8:00a

I forgot to mention earlier that this weekend I went to Safeway and picked up this soda called “Red Twist.” It tastes just like red licorice. That may sound gross to some of you, but I’m sucked in. It’s awesome.

8:25a

I got my credit report last night because Jenn had received a free one and saw a bunch of stuff that probably shouldn’t be there, so I got concerned. I ordered the 3-in-1 version from Equifax which shows you all of your information from the major three credit reporting agencies. Luckily, everything on mine was pretty much up-to-snuff. There are a couple of discrepancies I have which I will dispute - for example, I had a credit card with a company that ended up going out of business and that credit line still shows as “open.”

Also, I scheduled my next test - MS070-320 Developing XML Web Services and Serviced Components with Visual C# and the .NET Framework - for this coming Monday at 11:30a. It’s scheduled for two and a half hours; let’s hope it doesn’t take that long.

9:46a

We’re almost done with the first section of the day, which was an overview of ADO.NET. For those in the cheap seats, ADO.NET was the three-day in-depth class I took last week, so I can’t say this wasn’t a bit slow for me. What really got me, though, was the guy in my class who was also in my class last week… I think he was sort of “playing dumb” because he was quiet whenever the teacher asked any question, and I know we went over this stuff.

It got me to thinking that in classrooms everywhere, there are two major roles that get played. There’s the teacher, who will always ask questions of the class and actually expect to get an answer. Then there’s the student, who will never offer an answer regardless of whether the answer is known. I wonder why people do that - sit silent when they can answer the question. I don’t; I’ll answer, but then it seems like I’m the only one ever answering anything, so I start getting quieter and quieter so I can give the other students a chance… and they never take it. How irritating.

My mom emailed me and it seems that the table I thought Fred Meyer carried - a bar-height table to go with some nice bar stools - was ony a figment of my imagination. So I guess I’ll continue looking and will probably end up with the Bordeaux Bistro Set I saw this weekend online.

10:10a

Lab.

10:22a

Done.

Looking at the next section, I see that we’ve got another ADO.NET review. Well, I guess my game of Spider Solitaire will just be improving…

11:57a

We’re finally done with the ADO.NET chapter, and it’s lunch time before the lab. Whew. It’s been pretty slow, and I’m ready to get up and go.

12:39p

Got the “nacho beef bake” at the store today. For being $8 a pound, this is the best thing I’ve had from there so far. Pretty tasty. I only got half a pound, but I could probably have eaten a whole pound if it hadn’t been so expensive. Maybe I’ll have to get that again tomorrow. I think it’s going to give me heartburn, though.

Something else I forgot to mention: I played the demo for Soul Calibur II on PS2 this weekend. Loved it. It’s a fighting game similar to the DOA series that I like, where you don’t have to remember 30,000 different button combinations to get things done - you have “vertical attack,” “horizontal attack,” “kick,” and “block.” I think I can figure that one out. I may have to pick it up. Folks say it’s one of the best fighthing games ever, and from what I’ve seen I tend to agree.

1:05p

Done with the lab. Seems that several folks stayed through lunch and finished it up, so I guess I’m about even with them now. That’s okay, maybe we’ll get out early again…

Looks like the next chapter is more ADO.NET. I understand why they have an overview in every class - it’s important stuff - but we seem to be dwelling on it in here WAY more than any other class (other than the dedicated ADO.NET class that I just took).

1:23p

Heeeeeartbuuuuuuurn…..

This looks like a rockin’ game.

2:10p

We’re a full chapter ahead today. We had the option of leaving early or going through another chapter, so we chose another chapter so we can try for a half-day Friday. I think we’ll still get out pretty early, and that’s just fine.

2:21p

Oh boy. This chapter starts out with “What Is XML?” The end gets into some good stuff, though.

3:00p

We’re about halfway through this chapter and we’re starting to get to the good stuff. We’ll probably leave the really good stuff for tomorrow, though.

3:28p

We’re at the last lab for the day. I guess we’re going to do it tomorrow, so I’m outta here. Which is fine; it should take about 10 minutes to do it.