Clemson

At around noon, I received an e-mail from Clemson that said, among other things, "You have what it takes to be a Tiger, and we hope you’ll choose Clemson." This didn't really make sense to me since I hadn't received an offer yet. In addition, it included a link to submit my deposit. This was somewhat amusing and somewhat frustrating. Either they had accepted me and I just hadn't been notified, or they had sent the e-mail in error. I even checked a couple hours later to see if they sent one of those "oops, this wasn't meant for you" e-mails.

The mail always comes at around 2:30 or so. I was outside doing my gardening when the mail finally arrived at 3:45. I finished cleaning up and checked the mail, and inside was a big packet from Clemson. That could only mean one thing... ;) I've been accepted! WOOT!

I'm a natural worrier, so even though it may have been ridiculous, I was kind of worried that they wouldn't accept me. Although Drexel accepted fewer students than Clemson, Drexel is ranked #86 and Clemson is ranked #64. So anyway, I'm relieved to have been accepted. :)

I bowled a 193 left-handed.

I guess it's unfair if I don't also tell you it was on a Wii. Still, the highest I ever bowled was 102 (pathetic, I know... I hate bowling). Eric and I went to a friend's place on Saturday, and we bowled on the Wii. I was Stewie. Eric was Michael Jackson. The guy setting it up accidentally set Stewie as left-handed, so instead of ignoring it, I decided to just play left-handed. And I bowled a 193! I had the second-highest score.

If I ever decide to go bowling again, I think I'm going to do it left-handed.

Dragged Eric to the shelter

Well, I didn't actually drag him. He wanted to go.

We went to the shelter to walk some of the dogs. They have two in each kennel (sometimes up to four, depending on the size of the kennel), poor puppies. Eric and I would take one dog from each kennel and walk him or her for about five minutes. We did this for an hour. Someone had left a collar on one of the dogs, and she somehow got her lower jaw underneath the collar. I noticed her trying to chew something in a very weird way, and realized what was going on. One of the other guys helping out came in and cut the collar off. The poor dog was in obvious discomfort, but she'll be okay.

Overall, it was a sad experience since I know these dogs are probably bored out of their minds (not to mention there are so few volunteers and adopters, so they tend to stand in their own waste until someone is able to clean it up), but it was nice to be able to give them a few minutes of freedom.

Crap.

I called Clemson yesterday to check on my application status, since I hadn't heard from them in a while. They had sent a few post cards, giving updates whenever they received a transcript, and each said "Nothing received" for 2005-2009--when I wasn't in school, but was working full time. I stupidly assumed they didn't really need for me to account for all dates from the time I graduated high school until now, but apparently they do.

So this whole time (I applied in early January), my application has been incomplete, and it's just been sitting at Clemson, likely not even glanced at. Even in January, I knew my application was a bit later than most motivated students, but it was still early. Now it's March, and other students who have had completed applications have been accepted and I'm sitting here with an incomplete application... which may affect my acceptance. On that note, it would be wildly helpful if Clemson actually had an online status checking system. If I hadn't called, I would never have known.

GAH. I'm kicking myself for not checking on this sooner.

Engineering is, like, so hard.

I went into Greenville to work at my new job. I met an intern who was going to Clemson, and we started talking about majors, etc. I told her I was going into environmental engineering, and she gave me the most astonished look I think I've seen on a person. It was like I told her I was going to be the next president of the United States. No, worse, like I was planning on birthing the next president of the United States. And that I just knew the baby was going to be the next Mozart, as well. Here's how our conversation went:

Intern: "That's, like, the hardest degree you can get." (Still with the look of bewilderment.)

Me: "Actually, it's considered one of the easiest of engineering degrees [which is not the reason I chose it--I chose it because I want to go into water resources management, and from what I've read, this is the best degree to have], but I had considered chemical engineering as well."

Intern: "Yeah, that one's pretty hard, too. [This coming from a business major.] I mean, you have to, like, really really want to go into engineering."

Me: (smiling, but trying not to roll my eyes) "I know, and I do."

Intern: "You have to take, like, physics--"

Me: "I took physics I, but I have to take physics II. The engineering classes have been my favorite."

Intern: "--chemistry--"

Me: "I've taken them all. Actually, I loved organic chemistry."

Intern: "Oh, well that's good. You also have to take biology--"

Me: "Yep, I've taken it."

She didn't realize I was a transfer student, so she ASSumed I didn't know what I was getting myself into (and apparently she also thought I hadn't looked into what classes I would need to take?). Silly girl. I guess a friend of hers is in her sophomore year of one of the engineering programs, and engineering has proven to be too difficult, so she's transferring. To psychology.

I have less than a semester's worth of classes to finish before I'll be considered a junior. I've chosen engineering *because* it's difficult. I don't want to graduate with a degree that I didn't have to work hard at to receive. I know not all young people are like this, but that kind of attitude really irritates me... It amazes me how people think it's a good idea to choose a degree that won't challenge them, and then expect to get a $100k job with it.

I got bugs in my tank... bugs.

(I know Becky will get the title of this post.)

I don't think I told my blogger peeps about my new tank. I bought a 10-gallon tank to put plants in and grow snails for my puffers. Here's a pic:



Those plants brought in some nice little creatures... copepods. They're tiny white things that jump around in the water like little bugs. Here's a pic:



I first noticed them about a month ago, and ever since, I've been trying to get rid of them by feeding the snails less, since the copepods pretty much eat anything. When I got the plants for the 10-gallon, I also purchased some plants for my puffer tank. The puffer's tank was growing algae faster than I could keep up, and I was really tired of cleaning it. Plants generally overwhelm the algae for resources, so I had hoped that the algae would eventually disappear.

Big mistake. The plants shed their little needles everywhere. I had dead needles all over the place, and they clogged the intakes on the filters. And the algae kept thriving. I finally gave up several weeks ago, threw out all the plants from the puffer tank and cleaned it. And the hated algae kept growing.

A couple of days ago, I noticed the water becoming cloudy, looked closer, and realized I had HUNDREDS of those nasty little copepods in the puffer's tank. So I cleaned the filters, siphoned the gravel, did a huge water change, and then it suddenly dawned on me that the glass was practically spotless. And not just the glass, but EVERYTHING in the tank was nearly free of algae. The heater has always been the worst, but nope, it's actually pretty spotless. The copepods have been cleaning my tank! Look at how spotless the thing is! SPOTLESS! I didn't clean a single thing in the tank when I changed out the water. The nasty little copepods are no longer my enemies.

SPOTLESS!

Leeeezard!

I found TWO lizards in the backyard! I was taking Jaiden out, and I saw this little brownish lizard scurry away. I ran inside to get my camera, but he had disappeared. So I started looking around for him, and I saw another, darker one with a stubby tail. I saw him yesterday, too, so he seems to be sticking around. Here he is!

Bike ride

I went on my first bike ride since I got down here. Unfortunately, I just wasn't comfortable with it. The drivers were courteous, but there was too much traffic for my liking and there were no shoulders on 90% of the ride. I probably won't be riding on these roads again. Booo. There is a long trail up in Greenville called the Swamp Rabbit Trail, but it's not really practical for us to drive there very often. Still, I didn't realize there was one around here that was even worthwhile to ride on until I found out about Swamp Rabbit (most of the trails I've seen are 2 miles long--Swamp Rabbit is about 26 miles). (By the way, I love saying that. Swamp Rabbit.) (Also, I use parentheses too often.) Anyway, we may try out the Swamp Rabbit next weekend.

I noticed my plants started wilting today. WILTING! I've been so paranoid about over-watering that I apparently went the opposite direction and nearly killed them by under-watering. I gave them all a big dose of water, and the wilting pretty much went away within an hour.

I'm a bad plant parent.

Updated picture, post-wilting:

Baloo

I had a dream about my old horse Baloo last night. For those who don't know about him, my parents got him for me when I was 16. I had been riding him for six months, and although he could be seriously temperamental and throw some huge bucks and temper tantrums, I loved him. By the time I was 21, I was no longer riding him, and he was just sitting in a pasture. I have no doubt he loved that life, but I couldn't justify spending money on board for a horse that I wasn't riding. So, I donated him to a local riding club. I haven't seen him since.

In the dream, I distinctly remember walking into his stall in some unknown barn and knowing immediately that he was unhappy. I made a vow to him that he would always be safe and happy. That's all I remember.

I've looked for him several times over the years, and although I've seen horses that look very similar to him, I've never been able to find him. That horse could be a real jerk, but I still miss him sometimes, and if I were to ever find him again, I'd take him back. He'll be 19 this April assuming he's still alive somewhere. :(