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Soooo the laptop situation. Crisis not averted. I went to the library today for the IT clinic that they run for people who are having computer issues. Literally no one could help me. They have an IT department, but the kids who are in it don't really know a lot about computers. The kid who was working on mine had to google my problem on his computer. Are you kidding me? You'd think for a university of 14,000 students they would have kids who knew what to do with computer problems. But they don't! This place is worse than Penn State. No one really knows what they are doing, where this department or that department is, and half the time, there is no department for my said problem. Like the IT department. The IT department should really just be an office with a sign that says 'Google.com'. Thank God some IT woman came by and tried to save the day. She actually knew what she was doing. Basically, she told me that three faculty members were having the same problem last week. It's almost impossible to fix the problem, and even if you do, and you get into your computer, it doesn't run properly. She had to rebuild one of the computers, and the other two people just got new computers. Luckily, I backed up all my pictures on a flashdrive 3 nights ago. I have photo albums from senior year homecoming and prom on there so, whew. Thank God. However, I lost all my music. But I downloaded all of it anyway, so I can just do that again.

How am I writing this? Nelson has two laptops and was nice enough to let me use this one until my parents send over my new one. I really didn't want a new laptop yet, but I guess I have no choice. I really just wanted a desktop once I moved in down in San Antonio, but it's okay.

I'm going to get an HP mini 311.(On the left)

http://www.notebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/HP_Mini_311-1.jpg

It's a small and very sleek netbook. I don't need a huge laptop, just something small, that has good battery life and can hold pics and music. It also has an LCD screen with a gloss finish. Very cheap for the features too. CNET rated it one of it's favorite netbooks, and it comes with Windows 7 already. So that's what I'm getting. Then once I get to San Antonio I can buy a really nice desktop. Like an HP touch screen? Oh yeah, definitely.

So what have I been up to the past two days? Yesterday was a boring day. Had class with retard woman in the morning. She is so dumb. Ok, so on Wednesdays we are in a different classroom. In this classroom, the podium is on the far right. There are two projector screens that can drop from the ceiling in front of both columns of seating. She comes in 10 minutes late, again, and then drops the projector screen closest to her. So me and everyone else on the left side had to sit turned. Then, she kept the lights off over top of us, so we couldn't see what we were writing, and she kept the lights on up at the front right above the projector. So there was a huge glare on her white powerpoints, and we couldn't read anything. Then, maintenance decided to start drilling on the wall outside our classroom. You couldn't hear anything, and she was still talking. Didn't stop. Just kept talking. We sat there, in a room full of drill noise, literally deafening drill noise, and her mouth was moving and she was looking at her cards. I bet she was the only one that could hear herself. And even then I'm not sure. She talks soft. She's an idiot.

I ate lunch here. Watched an episode of Friends, ICarly, Spongebob. It was good. ICarly is on alllll the time here, so I watch it. Haha, I honestly don't care if it's geared for 16 year old girls. I also made scrambled eggs for the first time ever yesterday. Didn't realize you needed to add milk. I just cracked two eggs into a skillet, mixed up the yolk and then cooked them till they looked like scrambled eggs. They were good though.

Last night we went out to the Stables for Karaoke night. We listened to people butcher Guns and Roses, Aerosmith, Mama Mia and a slew of other bands. It was a pretty good time. The Aerosmith was by far my favorite though. It was two guys singing, 'Don't wanna miss a thing' from Armageddon, and they were literally just yelling it. It was terrible. It was awesome.

After a night of Smithwicks and Guinness, Jeremie and I came back and made scrambled eggs and pasta for a late night snack. Then we watched worlds most shocking videos on the Sky network. Ya know, those shows where someone defies death and someone survives some type of horrible accident. Good fun.

So today, I didn't have class until noon. I woke up at 11, got ready for the day and went to Euro Society and Govt. It was interesting. I really like my teacher. The old dude who just talks. He's a cool guy. After class I went over to Kara's with Jess to plot out any trips that we might be going on. However, I had to stop at Spar first and grab a sausage and rasher sandwich. On white, with ketchup of course. God, that is the best sandwich known to man. It's literally a meat and ketchup sandwich. It's incredible. So anyway, back to plans. Yeah, so the girls want to go to Tunisia for reading week. Reading week is the week that we have to prepare for finals. But no one prepares. The girls wanted to go Barcelona, to Tunisia, to Rome and then back home. However, it's mad expensive to fly Dublin to Barcelona. Like, 66 Euros. That's not bad if you are staying for a week, but we would stay a day or two. Not worth it. It just sucks because Barcelona to Rome is only 12 Euros! Gosh, I hate this traveling crap. However, we did book one flight. We booked a flight to London for the weekend of February 19! So we will be going to London in two weekends! We only paid 30 Euros round trip too. That's a good deal! I'm going to buy my tickets to Denmark for spring break tomorrow! I'm so excited to finally visit Pernille in Copenhagen!

Tonight I skipped my Irish folklore class because I had to go to the consulate to get 'checked' into the country. Of course, we get there, and the one kook that is sitting on the bench in the waiting room talks to me. Honestly, why are weird people drawn to talking to me. Happens all the time. So this dude mumbles. I can't understand anything he says. I thought he said, 'How ya gettin in?' I said, 'Oh I have papers.' Apparently that's not what he said. Then he started mumbling questions and I did the whole thing where you laugh and just nod and say, 'haha, oh yea.' Not a clue what he was talking about. So he says something about a secretary and not being able to talk to her correctly and I was just like, 'oh yea, sure.' Then he finally gets up to leave and gives me a speech about how a college education isn't everything, and you still need to know how to talk to people. Then he said something about a doctors office and I couldn't understand the rest of what he said, and then he said, 'If a guy comes up to you on the street and asks for a cigarette, you can give it to him, or spit in his face, or throw it on the ground.' And then he tried to make some profound statement about that. I missed it I guess. Then he said, 'Just don't ever be a cop, mumblemumblemuble.' And then he snapped his finger, mumbled something else and said 'Take care.' Jess, Kara and I were confused and a little terrified. I said, 'That's the una-bomber.' Dude was creepy as hell. Seemed like a nerd. Had thin glasses on, with a black turtleneck and corduroy pants. Had a briefcase with him. Didn't talk to any garda (police), just sat on the bench, talked, and then left. I assumed he'd be waiting with a sniper rifle on a roof when we left the garda station. So this woman garda comes walking by, and she was watching the whole thing from behind the reception desk. I could see she had a smirk on her face the whole time. So I asked her what the hell that guy was talking about. She said, 'Oh, that guys a wacko. He comes in here everyday and tells us how terrible we are.' Haha, great! Of course the wacko picks me out to talk to. I swear, my Mom and I both have targets on our heads that say, 'talk to me.' Every weirdo, homeless person, salesperson, etc. always pick us out of a crowd. No matter what. I guess they can sense the, 'I hope this idiot doesn't talk to me' thoughts going on in our heads. Oh well, at least it always leads to some good stories.

So we got our checked into the country. It took like 10 minutes. Just a lot of paperwork crap and scanning both of our index fingers. At least I have an Ireland citizenship card now! It's pretty awesome. After we left the garda station, we went to a liquor store. I bought a bottle of white wine. Why? I don't know. But it was only 5 Euro. And it was on sale from like 10 Euro. I figure, we eat pasta a lot, so we can drink it with that. Plus the bottle says it's smooth and easy to drink, very good for non-wine drinkers. Which I am. I non-wine drinker. So I have that to look forward to at some point. It's a 2004 bottle. Maybe I'll just let it sit for another 20 years and then open it, and I can be all artsy and act rich. Or I could just drink it tomorrow since it's really not that expensive.

Tonight, I got back from the garda station starving. I came home to find that Nelson and Jeremie were cooking rice and curry. I just missed the meal. So I got out my last steak and some string beans. The steak was still hard from being in the freezer, so I turned up a burner, put the steak in a pan, and 'defrosted' it for like 10 minutes. Then I stuck it in the oven to cook. And then when it was getting nowhere, I just pan seared it until it was done. The string beans were fine. Just some olive oil in a pan and presto. So that only took me like half an hour to make tonight, I was impressed. However, while making my meal, Nelson tells me he made too much rice and curry. So I had a plate of that, with half a chicken before I even finished cooking my meal! Then I finished my steak and beans, hit it up with some salt, and viola, a good meal. That's probably my specialty. Pan seared steak and string beans. I made it down in DC too, and it was pretty good then. Now I'm on another continent, and it's still pretty good. If I opened a restaurant, it'd just be that on the menu. And rasher and sausage sandwiches. So good.

I also received a phone call from my Uncle Bruce and my Papa tonight! It was exciting! The last time I talked to my Uncle Bruce was when I first got here. And I haven't talked to my Papa since I left. It was great to hear from them. It made me miss home, and seeing them every weekend. I can't wait until I get home again and we can play blitz and talk about sports. My Papa told me to take advantage and enjoy the experience. That means a lot coming from him, because he's a wise man and I love him and respect him a lot. So I'm definitely going to live to the fullest while I'm here so I can tell him all about it when I get home.

After dinner, Jeremie and I went to the Stables. It was actually kinda boring tonight. There was a 'Muse' cover band, but it was more depressing than anything. If you don't know Muse, which you probably do, they are a kinda electronic rock band. Definitely not a 'I'm in a happy mood, I want to listen to happy music' type of a band. But then they ran out of songs and started playing the Foo Fighters and other random songs. I was yelling 'FREE BIRD' all night. They didn't play it.

So Jeremie and I just drank some beer and played some pool. Pool over here is weird. The balls aren't like they are in America. It's not solids or stripes. It's red or yellow. Plus the balls are much smaller, no numbers, half red half yellow, and there is a black ball. It's odd. Jeremie was teaching me how to play. Unlike pool back home, if you hit the opponents ball before you hit one of yours, the other player gets two turns. Also, if you miss every ball completely, it isn't a scratch, that player just gets two turns. It was weird for me. I'm used to putting a lot of force behind my shot because the balls are weighted. Here, they are really light. Even the cue ball. The slightest tap and the ball goes flying. Jeremie knocked in the black ball halfway through the game, so technically I won, but by the time his last yellow was sunk, I still had 3 or 4 of my reds out. Definitely a weird experience when you are so used to playing a game a certain way for your entire life.

After pool Jeremie and I just sat at a table and talked to some of our friends. I also got to meet two girls that Jeremie was talking to. There was Felicitas, from Germany, and Redina, from Venice. I told them that my roots come from both of those countries. I told Felicitas that my last name was Werner, and she was like, 'Oh ya, that is very German.' Then I told Redina that my Mom's maiden name is Fiorentino. She said she never heard of that name. Haha, go figure. They didn't know much English so it was hard to talk to them, but they were very nice girls.

Jeremie and I left early because it was pretty boring tonight. On our walk home, Jeremie asked me how I say 'I can't reject alcohol.' He explained it again and I finally realized what he was saying. I told him that in America we say, 'I can't hold my liquor.' I also told him that we say, 'You are a two beer queer.' Haha, he didn't know what queer meant. So I had to explain that too. But either way, now he knows both sayings. The walk home was great. We were just being dumb, being loud, yelling random things. He was skipping and singing, 'Singing in the rain.' It was great. Haha, I can't even remember everything he was saying, but his English is getting so much better. He is remembering phrases now. It's great. He says that's what she said all the time, and he says cold as balls a lot too. He's been teaching me French too. I'll walk into his room and say 'BONJOUR! JE ME PELLE MATT! COMO TEP EL TOO?' And then he responds, and I can get all the way to, 'How are you? I'm good too.' But then after that, actually starting a conversation, I can't do it. But hopefully I'll catch on a bit.

Now I'm writing this and that's literally all I'm doing. I'm gonna go make a ham sandwich. And then do what I always did when I had a computer here...Before I go to bed I log onto Justin.tv and just play the Seinfeld channel. It's a live streamed channel that just plays Seinfeld 24/7. It's great. I put that on the laptop, turn it toward my bed and just watch it until I fall asleep. Then I have to get up at 3:30 and turn it off, but it's great. It's good white noise. And plus Seinfeld is the most genius show ever made so.

Alright, that's it for now. Have a good night everybody!

No class tomorrow! Woohoo!