The Long School Day

Today is my long day at school with just a half hour break sometime around 2pm. This evening I have to go to work. I missed out on posting yesterday which makes me feel negligent. Right now I'm in my Generating Web Pages class learning about HTML that I learned a few years ago. But that's okay. I can use the refresher. (3)

Class, Day Two

I've found out that I have the same professor for three of my classes. It turns out that he's also the head of my program department and most likely my academic counselor as well. I've had Intro to E-Commerce with him already this morning, the this afternoon I have Generating Web Pages. Yesterday he was the instructor of my Web Design Fundamentals class. His name is Johnathan Young, and he seems like an all around nice guy.

My other classes; Freshman English & Accounting II, are for the most part mundane. The English class is filled with mostly high school graduates. So that means that there is a lot of youthful energy, which in Bermuda could mean a lot of disruption, a lot of ignorance, or a combination of both. That being said, it would be in my best interest to do as much of the work outside of class as I can.

I wasn't really interested in Accounting I and it seems that Accounting II will be much of the same. I do think that I have an advantage this time around with the higher attendance in the class and the length of the semester. In Accounting I we crammed something like sixteen chapters into ten weeks. Accounting II has much more time, and as a plus a more detailed syllabus. I got an A- in Accounting I, so I'm hoping to do as well, if not better for Accounting II.

I'm actually expecting very good grades all around this semester. None of the classes seem incredibly difficult. It's just a matter of me doing the work in a timely fashion. I can't allow myself to fall behind, even with work. That shouldn't be a problem though.

The last thing I want to mention is that I have decided to take on one project outside of school and work for the semester. I first thought that blogging throughout the week could be considered that project, but I think that it should be something else. But there's the question; what will this side project be? I'm hoping for something totally unrelated to any classes I'm taking, unless it's something like photography for future use. I'm also thinking about picking up the Japanese again, but that doesn't go well unless I have someone to practice with. I'll figure it out by the end of the week. (2)

From School

First day of the semester is finally here. I'm waiting outside my first class. Looking forward to it because it's Web Design Fundamentals where I get to learn Dreamweaver MX. Will undoubtedly be posting a bit more regularly since I have time between some classes and an open network to use.

Edited 12:39pm

Just finished up my classes for the day. It was a short one with very little excitement. I've already gotten an assignment for my English class. A very short reading assignment, a journal entry and a writing history essay. I'm looking forward to banging most of this out today because I'll probably have a few assignments to work on tomorrow because it's a longer day of classes. In the end, it's been a good day. I still have work tonight though. (1)

Challenges at the Job

I got chewed out at work the other day for doing something that wasn't very smart. Without going into details, I asked my supervisor for some help and then followed them jokingly. He became angry and I got put on blast. I deserved it. I haven't been taking my new job very seriously because I thought my experience had more value to it. I'm not saying it's not worth anything. Simply put, I was acting cocky. Separately speaking, this recent experience has proved its value.

I took time after being angry to look at the situation holistically. The job is transient to me. It's a field that I had chosen not to go back into, but ended up there anyway. It will serve its purpose then I'll move on. I not only intend to move on, I'm planning on it. School starts in another two weeks and I will not be working the hours that I am now. While I'm there I can be using it as an exercise in listening and following instructions. That was the conclusion I decided on.

My challenge became finding someone who would give instruction that I could listen to and follow. It turned out that the colleague that I shared Orientation with was a really cool guy. He's from Germany but worked in Bermuda for a while before leaving for Europe and then returning back for work. We got to talking and I found out that he had formal training in service -- something I can't say I have. I asked if he could help me out and he came through. He showed me some things and then tonight when we were on the floor together, he walked me through some of the steps of service the hotel uses. In the end, I had no mistakes tonight, no problems with the computer, and my supervisor had nothing bad to say about me.


Since this incident began I started emailing myself a daily to do list and list of challenges. I realized also that I'm a student first so I shouldn't get too attached to this job, holistically speaking of course. (8)

Another Day. Another Downpour..

Summer's rainy days seem to have no end to them. It has made the weekend a distant memory. The time I spent with my family. The day off that was spent riding from one isle's end to the other. The frustrating nights at work. All of them are being washed away by the heavy downpours of past three days.

The family decided on having a bit of a reunion to open up some channels and cleanse some old wounds. My mom and older sister came down for the event. On Saturday we congregated in the Arboretum to introduce, and reintroduce, ourselves to each other. I enjoyed seeing all the younglings four and five generations deep from my grandma. It felt a bit strange having to look at all my aunts and uncles as grandparents and great-grandparents. We sat around and presented honors to some of the elder family members and remembered those that have moved on. A few quick showers passed over us cooling our little spot. Then the day out closed with us taking a bunch of photos together and then solidifying the plans for the beach outing on Sunday.

Later, when night fell, a few of us cousins had dinner with my sister up in St. Georges and I ate a lot of things that I knew I shouldn't have. Heavy and starchy cooked foods that weighed me down for the night. That was unfortunate because afterwards we went further into St. Georges to a reggae dance. The music was good, but the crowd played the wall mostly. These sessions are really just a bunch of people standing around trying to look cool. I miss the days when people went out to have fun. In the past people dressed to have fun and danced to have fun. Parties weren't fashion shows or pose-a-thons. Even so, I'm glad I went because it reminded me why I don't like going out, especially in groups. We spent so much time outside deciding whether we were going in or going to check out another place, that by the time we got it must have been after 1am. I don't carry a watch, so when I got around to ask the time and found it was after 3am, I hightailed it out of there. Then came the long ride back west to Somerset.

The next day I had to return back toward St. Georges, up to Clearwater Beach for the outing. Tired from the night before, I was given the easy task of bringing the salad for the buffet. This was a good thing considering the way I ate the night before. It also gave me the opportunity to get my family to eat some good salad. Unfortunately, once I got there I was only able to spend a little time hanging out because I had to go to work that evening. My day was cut short, but I knew that anyway. The weather was iffy because it rained on my ride to Clearwater, then rained later when I went to work. Luckily the rain made work manageable. I have found that I'm continuously telling myself that the initial inspiration from orientation is gone and I am taking the perspective that this job is a transient one. In fact, I will probably look for another when the restaurant closes for the season.

I spent yesterday recuperating a bit, but then I lucked out and got the day off. That gave me time to put in some garden work. The heavy weeding was a task, but I think the caterpillars have been getting the best of me. I also did some much needed laundry and took time to breathe. After compiling a to-do list and list of challenges to overcome, I called it a day.

And now today, it's pouring rain. All I want to do is to take the day off again, but I don't see that happening. Maybe if the rain persists, but I know I will still have to go in and show my face. For now I'll enjoy the time I have free and relax. I won't be seeing another official day off until Saturday.

House Sit

My girlfriend has taken off to enjoy some time in Europe with her family. For the past few days and next two weeks she'll be passing through the cities like Paris, Barcelona and London. I, on the other hand, am staying here working and house-sitting. This is by no means a rant or gripe. I actually enjoy getting away from my little hovel of a room and spending time in the farther reaches of the island.

Tomorrow my own family is coming to visit. Just my mom and older sister, who are going to be here for a family reunion next weekend. As luck has it, I have next Saturday off so I can participate in the more formal festivities, but on Sunday I may have to miss out on most of the picnic. And the week that follows I will be working straight through. This is a good thing because I can really use the revenue for when school starts at the end of the month. (6)