Housesitting

I have been watching my friends house for the week and I haven't had access to a phone. I do have broadband internet access and have been using my computer to keep in touch with people. It has given me the opportunity to become more acquainted with Google Voice. It is really an amazing service. I have spent over a week using it as my only phone using its text and voicemail features to communicate. I don't know what the future holds in terms of potential VoIP features or payments for the service, but right now I really can't believe it is free.

Parents as Teachers

I've been working on a story about Parents as Teachers for what seems like an eternity. I finally submitted an edited draft of the script today. Such a relief. I've been pretty disappointed in myself because this has taken me so long. On the bright side, it has been an opportunity to learn how to balance doing day turn stories with a feature. I have been able to turn several shorter stories over the past few weeks. I'm really hoping I get final approval and can get the audio mixed quickly. I've never been so ready to be done with a story.

Life After Mizzou

I've started thinking more about what I'm going to do after I graduate. Going to grad school is becoming more and more appealing. I feel like it would be worth the monetary investment and would be a good resume item should I ever decide I want to teach. The question is where. Starting out at a program as good as Mizzou's narrows the field of appealing options pretty dramatically. I really like it here and will apply here if I apply anywhere, but I think I'm ready for a change of scenery. I'm thinking of looking at some programs in New York so I can make connections in a big city. I suppose I should just apply and see where I get in before I spend too much time speculating on where I want to go.

Summer Slump

It has been pretty crazy to go from my reporting class last semester straight in to the Editing class I'm in now. I'm so used to having a break after classes end in the Spring. I've taken summer classes before but never with no break at all. I have to admit I'm getting pretty warn out. I really wish I could find a way to stay more motivated more consistently. I think the people who can stay consistently enthusiastic about what they are doing are the ones who end up getting ahead. The class ends at the beginning of July and that's when my summer will begin. To think, someday I won't get summer breaks at all. Hopefully getting paid will make up for it.

Conference Clusterf@#%

I have become OBSESSED with following the conference realignment story. I don't know what it is about this story, and why I can't stop reading about it. I was born and raised in Missouri and have been a Mizzou fan for my entire life. Maybe that's it. If it is, it's the first time the school has done anything that I became this involved in. Maybe it's because it seems like a once in a lifetime story. I must admit I feel some guilt about the fact that there are much more important things going on in the world that I don't become anywhere close to this involved in. I have pretty much cut off the typical places I would go to get news and have been spending most of my time reading PowerMizzou. On a side note, I think it is very cool that Gabe DeArmond (primary writer for the site) is a j-school grad. I think he does a very good job and assume he owes some of that to his education here. Heres to hoping this story comes to an end soon, because I desperately need to get on with my life.

New Floors

I've been helping my friend put new floors in his house over the last few days. He decided to go with laminate which is completely new to me. I worked in construction for a couple of years and saw a few different types of floors installed during that time. Hardwood was probably the most interesting (and best finished product) to see being installed. The guy that did our hardwood flooring was named Dan and he drank Busch out of cans from the time he arrived on the job site until he left (probably when he was too drunk to be interested in working anymore). He had a very large mustache (presumably soaked in Busch beer for most of his waking hours) and i referred to him as the "floor whisperer". Who knew a drunk man could put in such beautiful floors, but he sure did. The laminate in my friends house is designed to look like wood and they are getting pretty good at making it look real. There were some tricks to installing it, but once we figured it out it went pretty fast. It's primary advantage, though, is its low cost. Wood is expensive and, drunk or not, Dan's work doesn't come cheap.

Google Voice

I finally found a way to get a Google Voice invite a few weeks back. Someone I follow on Twitter sent out a link to a special page for students to request invites. It only requires that you have a .edu email address to submit to them and you will receive an invite within about 24-48 hours. So far the service is really cool. It does many things, but notably it gives users a Google voice number that you can forward to any and all phone lines. You can create groups of callers and have them forwarded to certain lines and you can text for free from it. It gives you free domestic long distance for those of us who still have landlines without it. Another very cool product from Google. This one might be up there with Gmail for me. The company kind of whiffed on Wave (at least so far) so it's nice to see them come back such a cool product. If you have a .edu address and want to try it out, follow this link to request an invite.