…interesting month, February was. I could go over it and all, but that would be boring. Nonsense you say, this is a blog, how could it be any more boring? Well, then I suppose I can separate the boring stuff from the not so boring (in this case Life versus Wardriving). Here goes the life part.
So, stuff happened. Lots of stuff. Let’s see, early February I was intent on getting a new guitar, as I had received a 20% off coupon from Musicians Friend. They gave it to me as a comp for the “inconvenience” I experienced last summer due to them moving their distribution center. It had a deadline of Feb. 29th and a $1,000 cap. Hence, new guitar time. At the same time I got a new catalog from them, this time with a guitar I had long sought after since its discontinuation. The Fender Deluxe Fat Strat. In white, of course. This guitar is an icon for me, for it’s a near stock replication of Alex Lifeson’s (of Rush) first Hentor Sportscaster, it was used on two Rush albums and extensively on the Exit… Stage Left tour and such would be awesome to have. They discontinued that model in 2005 I believe and have been vying for it since. It’s special simply because it’s a black on white Fender strat with the bigger 70’s style headstock. However, a few trips to Guitar Center later and reasoning that I wouldn’t be taking full advantage of the 20% off, I later found myself ordering a Gibson Les Paul VM. I figured it’s one of the best reviewed guitars on MF.com, it played and sounded good, was light, and Lifeson used Les Pauls forever, this was just the cheapest (Gibson) I could afford. Good enough justification for me. Plus, it comes with a good case, which would cost around $150. Buying the Strat would not be cost-effective. To make a long story short, they kept sending me guitars that had holes in the box and breakage of the case (one of them had damage on the guitar). This has happened twice, but the third one was good. Even though now I’ve noticed there is a drop of finish in between the tone knobs, I don’t want to have to wait to get another one and maybe more, because they might as well be damaged. Also, they seemed to have sent me a fourth one for no reason at all. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I don’t think I should keep it.
At the same time, my dad has been forcing me to work on my Eagle Project a lot. Now, it doesn’t make sense to do it this late before the cutoff date of my 18th birthday, but it doesn’t make sense to waste 6-7 years of my life for nothing either. There is a domestic violence organization that I’m helping out, and I’m making for them some toy boxes and school supply kits. I suppose I’m drawing it out to take too long, but I don’t feel good about doing this when it’ll cost a little over $1,000 at the first projection. Either way, I think it’s a good idea to do it, and so I’ll be working on that as it progresses. Slowly.
I’ve been at work a lot. Yeah, I didn’t get Saturdays off as planned, however, now I have every day off. The other day I was told I wasn’t being put on the schedule, so now that’s over. I’m pretty happy that I’m not there anymore, because I’ll be too busy with my Eagle project and colleges and school and life. They said they would want to rehire me after awhile, but like I said I’ll be too busy until my 18th birthday, so I figure I’ll be purposely unemployed for two months to catch up on me time.
College. Woohoo college! February was fun-filled with college. I’m not sure when I got accepted into Kettering University or if I said anything about it here, but that was the first one I got accepted into. They gave me a $15,000 scholarship and $500 off going to an open house, so I’ll be checking them out in April. They seem to be a little seedy barring their new admissions campaign, but with a co-op program the fact is I probably won’t be paying more than a dime after 4 years of tuition. It’s in Flint, Michigan, which is a multiple-time winner of “Worst Places to Live In The U.S.” contests. I suppose it won’t be so bad living there since it’ll be on campus and I won’t have a reason to leave campus and enjoy the “desolation” of downtown, but Flint’s unemployment and crime rates aren’t anything to scoff at. I suppose that my scholarship comes from Flint’s mayor, as he apparently invested quite a bit of cash into universities hoping he could turn his local into a college town (I only say this because I didn’t really fit into the eligibility of the award tier I got). I figure if the next place I mention will be too expensive, Kettering may be my second choice. I also got accepted into Rochester Institute of Technology, which is sorta my first choice school. I don’t know why they attract me, but out of all the colleges I applied to I see it as the most ‘adventurous’ one, plus they obviously are centered on science and engineering. Why go to college to take lots of liberal arts classes you aren’t interested in when you can get your major without them? That’s why I did those two private tech schools. I’ve only gotten $6,000 gift aid there, so it’ll be a lot harder to justify going there, especially if I stay with my intended major, which is a 5 year program. They cost the same as Kettering roughly ($33,000); but $150,000 is a huge difference to $60,000 for the full education. Before you go off saying “Well it’s not about cost”, yeah I know, but so far all I have is brochures and pricetags. In April I should be able to visit all the schools I’ve been accepted into before choosing one. Last and by all means maybe least, I was accepted into UC Merced. This was my fallback and reference point I think in terms of level of education. Merced has a CS/CE program which is interesting, and the prospect of attending a school that’s brand new leads some possibilities of legacy, which would be very cool. I figure it’s not going to be as great as UC Irvine, which I applied to, but maybe more interesting than Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. So I’m waiting on those last two schools, and by the looks of other people getting their SLO letters last week, I think I’ve been wait listed. No matter, they are near the bottom of my list. So far until I visit some places my list stands as RIT > Kettering > UCI > UCM > SLO. Also, Saddleback CC, but it’s not worth it to stay here and get my GEs. It’s just not worth it. I think I have a general idea of how each one will be like, so in the end I think it will come down to price and the program. More later as I get letters.
I guess the last topic of the post will be my wisdom teeth. I’m getting 4 out on Friday, which should be fun (general anesthesia ftw). I’m going to miss the Ides of March, but that’s okay, I’ll probably be too busy with my Eagle project anyways. Now, if only I bought a Wii earlier with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, then I could enjoy that for the weekend. But noooo, I’m unemployed and have to rely on my savings to make it through gas and food for a couple of months. Bollocks. There’s always my birthday though.
Anyways, gotta go not fail some college prep courses. I’ll get back on wardriving later.
