At Least It's Almost April

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April means the end of the semester isn't that far away, and it's about time it rolled around already. After all the ridiculousness of the past few weeks I'm looking for the end of the semester. April is followed by May and May has to be the shortest of all the months... I'm pretty sure it is. April is going to be one of the busiest months in a long time, and once we're done, it's basically over from there on out.

But I'm still confused. I feel like I have to enter April with a clear head, and there's only two days with which to do that. To be honest there's a lot of things going on right now and I'm unsure about all of them. I don't exactly understand how people are reacting to certain situations and how people have been so short-sighted in their interpretations. It's going to have to be something I figure out over the next couple of days. If I enter April with an uneven head I'm going to have to find out what's going down before my birthday.

And I feel like this "battle" I'm having isn't with other people and trying to make them understand my points of view. At least yet. It's trying to understand where they are coming from. For one of the first times in my life, I think I have to step out of my opinions and see what other people feel, and respect their opinions. It's part of growing up and I feel like I haven't done that well on this part of maturing as I should be. There's a lot of things I'm going to find out in the next few weeks.

I also have to do a lot of choosing in the month of April. Who do I cut ties with from this year and not see again? And who do I strengthen ties with to hang out with next year? What about my love life?

Then after April it's downhill from there as it's all finals in May, or at least I feel that it's that way. Looking way out ahead, the last one is May 19. Then it's about a week break before I'm thrust into the role of assistant head coach for the swim team. The pool is looking really good. The coping stones that go around the edge of the pool are in place and the tiling work has begun. Meanwhile, with the baby pool, the pumphouse structure is going up. This is so exciting; in a few months we'll be swimming in a great pool with a great small team. The ceiling is so high with this group of swimmers; the "bad guys" were removed a couple years ago, and looking ahead into the next few years, it's looking incredible!

In between the end of the finals and the beginning of the swim team, the next big purchase may take place... an upgraded phone. But will I go with the Blackberry Bold, the more professional looking phone? Or will it be the iPhone, the more application-heavy phone?

I'm Sorry, But...

Sometimes you gotta know when to cancel a series. This one is not looking good. If you know what I'm talking about it's going to be a tough battle the next couple of weeks.

Season 6 has been a lot worse than Seasons 1-4. I really miss those old times.

Hope for the Future

The grass is uncut down the street and high fences block front yards of houses. Bars adorn the windows blocking potential burglars from entering homes. A few blocks away, the empty shells of former houses stand beyond a fence. Yet, somehow in this neighborhood, in these times of economic troubles, there is hope. Hope stands behind the metal doors of St. Hope Academy and the Triumph Center. Here the underprivileged children play and laugh as if nothing is wrong.

We can all learn something from these children. So much goes wrong in our lives; so many financial burdens, so many personal problems in their lives, but they know nothing of them. Yes, they care about what is important to them, but they are able to laugh it off and go about their day with positive and hopeful attitudes. It's something we all should do - if something "serious" comes about, rather than saying our lives are miserable we should just accept things as they are.

I've learned a lot on my vacation to California - I used to at one point think that I could only see myself on the East Coast, in Washington, in Alexandria, or wherever that was within Metro distance of America's capital city. Now I've been able to get out and see what life is like on the West Coast. On the East, everyone rushes around trying to make their appointments. But on the West, everyone is more relaxed and seems to have no problem with everyday events.

There's still a piece of California I have yet to explore, and I'm saving it for when I am ready. This week I told myself I wanted to take a cross-country journey and explore America. But I'm not sure if I'm quite ready yet. I love the state of California so far in my short visit, but I need to hold myself back. Maybe I can take the journey when I'm more ready, but it doesn't seem like now is the time to go. I think after college is the time to explore. I'll be young, but I'll have learned a lot more lessons in the two years I have left at the University of Maryland.

This is my 100th post here at Blogger, and I hope that the next 100 are just as fun as my first. My first post was back in November of 2007... when I was still a freshman. Times were good... I was learning a lot of new things in my first semester in college... not only in the classroom but in my personal life. I still have a lot of ways to go there, and I hope you will join me on the journey that will take me down the road from here.

The World Is Full of Uncaring People

A little more than three weeks ago I sustained a shoulder injury which I thought to be more moderate than severe. I dislocated (and relocated) it during a football game. Then last Monday I reinjured it, so I figured I should go to the doctor to get it checked out. Finally on Friday, appointment time came around, and my guess was that it was a partial separation of the joint. Turns out I was completely wrong. X-rays showed a break in the scapula (that's a fancy word for shoulder blade) and I was set for a referral to orthopedics for Monday (yesterday).

Referral time came around and the orthopedics doc examined my shoulder and confirmed from the X-ray that there was indeed a break. The treatment for this is at least 3 weeks with a very annoying arm sling and a total of 6-8 weeks without heavy lifting or sports and strenuous activities.

So today came the first day of classes with the sling, and I must say it's a pain in the butt. The injury is to the right shoulder which sucks because all the desks in my first class are right handed desks. AKA I'm screwed and can't have my shoulder rest comfortably anywhere. Or use my laptop. So I scrambled around to find a left handed desk and switch it out with my chair. Meanwhile, everyone in the class watches me do this and does nothing to help even though I only can use one arm to pull this thing over to my area. It's not that the desk was heavy, it's just that when you see someone struggling with something, shouldn't you offer help... especially to someone with an injury?

Now I'm not saying that everyone is doing stuff like this because so many people have been helpful by holding doors open and offering to carry things for me. But there's some other people who do a half-ass job of it, such as the girl who (kind of) held the doors open for me on the way to Meteorology. Here, read held the doors open as held them about halfway so I was left helpless to kick the door the rest of the way open. I had my laptop in one hand and the other arm in a sling, so there was not much I could do.

This experience in a sling, though short for now, is going to teach me some things, but mainly the importance of helping people out when they need it. Holding doors all the way open when someone can't do it themselves, not only in the physical sense but in the metaphorical sense, too. Helping people carry their burdens. Those types of things. And this injury has made me realize just exactly how short-sighted people are, and how being short-sighted is not a good thing.

I'll keep you all posted on the rest of my recovery. By the way, I did the calculations for 6-8 weeks since the appointment, and that puts me at late April or early May for a return. With such an uncommon injury in a sensitive area, though, that timeline could very well be extended. 

The Double Standard...

The double standard seems to continue... seems like some people will never learn that treating some people differently than others is a BAD POLICY. You treat people fairly and respectfully in society... not some as dirt and others as gold. It's tough to say this as a swim coach when you have some show up to practice every day and others never show up, but I'm honestly working on it. At winter swim practice I've been doing my best to treat everyone as the same person but still remembering individual differences. Punishment is the same for every person and every wrongdoing... it's not a question.

So now we've got to talk to the guy who's been doing this double standard thing and we have got to set the record straight. This is going to be a tough discussion but it has to be done... we are tired of living this way. This must end and we have to start it now.

In other local news, I've decided to shut down the other blog and concentrate my efforts here. It almost seems like that blog was bad luck for snow around here...

Thoughts...

My thoughts are all over the place right now, but let me start by saying that the thought that someone can get away with treating someone horribly and then not face any repercussions is absolutely ridiculous. There's double standards everywhere, and I can't wait for the tables to turn around. That's all I have to say about someone who can act so immature, and then for the other person to accept criticism like nothing ever happened is also beyond my reasoning. Ridiculous.

Another way double standards have hit... someone with destructive behavior getting favored over someone who doesn't destroy things... interesting.

Jim Bowden has resigned as general manager of the Washington Nationals, and it's interesting to say the least. I think he was going to be fired and they gave him a chance to step down and not have the firing on his resume. I think it will be interesting to see who the team picks as his successor. Regardless of whom they pick, it will be a classy move for the organization to rid of someone who hasn't really been the classiest of people.

And speaking of the Nationals organization, critics really need to do their homework. Everyone always says how terrible the team is without doing their research. You try managing a team with six different first basemen. Then injure your entire starting lineup and their backups. Learn something before you say it.

Those are my thoughts.