out visiting Cali in early March. This sounds promising and I look forward to it. I miss my brother and wish we were closer and perhaps this might be the start of that happening. I don't really know that will happen and that is out of my hands but I will exercise what little power I have by trying to be there provided my work and school schedule cooperate with this.
New Dates For Paso Robles Rockshow!
As I shared HERE previously the Santa Lucia Rockhounds have moved their traditional September rockshow to the first weekend in May this year (May 4-5, 2013). I am proud that they broke with that ill-conceived tradition and made things right and fixed a broken concept and did something really smart! Lesser clubs would have stuck with the old dates with the excuse being "because we've always done it that way" which is in no small measure why so many clubs have fallen into oblivion or are in the long-term process of doing so. Innovation and adaption are essential elements of survival in this universe and that includes for clubs. As a club we are working hard to get ready for this as we have less time than normal between shows (September-May) instead of the usual entire yearly cycle. We are innovating in other ways than just our show dates. We will be providing pizzazz not the least of which will be featuring one of the largest privately owned meteorites in the United States! We will also have a good number of new dealers to this show which I am excited about as it is my job to recruit them. I shall keep this blog updated with information about this show as it comes to me!
