So, right now I'm in Brooklyn with my brother and father. Completed the first day of work cleaning up that place. It's actually going a bit faster than I thought. But we'll slow down greatly when we move to the second floor. But the real fun is the hotel room we have. The house is too much of a mess for us to stay in, and there isn't anyplace for 3 people to sleep. This hotel room is small. Very small. Smaller than you average living room. And the beds, well they feel like they come from Fabric Wrapped Concrete Slabs, Co. Ltd.

I feel like this one drained the most from me. I'm just glad it's over. The fact that it's over successfully is just a bonus. Well, one thing I have to look forward to is that according to everyone I speak to, Calc 3 is easier than Calc 2, so maybe I won't be tempting fate to give me an aneurysm in the fall. Not much else to report in my life at the moment, so I'll let you all go about your business now.

My computer, tentatively named Shinra-Number7, is finished, and fully operational. The only thing I have to do is rewire the switch that controls the UV lights. I wired it wrong, so none of them turn on. Now begins the mass installation.

( There is epicness beyond this point... )

Current Location: FAU
Current Mood: ecstatic
Ambient Sound: Many people talking...

So I'm enjoying the last bit of peace I have before the insanity starts. And I just found out that through some miracle, the fourth semester of Japanese will be happening, despite only 7 people signing up for it.

In other news, I soft-modded my original XBox and upgraded it's hard drive in the process.

Christmas was pretty good this year. Father and I were glad to make it home in time. Just in time, too, after hearing about the hellish snowstorms that blew through. I was glad to be able to make it back to see friends that Saturday, and be with family on Christmas day.

The haul for this year:
9! volumes of Full Metal Panic! manga (Thanks Jen & David!)
Legend of Drizzt Omnibus (First 3 of the Drizzt graphic novels in one) (Thanks Marina!)
Acorna, Acorna's Quest, & Acorna's People by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball (Thanks Smiles!)
From my brother:
Fallout 3 PC & strategy guide
From mother:
Fable 2 & strategy guide
Dragon Quest 4 & strategy guide
Persona 4
Neverwinter Nights 2 Gold
Mario Kart Wii
From father:
Some well appreciated cash.
$100 in Borders gift cards, combined with the judicious use of 40% off coupons acquired: D&D4 Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, Player's Guide, & Grand History of the Realms, Drizzt Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and finally my own copy of Lord of the Rings (50th anniversary edition, no less)

And I'm finally upgrading my computer, the specs:
Intel core i7 (Nehalem) 2.66 GHz Quad-Core
nVidia GTX 280
3 GB DDR3
1.5 TB Hard Drive
LG Blu-Ray Writer
And a new case. Pics will be forthcoming as soon as it shows up so I can assemble the beast.

I've also started playing the addiction known as WoW, though I can quite confidently say I'm not addicted to it. While I do still like FFXI, I find that many things are much easier in WoW. Leveling skills goes much faster, leveling in general goes pretty quickly, and most of the things you can do on your own, or maybe with one other person. That part I really like, as opposed to FFXI's "you need a full party for everything" approach. For those of you who do play, I have a Blood Elf Paladin named Vanfanel on Dunemaul.

Current Mood: busy

I didn't get around to making a card this year (I'm sure you all understand), so instead I leave you with this picture. This year we finally got a new tree, a 9 foot tall monstrosity. It's a good thing we didn't decorate it.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Current Mood: content

We were able to catch a flight tonight after father was discharged from the hospital. And now I'm very tired, so off to bed I go.

Current Mood: relieved

Well, they did get to operate on my father after all, and everything has been fixed. They found that one of the leads was bad after all. Instead of a lengthy operation of replacing the lead, the surgeon instead just replaced the pacemaker with a new one that only requires one lead to work properly. Probably, he'll be released from the hospital tomorrow. Depending on what the surgeon says, we might be able to go back to Florida on Thursday. But he might want to see my father on Monday, then we would leave Tuesday, or try to, at least. As much as I might complain of this happening to begin with, at least it's taken care of, and everything came out well.

Current Mood: relieved

I'm in NYC right now, getting free wi-fi from somewhere, not sure where, but it works!

Now that the semester is over, I was able to go to NYC with my father, as he had a checkup with the doctor that installed his new pacemaker. Well we get to the hospital here to have his checkup done, and they tell him that the pacemaker is not working properly, or the leads aren't working properly, and they have to open him up again to figure out what's at fault. The pacemaker is running now, but it's on much higher settings than it should, according to them. It just may be that's what his body needs. So hopefully, his doctor will check him and fix him tomorrow. We were supposed to fly back to FL tomorrow, but that obviously not going to happen.

This year just doesn't want to give us a break.

Finals are DONE!

That is all.

Current Mood: relieved

Though I think my college is trying its damnedest to correct that. Just finals to go, and I can breathe. Anyway, I've been requested to post some sort of Christmas list, so here it is. As always, you know I expect nothing, so don't feel obligated.

EDIT: The first three volumes of the Legend of Drizzt are spoken for, so I've removed them.

Comics:
Forgotten Realms – The Legend of Drizzt Vol. 4: The Crystal Shard Hardcover
Forgotten Realms – The Legend of Drizzt Vol. 5: Streams of Silver Hardcover
Magician: Apprentice Vol. 3 Hardcover (if it’s out yet)

Manga:
Bastard!! 3+
Berserk 21+
Clamp Campus Defenders Duklyon 2+
Death Note 5-13
Escaflowne 6-8
Excel Saga 3+
Flame of Recca 2+
Full Metal Panic! 1+
Great Teacher Onizuka 4+
Here is Greenwood 3+
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3+
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Angelic Days 2+
Read or Die 4+
Suikoden III 5+
Those Who Hunt Elves 2+
Trigun Maximum 2+
X/1999 1+