Category: Illinois

I’m an “A” Student!!!

December 17th, 2007 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon, School, Technology 4 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

It’s semi-official, I’m an A student.  I checked the RLC website, and my grades are posted. I did get one B, but the other grades pull it up to an A as well. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.

All of my core courses are out of the way. The rest of my classes are IT-specific, so they are more what I am at ease with now. Psychology, Speech, Rhetoric and Composition, etc. were fine and I did well enough, but I’m much happier in my geek classes.

Cisco has given me my letters and certificates for CCNA 1 & 2. Now success is a matter of completing the rest and taking their certification exams. Maybe I’ll take the A+ exam this summer and get it out of the way.

I don’t know if any of my instructors read this, but thank you all.

Good news, and I’m nervous as well

December 9th, 2007 · · Illinois, School, Technology 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

I get to keep working at EcoDigital/United Science this spring. I was unsure about whether they would keep me on after the fall semester, but they seem pleased with me and my work. Also, the co-op is paying 1/2 my wage through RLC. I’m sure that didn’t hurt my chances.

I am happy that worry is off my shoulders. Now I’m just left to study for finals and stress over those scores. My only real concern is the final in Cisco. Mr. Robinson has done all he can to help us and get us prepared. Now we just have to prove that we know what we’re doing to Cisco.

I think I have the real-world applications down from this semester. Unfortunately Cisco likes to be tricky and ask questions that don’t have much in the way of real-world-everyday applications. Still, it’s their course and certification, so I’m in it for the long haul.

Please wish me luck!!!

Mmm, tastes like finals…

December 4th, 2007 · · Illinois, School No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

This is the last week of regular class. Next week is finals week. Today I will give my final presentation in COMM 1101 and take my server practical in Networking.

I’ve done fairly well all year in speech, hopefully I don’t bomb this last one. I’m presenting this sales speech as a Christmas tree lot owner. I plan to have fun with it and use a clip from Christmas Vacation.

The server practical has me a little more nervous since it is very directly related to my degree, but I’ve done well in the labs and at mid-term. That gives me a little confidence.

The Lights are up again

November 26th, 2007 · · Illinois, Jaycees, Mount Vernon One comment - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Well, Sunday went better than expected. Aside from being extremely tired, we managed to get the street decorations up across the city with the help of volunteers and the Parks department.

We started an hour earlier this year, and it did help avoid traffic for the most part. I was almost creamed by a gentleman in a Geo Metro. There were cones across the street and I was wearing a reflective vest. There was a solid 2 blocks of clear visibility between him and my position, but he still came halfway through the intersection. Once he stopped, he looked at me kind of confused, and made the turn to the cross street.

I was actually out of the way once he was bearing-down on me within 1/2 of a block. I sure wasn’t going to try to stop him, though one could argue anyone can stop those little tin cans. 🙂

35 degrees and all, it seemed to go faster than the previous years.

Christmas Lights Go Up in the Morning

November 24th, 2007 · · Illinois, Jaycees, Mount Vernon No comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and that means we Jaycees will be out at 5AM with volunteers from Charter and Tri-County Electric putting up the street decorations all across the city. This year we actually had good communication with the Parks Department here in the city. That helped move things along in a positive direction.

This year I hope it doesn’t rain and is above 40. Getting soaked, honked at, cursed, and freezing kinda dampens the cheery mood (pun intended). Still, it’s worth it to drive through town and be able to tell my kids that I helped put up the decorations. Also, I’m sure someone enjoys them other than just us.

Ever since the city has been maintaining the lights, they haven’t been kept up too well, and we’ve heard the grumblings of the public. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do as a civic organization since the DDC, county, city, and Chamber of Commerce refuse to contribute. The maintenance has been up to the Parks Department, and they just don’t have the time or staff to keep the lights up to par.

Perhaps our good communication this year will lead to these civic entities committing some resources again. Maybe not.