EIGHT

So! Last day of job training. It went well. I am really glad that I don't have to get up at 7 AM any more, because it was really doing a number on my sleep schedule. Not built for that. I start my actual super-sweet field work tomorrow, and my first paycheck should be coming in about a week after that! So if you didn't fill out your Census form and send it back, watch out! I'm going to be knocking on your door and like, asking you questions and stuff. With authority. Working a job that involves so much paperwork and so many acronyms and codes feels really official. So does this:


The last day of training involved a sort of quiz about what we had learned this week I missed two questions out of the 30, and they were the two that everyone else also missed and our supervisor agreed were poorly worded/wrong, so I felt pretty good about that. And just a quick word to the dude that sat next to me, just because you don't know an answer does not mean that it's a trick question, or even "tricky tricks", whatever that means. I'm just saying, muttering under your breath like that all the time is probably not necessary.

Oh yeah, and final exams are next week. So I will be writing a couple papers this weekend, and then hopefully going to class and doing real well on any actual tests. And this semester will be OVER. Finally.

(MUSIC) RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY: Illin'-Noise: The Sufjan Stevens Remix Album, by mcDJ(aka Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover). This is, as you may have guessed, a remix album of Sufjan Stevens' Illinois. This guy is way talented as a musician, writer, and actor, and this album ends up being some pretty cool house-y techno with well placed samples.

ONE

"Big Gulps, huh? Alright. Well, see you later!"

As of today, I am employed. The last time I really worked was almost three years ago, but this morning I officially started my job with the US Census Bureau. In what I suppose is typical government fashion, I was asked to drive to the mall to sit down with my supervisor and fill out thirty minutes worth of paperwork, a task which likely could have been completed during any of the four 9-hour training sessions I will attend next week. Was it the most efficient way to do this? Maybe not, but I got paid for time and mileage so I'm not too concerned with it. It will be very nice to have an actual income, so I can do silly things like eat and pay my rent this summer.

School is taking up the rest of my time and effort. You'd think that 12 credits at a community college would be pretty easy to handle, but for me this is apparently not the case. Staying motivated to go to class and actually do any of the work has been a huge struggle since Spring Break, though that is always at least a little hard for me. Now that I have my schedule for next semester, I just want to be done with this one. The fact that I have been putting off so many assignments isn't helping with my motivation as far as getting caught up goes, especially since I will have to miss classes next week for the aforementioned job training. All I need to do is pass these classes and I will be able to feel like I have my life on track.

I guess you can only underachieve for so long before it makes you crazy. This semester has really been a whirlwind of bad time management where I have accomplished a whole lot of nothing and still felt rushed. Where's the happy medium? Seems like I can't sleep at all or have trouble keeping my eyes open. I either put all my focus and effort into a project or can't even find time to start it. On the bright side, at least the weather is getting to be really nice. Took a nice trip out to Lake Mary with some friends this weekend, and had a barbecue for my roommate's birthday.

(BOOK) RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Haunting, beautiful, terrifying and one of the best books I've read. I love me some postmodernism.