A Fast Boogie and New Blog Features

A Fast Boogie:
I mean "boogie" as in a dance, not something that comes out of your nose. I'm doing said fast boogie because I just found out that I've been granted financial aid not only for the fall and spring semesters, but also the three summer semesters coming up. So, if I pass all my classes (the only ones I'm really worried about are the math classes), I will be graduating in May, 2008. Well, provided I don't die of mental exhaustion before then. But still, MAY 2008! That means, this time next year, I'll be wrapping it all up to get ready to get my undergrad degree.

This is kind of a big deal to me. Mom never made it past high school. Not that she wasn't smart enough. She was a very sharp lady! Just she didn't have the opportunities back then for scholarships and financial aid, so she joined the Air Force to try to get college money and experience, and instead met my dad, and the rest (along with her plans for college) was history. Dad went to Yale and Syracuse, but only for intensive training in languages, he didn't get a degree. He did get a couple of associate's degrees in computers while in the Air Force, but no four-year degree. So, I'll be the first, I believe. I know I won't be the last though.

Now I just have to stay motivated and not drive myself nuts trying to do everything and keep all my balls in the air. And, I have to not strangle a certain co-worker in a fit of rage.

I wonder if that rat-tail is long enough to wrap all the way around his neck...


New Blog Features:
In case you hadn't noticed, I added some new features to the blog. I'm trying to read more of the Bible. In fact, I've picked up Everett's habit of reading a Psalm a day, corresponding the number of the Psalm to the number of the day in the year. It's proved quite enlightening. For instance, I was reading Psalm 83 and came across a surprising reference. I didn't know Ewoks were around in biblical times! Obviously, I'm just kidding. (If you're lost, I'm referring to the reference to En Dor). But I do find it interesting to find obscure biblical references in all sorts of different places.

Wait, I digress (again). Anyhoo, in an effort to help me read more of the Bible, I've added a feed to my site that links to BibleGateway's Verse of the Day flash tool. I think it's nifty.

Also, since I'm nosy and I like to know who/where in the world people are accessing my blog and how often they do so. I noticed a neat little map on Jeff's "Semi-Daily....What Up?" that shows little red dots signifying the locations of all the people who have visited his blog. The dots get bigger the more times people from that location visit. It tracks the locations and number of times accessing the site through the visitors' IP addresses. I thought this was pretty durn cool, so I went to their site and signed up for one to be on my blog, too. It's free, so what the heck? Besides, this way I can tell if you people are actually reading this gibberish I write, or if you just humor me once in a while. :-) So far, I've got little red dots in places where I don't think I know anyone, like Italy, France, and the Canada/New York border-ish area (it's kind of hard to tell. The map has boundary lines for countries, but not states). I even see my blog family's little dots on there, some in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Arizona, Texas (most of that is me checking in to see what all new little red dots there are!), Wisconsin, maybe even a Michigan or two, and so on. You like me, you really like me (to steal a cheesy over-used movie line)!

I've also rebuilt my links section. When I switched from old blogger to new, somehow I forgot to include all my non-blogging places I like to surf. So, I corrected that error; now you can see all the different places I visit when I'm supposed to be working or doing homework. Like right now, I'm supposed to be studying for a math exam tomorrow. Ha ha. As if!

Anyway, I'll quit boring you now. I just thought I'd point out the new features and the reasoning behind them.