Fact789's Blog-Associates Degree and Summer Plans

[JonathanBelles]

I finally got approval to make this thread yesterday after about a week of asking. The only word that I can't use is blog. I've had a few requests to bring back my blog, and I still needed to write about my trip to Boys State and to Universal. I decided I wanted to create one central thread for everything. I will also begin college on 8/20 and I want to share my story so others can look at it and maybe make a few choices. I want to make this as interactive as possible, so ill try to come up with something at the end of each post that will enhance conversation. Im going to try to make my post for each day at around 11pm or later depending on how tired I am. Any tips, questions, or comments can be made in here or to my PM box.

Weather
Today was generally a bummer. While I was at the beach, I could see showers onshore and later I decided that the t-storms were getting too close and I left. Soon after I got back it began to rain and rain some more. It rained from 2:00-8 or 9pm. It has rained outside those parameters on and off. I am guessing that I got about .4", officially .39". Not too bad of a guess, huh? It didnt really have time to warm up today, so we stayed in the 80's the majority of the day. Its in the mid 70's now. It's just sticky enough to have the AC on.

forecasts'
This is where I will have my early and late forecasts, so that I will not be cluttering the TT.

Happenings
Over the next week or so, starting tomorrow I am going to write about my experiances at Boys State and Universal. I want to break it down into 4 or 5 chapters. Also in the next few days I will have a mini subsection for college, being that I will again be starting college in less than a month.
I will be in the early college program at Saint Petersburg College. I will be the youngest person in the program and most likely most of my classes. I registered for college when I was 16!!! I have taken college classes before, but this will be full time. I got most of my books last week. On August 14th I will be going to get my ID, the remaining books, and I will be going on a tour of the college campus. I am psyched about going to college. I probably havent been so excited about going to school this much in my life. I have always been told by my counselors and a few of my teachers that I was pushing too hard in school and that I need to slow down. All I have to say them now is, look at me now! Ill keep pushing. In the spring term I plan to attend the honors college. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be in college at 17 or be even thinking about going to the honors college. I know I can do it. This year should be amazing. I will be taking Comp 1, College algebra, Macroeconomics, US government, and Earth Science. I know thats a boring schedule, but I'm getting the boring stuff out of the way now and going for the gold in a few semesters. In the end I am going for my AA degree in 2 years and then transferring to FSU in 2009.
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I leave you tonight with a question: What was your first day of college like?

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #2-7/22/07

I cannot type up my stories just yet as I am expecting a phone call tonight, but I will try to get out the regular stuff.

Weather
Well today was another rainy day. .10" so far today and raining again as I type. Lightning all around and in the mid 70's right now. It looks as if the front has now gone through here! AC is still on because of the mugginess in the air.

Forecasts
Just a few things to mention tonight. I dont think that 97L will develop, but it will bring rain the mid-atlantic and new england states. I think that Cosme has been dead for a day or so now except for its impulses now and then. I do think that it could redevelop later in the WPAC. TD-7E kind of surprised me when I saw it and I dont really have a comment on it tonight.

Happenings
I didnt do a whole lot today because of the threat of rain all day. I did mow the front yard today, but went to mow the backyard and it started raining. I've been reading college books in all my boredom.
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Just a quote tonight: Live the Dream. Are you living the dream?

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #3 7/23/07

Tonight I will begin the stories of my journeys with Boys State days Sun-Tue. I'm just gonna jump right in tonight without intro.

Boys State-Sunday-6-24-2007
This was one of the longer days at Boys State. I woke up at 3:30am to get ready to catch the bus at 5am. I got to the bus early and had to wait 30 minutes for everyone to arrive. There were three stops in St. Pete, Largo, and Clearwater. We didnt leave until 6:30am in Clearwater, a full 30 mins late. This bus ride was quite enjoyable. This is first when I had a conversation with Jesse Sherman who gave me the quote "Live the Dream!" I talked almost the entire time I was on the bus. We arrived 45minutes late to Kellum Hall at FSU. Within the first 15 mins there I had to take my bags up to the room, get my badge, get my shirts, run down stairs to get my individual pic, run back upstairs to attend the first city meeting. I was lucky that the city meeting started late. From here we went to eat at the Fresh Food company. We all got to like the pizza and soda for lunch. For today and Monday I sat with people outside my city. From here we moved to the Ruby Diamond Auditorium for the first time. This was basically a welcome by the Boys State Governor, president and a general opening of the program. Then we went into the Student Life Building for our first business city meeting. Here we elected Mayor, clerk, attorney, police and fire chief. Then we moved to the Fresh Food Company (FFC) for dinner, pizza and soda again. Then we finally went back to our rooms at 7:45pm to unpack and meet our room and city mates. We had roll call at 9:30 and taps at 10:10. This was the only night that I went to bed directly after taps.

Boys State-Monday-6-25-2007
I woke up this morning on a hard, elevated bunk bed at a dreary, cold 6:30am. We went to breakfast at the FFC where we had a very big breakfast for the longest day at boys state. We had a general assembly at the Ruby Diamond and state pics. We had the School of Florida History at 10:05, which was quite interesting. Then we moved into another general assembly, the school of Legislative Procedure-which was quite nauseating-and the School of Law. The School of Law was the most interesting. I have to laugh to say that we watched the Schoolhouse Rock "I'm a bill just sittin here on Capitiol Hill..." Then we went to lunch. Then we went back to the ruby diamond on what we soon found out was a Very, Very long walk uphill. We had county party conventions to nominate Sheriff, County Judge, County Attorney, Superintendent, Tax collector, and clerk of court. I did not run for anything yet in the hope to run for House of Reps. After this we went to the School of Florida History. Then we had a very long state party convention, where we elected party chair-who we later impeached-party whip, sergent at arms, and the rally committee. Then we went to FFC where we had fish and soda. From here we moved to an ice cream social and to the COLLEGE PARTIES!! lol I had a blast at Oglesby Union. But, if you know college you know that there would be an exam afterwards, and The Bar exam did occur. Then we had county elections from the nominations earlier in the day. Then we had a short general assembly and then a city meeting at kellum hall. Taps played at 11:30, but I stayed up until 12a playing cards in the common room.

Boys State-Tuesday-6-26-2007
I woke up this morning at 6am for a morning run. I just cant do anything physical at this time in the morning. I never woke up for the morning run again. Roll call was at 6:50 and Breakfast was at 7:15. Then we made the long trip to Ruby Diamond for a general assembly and party nominations for house and senate. I ran for my first office on this morning. I got the nomination. Then we had a School of Florida History. Then we moved to a county mach court session. From here we moved to the FFC for lunch, finally. Then we ran for house and senate. I fell one vote short of the house, but ended up in the Assembly-and later the Forum as well, the 3rd and 4th houses of the Boys State congress. Then we went to the School of Florida History. Then we went to a very boring State Party Convention. We finally ended up at the FFC. Then we went on the very long walk back to the Ruby Diamond for the Florida History Exam and a general assembly. We went back to the dorms at 11:05p and taps was at 12a, but I played cards and watched youtube vids until 1:30.
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I am going to take a short break, go to chat, and I will write the rest of my post at 11:30-11:45.

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #3b

Weather
The weather had been outright crappy. I has rained on and off, more on than off, all day. I picked up almost an inch today. This is as close to a washout as you can get. With all this rain I have been getting ahead in my studies though.

I'm not going to include a forecasts section tonight for the lack of news.

Happenings
Like I said before I have gotten about all of my books read through the first chapter. I was actually surprised to be more entertained by my macroeconomics book than my government book. I still never got to the backyard. I wanted to watch the Dem Debate tonight, but fell asleep listening to the rain.
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Tonight I will leave you with a mission: Say Hello to somebody you dont know.

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #4-7/24/07

I'm not going to write about boys state tonight because I want to get into chat and anyone who knows me knows that I've got my nose stuck in a book

Weather
Today was more of a drizzler day. Still more rain than shine, but not a whole lot of rain-just .02". It was dry enough that my cat wanted to go out in the rain today, and he did.

Happenings
Today I didnt do to much except read my college books. Throughout the day the internet, cable, and phones went in and out all day sometimes just long enough to not allow one to do anything. I got a good laugh because my sister cannot go one minute without myspace. When the internet finally came back up she vociferously shreaked and clamored at the computer just because she couldn't update her music on myspace! Then at 9 I watched a hilarious episode of BB. Thats where I am now, but I am heading for the chatroom.
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Now I will leave you with a poem:

I turn to look at a lizard getting a drink,
but get a heavenly tear.
I chuckle it away.
The sun suddenly begins to appear,
that same lizard is tanning in pink.
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Leave some comments.

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #5-7/25/07

Ugh..I really wanted to put Wednesday and Thursday up here tonight, but i'm feeling brain dead. (gasp) Maybe tomorrow morning I will do it.

Weather
Today was the first day without rain! I was stuck too in my to get out to mow the lawn, but thats another tomorrow morning job. I got 1.6" from that system in the gulf.

Happenings
Before I say what I did tonight, I forgot to mention that I cleaned my closet yesterday!! That hasnt happened since I moved here in Winter 2003-04. I got rid of 50-75% of my stuff in there. Its all going to hospice. Today I Started my college studying 27 days ahead of time. I got a combined 2 and a half hours in on Nat'l government and Earth Science. I got a combined 5.5 pages done of notes. Thats exactly to where I wanted to get. Tonight will also be the 5th night of reading at least 15 minutes with everything ie the tv, comp, primary lights off.
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For the task tonight I want everyone to come up with a strange fact that nobody will know and post it.

[tropicana]

your posts rock by the way!

ok here is my strange fact:-

im sure most people know this already, but this will confirm:

you can't have your eyes open and sneeze at the same time (or else your eyes will pop out of the sockets) haha well the last part is not true, but yeah its impossible to keep your eyes open while sneezing.

In reality, a sneeze is simply an involuntary nervous response to nasal irritation. The sneeze impulse affects a variety of body parts, including the abdomen, chest, neck, and face. During a sneeze, the impulses that travel through your face cause your eyelids to blink. This response is entirely automatic. There's nothing you can do about it. Sneezing puts a lot of pressure on your head and respiratory system, so blinking is probably a protective mechanism.

The point is that all of these responses (the abdominal contraction, the sharp burst of air out of your lungs, the general lunging movement) are intertwined. When you sneeze, you can't do one without the other.
Also, not to quibble, but it's just about impossible to hold your eyelids open while you sneeze. They snap shut by reflex. The reflex serves no purpose, so far as anybody knows; it's just the way you're wired up. The nerves serving the eyes and the nose are closely intertwined, and stimuli to the one often trigger some response in the other.

-justin-

[Cookiely]

I found the following strange fact, but I'm not sure if its true.
A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the sun's surface!

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #6-7/26/07

Both are very interesting facts. I have tried to keep my eyes open when sneezing I heard the lightning fact before, but I haven't done much research on it. I have to say thank you Tropicana.

Tonight I am writing early to get to chat and my books again. hehe I am going to write about Boys State tonight.

Boys State-Wednesday-6-27-2007
This morning I woke up at a late 6:50a to be ready for breakfast at 7:25 at the FFC. Today was the biggest day and the pivotal day. Today was the Dodge Ball Tournament. Prior to this day and after this day, Glover City-the city I was in-was known as the most obnoxious city. Well we all have to come down at sometime. My city lost both days. Our referee became known as a dumbass after this day with no better name to call him. He called almost everything for his city or county. It wasn't just my city that was given wrong calls. ick. After the dodgeball tournament we went back to kellum hall to get showers. Then we went to lunch at the FFC. Next we went to the morning general assembly and the School of Legislature Procedure. This was the last school of any kind! Then we went into a mock legislative session. That was just beginning. Finally the house, senate, assembly, and forum had its first meeting. We got one bill passed at this meeting. Then we went to dinner at the FFC. THen we had the Party Rallys and the Governor debates. They were very, very fun. We made a horendous mess of the Ruby Diamond with all the signs, streamers, and other political items. Then we had a talent show which was ok, but not great and the State Elections. It was Mike Litt-who caught a lot of harassment for his name- and some other kid who won. lol I was on the wining party, our prize-picking up the mess! We ha soon enough moved back Kellum Hall for a city meeting and Taps. Taps was at 11:45, I didnt go to bed until 1 or 1:30a, again playing cards.

Boys State-Thursday-6-28-2007
Today I got up at 6:45 and got ready for the first day at the capitol. First we had breakfast at the FFC, a general assembly, a memorial service, and the last exam. After all of that we borded the buses for what we were soon to be told the Erection of Florida. It was given that name by the fist governor that used the building. When we got there we had the inauguration for the govenor, lt. govenor, cabinent, and Supreme court in the hot sun on the steps of the old capitol behind the new capitol. more later than sooner we went for tours of the Supreme Court of Florida, which was alright, the Museum of Florida History, which is housed in the old capitol and was very interesting. We went into the old House and Senate Chambers. We then has Lunch at the Capitol. We then went into the Capitol-through a ton of security-for our first legislative session in the capitol. We were in session for 3 hours and got a few more bills passed and even got one boys state law signed. We were then supposed to get to talk to Charlie Christ, but he had an emergency meeting. I was very bummed, because that morning I was given a note sent by him to meet him in his office at 7:15 Instead I joined everyone else at dinner in the Capitol. We then went back into session in the House Chambers!! Here we got a few more bills passed and 2 more boys state laws passed. We then returned to Kellum hall and FSU for the best day yet. Taps was at 11:45, but again I didnt go to sleep until 1:30-2a.
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I willl take a small break and then come back for the normal stuff.

[JonathanBelles]

Entry 6b

Weather
Today was a good day. Bearly any clouds, kinda warm though. I got the yard mowed today.

Forecasts
I think I am going to make this a morning or afternoon issuance because I post forecasts at night normally anyway. I did make a forecast today view it here: http://tinyurl.com/2afabm . I hope that link works. I will likely post another forecast tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what the African wave does too.

Happenings
Today I did what I did yesterday. I worked in macroeconomics and college algebra today and will have 6 hours of work done by midnight and likely 6.5 hours by lights out. .Dad will be ordering new cell phones saturday and he thinks they will be here next Thursday!! I also cut my hair today 1-2"! Senior Pics on Saturday! 24 days until college!! Yay!
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Tonight I want you to describe your studying/homework habits in college in just one sentence.

[tropicana]

I didn't study as often as i should have when i went to college

another interesting fact i just learnt from the Ellen show:-
she had Jack Hanna on her show and here are some really good stuff i thought id share:-

1) koala's are not bears..they are marsupials (they are closely related to wombats).

2) owls cant move their eyeballs, they have to turn their whole heads. Yet if the room is completely dark and there were 2 mice in the room, they can find them and eat them in an instant aided by their powerful sonic hearing.

3) cheetahs can run as fast as 70mph, however, only in short spurts... they need to take up to 2 days to rest up before another 70mph run.

wowwwwwww...

-justin-

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #7-7/27/07

Another Ellen Watcher!!

Sorry this update is a little late. Tonight was the night that my computer felt like being slow.

Weather
Today was somewhat murky. We had a mostly cloudy day today with no rain.

Happenings
Well today I woke up a little late and got a late start on my work. I did finish the first chapter in American National Government. I had hoped to finish a chapter in Earth Science, but I didn't quite get there. I hope to finish that later tonight. I did get a chapter of college algebra work done! I accomplished 4 hours 10 minutes of work today so far, and hope to reach 12 hours in total since Wednesday tonight. (currently 10 hrs 55 mins) My goal for the summer is 90 hours. Tomorrow is Senior Picture day.

Prayers
I send prayers out to those people lost in the war and to the families of those who were lost in the helicopter crash today.
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My task for you tonight is to recommend something that I can change in my journals.
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Edited to correct date and entry number

[tropicana]

don't stop your journals. Everything is perfect.

INTERESTING FACT on helicopters:-

The word 'helicopter', is adapted from the French hélicoptère, originates from the Greek words elikoeioas (helical or spiral) and pteron (wing or feather); a spiraling wing.

so now we know.

-justin-

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #8-7/28/07

Today has been the day of unfortunate fortunate events.

Weather
Today the weather was great. We had storms all around us all day. Right about the same time as sunset we had a storm come in and go around us, but it gave us clouds of red, orange, yellow, white and gray. The sky at one point almost had a purplish color.

Happenings
First thing this morning I woke up for senior pics. I went over to the studio and took a total of 25 pics. I will get the proofs in 2-3 weeks. Then we went to McDonalds. Then we went home and I had an unexpected grill out and swim in with our neighbor Pat. Her nieces are here from england. The two nieces, Pat, my mom and dad, sister, and I went in to pool. We through water balls back and forth. Then when we were about to get out and me and my sister decided to have WW3. I came out with a black eye. lol Neither one of us remembers when it happened. We had a great time. Then we had shishcabobs, (sp) corn, chicken, and burgers. We ate out side and everyone except me is either outside or in the Florida room. I found out that we will be getting new phones next week. I am also going to Busch Gardens tomorrow with Pat, here nieces, and my sister!!! The down side to all of this, I havent gotten any college work done today and will likely not get any done tomorrow. I did get to my goal of 12 hours last night though.

I will post pics of my black eye tomorrow morning.
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Have you ever had one of your least liked subjects in school become one of your favorites?

[wxmann_91]

Have you ever had one of your least liked subjects in school become one of your favorites?

Oh yeah, though not to the extremity implied in the question. I didn't hate history, but I really didn't care for it, until I took AP Euro last year. The causes and effects over time that lead to how the world works today is pretty cool, IMO.

[tropicana]

haha what a fun day at the pool! black eye and all. you got a souvenir to remember it all. Good thing it wasn't before senior pics!

OK, interesting facts and learning time:-

All you ever wanted to know about cows (only becuase I happened to see the movie Barnyard (by accident) yesterday ... so here we go...

1) the average lifespan of a cow is 7 years old however, the oldest known cow was 3 months shy of its 49th birthday when it died on New Years eve of 1993
2) cows have no upper front teeth (so they can't smile)
3) cows graze up to 8 hours a day, taking in 80-100lbs of feed and can drink the equivalent of a whole bathtub of water per day
4)A cow has four stomachs: the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. The rumen is the largest stomach and acts as a fermentation chamber. The abomasum is last of the four and is comparable in both structure and function to the human stomach
5)With all its grazing and many stomachs, it is no wonder that cows are one of the main contributors to the hole in the ozone layer. Apart from CFC, the biggest culprit is hydrocarbon emissions from cars and cows. Yes, cows! Cows release some 100 million tons of hydrocarbon annually - by releasing gas. To give you an idea of how much gas a cow emits: if the gas of 10 cows could be captured, it would provide heating for a small house for a year.

But unlike what you think, cows release hydrocarbon mostly by burping.
6) Twelve cows are known as a "flink." (not a flock)
7) a cow cannot vomit
8) no 2 cows have the exact pattern of spots
9) a one year old female calf is called a heifer
10) cows weigh about 85lbs at birth
11) USA has close to 100 million cows, texas has the most cows in the entire USA (13 million)
12) It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs, because a cows' knees can't bend properly to walk back down.

there ya go! now we have no excuses not to know any of these fun facts.

-justin-

[JonathanBelles]

Im gonna take a night off. I went to Busch Gardens today and I feel like a million pieces. I had a headache, exploding appendix lol, and a bee sting. I walked a couple miles today. More tomorrow. Ill be goin to bed a at least an hour early.

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #9-7/30/07

YAY!! A TD to watch and a new phone!

Weather
This looks like the last good day until the front moves out, but today was great. Nice and Sunny.

Happenings
Today I got a new Samsung phone. I've been playing with it since I got it. Its about time, the other one broke about 10 months ago, or maybe it was longer.
Yesturday I went to Busch Gardens and had a blast. I'm not a Roller Coaster Person but I went on mostly everything except the roller coasters, and Cheetah Chase. Rhino Rally was half broke, the Sky Ride broke three times. I went on both though. I felt like my appendix broke and I got a headache, both on the Cheetah Chase. I still have a small black eye. Ill post it from my phone if I can figure it out.
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Time to go track the TD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JonathanBelles]

It slipped right by me tonight...lol

I will make a special entry this morning when I wake up.

[JonathanBelles]

Entry #10-8/1/07

Sorry for the delay, this is the first time I have stopped all day.

Weather
Just looking at the satellite says a million words. Rain on and off all day, any time. Weather seems to be stable.

Forecast
I think with the passing of Chantal and the other two building storms that I will begin forecasts upon TD+ status.

Happenings
The last couple of days I have felt on the mellow to tired side. Today I woke up with a ball of energy. My sister had senior pics today, but I didnt go. I went later with my sister and dad to my HS to get her registered and drop of my SPC schedule. I dropped it off and when I gave it to here and she was astonished. She was the one that said I was taking on two many hard classes, and then wanted to keep me from going full time at SPC. I didnt let that hold me back and here I am, IN COLLEGE!!! lol The majoity of today I will be doing either college work or watching the weather.
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nothing until tonight in my next entry.