everything looks perfect from far away

So, it’s been a while since my last post. Quite a bit of stuff has happened. Spring break was two weeks ago. It was stressful and fantastic at the same time. I saw almost all of my friends (except for Scott who moved to Colorado on a whim) and drank with them. It was an excellent time and I really miss being in Cincinnati with my buds. I also saw my dad and we took a trip up to Ann Arbor to visit Kate and Jon. University of Michigan is amazing, not only academically, but aesthetically. It is so much fun up there–the people are nice and there is always something to do (if nothing else, you can always find a restaurant with high quality foods). The bad side was simply my Jeep. It isn’t doing to well. Over break, new brakes and rotors were put on and it was also checked out for other problems. First, my radiator is cracked or has a leak (hence my coolant level is always low). This is not too serious of a problem, because as long as the temperature stays within a certian range, all is well. The rear transfer case is cracked, but that’s not too big of a deal either. But, my rear differential has problems. The rear differential bearings (after 131,000+ miles) are no longer completely smooth and cause vibrations in the car. At somepoint they will stop spinning completely when I’m driving. This is by far the most dire problem with my car. A used rear differential is ~$800 and labor is another ~$400. That’s a chunk of change, but it must be done (soon), because I need my car.

This past week has been quite busy. Lots of homework and stuff to do and I have been running around trying to get everything done. Thursday night I went out to party with some of my ISU Pike brothers at the 4th and Oak satelitte house. It was an superb time. I had so much fun, met so many people, and made a bunch of new friends. On Friday night, I hung out with the guys at the House (and some friends from IU) and drank quite a bit quickly. We then proceeded to IHOP (as usual) with everyone, but we stopped to pick up Jes, Janae, Jill, and Jenny at New Hall. IHOP was a blast–we hadn’t been there for a while and the waitresses (Andi and Amber) were wondering where we had gone. Also this past week was ISU’s tandem. So beginning around noon on Saturday, I was with the Pikes at ISU drinking and partying. That too was an unbelievable time. I was quite amazed how much jungle juice, beer, and hard alcohol I could consume in a twenty-four hour period. By the time the race started at 7:00 PM, I had been highly intoxicated twice in the day. After the race (at which point I was completely sober), I wondered if I could get drunk again. I went back to the House to relax a bit, stopped by the Chi Omega Dance-a-Thon to see what was happening, and then headed back over to ISU (The Vault and then to Sigma Alpha Epsilon) to party. The “fee” for the SAE party was a case of premium beer (Bug Light or better). I decided I was going to drink quite a bit of my case, and I did. Unfortunetly, I didn’t even get a buzz. Regardless, I had the best time at SAE. It was packed full of people to the point where it was nearly impossible to dance. I met a bunch of cool people, not to mention some very cool girls. Hopefully the Foam Party at the House this Saturday will be just as good or better (I’m putting my bets on better!).

Needless to say, these past few weeks have been enjoyable socially, but Rose always knows how to make life hard with its extreme academic rigor. Things should calm down shortly though–in two weeks I will no longer be secretary of Pike. That’s alright though, being secretary of SGA will keep me busy enough, and come autumn, rush again will be a top priority (Rush Pike)–that’s when the real fun will begin!!

Well, back to working on my Linear Algebra II paper and studying for my Engineering Statics test tomorrow.