civil disobedience

Well, at least I found out

2008-05-17T07:05:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was quite a day. Went into work in the morning to let one of my crappier employees go. Ended up firing him and three good employees. So that's a total of four employees, right? Well I only had seven. So now I'm down to three. Completely out of my hands, but still totally shitty. Then, of course, I found out from the University of Chicago, and I didn't get in.

Talk about getting kicked when I was down.

So this of course means that I'm working all weekend and quite a bit next week before I go to Hawaii, that's assuming I still get to go. I should know by Monday if I'm going to be able to get enough help at my store to be able to go. So much for having a nice relaxing two week break from school.

I just wanna know

2008-05-15T10:56:00.002-05:00

I should hear back from the University of Chicago today or tomorrow. I'm going to be majorly disappointed if I don't get in, but it'd be nice to know.

Sarah has decided that she would like to leave the country, which makes me want to get into U of C even more, since I could go overseas for grad school. I'm leaning towards the University of Edinburgh or the London School of Economics. I don't really want to live in London, but it is a crazy good school.

I took my last final yesterday morning, as far as I know I kept the 4.0 for one more semester. Sweet. Two classes this summer, microeconomics and calc 2. I'm seriously a giant nerd. How am I celebrating my break? Going to the bookstore today to buy a book on economics that I can read while I'm flying to Hawaii.

Oh yeah, Hawaii. I'm going out to Hawaii for some national guard work. 13.5 hours in the back of a cargo plane. Thankfully, at least on the way there we're splitting it into two days. Which is also nice because of the way travel pay works-that's definitely some extra cash because of the extra time. Nonetheless, out of the 16 or 17 days I'll be gone, 4 of those will probably be spent in travel.

As the last piece to my ramblings, I've decided to start posting my writings on this blog. Unfortunately, most of my writings as of late have been about economics, which will probably fail to excite anybody. I would like to try and interest some new people to the subject, so if you see something a little dreary come up, read it and let me know what you think.

Proceed and Be Bold

2008-04-04T14:18:00.001-05:00

Here's a new film from Laura Zinger, one of my friends from Starbucks. She interviewed my dad for the film, which means everybody should go see it or buy it when it comes out.

Thoughts on the Presidential Candidates

2008-01-03T18:45:00.001-05:00

Don't ask me why I feel the need to post what I think (since nobody actually gives a shit), but hey, what the hell? As we move into the year of election and the campaigning moves into full swing, I present you with the Conor selection for president: Dennis Kucinich. He's the happy, crazy dude, which helps, but he's the only candidate with any real progressive cred. Moving on to my second (and slightly more realistic) choice: John Edwards. Out of the more mainstream candidates, he's the only with any real notions towards fixing our messed up country. I am not such a fan of the two dominant candidates, Obama or Clinton. I don't think either of them really have anything to offer than the same typical corporate politico nonsense.

Well, that's my short and sweet. Perhaps I will follow this up with some more specific feelings on real policies that the different candidates espouse, however, seeing as the new semester starts next Monday, I don't know how much of anything I'll be doing that is not either school or work.

Good night and good luck,
Conor

Sweet

2007-12-18T18:13:00.000-05:00

After the Master Chief post, I figured I should update the blog as to what is going on these days. Just finished up the fall semester, as far as I can tell I've managed to maintain my 4.0...sweet. Maybe this means I can manage to apply to something a little fancier than UIC. I would love to apply to U of I in Champaign, but I don't really want to move down there. I'm thinking of applying to a couple of fancy schools, just on the off chance that I could get accepted. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't accept any of my military credits, though, which would set me back a little bit, but only in the realm of electives and a couple science classes. I'm sure I could deal with what little credit I got for it, I'd just have to do some recalculating.

The family is good, everybody is getting ready for the holidays. The wee ones are growing up as fast as every, they're both quite the chatterbugs. Sarah is getting ready to start doing pre-school with Violet, so I've decided to interview for manager at Starbucks. I'm quite excited about the potential, it should make for a new adventure and hopefully a better work environment. And, of course, a better paycheck.

I think that's about it, I hope everyone has a nice holiday season.

Too cool to pass up.

2007-12-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

A present from the wonderful students at MIT. I give you Master Chief John Harvard, founder of Harvard and nemesis of the covenant.

Once a Month

2007-07-01T17:49:00.000-05:00

So I figured I should at least pretend to update this thing. I'm going off to tech school to learn how to play with chemicals in just over two weeks. I'm very not excited to be away from the fam, but the money will be nice. Sarah's going to take the kids down to Aunt Teri's house and come spend some of the time with me, though the accomodations I'll be in have not been seen yet.

I had to drop a couple of my classes since I'm leaving so soon and I'm taking a couple of online/independent study courses. It's quite fun to really be taking classes again. I really want to figure out how to get Sarah into a class at least once per semester, but we're not quite there yet. Once I'm back from tech school and we're actually a little bit more settled I'm hoping that we can manage it. Being back in school on a regular basis is really cool, though the work/school/family balance is still a work in progress.

I think that's probably all I have right now, I need to read some history for an assignment that's due tomorrow.

Pumpernickle.

Chip Thief

2007-05-22T06:37:00.000-05:00

As I write this, Violet is scarfing down some tortilla chips that she's procured. I guess that means it's time for me to cook breakfast.

I don't really have much to say right now. Still trying to get back in the swing of things in the "real world." Got my materials for my poli sci class, having a good time reading about globalization. poverty and war. It's actually pretty interesting and I'm having fun reading through it all. I guess that's a good sign. I was thinking about minoring in Poli Sci to go with my stats degree, so it may work out in my favor.

Anyway, 'tis time for the aforementioned breakfast.

Dog Problems

2007-05-18T09:25:00.001-05:00

I think I'm going to start blogging more often just to hear the song on my blog.

I had my first weekend in the Air National Guard. Interesting, to say the least. It's quite a bit more relaxed than active duty, which was nice. I'm also working with a very different type of unit than I was before, which is helping the improved atmosphere, I'm sure. I have 3 years on this contract, then we'll see if I continue, the $20,000 in student loans that they'll pay off is pretty tempting, even though it would be another 6 years.

Anyway, it looks as though I'll be going to tech school in September, and I'll be home for Xmas, then done in early January. I'm looking forward to it in some regards, and not at all in some ways. I definitely don't want to leave the kids and Sarah for so long. It'll be very sad. Hopefully I'll be able to come home at least a couple times during that period. It'll be anice chance to get back in shape, though. I'll probably take a full load of online classes while I'm there to keep in the swing of things (and to keep the GI Bill money flowing).

Toodles.

Like Alcohol and Coffee Beans

2007-04-18T10:44:00.000-05:00

So somehow I've ended up back at Starbucks. 3 years later I'm back where I never thought I would return to. It's kind of strange and I'm definitely having to adjust to the idea of being back. It's funny though, it's amazingly easy to get right back into. I hadn't made coffee for 3 years, and yet, day one, just like I'd never left. Crazy. The store I'm at right now is in Oswego, so the opposite direction from school which kind of sucks, but there's a new store opening up this summer on the corner about half a mile from my house. I'm hoping that there will be a cool manager there, because it'd be super convenient for me to work there while I'm going to school, especially once school switches to downtown.

I'm enrolled in two classes for the summer, Calculus 1 and Intro to Political Science. It's a wonderful feeling. I've also transferred all of my CCAF credits and my one whole class that I took at Penn State. So since that Penn State class is my only graded credit right now I'm sitting pretty with a a 4.0. I really only have about 3 or 4 more classes that I need to take to transfer down to UIC, though I'm pretty sure that I need to take Calc 3 before I do, which is the thing that's slowing me down the most. I should be able to knock out everything I need in two semesters after this fall. It's quite exciting

So obviously there's a bazillion things going on around here, thought we're started to get settled, at least, until school starts. Then all bets are off.

Peace and love.

Last Day

2007-03-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

It's my last day as a weather forecaster, hoo-fuckin-rah. Writing my last forecasts now, with some added flair for good measure. We're having a going away on Saturday, at which my old boss is planning on getting me royally hammered. I'm not looking forward to Sunday morning (and I know Sarah's not looking forward to Saturday night). It feels great to be getting out of here, though, that's for damn sure.

Still a little scary to be leaving the paycheck, but I'm not too concerned. I've never been unable to find a job, and I'll probably end up back at Starbucks since they have to give me my old job back and any raises that I would have had. That should be a pretty decent paycheck, the only concern is how long it takes for the GI Bill, grants and loans to start flowing in. The first little while might be touch and go, but we'll manage.

Well, I should finish these last forecasts. As we say in weather "LAST NO AMDS"

Whoa

2007-03-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

So I'm looking into all of the information about being an actuary. Pretty intense. There's actually two good actuarial programs in Illinois, but of course, neither of them are in Chicago. That would be way too easy. So I'm sticking with getting a degree in statistics down at UIC and then just bullying my way through the tests. Illinois State has exam preparation seminars, so once I've brushed up on my calculus I'll probably head down there and take the first one. Ideally I should be done with the first 2 tests by the time I'm done with my bachelor's, 3 years from now at the latest. That would definitely have me set up to get a very good job. I'm working on finishing the first test by the end of this year, or early next year and trying to get an internship/entry=level position at that point, though that'll be pretty difficult.

I had a Quizno's salad for lunch today. Very tasty, very filling. I highly recommend. I'm just basking in the glory that is only 5 more days of work. Beautiful, isn't it? Then a whirlwind of getting all of my "outprocessing" done and packing up and shipping out. It'll be a wonderful thing. I can't wait to be off this base forever. They say the most beautiful part of serving at Shaw AFB is watching it in the rear view mirror as you leave for the last time.

Yay

2007-03-07T17:44:00.000-05:00

Well, we maybe have a place to live. Nixed the whole rent-to-own deal, just getting an apartment. Yay. Now I just have to get a job. Or Sarah does. Somebody has to work, though it'd be nice if we didn't have to.

Hmm, what else is happening? Not much, just biding my time. Figuring out my leave nonsense, I think my last day in the Air Force will officially be April 1st. Debating on whether or not it's worth moving ourselves back home for the extra dough. If we do, we'll probably profit somewhere between $2-3k. It's just the whole hassle of actually moving ourselves that I'm afraid of doing. Of course, the last time we let them move us they broke an ungodly amount of stuff, so I don't really want to let them move us again. Blech. Whatever, We're Coming Home!!!

Goddammit

2007-03-04T13:15:00.000-05:00

So the whole current plan these days is to get my degree in mathematics and try to get a job as an actuary. It's a pretty hard job to get into, with a series of exams that you have to pass and some specific education you have to get. So, I'm thinking, go to UIC, get a degree in math/statistics, I'll be golden. Well, there's 3 specific sets of courses you have to complete, applied statistics, economics and corporate finance. There's approved courses throughout the nation that ou can take for this. Does UIC have classes to fill all of them? Of course not. That's just fabulous. So now I have to figure out how to take the one stinking class that UIC doesn't have. Blah. Of course, I have a while, but nonetheless, just more complications.

On the bright side, there's been a few promising leads on finding a decent job when we get home. Sweet. Housing? Still working on that end. We may be shacking up in a nice tent for a while.

HOMEWARD HO!!!!

Day off

2007-03-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

I actually wound up with an extra day off. I'm working for my old boss for a little while and he's really good about getting us a day here or there. They used to give us comp days for the federal holidays, since we're never closed, but somebody bitched because they didn't get one so that went away. My new boss, well, he's just special. So it was nice to be back at work with a guy who takes care of his people.

Since we're out on May 3rd and I have about 30 days vacation, we'll be home in less than a month. I don't have a clue what we're going to do about where to live. We're thinking about doing a rent to own deal, but it takes 30-45 days to get into the house. I'm sending my parents out house hunting and hopefully everything goes quickly, but we're going to be hurting for a little while. I'm not entirely sure where we're going to stay during the interim. It's terribly exciting, knowing that we'll be home so soon.

Adios all.

Me Pirate Name, Arrr!!

2007-02-27T01:05:00.001-05:00

My pirate name is:

Mad Roger Kidd

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Hee hee

2007-02-24T20:13:00.000-05:00

I must say thanks to my beautiful wife Sarah for setting up my new blog and also setting me up on the insanity that is MySpace. I think it's funny. I've taken computer programming a couple of times and am planning on going into a field that uses computers heavily, but I'm not nearly as into it as I once was. I had a Comp Sci class in my abysmal year at BYU which I managed to fail not once, but twice. Oh yeah. I think that was a big part of the turn off for me. I'm also not a big fan of the 12-hour days in front of a bank of computer screens, it's gotten pretty old. Hopefully a good chunk of time not having to deal with that will get me over it. Sarah, however, is really having fun playing with HTML on our blogs and on our Myspaces. It's pretty cool, and I'm glad she's enjoying it.

Well, as you may have read in Sarah's post, we've gotten our final date for the Air Force, May 3rd. I'm trading in my one year on active duty for two in the guard, and depending on how it goes I may stay there longer. That depends largely on the job I'm doing, both within the Air Force and outside of it. As I said to a friend yesterday, though, that's all aways away. For now, it's time to get back into the school mode and do my best to crank out a degree. Wish us luck everybody!!

Fun

2007-02-22T17:13:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here at work, and it's weird, because my eyes have been burning all day. It feels like they're really dry or something. I don't know what's up with that.

Anyway, not much to report. I'm still waiting to hear back for specific dates on when we'll be able to get out of here, they haven't bothered to let me know yet. It doesn't help that one of the people who was supposed to send somethin gin totally dropped the ball. As Sarah said, total slacker. But he sent it in yesterday, so they should be getting moving on it. I'm really lookin forward to actually knowing so that we can actually plan everything. I'm getting irritated at the waiting game. Soon, soon, I hope.

God, I can't wait to be home. I've totally said two things at work today that could get me in trouble, but I'm beyond the point that I really care. I'm not a big fan of the limitations put on military members, and I don't really buy the rationale that they put out for it. Blah, blah , blah. Anyway, I'm trying not to be "short," as the military puts it. It's nice to know that I'm going to be leaving soon, but I certainly dont' want to burn any bridges. I'll miss my friends here, but I'm thrilled to be getting out of here. Especially to be going back to school. It's going to be a hared couple of years, but I feel like if I don't do it now, I'll never do it. If I stay here I'll get orders somewhere and then I'll probably reenlist and then I'd probably never get out. I really want to have my kids grow up in civilization, and AF bases don't tend to be anywhere close to that (because honestly, who wants F-16s flying overhead), and it'll be nice to just get a real job that can provide for everybody and let Sarah and the kids be able to do whatever the hell they want to do.

And yeah, that's about that. Peace out.

I can too post! Plbt.

2007-02-20T18:24:00.000-05:00

I don't care if it doesn't make any sense. We've recently watched a strange movie The Secret. Like I said, it's strange, but it's all about how to have the life you want, simply by thinking about having that life. If you think about it the universe will provide for you. There's a little bit more to it than that, otherwise it would have been a pretty repetitive hour and half. But yeah, if within a year we're all rolling in the dough, that's why. Of course, I don't think that either Sarah and I want something that simple, but we're hoping that our lives will be a bit more stable pretty soon.

On the return to Illinois front, we still don't have any specific details, largely because of the holiday yesterday (which the Air Force always turn into a 4-day weekend, unless you do my job). I'm going to start bugging people tomorrow if I haven't heard anything yet. The current incarnation of the plan will have Sarah going back to Starbucks for some extra income/insurance, and I'll be going to school full-time and possibly working at the university. We're thinking NIU, because from what I've heard they'll take all or nearly all my military credits, which are pretty substantial and would make me (nearly) a junior. Not the best school, but hey, if it's free and only takes me 2 years to finish, that would be nice. Anyway, that's the scoop and all I know right now. I'll keep everone posted as I know more.

Time for some good karma

2007-02-14T18:23:00.000-05:00

I was raised as a Mormon, a faith that i don't think ever really took hold for me. I spent a year at BYU which kind of sealed the deal, but I don't really feel the need to go into my issues with the LDS church at the moment.

I have often been very derogatory toward religion, but sometimes feel as though it's something I should look into further. I took this Intro to Religions class from Penn State partially as a humanities credit, but largely to increase my knowledge of other religions outside the Christian faith. I went through with the typical critical eye of science, which I have a hard time removing myself from. I do appreciate the desire for religion to teach people to be better people, I just don't think that it always does a good job. I didn't really find anything in my studies that tickled my fancy, it just seemed to be far too fractious to even comprehend. You can barely get two Christians of different sects to agree on the truth, let alone two people from entirely separate faiths. This has only pushed me further away from what I see as traditional religions.

Nonetheless, I do appreciate the need for religion that people have. I read somewhere that "religion is a crutch for the weak," and it's always something I've held on to. Unfortunately, we're not always as strong as we think we are, and this is one of those times that I could use a crutch. I've given serious thought about it and I think we're going to try attending a Unitarian Universalist church when we get back home (and maybe once or twice while we're here if we can manage the schedule). It's a non-religion in some ways, preaching no specific faith, only striving for the betterment of its members and society at large. I'm willing to give it a go, because I think it'll give our family some good experiences together and help us grow as people, both together and as individuals.

I'm too lazy to post the pics myself

2007-02-12T06:23:00.000-05:00

As a Valentine's Day present for Sarah I decided to get a tattoo. We've talked for a long time about me getting an "S" tattoo, and I've looked for a cool one for a long time. We'd found a pictish symbol that wasn't actually an "S," but was pretty close and kinda cool. So yesterday we were talking about it and she decided to just look online for anything like that. She found this cool "S" that looked like a blueprint. So we decided, what the hell. The original plan for an "S" was on the inside of my arm, because Sarah really likes tattoos there. But this one would have lost all the detail trying to fit something small there. So I decided to do it on the shoulder and outside of my bicep. It's a bit over the top at the moment, it definitely needs some stuff to go along with it, because it's a little larger than planned. But it looks cool. Here you go:

The S

A Fresh Start

2007-02-10T17:59:00.000-05:00

Switching to a new blog, time for a fresh start. The old one had largely fallen into ill-use anyway, and I'm going to take this one in a different direction. This is partially due to an increased focus at work on people's personal internet pages. I've said some uncomplimentary things in the past (the no-so-distant past) and I figured it might be in my best interests to move and not access the page from work anymore.

So here's to fresh starts, and hoping for a big fresh start at home.