OH MY GOSH!!! It’s down to the last little bit. Nothing but finals to do right? NOPE! As usual, we’re left taking a test in every class, and finishing up like two or three chapters of homework. And then start finals (from what I hear) on the 30th!!!! AHHH!!! I’ve got two programs to write, well, make that one; I just finished the other one. And, on top of that I have to learn an eight page spiel for the Boat Ride at EPCOT, before May 1st, that’s my assessment after 4 days or so of training. Wish me luck on that y’all. I’m working on my comp sci II project. It’s crucial. And of course I started working on it WAYYYY late!! We had about 3 months to do it. I’ve started 2 days before it’s due. Let us hope that this turns out well, haha. And it’s not like I procrastinated, it’s been a crazy couple of months around here. School and recent work and everything else, bahhH!! It probably won’t calm down until August for me, work and all, but that’s cool.

I went to the American Hi-Fi/Bowling for Soup concert. It was pretty good. I must say that the first two warm-up bands, I think, weren’t all that great. The first guy really stunk. People in the crowd were yelling for him to get off the stage. And when he announced it was his last song, everyone cheered. It was just funny. I won’t talk much about that though, I’m sure that everyone else will.

We had a recent cold snap here, got down about 50 or so at nights for a day or two, but now it’s back to normal. Hot-ish. I was thinking about going to the beach or something, but who knows. I haven’t been there in a long while I don’t think. At least this year is ending better than it started. I must say that Florida in the winter time is nice, but I definitely like it better in the summer.

Now, on my off time, I like to go to the Disney Parks, especially since it’s free for me again. I went to Disney/MGM Studios the other day. I had a need to ride Tower of Terror for some reason, then finished it off with Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show back at EPCOT. Next week, probably a day at Magic Kingdom, then maybe some time at Animal Kingdom, who knows. It’s the “happiest celebration” going on soon, so there’s some different stuff going on all around the ‘world’. May 5th is the actual day so if anyone wants to take a trip to see Riddle, come on down and stop by Disney while you’re in the Central Florida area.

Anyways, I had better get back to work on my project and the 15 other things that I need to get done today. Later yens (felt like getting REALLY southern on that one, haha).

-Darryl

MAN OH man! Y’all have no idea. It’s been a crazy week or two for me. First of all, I’m going on a cruise! Hooray. I’m going to the Bahamas, I’ve been there twice before, but hey, what’s another time, hehe. Ya gotta love it. It’s only a four day cruise, but it will still be tons of fun and I can’t wait. I’m spending a few days in the sun instead of class, but I talked to my teachers and they’re pretty cool with it, so long as I turn in everything ahead of time. Which means it’s been a lot of work lately to do. Anyways, that’s only news number one.

News number two, I have gotten a job. That’s right. I haven’t worked since last summer when I did a College Program Internship with Disney, but I’ve gone down to Disney and gotten a job again, yEaH! If you all remember, (which you probably don’t) I worked at Test Track at EPCOT. This time I’m not going to be working at Track, but somewhere in Future World West, which includes The Living Seas, The Land, and the new Soarin’ Attraction. I’ll probably be cast at Soarin’, but who knows. I hope to be cross trained back to Test Track because it was the most fun ever, but I bet Future World West would be pretty cool too. I know everyone is so much fun to work with no matter what we’re doing. Today I did a Traditions class, which is 8 hours worth of teaching. You learn the Traditions and safety and legal information that is needed in the workplace. Next Saturday is my Discovery Day at EPCOT, which becomes another 8 hours of walking and playing in the park. Anyways, gotta go pack for the cruise. I’m leaving tomorrow. Later Guys, I’ll fill you in on it when I get back.

-Darryl

Well, the great glorious spring break is over. I officially did not do one single bit of homework while I was off. It was wonderful, haha. So what else did I do you might ask? I sat in front of the TV, worked some here and there, and just chilled too. After working so hard so far this semester I just needed to relax for a little while. Plus, it either rained a bunch or it was just generally overcast most of Spring Break in Daytona. This past Sunday was the only day that was actually warm and sunny. I went out in the garage and worked on my car a little bit. Went out and washed it, then it rained later that day. Oh well, it happens.

Of course, this past week went by so fast it didn’t even feel like it was a week off. Soon school will totally be out and then summer will be filled with working and relaxing. I’m hoping I can work this summer enough to pay some on my mounting student debt, or just use the money to pay some of the tuition for next semester. I think I could work for a year and never make enough money to pay for all of tuition, haha. Anyways, that’s what happens when you go to a good school I guess.

So, this semester is about half or so over, but it feels like it’s almost totally over. I’m ready for it to be, that’s for sure. Our official last day of classes is in about a month. YEAH! I’m so excited. Thank goodness it’s almost here. This summer will be fun, it has to be. Last summer working at Disney was a blast. This summer has to top that. I don’t know how it can though, working at Disney was the most fun place to work EVER!

Well, I’ll have to stew about where to work this summer and for now do some homework while I’m at it. I’ll talk to yall later.

-Darryl

Hey! It’s journal time again, hehe. Well, let’s see what all has happened around here the past few days. First of all, BIKE WEEK! Ahhhh (That’s all I can say). Loud motorcycles zooming all over the place all crazy like. Thankfully it’s over now, but man they were insane this past week or so. I don’t mind the fact that they are motorcycles; it’s just that they are so DANG LOUD. Never mind trying to go anywhere north or east of Riddle. You pretty much are confined by traffic to South Daytona or Port Orange to actually get anything done. Riddle seemed to be the borderline between the motorcycles and the rest of the world. So that all happened, plus my parents came down for a couple days. We went to check out the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. Let me tell ya. If anyone tries to get you to go up that blasted lighthouse, FORGET IT! 200+ spiraling steps that go 175 feet up I think. It’s not the height or anything that’s the problem. It’s the fact that the steps go nearly straight up, which is a pain in the butt when you try to go back down. Better start working out if you ever plan on going up that thing.

It’s starting to warm up again and get all up in the 80’s. But, it’s almost spring so it had better get warmer. Other than that, there’s not much going on this week. Spring Break is pretty close, can’t wait. It’s gonna be nothing but sitting around here watching tv. Loads of fun. Anyways, I’ll check yall later.

Hello all, what’s up? There are still races and such going on down here. Trying to get to and from school on certain days can be trying, but at least most of the busy traffic days are on the weekends. There’s not really much going on other than that. Just kinda, sitting around, wearing out my TV and computer.

School’s going pretty good. The homework level has decreased slightly the past week or two. I think that is only because it’s coming up spring break, so it’s going to be LOADS of HW during that time. We had all of our first tests these last few weeks. I’ve done pretty well on them. I aced my AeroSci and Physics tests. I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve got another Physics test coming up in about a week. Should do pretty good on that too.

Other than that not a whole lot going on. It’s been a pretty boring couple of days. I’ve been working with my computer a lot. Trying to get Linux updated and everything. Not as simple as downloading and installing like in Windows, takes some compiling and make files and lots of other stuff sometimes. So I spent some hours working on that. Finally got KDE 3.3 working right. Next is updating Open Office. Not cool trying to download stuff on a dial-up connection since I live off-campus, let me tell ya. I’m hoping to get some of my programs that are due done before mid-week, but we’ll see how well that goes. Anyways, going back to some downloads and stuff. I’ll talk to you all later.

-Darryl

Well everyone, It’s happening!!! NASCAR is coming. The Bud shootout was held this weekend, and 3 Doors Down played at the event. In a weekend or two (not totally sure, don’t remember) is the Daytona 500. Which can only mean one thing, everyone hide in your dorms, stay in your apartments, cause OH MAN is it going to be exciting and loud around here. The Daytona 500 coming to town also means lots of people from my home state, Tennessee, will be making a pilgrimage to Daytona. I’m looking forward to hearing that good ole southern twang of an accent again. It just doesn’t feel like you’re in the south when you live in Florida. That’ll be good news to all of you that live in the north, but for those of us who grew up in TN, GA, SC, AL, MS, it’s totally not living in the south here.

Anyways, it’s the middle of winter, more or less, and let me tell ya, It DOES get cold in Florida, but thankfully not too cold. Actually it’s only cold when the sun goes down. Since there have been a few cold fronts move through the past few weeks, it’s getting to around upper 50’s to 60’s in the daytime. But in a week it’s going to be back to near 80!! yEaH!!! Back in TN it was snowing the other day. Boo is all I can say about that.

School is going pretty good this semester. Way better than last semester. I’ve been doing a BUNCH of programs lately. It’s sorta like when I’m not at school, I’m on my computer typing away punching out the next homework assignment or doing Math or Physics homework. After being in Daytona for my second semester now, I’m getting more used to everything around town and school and all. I can’t wait for spring break time because; not one, but TWO car shows are going to be the week before spring break! I’m used to going up to Pigeon Forge, TN for some of the best car shows in the country, but these down here are supposed to be pretty good. We’ll see. I know for sure in the summer time I’m going back up to Tennessee for the Camaro nationals. Well, I’m out for now; I think I’m going to make a run to Taco Bell. It’s a shame that the nearest Sonic is 20-30 miles away in New Smyrna Beach. Sonic is the BEST! Haha. Talk to yall later.

-Darryl

Hey Everyone!! How is the rest of the world out there? I’m doing pretty good here. It’s getting colder now that it’s deeper into winter time. It’s getting down to like mid 40’s at night and mid 60’s to 70’s in the daytime. Well what else has been going on you may ask? Not a whole lot. This past weekend did a little shopping, and all. Also this past week I did a little maintenance on my car. New brakes/tires/all that good stuff. I always love workin’ on the car. It’s always fun to put so much work into something and then see how it pays off in the end with performance and such.

I’ve been programming a lot lately. CS225 has a lot of programs to do. We do at least one per homework, sometimes more. The rest of you CS majors will never have to take CS125 and CS225. They are getting rid of them and calling it engineering something or another. I don’t know why. They’re apparently taking java 1 and java 2 and cramming it all into a 1 semester class. Physics is a lot of studying too. Along with every other class, haha. Anyways, I’ve not done a whole lot lately. Just kinda hung out and chilled in front of the TV. It’s always something good to do when there is nothing else to. We’ve had a little bit more rain lately too. It’s been like 2 weeks or so since it’s rained last, but it only sprinkled a little bit so that’s no big deal. Anyways, I don’t know much else, but I’ll talk to yall later.

Hello everybody!! How’s it going? It’s pretty good on this side. School’s starting again. BOOO, haha. Seriously, school starting is always good. They made some minor aesthetic improvements to campus. They’ve been working on putting some trees and bushes in around the place to spruce it up a bit. They apparently re-did the cafeteria, but I haven’t seen it yet so I don’t know what all was done for sure.

Well, let me tell you what all I did during my break. Not much, just a good ole time here and there. The day after finals last semester I packed up my stuff and I took a week off back home in Tennessee. One problem, it was WAY cold, and it started to SNOW!!! Snow is no vacation, but I got to see the family and hang out with my friends, so it was all good.

Then I came back down to Daytona for Christmas and everything. That was fun. It was the first time I’ve ever worn shorts and a t-shirt on Christmas Day! Gotta love Florida.

Then just the other day I took a little short vacation to Manhattan. It was my first time to NYC, so it was an experience, let me tell ya. One of the best times ever, it’s so much fun around New York. Lastly I came back to Daytona once again and started class just a couple days ago.

Daytona doesn’t have much going on right now, but one of my favorite races is coming to the speedway; The Rolex 24 at Daytona. It’s a 24-hour endurance race with some of the greatest drivers in the world for those who don’t know. This isn’t NASCAR; these guys actually make turns. Anyways, you can hear them testing at the track from campus. Two days ago it sounded like either the Corvette C5-R’s or the Saleen S7-R’s out running. Whatever it was, it had a V-8. Today it sounded like a prototype car, maybe the Championship Team Audi or Bentley or something like it. Anyways, that’s coming in early February, so I’m going to that for SURE! Catch ya’ll later.

-Darryl

Hello again. How is everyone? (I ask as if anyone would let me know, haha). Anyways, Thanksgiving came and passed. I stayed down here like most everyone else. My parents made the near 700 mile trip down here and chilled at my apartment for the holiday. We didn’t do a whole lot. After all, it’s still a small town atmosphere here. I haven’t done anything this past week really. I finally got cable service in my apartment so I just sat around. Monday I’m going to Disney. More than likely we will go to EPCOT, but we’ve got hopper passes that are good for all four parks, so we’ll see. Another good thing about going to school in Florida, you’re automatically considered a Florida resident. This gives you great discounts to lots of places, including the theme parks. So anyways, we’ll check out the Christmas scenes over there and of course have fun doing it.

On the home front I have to have maintenance come and fix the water in my apartment. All the faucets are backwards and the toilet flushes hot water!??!? Crazy huh?! And before you ask how I know that it uses hot water, I’ll just let you know that sometimes it steams after you flush it!! It cracks me up. That’s for sure. Man! Finals, booo. Anyways, I’ve got three finals on Monday the 13th and one on the 16th. Isn’t that always fun. At least the final I have on the 16th is my hardest class, so I’ll have a few days to study for that one. It is kinda crazy that the semester is almost over. It doesn’t feel like a full semester, I guess those hurricanes just screw everything up. Well, I am off to go cruise around. It’s one thing to do when there is nothing else to do. See you guys later.

Hey guys!!! How’s it going out there in Journal land? Well, it’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving time. Time for turkey and sleep (you know that’s all you’re going to do, hehe). We’re all finishing up some work before we go on break. Not that we aren’t going to have anything to do over break, because I have two fairly decent projects and LOTS of homework. I’m not kidding, hours upon hours of homework. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if we didn’t have those blasted hurricanes to begin the semester with. But, then again it probably would be just as bad, haha. We’ve all been registering for classes also. I always feel like the semester is a long way from being over until you have to register for the next semester, then you know there’s not much more left. It’s definitely a good feeling.

Well we only have a little less than a month left of classes. Which means it’s that last push for the end. There’s plenty of stuff to do around here, that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to next semester. I’ve only been in Florida during spring semester months once for Spring Break. I’m hoping that it stays warm here in Daytona. It has been about 75-80 during the days and chilly, 50-60, at night. Kinda stinks because when you’re out late you don’t want to have to wear a jacket, but it’s a good idea. I am so not used to being in FL still. I keep thinking, it’s late November, it should be a lot colder than this. Where are the 30 degree mornings?? Where are the leaves blowing around on the roadways?? Tennessee is very different. I’m staying in Daytona for Thanksgiving, but at least I’ll get that good ole feeling of wintertime back in Knoxville when I go home for Christmas. My friends and I haven’t been doing much around here. Once it gets too cold to go to the beach, we can’t find a whole lot to do that doesn’t take money. After all, we’re all broke college students. I blame the tuition! But, ERAU is pretty much the best place to get a high paying job from, and after all, isn’t that why we’re going to college anyways?! Anyways guys, I’m outta here for now. I’ll talk to you all before Christmas. Later folks.