I’ll be going to homecoming in two weeks, back in good ol’ Terre Haute. As far as I know, the bars there still let you smoke like a chimney. Home, sweet home.

Currently, the battery no longer does anything. I’m sure the battery itself works, but the battery wont stay in its bay, so the computer cannot run without a power cord. Also, the video drivers are FUBAR. The hard drive is not reliable. Who knows what problems could be related to the motherboard. In an effort to fix some driver issues, I get a never ending loop asking me to install some dll file, even if i supply it with the file. The wireless card continuously needs to be ‘repaired’ (whatever that does) because its always finding little or no connection. I guess that could be router related, but hey whatever.

The moral of the story is that this laptop is probably going to get a fresh install of XP (or maybe i’ll try linux) and probably be demoted to file server duties. Contratulations, desktop pc, you’re being promoted. I guess I’m building a new desktop soon. Good excuse to buy an athlon64, eh?

My beautiful sister, Angela Renee, is graduating from high school in just a few days. I guess Viriginia, my friend Ryan’s sister, is also graduating. She’s kinda cool, too (haha, you know I’m kidding). Congratulations to you both, and enjoy your summers and everything that college has to offer you! Also, smart choice on not becoming engineers. Come visit me in California because I’m going to be lonely as hell. I love you both.

So anyway, all this Commencment stuff has gotten me thinking about that song that came out when I was in high school, “Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen)”.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

It was a good song, and had some good advice. And now that I’m graduating again, its good to look back on it and see how many of those things I’ve been holding onto these past four years, and how many I’ve forgotten. I still have a shoebox full of every hushedly passed note from Freshman and Sophomore year of high school (even a few from you, Kelley!).

I know that I have a tendancy to be overbearing, and I’m sure that I’ve burned a few bridges and lost a few wonderful friendships, or prevented wonderful friendships from forming in the first place. I apologize for all of those things, and the one person they hurt the most is probably myself. Some people here are anxious about getting out of Terre Haute. I’ve said it a few times, myself. I’m sure some people mean it. For what its worth, I am glad that I met the people I did at Rose-Hulman, and I really, truly will miss you all.

This year I tried for something a little different. I set up a booth of my own, and companies came to ask me for an interview. It was just like that “Lending Tree” commercial where the homeowner interviews the banks. I had free gifts. I made businesscard-sized resumes, and handed them out to the companies that came by. My gift was a magnifying glass so that they could read it. Many laughed at the obvious parallels between my booth and the career fair in general. Some companies didn’t have a high enough SPA (Salary Point Average, much like a GPA, but for businesses. a 4.0 SPA is a company that is willing to give me $100,000 a year plus stock options. Any company below $50,000 a year is making too many D’s, and is placed on probation.)

I had to turn a few companies away. Even though they had everything that I was looking for, and they made a really good impression on me, I just had to hurt their feelings by not offering them a second interview. Its not that they aren’t a great company, because they are going to be a good fit with some other employee some day, but they just weren’t a match for me and my needs. I wish them luck as they continue to search for that employee that wants to work for them. Poor souls.

In the end, I had to narrow it down to a few exceptional companies. We’ll see how they do in their interviews, and if they get the honor of me allowing myself to work for them.

The meeting is a time-honored tradition for those who have become college students, and those who have entered the workplace. Meetings can happen anywhere; meetings can happen anytime. Most of the time, nothing gets accomplished. But every now and then, a meeting will be a terrific use of time spent! Something will get accomplished. Some work will get done.

Everyone over the age of 18 (especially Seniors) and anyone in the workplace that has a manager knows what a meeting is. So the question is, how many meetings have you had this week?

• Start working out again, preferably daily
• Start running/biking again
• Do the homework earlier? Hmm…
• Ask for help when you need it, dammit

I don’t think that being lazy is getting me anywhere in the world. You know what they say about procrastination…

Actually, I’m looking forward to working out. Finding an excuse to actually start doing it again is getting increasingly easier every time i look at myself in a mirror, too.

Well, the question remains. What to do after graduation? Last week, I had an office trip to Chicago and a few rounds of interviews, and I have to sign up for some more interviews. Maybe I’ll still take the LSAT, even though I decided not to. February? We’ll see. Its not like its going to be hard.

My dad came for a visit last weekend for Dad’s Day, and we went to the football game and the play that night (which was funny). My sister went on a retreat the same weekend, the same retreat that I did my senior year of High School. I haven’t been on one of those since… well, I guess when I went to that one. Got me all nostaligic, maybe I should go on one again. Perhaps that would be good for my soul, as well? I’m prett sure I still have one of those, somewhere. It might be a little bit dusty.

Going to Tulsa for thanksgiving.

I think that a week and a half off of school will be good for me. I’ve become entirely complacent to everything school related. There are some good things on the horizon, and I’ll be looking forward to those when they come around. I’ve got my eye on a few things.

I have my first job interview tomorrow, and my second on Thursday. The suit is ready to go. The first job is in Ohio, and the second in Illinois. I am excited to get a job, settle down in a new place, and finally have somewhere that I can call “home”. And its extremely surreal; I am going to be 23 when I start working, and I’ll likely be living on my own, with no roommate, for the first time ever. Am I ready to start my life? The future is near.

Its been a rough week for me, but I’m keeping it all in. My problems are my own, I don’t need to share them.

Saturday was the game against Trinity, which we lost. But we had a good time, as always, watching our team play.

Saturday night was the Second City troupe, appearing again at Rose-Hulman since last December. Different cast this time, but still funny sketches. We’ll see how the Rose Thorn portrays them this year, since I was very entertained.

This will be my last homecoming as a student, and next year I actually will be “coming home” to go to the bonfire. Just one more milestone passed on my journey to graduate at the end of this year!