Back In Business

August 31, 2005 @ 2:03 pm by Pressed

Today I am back in full force since the major blog explosion (no pun intended). After our entire blog network was deleted we had lost our blogs and when we got everything back I had images missing, things out of order, links that no longer worked, my gravatars were messed up, and I didn’t have much time to work with it. I have slowly been fixing things, a little at a time, each week until now I think I have everything back to normal.
I was finally able to resurrect my smilies from the dead and I got the gravatars working again on my comments page. As you are browsing the site, if you can find anymore problems that need to be fixed let me know in the comments!

Peace out!

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The Woes Of An Extension Student

@ 8:52 am by Pressed

If you have ever been an extension student then you might understand some of the woes I am going through right now with my Masters degree. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has an extension plan that is supposed to help the student to graduate in three years because all of the required classes are on a three year rotation pending that you take classes in the summer and winter break months.

If you take all the classes they offer during this time then you are supposed to end up with having everything you need. Looks good in theory when you are ready to begin school, but then when you are three years into it you begin to notice the downside of the deal. I took every computer class and extension class that I could and ended up with 33 extension hours and 27 on line hours which leaves me with only 19 on-campus hours. Here is the rub, you have to have at least 30 hours of on-campus credits to graduate and I am left with two classes that are required for me to graduate that I can only take as on-campus credit and they are not offered this year during the J terms, which means I am either going to have to take these classes at another school, or I am out of luck and have to wait another year or two just to get two classes.

The sad part about this is that I know I can get what I need at Covenant and MoBap but unfortunately these schools cost twice as much. To take one three hour class at Midwestern it costs about $300. That same three hour class at Missouri Baptist would be $800 and that same three hour class at Covenant is $1100.

So here are my options. I need to take History of Christianity I and Pastoral Care and Counseling in order to meet requirements, and then I need 5 more hours of on-campus credit to graduate which will give me 90 hours instead of the required 89 hours. I am trying to work it out with Missouri Baptist to take The History of Christian Thought I as a directed study in order to get that credit. I have also been trying to get the professor from Midwestern to do a directed study with me in his Pastoral Care class, but unfortunately I’ve tried to contact him and e-mail him and I have received no reply at all. If I can get those two classes out of the way then I only have elective hours to get and I will be finished. My ultimate goal would be to finish it all by the spring… however that might be a lofty goal if I can’t get these required classes.

My other option would be to take pastoral care at Covenant, but I am trying to avoid that at all costs do to the tremendous price that Covenant charges.

If you are thinking about becoming an extension student you should keep in mind that at some point you might run out of classes that you can take and be fighting to try and graduate. Hopefully things will work out.

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AppleCare: Does Apple Really Care?

August 26, 2005 @ 9:53 pm by Pressed

At the church we have two G4 Powerbooks, 1 G3 iBook, and 1 G5 PowerMac. Just this last week our iBook bit the dust. I don’t know what happened, all I know is that it suddenly stopped working. When I found out about it the computer had already been sent off to apple to be fixed. Luckely (or is it?) we have apple care. They came and brought a box, picked it up, and shipped it off which was nice. Unfortunatly just the other day the computer came back and it wasn’t fixed.

The sheet of paper they included with the package said basically they couldn’t contact us and the problem isn’t covered by apple care. Then under that line it said Logic Board. I had two problems with this. Number one, if apple care does not cover the logic board then what in the world does it cover? What are we paying $300 for if they aren’t going to fix the logic board? The second problem I had was the fact that they said they couldn’t contact us. Our church has a secretary answering the phone from 9a.m. to 5p.m. and we have a voicemail system to answer the phones when nobody is there. I is impossible that the “couldn’t contact us.” These thigns frustrated me and so I called apple to blow off a little steam at them, but of course my mercy set it and I was nice. That always happens to me. I work myself up to go postal on someone and when it comes time to explode I soften up.

Anyway, I called apple and asked what the deal was. First off they said that the people couldn’t contact us because they didn’t have a contact name. The problem with the computer was filed under Temple Baptist Church and didn’t have a personal name associated with it, so they just sent the computer back and didn’t bother to call. Does that make sense to anyone? No contact name? SEND IT BACK! That is so odd. Secondly they told me that the logic board was actually busted at the ethernet jack. Unfortuanlty the logic board is connected to the motherboard and so they have to replace both for $709.00.

I’m not sure that we are going to fix the computer when we can buy a new iBook G4 for just a few hundred dollars more than that. So what is the moral of the story? When you call apple care make sure you give them a contact name so that they can call you before sending your product straight back without fixing it. Secondly, don’t accidently break your logic board cause you’ll be replacing your motherboard.

Peace out!

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School, a Lump and Laughter

August 22, 2005 @ 1:00 pm by Kendall

Today I went to the doctor’s office to have a large bump, which Craig lovingly referred to as a horn, removed. This cyst was located on my scalp and was painful if pressure was applied to it. The doctor used a scalpel, after numbing my head, and cut the area open. It was really gross to hear the scalpel slide over my scalp, that’s for sure. What he took out of it, however, was amazing!! It was a huge load of junk, that’s for sure. Then I had to get two stitches and it is quite possible that there are hairs inside the stitching. *sigh* It was a very interesting feeling, indeed, to have the large area of my scalp numb. I am supposed to get the stitches out in 10 days, so that will be good, and then I won’t have to worry about the large lump anymore. I have included in this entry the technical stuff about my cyst, for your reading enjoyment!
My Cyst
A trichilemmal cyst is a cyst derived from the outer root sheath of the deeper parts of a hair follicle. It consists of a well-keratinized epidermal wall surrounding semi-solid hair keratin.

Epidemiologically, they are more common in women and in middle age. There is an autosomal dominant association. Often patients have multiple lesions.

The most common sites for trichilemmal cysts are hair-bearing areas, typically the scalp. Clinically, they present as smooth and mobile cysts within the dermis. The cyst may marsupialize by fusing with surrounding surface epidermis. Patients may complain of discharge. Rupture may exacerbate local inflammation. Complications include rarely extensive local invasion - proliferating trichilemmal cyst - or malignancy.

Treatment is by excision (this means hurtful cutting, in case you didn’t know).

Needless to say, if you have one of these, presently, go ahead and get it taken care of. It will only grow and get ickier.

On another note, school starts for me this evening. It should be a wonderfully exciting drive all alone to the city and then back, all alone, home. Only this semester and three more (including summer), and I should be finished! YAY!!! That will be a happy day for me. We also had a fun youth fellowship last night, complete with swimming and lots of noise!! It is really fun getting to know the new kids who just entered the youth group, our lone seventh grade girl is hilarious and kept us laughing all night long. We had lots of good food and lots of fun together!

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Not Much of Anything

August 17, 2005 @ 2:49 pm by Kendall

Well, since I haven’t posted on a blog in forever and a day, I find myself not even knowing where to start! Hmm….life has been semi-normal lately, which is sure to only last until this weekend, as school begins on Monday for me. Unfortunately, I’m not really very excited about the prospect of school, at all. I am ready to be finished with school, but wish that it could be over without having to take any more classes. I am on an accelerated program at Missouri Baptist University, though, so I have 8-week classes, which should help with the monotony of school.

On a more positive note, I was able to go visit my grandparents and Craig went, as well. We had a great extended weekend of playing board games, eating lots of food and just spending time with each other and my grandparents. What was most interesting to me was the fact that the 6 hour drive there and back did not seem that long at all, as we talked the whole time. It’s so cool to have someone who just listens and that I can tell anything to. I am very fortunate to have Craig in my life, that’s for sure!

I am sad, however, that many of my friends have, or are heading back to college. It’s kinda weird not having them here to spend time with. It is also a reminder of how quickly life moves and changes. Goodness, it seems like I should still be a youth at this church. I am very happy for them, though and am praying that God will use them in the college setting to reach others for Him, whether on a Christian campus or a secular one. I also hope that I can be an example to others at school, as well, despite the fact that I’m a commuter.

Well, I don’t really have much else to share, so I will post later!

Kendall

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