Simon!!!

I just got back from CVS, and was more than thrilled to see Simon at the pharmacy! For those of you who have a good memory, you'll know that Simon is my favorite pharmacist. Unfortunately, I have not seen him since around June, because he was not there when I went in July and August. I walked to the pharmacy, saw him, and went "Hi Simon!" and then...looking surprised, he responded with "Hi Ben!" I was happy" :)


These kind of things make me really happy. Bringing my medication to the pharmacy is usually dull and boring, which is why when I find a friendly pharmacist, I stick with them. And then we get to talk while he works on my prescription. So, we discussed the snow, and the weather in Vermont, and what Champlain is like. It's always a good thing to establish a personal connection with people, even if you do not see them that often. In addition, I know that if there is ever an issue with my prescription, there is someone there that will help me out. 


For example, when I used to get my prescription filled at Rite Aid many years ago, they weren't very good with keeping my medication in stock, but the head pharmacist there had a really cool African-type name, and when she found out that I liked it, she became very helpful. So when they would only have a couple pills in stock, they would give those to me up front, and I would come back a day or two later to pick up the rest. This was before I learned to leave at least five days of overlap between refills. 


So, there it is. It was cool to talk with Simon today, and I probably won't see him again until May. I wanted to drop by TD Bank to cash my paycheck, but they weren't open until 11, so I'll have to go back out. In other news, the snow has started! Yay!

Another from the Aruba series. (let's wait for Nora to scream..)

My poor watch...

My watchband is on its last threads...mostly literally, except it is rubber. Any minute now, the band will snap and, I will not be able to wear my watch anymore. I have had this watch since 4th grade, and it has become a part of me. The only period of time where I was able to separate myself from it, was this summer, when I decided that not wearing it would help me relax (and not give me a watch tan). 


The fracture in the band is right were I would expect it to be; right above the notch where I fasten my watch. So, all these years of me pulling on it to tighten it, and pulling back to loosen have finally taken its toll. I dont really want to replace the band because the new one is going to be stiff rubber that will probably be uncomfortable and weird. See, over the years, my band has been smoothed over and the edges rounded. The new one wont have that feature. 


Next up is the "replace the watch" suggestion. Well, I've grown to love it. And I really don't want to replace it. Its a very simplistic watch, and it functions well. All I need to do is replace the battery every couple of years. In addition, if I get a new one, then I'll start being all concerned about getting it scratched up or whatnot...


About a year ago, the little floating piece that holds down the excess band snapped. So I emailed Swiss Army, and asked them if it would be possible to purchase a replacement. They mailed me back two of them, and I was thrilled. I am tempted to email them again to see how much a replacement band would cost, because I know at their stores, they'll probably charge me an obnoxious amount, and I'd still have to pay for them to do the work on it. 


Meh, I just checked their website, and the replacement band is $20


So there's my situation. I don't really want to have to do anything, but as soon as I can't wear my watch anymore, I'll go nuts, so I better do something. I'd take a picture of it, but I don't want to disturb it as it sits on my wrist. Therefore, I am exempting myself from the picture from this post. Or not... I felt bad because it was such a long hunk of text. Here's another one from the Aruba series

I didn't realize you could play the New York Lottery in Aruba...

More things that get on my nerves...

When there is a long line to exit off the highway, and people decide to cruise along normally until the last minute, where they cut into the exit line. This is stupid, selfish, and it slows down traffic even more. This evening, when I was on my way to JFK to pick up my aunt and cousin from France, I made a point of not allowing anyone who did this to cut in front of me. I waited a good chunk of time to use that exit, and I'm not about to give it up to someone who just cut the line. And don't try and use the "I didn't know" excuse. Most of these cars are taxis that go back and forth to the airport several times a day, they know exactly where the exit is, but just don't want to wait. 

On to something else...When I was waiting for my family to arrive, I decided to use the bathroom. These bathrooms were pretty darn gross. Now, I don't know about other people, but as much as tourists can be annoying, I want them to have a good impression of New York. If the first thing they see when they land is these crummy bathrooms, then that is pretty bad. They need to do something about that. 

So that's that. Today, I went along with my dad and his friend to test drive a Porsche Panamera, which they of course want to get, even though they already have a Porsche Carrera. It's unnecessary, but highly amusing. There goes my college fund...

Oh, and it's Christmas Eve...or something like that where people decide to celebrate, so everyone decides to close. Okay, that's fine. I'm eating an apple right now that my mom brought me. It's really quite yummy. Okay, I'll go find a picture...

Since I mentioned the Porsche, and I can't find any picture of interest, here's one of me in the Carrera over Thanksgiving break. Yes, it was cold, but if you drive fast enough, it goes right over you!

Bonus points if you can figure out where this was taken...

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Wow, this week is just crusin' on by....

So, lets start off with some complaints. Right now facebook is getting on my nerves, because for a while now, whenever I click on my new notifications, the list appears, but then the newest one (that I want to click on), disappears. And I cannot get it to show up without refreshing facebook. It is quite aggravating, and I can't tell if it's a major glitch, or if it just happens to me.

I also hate when you walk towards the subway station, and when you get downstairs, you discover that you just missed the train. So then I get all annoyed because if I had walked a little bit faster, or made that light, I would have made the train. On the other hand, if I run towards the train station, and make it downstairs only to witness the train pulling away, I also get annoyed, because if I had walked normally, I would not have "just missed" it, and therefore not be annoyed.
Tough stuff, eh?

I think that's about it for the complaints now, although when I was exiting the train station, someone who was walking in front of me decided to stop abruptly and turn around, which led me to literally slam my foot down so I did not run him over. I like to think that I've perfected the art of stopping on very short notice. It's a good skill to have in New York.

Anyway, yesterday, I saw my aunt Nathalie and her boyfriend who dropped by from France, and tomorrow I get to see my aunt Sophie and cousin Magali, also coming by from France. Yay!

I got my hair cut today. I should be good until May... Also, it was pretty frigid out today. It says 34 degrees, but the wind is numbing. I couldn't even walk from the train to my house without having my gloves on.

Yes, that is all for now. Huzzah!
(looks for a picture...)


Actually, no, thats not all. So, when I was getting the mail, I found a self-addressed envelope that I had written. It was postmarked in Burlington, so I knew that it had something to do with school, but I could not figure out what the heck it was. So, I opened it, and it made me pretty happy.
When I went to my Champlain Summer Launch, we talked a lot about what the first semester of college would be like, and they had us pick out some goals that we would aim for, and then write a letter to our future selves to see how well we did. Here is my letter:


7/21/10
Dear Ben


Hey! I hope first semester was awesome!
I hope that you've made some awesome new friends, and kept in touch with those from OAP.
Hope you've been widening your horizons, and chilling and learning.
I'm sorry that my handwriting sucks!
Love, Ben M




Anyway, it made me really happy. I think this confirms that I had an awesome first semester!

Letter, feat. my new haircut

Benny Lava!

Okay. Loong good day.
I saw "Unstoppable" this morning (for $6 of course) with Matt and Alex. Apparently Matt had seen the movie this past weekend, and actually told me that he saw it yesterday. I did not hear that because I was too busy laughing at some joke that I had made. (Unfortunately, I do not remember what it was)

The movie was awesome. Totally my kind of movie. Loved it! Afterwards, it was around lunchtime, and if you know anything about us, you'll know where we went next...Schnippers!
Schnippers is our default lunch location if we are ever hungry around Times Square. Good food, not too expensive. They were packed, so we sat at the counter, which was just as interesting. After eating, we began our walk uptown. As usual, we have no plans at all, but we just walk places, and have fun along the way. We met up with Juan while we were playing around at the Samsung store. On a side note, they rearranged things and removed the DJ equipment! We were very disappointed, but spent over an hour there anyway...

On our way uptown, we passed Hale and Hearty Soups, which really made me want #233. Soup number 233 is probably my favorite soup they have, and that was the codename that we would refer to it by (they though we were crazy because we knew the number). I can't even remember what the soup consists of, but It is really good. Unfortunately, they did not have it :( Matt got a sample of Tomato Cheddar-A very good "default choice" when you cannot figure out what to get.

Overall, very good day, but we were all wiped out at the end. Mrawrr.

So, I've been trying to switch over to Chrome from Firefox, but I just can't do it. Chrome is great and all, but I cannot get my bookmarks set up the same way, which leads to me forgetting to check certain websites that have become part of my "daily routine." Right now, I am writing this in Firefox, but I am also using Chrome at the same time. This might not be too bad-multitasking between browsers...I can live with that.
However, when I watch Hulu, I always use Safari, because when I only used Firefox, trying to play videos and keep all of my tabs open would just freeze up the video like crazy. So I play them in Safari, because I really dislike the browser, but it works for my videos. (I also use Safari when I'm signing into other people's accounts, so it does not interfere with my personal account)

Ahhh, I think that is about all. Let me see if I can find a picture to make this a tad more interesting...

Oh, also, I'm getting a haircut on Thursday...

Birds chilling in Aruba...

 

Well, Well, Well

I finally met up with Juan, Matt, Alex and Daniel today, and we went to Chipotle (duh). It was awesome. I also got my first paycheck from Champlain, which is also awesome.


I know that I have not been posting anything of value here lately, and I am truly sorry for that. But I have been quite busy. I hope to say more soon.! Rawr!

Home again

Yes, its been years. I'm sorry. I've been just so bogged down with everything.


Caution: This post may bore you! It's a detailed trip log (me rambling)


So, here's the wonderful recap of my trip home.


I went to sleep the night before at about 1:45AM (No, I cannot fall asleep earlier), and woke up at 4:15AM when my alarm rang. I was really confused, because it felt like I had not actually been asleep at all. Also, a good chunk of people in Bankus were still awake. Haaa


Andrew, was just awesome, and woke up to drive me to the airport. It was snowing, and there was decent accumulation. It was still dark out. We got to the airport, and I said goodbye to Andrew. It looked pretty busy inside. Luckily, jetBlue never has lines at their counter because everyone pretty much checks themselves in, and all they need to do is drop off bags. The first thing I noticed was that the gate agent who had checked my bag for my flight home on my last flight home at 11AM, was here at 5AM. She has long hours!


When I left the counter, I noticed something; a line for security. That's unusual, and I surely was not expecting this at 5AM, but for the most part, this qualified as a commuter flight for businesspeople, so I guess it made sense. The TSA crew also looked familiar, and seemed to be in a relatively good mood. I was prepared this time, taking my keys out of my bag, so they could not possibly be confused with a knife.


I cleared security with my bag only needing to be re-screened once, which is fine by me, because it is usually filled with electronics, and hard to see through things. And that was it. I went to the restroom to change into my Champlain sweatpants (which I did not wear through security because it would give them reason to pull me aside for a pat-down). 


I found my seat at the gate, and hung out with Fudge, my travel buddy, until it was time to board.
Following Ben-style travel protocol, I timed my arrival at the counter perfectly, and was the first person to board the aircraft after those needing priority/extra time.


We pushed back on-time at 6AM, but then had to wait while the aircraft was de-iced and anti-iced. It was still dark out, so I could not see much, but I had a general idea of where we were at the airport as we taxied towards the runway. I think this was the first time I took off heading South. Regardless, my take-off song was Double Vision by 3oh!3. I timed the song perfectly so that the first "na na naaa" coincided with the engines being pushed to full thrust. 


Even though I know the flight lasts just about an hour, I'm always a bit surprised when I realize how fast It goes by. My first indicator of our location was the Tappan-Zee Bridge, which is quite possibly my favorite bridge. We landed, and got to the gate pretty quickly. They switched the luggage carousels on us without saying anything, so I was waiting at number three, while they were over at five. I was pretty sure that they had been switched, but walking around would have possibly infringed on Ben-style travel protocol, because I would have lost the spot in front of the crowd where I was standing. 


Finally pulled my bag, called my dad, and he drove over from the cellphone lot. And that more or less concluded my travels. The end.


p.s. If you actually read all of this, I applaud you!


Here's a picture of Fudge:

*No Title*

It's crunch time. 


There is a lot to be said, and little time to say it, therefore, I will use bullet points.

More Aruban soda :) (I can't align the picture right)

• I went to NYC this weekend, and pretended to be a tourist. It was interesting. We did touristy things like go to IKEA Red Hook for lunch. Hahahahaha
• It finally started snowing Sunday night through Monday. It's not a ton of snow, but it is enough to keep me happy for now. 
• I started working at the Enrollment Service Center (which basically is the front line of help when people have questions about anything Champlain-related)
• Since I need to learn how to access records, I was going through my file on the computer. It's ridiculous how much information there is. I'm also concerned that I might accidentally mess something up in the records!
• I have two essays and two presentations for Friday
• When we sat down to eat at Olive Garden in NYC, we were offered a taste of their house wine. I politely declined.
• I took out my boots and winter jacket in celebration of the snow. I like winter clothes
• I need more deadline pressure to get my work done

I am sorry to inform you that new posts will be scarce

As there are less than two weeks left in the semester, I do not really have much time to write here. For that, I apologize. But as always, school comes first.

Thursday??

Well this week is going by quickly!


So, I decided recently that I don't want to wake up to a boring alarm anymore. I decided that I want my wake up song to be "Hello, Good Morning" (for now at least), but I can't get the dumb file on my phone because the filesize is too big. I'm determined to make it work.
Stay tuned.


In other news, I'm considering increasing my snooze time to 15 minutes at a time. 8 is kind of early to wake up, and since I don't have to be anywhere until 9:20, there is not really any rush to get out of bed. So, I'd like 8:30 to be my new wake up time. 


In other news, I'm going on a trip to NYC tomorrow, because I can. It has not sufficiently snowed here yet, although it did flurry last night. If I look at my weather widget, it shows snow from Friday through Tuesday, but with highs just above freezing. If the first real snow arrives when I'm in NYC, I'm not going to be too happy about it. 


The end


edit: Oh, I forgot an image. Let me go find one...


I think I'm gonna stick with the "Aruba" series for a while

It makes it much better to know that the soda is local :D

A quick word before I run off to math

I have about half an hour to kill before math, so I figured I'd try and be semi productive and write something. 

Since I'm going to Statistics, here's one for you: yesterday, over the course of my travels, I sent and received 829 text messages. I was secretly hoping to break 1,000 but it's okay. I'll live. 

This morning I took a shower, and again had to fight myself to get out. The air in the bathroom is too cold in the morning to take showers, but alas, I did not want to melt, so I got out eventually. 

And since I'm now trying to make these posts more interesting by throwing pictures in, here's one I took several weeks ago.

They put a vice grip in the place of a faucet handle.

The end.

I'm Home! (The other home)

Wheeeee!!!

So, lets see. I got to Penn Station at 10:40AM. I was meeting up with Amtrak's train 54: Vermonter. It was scheduled to pull in at 10:46 and leave at 11:30. I checked the arrivals board, and slickly found out that my train was pulling on track 9. The track was not listed under the departures, so most people didn't know where to wait. I waited near track nine, facing the status board that everyone else looks at, ready to rush straight to my train as soon as it was announced. Yes!

Sorry, I couldn't get a clear picture!

I was the third person down the escalator to the train. I knew there was a stampede of people behind me, and I needed to find a seat. Since my train was coming from Washington, it was already decently filled. And this would be a full train. I walked into the first car, and down to the middle. This is how the seats work. All the seats in one half of the car face forward, and the seats in the other half of the car face backward. In the middle, they meet, so you technically have four seats, but there is no room between them, so only two can sit there. There is barely enough room for your legs. This means i had a footrest, and would totally sit there. I sat next to the person who was there, because he seemed alright. 

He left two stops later, and was replaced by another guy who stayed for two stops, and then a High School sophomore for the majority of the rest of the trip. He was nice, and we talked on and off.

Here's more about the trip:

• I got to lounge out on my awesome seats
• We had to wait an extra 25 minutes in Springfield, MA because the Southbound Vermonter was running late, and we needed to wait for it to clear the tracks. As a result, our train ran 30 minutes late for the rest of the trip
• In Palmer, MA the train switched tracks, and switched direction. As a result, everyone who was originally facing forward was now facing backwards. I, however, simply switched to the other side of my seats. 
• There were many college kids
• I knew a good 5-6 of them

Overall, the ride was awesome. We got in to Essex Junction-Burlington at 9:15PM, 46 minutes late. It was a nine hour and forty-five minute trip. Honestly, I enjoyed it. I love planes, trains and cars (not automobiles), and I surprisingly did not get bored. I had a plethora of magazines with me, but I only read one. For the rest of the ride, I just relaxed and was happy, and talked to my seatmate. It was pretty darn good.


And then, the guys in 303 were kind enough to drop by on their way back to Bankus to pick me up at the train station. I crammed myself and my bags into the back, and enjoyed the ride!
Our driving song was "Shots," which if you've been reading closely, you'll know it was my take-off song for my trip home. Also, our arrival song was "Like a G6." An awesome way to end an awesome day.


So, that is that. I enjoyed my trip, and I'm really happy to be back and see everyone. Here is the GPS log from my trip. Note that I only activated it upon leaving Port Chester.

GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

I'm really quite stressed

And it is due to many things that either are unexplainable, or only get to be discussed with an elite group of people. 

This is probably going to be a long rambling post, and wont make much sense, but I'm really only writing it to try and clear my mind. No one is forcing you to read this.

I just got back from seeing Due Date with Matt and Daniel. I'm not really sure if the movie was good or not, I cannot really make up my mind. I don't think I was in the best mood, and that may not have helped at all. Like, something funny would happen, and I would be like "meh." Loews 84th street kinda gets on my nerves, as does Loews Lincoln Square. I can't really fit in the darn seats anymore, and its just too uncomfortable. I have no legroom at all, and I am just paranoid that I'll end up bashing the seat of the person in front of me. That's why several years ago, I made AMC Empire 25 on Times Square my primary theater. Stadium seating is wayy better. 

I was not carded when I bought my ticket. Matt was next to me at the next cashier, and he was carded. When my cashier heard him be carded, she kinda smiled, and then glanced at me. I can't decide if I like being carded or not. 

This morning, I went for a ride with my dad, and got to work on my skills driving a stick shift. Being in the city and all doesn't really give me the chance to learn or practice. It's really more fun to drive a manual transmission, provided that you do not live in a big city. 

Tomorrow, I'm taking the train back to Champlain. My train leaves at 11:30AM. I am not packed. I am not ready. I have not been able to think about it. I need to get things done, but my mind has not yet been cleared. I'm anxious to go back and see everyone, and that includes my fish. I'm not thrilled about the work that needs to be done, but I'm probably overreacting, and I'll manage. I am thrilled, in general. I think. That made little sense. I hear it has been snowing up in Burlington this week, and I'm really excited for that. I want to go snowboarding as soon as possible. That would be sweet. 

If you don't have anything to do tomorrow, send me a text. I'll be on the train for nine hours. Nifty, huh? I'm excited for it though, I haven't really been able to travel any long distance by train before. So, send me a text, and I'll be sure to reply (unless I cant for some reason, which in that case you will not receive a reply).

Alright, I think that this post has fulfilled most of its purpose to calm me down. On another note, I find that this blog is lacking in images. So I'm going to do my best to try and include more of them. Even if they are completely unrelated.

Here's one I took this summer in Aruba:

That's one way to learn your shapes...

 

You best check yoself before you wreck yoself

Tonight was fun,

Unless you consider the random mood that I'm in at the moment which is

Going to annoy me

All night long,

Yay

Taxi ride at 4:30AM? Pretty good

So, last night I needed to go home at 4:30 in the morning. It's a long story, but I was in Brooklyn, and I just wanted to be in my own bed. So I stepped outside in the darn coldness with Mom, who isn't actually my mom, but she comes darn close. After missing a cab by one block, and seeing none in the distance, I got annoyed and my teeth started to chatter.

Thankfully, after about eight or so minutes, I saw a taxi approaching in the distance. Flagged him down, and hopped in. I was relieved. Normally taxi drivers don't converse too much, but it was quiet, and he kindly asked me how I was this evening. I explained to him that I wasn't feeling so well, and I decided that I wanted to go home; he was sympathetic. I learned that he too was about to go home before I flagged him down, which made me feel a tad guilty, but he reminded me that it was the cost of doing business. We chatted a little more, and then were quiet for the rest of the ride.

I love the city in the early morning; it's close to empty, but all the streetlights still keep things bright. There's no traffic, and all is quiet. Except for a bunch of stupid traffic lights on the West Side that kept tripping us up. I got home at 5, and he wished me a good night, and told me to feel better. I did the same, and ran upstairs to the comfort of my own bed.

I just discovered that my bag was inspected when I flew home

Usually the piece of paper telling you so is on top. But it wasn't. My stuff was not disturbed.
They were probably checking out the bottle of maple syrup at the bottom...And, well, I guess they pushed the paper back down with the bottle. 

I was reaching around looking for a belt, when I felt the piece of paper, which I pulled out.

I'm pretty much indifferent...

Random ramblings from a slightly annoyed Ben

I'm in one of those moods where every little thing gets on my nerves. I hate that. I end up getting tackled with all the stressful things on my mind, and then I don't know what to do. So, I thought that I would try complaining about some random things instead.

First up: Countdown Clocks

The MTA has finally gotten around to turning on most of the countdown clocks that have been installed on the West Side Lines... Now, a select few of you know about my obsession about these countdown clocks. Matt has probably had to deal with it the most (Because his station had them activated long before others). But they turned them on at Wall Street, right after I graduate high school. Now this is just plain unfair. Also, since 96th street has been undergoing a complete renovation, they have not even been installed at my stop. Therefore, I have never been able to truly appreciate them...

Here's the one at Wall Street:

 

Fine, whatever.

I realize now that I do not really have anything else to complain about. Oh, I know, I miss my Student MetroCard. It is not as fun swiping through turnstiles at full speed when you know that it just cost you $2.25. Plus, the neon green cards were awesome!

Ahh, and christmas trees are almost here...As evidenced by the arrivals of these:

Oh, and I saw a trailer truck full of trees going down Broadway, so they're pretty much here! 

Well, I think that's all for now. Probably. 

Keys?!?!?

Back from College, I'm now having to remember to carry my keys around with me. This is a pain. Being able to leave the house with nothing but my ID is so much easier. In addition, since I reorganized where things are stored in my pants pockets, there is no comfortable location for my keys. So I put them in my jacket. Which is mostly alright. But I still have to remember to take them with me....

If I ever get my own house, I'm installing digital locks.

Yes, I would like a refund...

So, I was browsing through jetBlue's fares to see if there was anywhere I could go for a cheap one or two day adventure when I noticed that the fare for my flight home in December went down by $27. Naturally, I was annoyed. I read through their fare policy, and it seemed to indicate that I had to inform them of the lower fare on the same day that I booked my original flight. I was annoyed and confused, but I decided to call them anyway, ready with several arguing points.

The first thing I was told was that my flight home was moved to about half an hour earlier. Okay, that's fine. Then I asked about the price drop...and she went right ahead and gave me credit for a future flight. Well, that was easy. It turns out that the low fare policy I was reading only applied to lower fares found on other sites, and I was still entitled to the refund. Yay! jetBlue is my friend :)

Aside from that, I'm doing my best to relax while in NY, but there is minimal work that I have to do before I go back to CampChamp. I look forward to getting that completed soon!

Whee!

Wheeee!

So, first full day back, and I went on a 220 mile round trip road trip. (Hahaha, round trip road trip)

Anyway, we went upstate, I did some shopping, got some stuff. I really get annoyed with Gap's selection of boxers. It's all seasonal designs, and I just realized that means that I have to buy everything in the summer to get the cool stuff. Otherwise it's all boring holiday nonsense. And I'm not going to wear Santa boxers. I did my usual rounds of Gap, Oakley, Timberland. Didn't go to Swiss Army because I decided that I wouldn't be interested in what they probably had, and besides, I didn't really need that much. Oh, and I went to Columbia Outdoor for the first time. It's completely across the mall, so I hesitated for a while as to whether I wanted to go. I ended up buying a new wallet after about 15 minutes of looking at it. We'll see if I switch over...

On the way back, I realized that it gets pitch black at 6PM. I don't really mind driving at night. In fact, I think that I am more comfortable with it. Reason being is that it is easier to keep track of the cars around me because I can see their lights. So, I can know that a car is on my side just by noticing the headlights. Not that I don't keep track of my surroundings during the day, it just makes it easier when the lights are there. 


So, I'm home again. And thats that!


Whoo!

I'm Home!

And really happy too :)

My day went a little like this:

I met with Professor Kelly at 9:00, went back to Bankus, and got my stuff together. Walked over to Main street, and caught the bus to UMall. Transferred at UMall to the Burlington Circulator, which took me to the airport. Travel time: 25 Minutes. Not too bad

It's now 10:15. I walked up to the counter, dropped my bag off, and proceeded to security. What would they find this time? The good news is that they were in a good mood, and seemed nicer than my last encounter with them. The bad news is that they inevitably find something weird on the x-ray. They had to go through my bag and run things separately three times before they figured out what it was... Apparently my keychain looks like a knife. 

  It's a chunk of metal. I guess I can see how it may show up looking like a small pocket knife. Although I've had it for at least five years, and no one has ever complained about it. See, if they actually asked the passengers questions beyond "Is there anything sharp or dangerous in your bag?" then it would probably be easier to figure things out. If they told me what they were looking for, I'd probably be able to pinpoint it. Not to mention the fact that they mess up my neatly packed bag...

Okay, fine. It's 10:35 now, so I make my way to the gate. Then I sit, and wait. I'm in row 3, which means I may not be one of the first on, but I am first off. We started boarding about 20 minutes late, but somehow managed to push back at 11:11. One minute late. 

Oh, also, It was snowing. How annoying. It starts snowing when I leave...Anyway, my take off song was "Shots" by LMFAO, feat that Lil guy. 

It's pretty amazing how big UVM is, especially when you look at it from the air. My goal was to find Champlain, and Bankus Hall, so I kept scanning the ground. I saw Shaws, and knew I had looked too far over. I turned my head to the left, and managed to see Bankus just before we disappeared into the clouds.

And then...We landed. Back in NY, I made my way to the carousel, positioned myself and waited for my bag. Got my bag, called my Dad, and I was home free!

And that is that.

Can't wait to see everyone!

Did you know that Drake is Canadian?

Neither did I...

Fire Drill :D

So, we just had our first fire drill. It was fun, but there weren't enough stairs to run down. Here's how it went:

I'm standing in 303, watching "Don't mess with the Zohan" and I hear a buzzer in the distance. As I'm wondering what it is, it spreads to the room. Yay! Fire alarm! Flashing lights!
 I calmly walk over to my room, open the door, put down my deck of cards, grab my sunglasses, throw on some shoes, and then head downstairs, assuming that it's probably a drill since our dorm does not really contain annoying people who do dumb things that set off alarms (knock on wood). I then realize that I wanted to use the fire exit on the side, because it's one of the rare times that I would get to use it. But at the last minute, I decided not to. I figured I would rather go out front with everyone else. After opening three of the heavy staircase doors (since I went down the back staircase), I went through the lobby where Public Safety was standing, and proceeded to the end of the sidewalk. After confirming that It was only a drill, I realized that it was slightly less of an adrenaline rush than I anticipated. Maybe it would be better in the middle of the night (although we dont really need that).

If you're wondering why the staircase doors were closed, it's because they're fire doors that are magnetically held open, but are released when the fire alarm is activated.

We are required to evacuate within two minutes (which is quite a bit of time for 44 people to leave), and we made it out in 1:35. I kinda want to set a "fastest evacuation" record, but that's doubtful, because even with my casual walk, I wasn't the last one out...


On a side note, when I was saying something to Jen from Public Safety, I unconsciously put my hand on her shoulder (which is something I do often), but she didn't seem to like it, so then it was slightly awkward. I didn't do it on purpose!

2 Days left!

I'm so excited!
So, my second class on Friday just got canceled because we were super productive today. My first class is canceled, but I have to meet with my professor at 9AM.

My flight is at 7PM. 
This is slightly frustrating, because now I'll be sitting around the whole day waiting for my flight.
Here are my options:

There is a flight at 12:42PM. I could: 
Pay $40 to have a confirmed seat on this earlier flight, 
or go to the airport early, and fly standby at no additional cost. 

However, if I don't make it onto the earlier flight, I would have to go back to Champlain at a moderate inconvenience since they eliminated the bus that goes straight from town to the airport, and then go back to the airport later. As much as I love the airport, 6 hours is a little bit too long for me!

Or: Do nothing, and just appreciate the fact that I am flying home at some point that evening. 
 


The $40 option has pretty much been ruled out already, so whether I dare to fly standby will probably be a last minute decision based on how many open seats are on the flight. 


Chances are, I'll probably just stick with my 7PM flight...But, who knows?




And...My mom sent me brownies! They're awesome and yummy. *hee*


Or, I could call JetBlue and ask them very nicely if they would move me up without charging me. After all, they could probably make more money reselling my ticket to some last minute passenger who needs the seat. 


Hehe

It's about 8:30AM on Tuesday

And I think I'm going to skip breakfast. I had a granola bar. See, I never used to eat breakfast in High School or Middle School, I'd wake up and go. But now, I have more time between when I wake up and have to go to class, so I end up going to eat.

I'm sure this is not a good thing, so I'm going to see whether I can get through my 9:30 class without breakfast (even though I technically broke the fast with the granola bar).

That, and the fact that there are only three more days until I go home is awesome!!!

-Benjamin

4 Days left!!!!

Until I go home...Something that I am really excited about. My flight leaves at 7:01PM on Friday, and I will be back in the city shortly after that. I can't wait to see everyone.

I know it's only Monday, but for some reason, it feels like the week is already flying by (which is a weird feeling). I hope it doesn't end up going really slow, and then annoying the heck out of me.

I have to start thinking about packing for my week at home, which is weird, because, well, it just is. I have to pack. 

I put this in the fish tank. I figured they needed a change of scenery. 

And finally, parked the vans in the wrong spot this morning. I just walked out to take a picture, but someone took out Van 2. How annoying. Anyway:

Not okay...

 The end

I burned my fingers on my bagel this morning...

Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it hurt. Ben suggested that I tell you about it. Someone must have turned the heat up on the toaster. That also brings up the point that they should have full size plates by the toaster, because the plates they have now are for like the really small desserts. They can only fit one piece of toast, or half a bagel. That's annoying, and you have to stack the food, which leads to a mess. 

So, it's Thursday. The wonderfully long day... I just signed up for a trip to NYC. Now, you may be thinking "why the hell is Ben signing up for a trip to NYC?"

Well, why not? Yes, it's a week after Thanksgiving, and two weeks later I'll be going back for the holidays, but really, why not??? It's going to be a fun experience pretending to be a tourist, and being on the road with cool people. So there. If you'll be in the city that weekend, you should come hang out (unless I don't like you, which in that case, I don't know why you are reading this). Drat, I just realized that it's the first weekend that I would have a chance to go snowboarding. Oh well, maybe I'll manage to go during the week.

So there. I'm doing my laundry right now, because it's time to do it. Hehe.

The end

See, making friends with everyone is awesome

A week or two ago, I made friends with Penny Cross, who works in the cafe.  We bonded over my discussion about how much I eat, and she agreed with me because she has two teenagers of her own. So, we cheerfully say hello every time we pass each other. Tonight at late nite, I was eating with Peter, Shelby, and Hannah, and out of nowhere, she appears with a plate with four cookies. 

Now, I'm not talking about the normal tiny cookies that they have. These were big, chocolate chunk cookies. It turns out that Penny is one of the new supervisors, and she wanted to ask us about our opinions on the food. So, we happily talked to her and ate, and that was just awesome.

The cookies, which were warm, with melty chocolate came from the Shelburne Museum, and they were delicious.

See, it's awesome to become friends with whoever you can!

:D

Where the heck is the snow?!?!?!

It's raining again! How is it that we have not gotten any real snow yet? Come on! It's like 31 degrees outside, and there's a mix of light hail and rain. This is obnoxious!

On another note, my room smells like swagger, because someone sprayed Old Spice next door. I had to turn the fan on, but it doesn't seem to be doing a great job of getting rid of the smell. How annoying. 

I had math this morning, which is my only class on Mondays...I have a paper to write for Rhetoric tomorrow that I don't feel like starting, and I'm kind of hungry. So, I decided to write this post instead. 

Recently, Peter and I have been watching the British TV series "Top Gear" which is quite hilarious (to us, anyway). I was also quite disappointed in last night's episode of Family Guy.

Anything else? I can't think of anything, so that's all for now.

Stop messing with time!

I hate Daylight Saving Time. It's so stupid, pointless and annoying. Just leave the time alone. Yes, right now we "gained" an hour, but that's just because we "lost" one several months ago...That really gets on my nerves. Stop messing with things!

I could have sworn that I had more to say, but I can't think of anything right now. How incredibly annoying...
So, uh...Here's the current status of my food drawer

And, uhh, this was my idea: (But not my room)

 

Saturday, Saturday!

So, on Thursday, for pretty much the whole day, there was an ambulance parked on campus. And by on campus, I mean like outside the auditorium, where you generally do not drive motor vehicles...There were no paramedics in sight, and it just sat there all day. Yes, it was Thursday, but they left at like 7PM, so I don't know what they were doing. I meant to take a picture, but I didn't get around to it, because I'm sure everyone would have been like "What the heck?"

Friday was a good day for packages...The mailroom staff finally acknowledged that they should know my name by now, since I'm there for a package several times a week. 

Can you guess what I got? Hint: No, you cant... (Okay, maybe you can guess one of them)

Yay for free packs of gum!

So, anyway, that was pretty fun. This morning, Peter and I went for breakfast at Denny's because of our general annoyance at the fact that we can't eat until 11:15 on the weekends. We then carried on to PetSmart where I bought some vacation feeders for our fish. I'll test them for a week to see if I feel that we can safely leave Bankus and Hall over break. We'll probably have to take them home.

Then we went to Shaw's. I may have mentioned this previously, but the last time I was there (October 10th), I spent about $9 on 4 AAA batteries. When I got home, I was really upset at that fact, and just flat out annoyed. So today, I returned them. Haha. And then I bought another pack for $4. These weren't silver, but I don't care...I didn't have to spend $9.

To sum this up, I still get really annoyed at people who cannot use the self-checkout machines at a reasonable speed. They should have like a training lane that people have to use. Honestly, I come pretty darn to matching the speed of a cashier when I use self-checkout, but when I have to wait on line and watch people search for barcodes, it kind of gets on my nerves.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I went to Boloco again yesterday and had a Teriyaki mini. Pretty good. I'm starting to get the hang of this intense variety...

Alright, that's about it for now.

Stay fly (like a G6)

Another rainy Thursday!?!?!?!

I went to Boloco again today. Those minis are perfect snacking size. I ended up having carnitas in my "summer" burrito, because he apparently thought that's what I asked for.

I don't really have the patience to write anything coherent right now. I'm sorry :(

Ahh, yes.

It's Wednesday! Which means that tomorrow is Thursday, the next day is Friday, and then it is the weekend! Awesome!

It's been pretty cold here. Wait, I lied. It's not really *that* cold. It is a decent temperature. Even though it's apparently 47 degrees outside...

I love getting packages. I got two today. I would say that I've probably gotten around 20 packages so far... I could probably go back and try and count the emails that they send to tell you there's a package, but I do not feel like doing that at the moment. 

I booked my flight home for the holidays yesterday (Not Thanksgiving, that's been done). My flight home is at 6AM Friday morning. I may or may not hate myself for having to wake up at 4:35. I'll probably be okay, I love flying :) Although I won't be too thrilled to encounter the inevitable argument with the TSA agent that has nothing better to do than search my completely non-suspicious belongings that early in the morning.

So, I've been listening to "The Wave" which is Champlain's internet radio station for pretty much the whole day. I have to say, it's not that bad...Although their "news update" is several weeks old, the music is still interesting.

This morning when I left for breakfast, the grass everywhere looked completely gray and dead, and I figured that it was so cold overnight that the grass had simply died. Now it looks all nice and green. Go figure.

In addition, I ordered three packs of almonds on amazon because I needed a healthy snack that sustains my hunger, and I'm happy to say that I like the almonds very much. Now I can get my daily dose of cyanide! Yum!

Today's Loot!

Yummy almonds hiding in my desk

 

Champlain has an internet radio station??

I had no Idea.....
How interesting!
Longer post hopefully comes soon!
http://radio.champlain.edu/

Scrabble Flash?

I'm really tempted to buy Scrabble Flash. This electronic game that is sort of like text twist, with actual tiles. I usually don't like spending money, and I'm always hesitant. I dont know how quickly I'll get tired of the game though. Its $22 on amazon...I'm tempted

Just watch this:

Stand by me...

I know I haven't been good with posting.

My advisor may have put me down for the wrong course next semester. I'm really upset about that, and will need to sort everything out on Monday. 

It's a rainy Saturday. Not too bad. I walked to town today with Hannah and Caroline :)

I went to Boloco! Finally! I got to use my lil card that lets me get mini burritos for $1 (normally $4). The card lets me have three of them for $1 and then all the rest for $2. Except the cashier couldn't find the hole punch, so I still can get three of them for $1! I had no idea what to get, so I started from the top, and got "Buffalo." Which was actually really good. It was moderately spicy, and the perfect snack, as I wasn't totally hungry. It filled me up. That made me really happy.
I have to admit, I'm still hesitant to try all the flavors because some of them seem quite outlandish, but I will do my best to try as many as I can!

Yeah!

Not much else is going on, so I'm pretty chill. 

If you're bored, come stand by me!

It's official!

My Spring 2011 courses are set, and I couldn't be happier!

It got pretty tense at the last minutes because the site was about two minutes late, so I was just repeatedly hitting "Submit" until it accepted. Then it only accepted half my classes! It told me I was too early to register for the other ones. So, I freaked out a bit, figured that it was because it needed more time to update, and went back to resubmit them. 

Then it said that I successfully registered, and I let out a big "Yeahhhhh!!
"
Here's what went down with my planning:

Figuring out how to lay out the sections

My complete backup plan!

I'll post my final schedule soon!

Registering for classes

My registration window opens at 3PM, which is when I get to submit my request for next semesters classes. I'm really anxious, because I want everything to work out as planned, and I do not want to make any last minute changes if a class fills up.

Right now, the class that I am most anxious about is Operating Systems. There are only ten spots left in the class, and I have a whole day to go... If that section fills up, I'll have to take a night class :( which I do not particularly want to do. 

It's raining again! No surprises there...But it's pretty nice out. I walked to Rite Aid this morning, and filled my prescriptions. Ahhh, the Coca-Cola guy just pulled up. I'll have to keep an eye on him, and possibly have a word. Humans vs Zombies is pretty intense, all the guys in this dorm are now zombies. Most of them were ambushed upon returning to campus from town. 

I just saw the Coca-Cola guy go into the dorm next door. He better not skip us like he did one week, because we're out of Sunkist again, and Andrew decided to be foolish and unplugged the machine in an attempt to get free soda, so now the Canada Dry is "Out of Order."

Alright, well, I have tests to study for, and work to do, so I'll see ya!

My life be like...

So, today was a good day. My mom came up to visit :D So we walked, talked, and had lunch. My mom also bought me a bathrobe! Awesome!

In addition, I got three letters, two of them from my family in France. I can't wait to write back!

Tomorrow might be a busy day. I have to go to Health Services and convince them to write me a prescription for my ADHD medication. I'll also hopefully make my way over to Student Services so I can put some more money on my cash card, in order to do laundry!

Right now I'm eating way too many Wheat Thins, and its 12:10am. Time to get some rest!

Oooh, Ahhhh!

Sunday already?! And next semester...

I know that I have not posted much, and for that I am sorry. But I have been busy/not on my computer, and/or lacking anything of true interest to say...

Anyway, it's another rainy Sunday. It's pretty much supposed to rain for the rest of the week. Maybe it will get cold enough, and snow for a bit.

I just finalized my tentative schedule for next semester. I'm happy with it. Wednesday and Thursday will be busy days for me, but it should be alright. Tuesday and Friday have only one class that ends at 10:45, so those will be good days. Monday is decent, with two classes. I hope that I wont get too much weekend homework, because that would stink. Most importantly, I'm trying to avoid the dreaded three hour night class. There is only one section for my class on operating systems that meets during the day. All the other ones are at night. (Possibly on Monday too; that would stink)

So, I'm hoping that I get everything sorted out. I made two backup schedules for the two classes that I can potentially get bumped from. My registration window is on Wednesday the 27th at 3:00 PM. No later than 2:55, I will be sitting at my computer on the registration website, with my mouse hovering over the "Register" button, waiting to click. 

Registration has been going on since the 18th, with priority established by the amount of credits a student has. This means that pretty much all freshmen go last. As for the order of registration when credit numbers are equal; I don't know. It doesn't seem to be alphabetical. Hope it goes well!