Those that know about Amanda and I will understand that reference.
I had forgotten the joy of sneezing so hard that it feels like your head should separate from the rest of your body. That said, a number of things I should talk about here — the Port Townsend trip, for instance, and my completion of the write-up for the conference I went to a few weeks back — will just have to wait.
Sorry 
I’ve now also applied to the Writing Center for a 20 hr/week position. I’ll be turning in my application letter tomorrow.
I’ve now also applied to the Best Buy in Capitol Mall as a Computer and Electronics Technician.
I’ve applied to the State of Washington as an Information Technology Technician 1. I got a test score of 70, which puts me literally on the lowest end of the job scaling — the minimum score to be considered is 70. We’ll see whether that actually turns out to provide me with a job or not.
I may end up working for the Writing Center over the summer, but obviously that was sufficiently unclear that I decided to file an application with the State. I might also apply at the Best Buy down the street to be a computer technician, though I’m undecided on that.
We’ll see what happens.
No, not cable car goodness, cable and car goodness.
Seesh.
Comcast Cable
We had Comcast high-speed internet hooked up when we first moved in, but we didn’t get TV service with that. Amanda and I finally decided to add in limited cable access a couple days ago. We had been told by the manager of our apartment complex that nobody got cable unless they explicitly ordered it from Comcast. Operating from this assumption, we put a call in.
Apparently, our complex has a bulk account that allows us to get basic cable for free, though nobody at Comcast seemed to know what to do about it. After being transferred four or five times, we finally got someone who knew what they were doing and scheduled a service call for Monday, May 2 in order to figure out why our TV wasn’t picking up the signal.
A technician apparently came by yesterday, since there was a work summary sheet under our door when we got home. But of course, nothing is without snafus — when the technician fixed the TV, he screwed over the cable internet.
One more phone call to Comcast.
Thus, another technician came out this morning and fixed it so that both the TV and the internet work. We now enjoy cable internet/TV goodness at the same time, rather than just one or the other but not both.
My opinion of Comcast has historically been very bad, since they don’t seem to be able to do anything straight without at least three different attempts. My feelings in that respect were mollified slightly when the technician who stopped by this morning called personally later on to confirm that the work corrected the problem. I, of course, thanked him for calling, and it is working properly.
Car Goodness
My parents decided that I’ll be getting my mom’s 2004 Subaru Forester and that she’ll be shopping for another new car. Thus, my hunt is over, though I’ll have to wait a while in order to pick the car up from home. Though, of course, that makes me responsible for gas, maintenance, etc. I won’t have it in time to go to Port Townsend, but probably sometime in the next couple weeks or so.
Yay.
Now how the hell do I get it?
I’m now in the market for a car. Joy.
Currently, I’m looking for the following cars (not listed in any particular order):
These are all based on the rankings of Consumer Reports.
In case people are wondering about my criteria, here’s a list, with rankings on a scale of 1-5, 5 high, 1 low:
We did some shopping around Olympia on Sunday and nearly found a good Ford Focus wagon, but the car had 91,000 miles on it, which made my dad and I a little nervous. Yes, there are still very reliable cars with that many miles, but we’re a cautious bunch.
Amanda and I are headed up to Port Townsend on Friday, April 29th to visit a friend of ours and see a play. Apparently, Enterprise Rent-A-Car allows people under 25 to rent for a $30 fee. This, of course, makes the trip marginally more expensive than it otherwise would be, but it works out well, since we don’t typically have a car.
It’ll be a semi-long drive, but we should make it up with no problems.
My favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors (and the descriptions from their web site) are:
Their Cherry Garcia is tolerable, but not a favorite. I also don’t particularly like Phish Food (caramel.. ech).
I’m kind of thinking about possibly taking some Summer courses at Evergreen again this year, though I’m leery of being able to do so and hold down a full-time job. Currently under consideration:
Obviously, most of these are writing courses. The grammar course looks cool, but it also runs during the evenings, which might make it an interesting course to take transporation-wise. It’s only for one session, though — not even the whole quarter. The first session runs from June 20 – July 24, the second session from July 25 to August 27.