As you may, or may not have noticed, we have links on the right side of the blog. Hello links!
These links lead you to some of our favorite places on the internet. I think it’s time that we passed on our reasoning for these links.
Links
AC Freshman Tips
Back to School
Surviving
All three of the above take you to the same website. I’m not sure why there are three of them, but there are. I didn’t put these here, but the website that it does take you to does have good information about surviving college. Granted, and I’m going to be blatantly biased, I think our information is better.
Related Blogs and Websites
Student Life
The article is missing! Oh no! I don’t know what happened to it, but it wasn’t my fault.
Student411: Surviving Your Freshman Year
This is a blog post with some general suggestions for college.
Suite101: College Freshman Year 101
This is a website/blog that gives general advice on college.
unrelated websites that give you something to do
xkcd
My personal favorite web comic ever. You should read it. It’s nerdy, hilarious, and it has stick figures. Besides, you know you want to know what ‘xkcd’ stands for.
Cube News
This is a video blog done by a cubicle worker. It gives great advice as well as makes you giggle. “Dear Feeling Post, I have 2 words for you…”
Slashdot
It’s nerdy news that matters. Need I say more?
Reuters Oddly Enough
If you want “real news” because you don’t understand nerdy news, then at least have it be entertaining “real news”.
Newgrounds
They have flash videos and games for free. You can spend hours on there just watching random stuff. Might I suggest starting with the top 50 of all time?
addicting games
The title says it all. It’s free games that are addicting.
I hope this clarifies our list on the right. If you have any other websites that you feel are being ignored, let us know and give us a reason. We can make that links list on the right as loooong as we want.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Take a Break: Part 2: Video Games
There’s nothing more statisfying than making something explode or getting to shoot something.While I’d love to be a mythbuster have that form of stress relief every day, I can’t. I’d love to, but I’m stuck at college, with hours upon hours of homework, crazy professors, exams that make me want to change my major or just give up all together.
That’s where video games come in. I can shoot things and make things explode without causing too much paper work. The only paper work video games give me is the receipt.
But video games do more than just relieve stress. From Wikipedia: “In Steven Johnson's book, Everything Bad Is Good For You, he argues that video games in fact demand far more from a player than traditional games like Monopoly. To experience the game, the player must first determine the objectives, as well as how to complete them. They must then learn the game controls and how the human-machine interface works, including menus and HUDs. Beyond such skills, which after some time become quite fundamental and are taken for granted by many gamers, video games are based upon the player navigating (and eventually mastering) a highly complex system with many variables. This requires a strong analytical ability, as well as flexibility and adaptability. He argues that the process of learning the boundaries, goals, and controls of a given game is often a highly demanding one that calls on many different areas of cognitive function. Indeed, most games require a great deal of patience and focus from the player, and, contrary to the popular perception that games provide instant gratification, games actually delay gratification far longer than other forms of entertainment such as film or even many books. Some research suggests video games may even increase players' attention capacities.”
And to think that my mom used to yell at me, telling me that video games would rot my brain. You can fight Wikipedia all you want, but it’s not just Wikipedia saying that video games aren’t bad, and may in fact be good for you.
Henry Jenkins, a professor at MIT, wrote an article debunking 8 myths about video games. Helium.com also has articles debunking the same myths and citing other sources.
From my own experience, my brain is jello after assignments and exams. I can’t think about doing my simple calculus homework or writing up a chem lab. But I can beat levels of Zelda, play hours of fpsers or an rpg. I relax. I know that I can die in a video game and it’s not the end of the world. I can still rescue Princess Peach (who really needs to stop being kidnapped), save Hyrule, and get some head shots in before entering “real life” again. I float. And I find that I think better after playing.
My thoughts are more fluid (have you ever tried writing a paper after a college exam? If not, your thoughts are not fluid. They are cottage cheese.). I can balance chemical equations like there’s no tomorrow, I can integrate, finding the volumes of solids of revolution, write tens of lines of code, and manage to do it all properly (ah, there’s the catch) and still manage to sleep.
I’m sure some, if not all, of us have tried to do homework on little to no sleep or after a big test. It doesn’t work.
The moral of the story: play video games when you can’t concentrate. Play video games when you have free time. Hell, just play video games because they’re awesome!
photo courtesy of http://www.quicksavejunkie.com.
I am entertaining
I AM entertaining. Quite. Well, I have people over (though I am pretty fun to talk to too). My friend has two of her cousins over for a few days, one guy and one girl, so naturally she has the guy stay over at my place. Not that I mind. Her cousins are interesting people and I am always glad to talk to anyone. The only bad thing is that I have to make my place presentable for company.
Now, I am not that messy a person, and I do not hate cleaning that much. I don't mind doing it every once in a while. Lately though, it seems like people are visiting every weekend, be it her cousins, her parents, my roommate's family, etc. It used to take me a long time to clean up. Since I've had to do it so much I have gotten a lot more efficient out of necessity. I don't have the time to lose on spending hour after hour cleaning every week. Now I have gotten to the point where I can clean the entire place from top to bottom in about 40 minutes. I live up on Hilltop, so I have a little bit more to do than most people in dorms. It takes me 15 minutes to do the dishes, 10 minutes to clean the room in general, 5 minutes to clean the bathroom, 5 mintues to clean the kitchen, and 5 minutes to vacuum everything. Quite quick, if I do say so myself.
There's also a certain way I have to start acting when company is over. None of them know just how weird I am, and I prefer to keep it that way. I have to act like a normal person and be polite and make small talk and stuff. It's soooo hard. Anyway, here are some tips on entertaining company. Actually, there is only one tip. Appearance is everything. People will only be visiting for a couple of days, max, so everything they think is based on brief impressions and appearances. Having a tidy place and acting nice is all that matters. Doing that will make them leave with a good impression. It doesn't matter if you just swept all the dust and crumbs and radom pieces of trash under the rug as long as they never see it.
This is one reason I have gotten able to clean so quickly. I have learned exactly what needs to be done to maximize appearance with minimum effort. For instance, with cups, I line them all up in neat rows with the nice, clean cups in front. The ones that are kind of cloudy and have weird rings go in the back where no guest will ever see them. Kitchen trash is swept under the fridge. Everything that could be trash but might not be is not worth thinking about. It all goes into a drawer. Basically you just do everything possible to get things out of sight as fast as you can. Do this and everyone wins. You get free time, while your guests end up thinking you are a very nice and neat individual.
Now, I am not that messy a person, and I do not hate cleaning that much. I don't mind doing it every once in a while. Lately though, it seems like people are visiting every weekend, be it her cousins, her parents, my roommate's family, etc. It used to take me a long time to clean up. Since I've had to do it so much I have gotten a lot more efficient out of necessity. I don't have the time to lose on spending hour after hour cleaning every week. Now I have gotten to the point where I can clean the entire place from top to bottom in about 40 minutes. I live up on Hilltop, so I have a little bit more to do than most people in dorms. It takes me 15 minutes to do the dishes, 10 minutes to clean the room in general, 5 minutes to clean the bathroom, 5 mintues to clean the kitchen, and 5 minutes to vacuum everything. Quite quick, if I do say so myself.
There's also a certain way I have to start acting when company is over. None of them know just how weird I am, and I prefer to keep it that way. I have to act like a normal person and be polite and make small talk and stuff. It's soooo hard. Anyway, here are some tips on entertaining company. Actually, there is only one tip. Appearance is everything. People will only be visiting for a couple of days, max, so everything they think is based on brief impressions and appearances. Having a tidy place and acting nice is all that matters. Doing that will make them leave with a good impression. It doesn't matter if you just swept all the dust and crumbs and radom pieces of trash under the rug as long as they never see it.
This is one reason I have gotten able to clean so quickly. I have learned exactly what needs to be done to maximize appearance with minimum effort. For instance, with cups, I line them all up in neat rows with the nice, clean cups in front. The ones that are kind of cloudy and have weird rings go in the back where no guest will ever see them. Kitchen trash is swept under the fridge. Everything that could be trash but might not be is not worth thinking about. It all goes into a drawer. Basically you just do everything possible to get things out of sight as fast as you can. Do this and everyone wins. You get free time, while your guests end up thinking you are a very nice and neat individual.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Dorm Room Advice and Safety
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, there are a couple of things that you should do to close up your dorm room for the much needed break. You want to make sure when you come back everything is normal, nothing is ruined, and your room does not smell horrible.
First of all I would advise you to make sure your window is tightly shut and nothing can get in. You would not want any bugs or insects to get through your window if by chance you had a whole in your screen. Also, if there is any severe weather in the area you would not want this to come in your room. When there are high winds and storms there is a chance your window could break or shatter into a thousand pieces if it is not shut.
Secondly make sure that you have gone through your refrigerator and shelves and disposed of any food that will expire over the break. You should always make sure you go through and rotate your food and drinks around to make sure nothing get stuck in the back. That would be the worst to come back and your room smell like rotten spoiled food. It only takes a few minutes to look through everything and is definitely worth it.
Of course the most obvious and important is to make sure your door is tightly closed and locked. I know that at Harrison Hall alone this week five lab tops have gotten stole and 2 people’s iPods are missing. I feel horrible for the victims of theft but if you take a couple of seconds to lock your door you will not have to worry about any of this. Even if you are still in the building like down in the laundry room or in the computer room for example you should still lock your door just in case. It only takes a few minutes for something to happen and that would be devastating.
First of all I would advise you to make sure your window is tightly shut and nothing can get in. You would not want any bugs or insects to get through your window if by chance you had a whole in your screen. Also, if there is any severe weather in the area you would not want this to come in your room. When there are high winds and storms there is a chance your window could break or shatter into a thousand pieces if it is not shut.
Secondly make sure that you have gone through your refrigerator and shelves and disposed of any food that will expire over the break. You should always make sure you go through and rotate your food and drinks around to make sure nothing get stuck in the back. That would be the worst to come back and your room smell like rotten spoiled food. It only takes a few minutes to look through everything and is definitely worth it.
Of course the most obvious and important is to make sure your door is tightly closed and locked. I know that at Harrison Hall alone this week five lab tops have gotten stole and 2 people’s iPods are missing. I feel horrible for the victims of theft but if you take a couple of seconds to lock your door you will not have to worry about any of this. Even if you are still in the building like down in the laundry room or in the computer room for example you should still lock your door just in case. It only takes a few minutes for something to happen and that would be devastating.
Off Campus vs On Campus
I know it sounds crazy but we all need to think about where we are going to live next year. If you wait till the end of the school year everything is usually sold out or you are left with the old run down places. The first major task that you need to address is how many people do you want to live with and who do you get along with? You want to make sure you can deal with them for a whole year, they share some of your same interests, and you have some rules and guidelines to follow. Make sure you sit down and try and make a list of the preferences you want whether it would be an on the site laundry room, exercise room, or being able to have a pet live in the apartment with you.
Next is the question should you live on campus or off campus and what are some of the advantages and disadvantages to both? Living on campus the most obvious and notable advantage is that you can walk to campus and get around easily. There are more restaurants and places that are accessible to you especially if you are looking for a job to earn some extra cash. You do not have to worry about driving to and from campus which takes up time. When you live off campus you have to plan in advance and when the weather starts getting bad you never know how long it will take you to get to your destination. Also, I know at Purdue you may not even get a good parking pass it just depends you may have to park at Rossade and then you have to walk still. So living on campus just cuts down on the whole driving aspect and just includes a little walk to and from the university.
Living off campus in some of the apartments they seem to be more spacious and have more amenities to offer. You seem to just have more space to work with, more privacy, and freedom. There are a lot more options to choose from and they seem to not go as fast. There is a greater variety in price ranges so you can find the one that is perfect for you. Also with getting an apartment you need to take into the fact and find out if there are additional utilities to pay for such as heat, electric, cable, and water. These can all add up if you have to pay for them in addition to your monthly rent which could end up being very costly. Unlike living in the dorms like most freshmen do you now have to worry about getting groceries and making your own meals that may be very costly if you do not budget your money. You may also need to buy additional furniture, appliances, and decorations to furnish it nicely. Here is a helpful website that will show a list of available apartments around the Purdue University area.
Another thing to decide is whether you would want to live in an apartment or a house. With a house you will have more room and space to do stuff. You can have more people over and have more room to do activities and games. Although, with having more space you may just want to have some alone time and people may always be popping in and out which could be very irritating and distracting. Finally, I would highly recommend that you should start considering where you want to live at, who you want to live with, and either an apartment or a house.
Next is the question should you live on campus or off campus and what are some of the advantages and disadvantages to both? Living on campus the most obvious and notable advantage is that you can walk to campus and get around easily. There are more restaurants and places that are accessible to you especially if you are looking for a job to earn some extra cash. You do not have to worry about driving to and from campus which takes up time. When you live off campus you have to plan in advance and when the weather starts getting bad you never know how long it will take you to get to your destination. Also, I know at Purdue you may not even get a good parking pass it just depends you may have to park at Rossade and then you have to walk still. So living on campus just cuts down on the whole driving aspect and just includes a little walk to and from the university.
Living off campus in some of the apartments they seem to be more spacious and have more amenities to offer. You seem to just have more space to work with, more privacy, and freedom. There are a lot more options to choose from and they seem to not go as fast. There is a greater variety in price ranges so you can find the one that is perfect for you. Also with getting an apartment you need to take into the fact and find out if there are additional utilities to pay for such as heat, electric, cable, and water. These can all add up if you have to pay for them in addition to your monthly rent which could end up being very costly. Unlike living in the dorms like most freshmen do you now have to worry about getting groceries and making your own meals that may be very costly if you do not budget your money. You may also need to buy additional furniture, appliances, and decorations to furnish it nicely. Here is a helpful website that will show a list of available apartments around the Purdue University area.
Another thing to decide is whether you would want to live in an apartment or a house. With a house you will have more room and space to do stuff. You can have more people over and have more room to do activities and games. Although, with having more space you may just want to have some alone time and people may always be popping in and out which could be very irritating and distracting. Finally, I would highly recommend that you should start considering where you want to live at, who you want to live with, and either an apartment or a house.
Test Prep.
So yesterday I had another Calc exam. Ugh. I hate these. I had this class in high school and passed, but somehow I'm still managing to do terrible. In my math class we have two midterms and a final. The midterms are 20 percent of our grade apiece, while the final is 40 percent (and it's multiple choice :/ ). Anyway, this was the second of the midterms. I got a 58 percent on the first one. That's pretty bad. Somehow it was a B though, so maybe it wasn't just me.
After my dismal grade on the first test, I vowed to better prepare myself for the second one. My preparation for the first test consisted of me waiting until 2 hours before the test and then attempting to learn all of the material at once. Somehow this failed to work. For this test I decided to slowly study the material over several weeks before the exam.
Well, it got to be about 4 o'clock yesterday and I realized that the exam I vowed to prepare for was in three hours. Not counting an hour to eat dinner, an hour to walk everywhere, and probably 30 minutes of screwing around and not studying, I had half an hour to learn all the material for the test. The material we were covering wasn't that bad. I looked at the practice test and I could actually do most of it. The problem was that the test questions tended to be application problems and critical thinking or some weird thing like that. "Test my mastery." Blech. Also, the tests in this class have 7 questions, so missing even one is disasterous to my grade.
So I crammed, ate, and went to the test. I walked away feeling ok about it (better than the last one), but not great. I probably scored somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 percent. The sad thing is that I know I could have scored at least a 90 if I had spent more time studying. The problems were pretty easy but I couldn't remember some formulas. If I had memorized them, I would have aced it.
The lesson here is to spend time studying for tests. If you know you have an exam coming up, take a few hours out of your day to review material for it beforehand. Don't wait until an hour before the test to start studying. It is a lot harder to learn material when you are under a lot of stress. I just hope the rest of the class did as poorly as I did so the curve can help me out a li'l.
After my dismal grade on the first test, I vowed to better prepare myself for the second one. My preparation for the first test consisted of me waiting until 2 hours before the test and then attempting to learn all of the material at once. Somehow this failed to work. For this test I decided to slowly study the material over several weeks before the exam.
Well, it got to be about 4 o'clock yesterday and I realized that the exam I vowed to prepare for was in three hours. Not counting an hour to eat dinner, an hour to walk everywhere, and probably 30 minutes of screwing around and not studying, I had half an hour to learn all the material for the test. The material we were covering wasn't that bad. I looked at the practice test and I could actually do most of it. The problem was that the test questions tended to be application problems and critical thinking or some weird thing like that. "Test my mastery." Blech. Also, the tests in this class have 7 questions, so missing even one is disasterous to my grade.
So I crammed, ate, and went to the test. I walked away feeling ok about it (better than the last one), but not great. I probably scored somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 percent. The sad thing is that I know I could have scored at least a 90 if I had spent more time studying. The problems were pretty easy but I couldn't remember some formulas. If I had memorized them, I would have aced it.
The lesson here is to spend time studying for tests. If you know you have an exam coming up, take a few hours out of your day to review material for it beforehand. Don't wait until an hour before the test to start studying. It is a lot harder to learn material when you are under a lot of stress. I just hope the rest of the class did as poorly as I did so the curve can help me out a li'l.
Visiting Parents
My parents are visiting me this weekend. Some people dread this; I personally think I am going to have a good time. I am of drink age, so I figured I would have some fun with my parents. In addition to going out to meals with them, I will be taking them to breakfast club tomorrow. That means my parents brought costumes for breakfast club and they will be drinking with me at 7:00AM. This is not they type of thing you usually do with your parents. I am then going to take them to Triple XXX. If you are a freshman, you might not know what Tripe XXX is or breakfast club. That’s for a future post though.
By doing this, I get to have fun with my parents. It also allows them to experience some of the things I do in college. It also just gives me some good time to bond with them. I think it is cool that my parents are willing to do this.
By doing this, I get to have fun with my parents. It also allows them to experience some of the things I do in college. It also just gives me some good time to bond with them. I think it is cool that my parents are willing to do this.
Pets in College
I personally have never had a landlord that allows pets. Most landlords do not allow them. There are a few that do but most do not. If they find out that you do have a pet even though they told you that you can’t they won’t be very happy. The landlords that do allow pets usually charge extra for a pet.
I know there are a lot of people out there than want to get a dog. I currently am taking care of my parent’s dog for a week, even though I am not allowed to have a dog. There are many things that are a pain that you might not normally think about. The first problem is I do not have a yard to just let the dog go out in and do its business. I have to take the dog out on a leash every time. Also around campus there are no parks or fields to take the dog to. This is a major problem because labs, the type of dog I have, like to go run around. In order to do this I need a large field and have it not be next to a major street, so the dog does not run into it accidentally. It seems really strange to me that there are no parks around; there are not even playgrounds for kids to play at. I know by the dorms there are big fields, but I am on the other side of campus. I have been putting the dog in my car and taking her to one of the elementary schools to play.
I am just saying having a dog in a environment to more work since you have to go much further to find a place to play with it. You also have to go with the dog to do its business every few hours. I live in a house, if you live in an apartment, this would be even more of a pain since you would have to go downstairs.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
EW! SICK! NASTY!!!!!!!!
I'm sure you're familiar with those fast-food restaurant stories, whether they're true or not. For example, the time that Wendy's served chili to a customer and the chili had a human finger in it, or like the time when McDonald's sold chicken nuggets to someone, and the customer found a real cooked chicken head in the chicken nuggets box. I won't lie. I have no idea if any of the stories like that or true or not, I just vaguely remember hearing about them. Basically, the point I am getting at is that sooner or later, you're going to come across something disgusting in your food.
Let me just say that I just got back from dinner here at one of Purdue's dining courts called Earhart. They have all sort of things at Earhart. I was having a tough time deciding what I wanted for dinner. I considered making my own stirfry at the "make-your-own-stirfry" section, making my own pasta, making a sandwich, soup, or making a waffle.
I chose to make a waffle. I'm almost positive that I made a really bad choice tonight.
After I made my waffle, I went and sat down to dinner with a couple of my best friends. To say the least, there was a dead, cooked fly in my waffle!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah. I'm still throwing up in my mouth over the whole deal.
College can be extremely random. I guess it was just one of those "you were at the wrong place at the wrong time" kind of thing.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
College & Relationships
No matter how many days I spend here at Purdue University, the same thing never ceases to amaze me: the amount of couples here.
I was here for only a week, and most girls living in my residence hall had boyfriends. I can’t say much, but that’s because I’ve been dating the same guy for over five years whom I met in eighth grade, but that’s beside the point.
As we were walking to class, I was talking to my friend, about how many couples I see here. We began wondering if most people begin dating if they meet at college, or if they come to college together already dating from high school. Then, my friend began discussing her long distance relationship with me.
She and her boyfriend have been together for over four years. They both lived in the same town, which was so small that everyone in their high school knew each other because they all lived on the same two streets. They saw each other everyday, and graduating high school was a real big step for them. No longer would they be together 24/7; he accepted a scholarship from Toledo University, in Ohio, to play baseball, and she chose to go here. They are having a hard time with the long-distance thing. In fact, my friend says it’s one of the hardest things she’s ever had to go through.
My friend has the most trouble when she sees other couples at Purdue who are spending all their time together. I can understand where she’s coming from, like I said, I’ve been dating Jason for over five years. Unlike my friend’s boyfriend, Jason goes to Purdue, but he’s on the flight team, and just got home from Tennessee after being there for over a week. It was so hard for me to be here without him, especially since I ended up in the hospital the day he left. Seeing couples all over campus just made me miss him so much more. I mean, I see him everyday, and going a week without him almost felt impossible to do. I have no idea how my friend does it; she’s basically amazing (haha).
Lately, her boyfriend has been a real pain the ass. He hasn’t been calling her, he won’t come visit, he barely has anything to talk about when they actually do talk, and he just doesn’t try anymore, but then when she talks to him about a potential break-up, he tries to avoid the discussion. Sooo, why won’t he try if he doesn’t want to break up? He won’t end up being with her for the rest of his life like he wants and hopes to be if he doesn’t put forth the effort. It takes two people to make a relationship work, not two, and right now, my friend is the only one contributing to the relationship at all.
In all honesty, I think they’ll make it because they want it so bad. After Jason left for a week, I began thinking about how it would be if he were never around, and it’s just been something I’ve been thinking about lately, especially after hearing the stories about my friend and her boyfriend. Jason and I were about to go to different colleges. I was going to come here, and he was strongly considering going to Florida and attending Embry-Riddle, one of the top flight schools in the country. The only think that kept him here was being close to his family. He has a problem with homesickness (which is weird because I go home like every other weekend, and he’s gone home once). In all, I’ve just realized how thankful I am that Jason is around, and since I’ve been pondering it so much, I figured I might as well blog about it and get it down in writing rather than tossing it around in my brain every five seconds.
If you’re going through a long distance relationship like my friend is going through, my advice is to just decide how much the relationship is worth and weigh your options—do what’s right for you, and make that decision on your own. Don't base your choices on what other's think is right for you. Only you know.
I was here for only a week, and most girls living in my residence hall had boyfriends. I can’t say much, but that’s because I’ve been dating the same guy for over five years whom I met in eighth grade, but that’s beside the point.
As we were walking to class, I was talking to my friend, about how many couples I see here. We began wondering if most people begin dating if they meet at college, or if they come to college together already dating from high school. Then, my friend began discussing her long distance relationship with me.
She and her boyfriend have been together for over four years. They both lived in the same town, which was so small that everyone in their high school knew each other because they all lived on the same two streets. They saw each other everyday, and graduating high school was a real big step for them. No longer would they be together 24/7; he accepted a scholarship from Toledo University, in Ohio, to play baseball, and she chose to go here. They are having a hard time with the long-distance thing. In fact, my friend says it’s one of the hardest things she’s ever had to go through.
My friend has the most trouble when she sees other couples at Purdue who are spending all their time together. I can understand where she’s coming from, like I said, I’ve been dating Jason for over five years. Unlike my friend’s boyfriend, Jason goes to Purdue, but he’s on the flight team, and just got home from Tennessee after being there for over a week. It was so hard for me to be here without him, especially since I ended up in the hospital the day he left. Seeing couples all over campus just made me miss him so much more. I mean, I see him everyday, and going a week without him almost felt impossible to do. I have no idea how my friend does it; she’s basically amazing (haha).
Lately, her boyfriend has been a real pain the ass. He hasn’t been calling her, he won’t come visit, he barely has anything to talk about when they actually do talk, and he just doesn’t try anymore, but then when she talks to him about a potential break-up, he tries to avoid the discussion. Sooo, why won’t he try if he doesn’t want to break up? He won’t end up being with her for the rest of his life like he wants and hopes to be if he doesn’t put forth the effort. It takes two people to make a relationship work, not two, and right now, my friend is the only one contributing to the relationship at all.
In all honesty, I think they’ll make it because they want it so bad. After Jason left for a week, I began thinking about how it would be if he were never around, and it’s just been something I’ve been thinking about lately, especially after hearing the stories about my friend and her boyfriend. Jason and I were about to go to different colleges. I was going to come here, and he was strongly considering going to Florida and attending Embry-Riddle, one of the top flight schools in the country. The only think that kept him here was being close to his family. He has a problem with homesickness (which is weird because I go home like every other weekend, and he’s gone home once). In all, I’ve just realized how thankful I am that Jason is around, and since I’ve been pondering it so much, I figured I might as well blog about it and get it down in writing rather than tossing it around in my brain every five seconds.
If you’re going through a long distance relationship like my friend is going through, my advice is to just decide how much the relationship is worth and weigh your options—do what’s right for you, and make that decision on your own. Don't base your choices on what other's think is right for you. Only you know.
It’s getting cold, reduce heating costs
It is getting cold out now. I finally turned my heat on my house yesterday. I was trying to wait as long as possible to turn the heat on since natural gas can be very expensive. I let my house get down to 60 degrees before I finally caved and turned it on. Since the cooler I keep my house the more money I save, I set my heat to 67 degrees.
One way to save more money is to turn down the heat when you sleep. I set my heat to 60 when I go to bed till I get back from class the next day. Also you should make sure your furnace filter is clean since if it is dirty, it will have to run longer to heat the house.
Since I live in an older house a lot of my windows are single pane. Single pane windows do not insulate as well. Also since they are older windows they do not seal very well. I can feel gusts of wind through the windows. A really important thing I do is I buy plastic window covers from the hardware store. This adds a space of dead air between the room in your house and the window. Essentially this gives you a second pane on your window. It also catches drafts from leaky windows.
I am now living in a house for my third year. I lived in the dorms only my freshman year. Taking these steps makes a real difference. Doing these steps can make a $400 heating bill be $150. I have had those expensive bills and I do everything I can to avoid them.
If you live in an apartment you might not even have to turn your heat on. I have friends that did not have to turn on their heat at all since they had apartments on top, bottom, left, and right of their apartment. Their apartment was heated by the surrounding apartments.
One way to save more money is to turn down the heat when you sleep. I set my heat to 60 when I go to bed till I get back from class the next day. Also you should make sure your furnace filter is clean since if it is dirty, it will have to run longer to heat the house.
Since I live in an older house a lot of my windows are single pane. Single pane windows do not insulate as well. Also since they are older windows they do not seal very well. I can feel gusts of wind through the windows. A really important thing I do is I buy plastic window covers from the hardware store. This adds a space of dead air between the room in your house and the window. Essentially this gives you a second pane on your window. It also catches drafts from leaky windows.
I am now living in a house for my third year. I lived in the dorms only my freshman year. Taking these steps makes a real difference. Doing these steps can make a $400 heating bill be $150. I have had those expensive bills and I do everything I can to avoid them.
If you live in an apartment you might not even have to turn your heat on. I have friends that did not have to turn on their heat at all since they had apartments on top, bottom, left, and right of their apartment. Their apartment was heated by the surrounding apartments.
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