Today I completed my academic responsibilities for this semester.

In addition to completing my labs, my lab presentation, I also took two final exams. The economics exam was a cakewalk and I was done in twenty minutes. It's easy enough to repeat the liberal bilge. For the Physical chemistry exam, it came in two parts- a take-home portion based on the last few lectures and an in-class portion that was cumulative. In order to get the exalted A grade, I needed a total of 54 points on the final. I found out that I had earned 19 points on the take-home, and that left 35 points to be obtained on the in-class portion. I really tried, and I hope I made it, but there's the possibility that I didn't.

If I get the A grade, then I will have no need for further chemistry courses, and I can then proceed with my teaching certification classes. Right now its the waiting game until Friday when my professor posts the grades.

Let me tell you about my friend Dave. At first glance, Dave and I would not have made the most obvious of friends. When I first met Dave at the UB Anime club, we didn't really have a lot in common save for our mutual interest in Japanese culture. However that interest is what started our friendship. We both had great ideas for the Anime Club, so we both ran for office and got elected. We ended up working together(and sometimes against), but along the way we gained a mutual respect.

At first, I wasn't all that friendly with Dave. I found him impulsive and stubborn. Some of his plans were seat-of-our-pants too. Ask anyone who was in that poor Astro-Van on the way to Toronto and back. We didn't expect to leave parts of that van in Canada, but when you're driving that fast on the QEW, a muffler didn't seem very important for which to stop. Thankfully we made it back home safe and sound, although it was that Astro-Van's last voyage.

At first, I took Dave's antics with a smirk, but it slowly turned into smiles. Dave was all about living life and having fun, and I had come to want that too. Dave and I graduated from UB together, and while most of my friends had moved away, Dave was still nearby enough that we were able to hang out. We both had a mutual interest in video games as well- and we would often meet up and connect our computers together and enjoy an all-nighter of video games. Dave would often encourage outings as well to movie theatres or karaoke nights at a nearby bar. I wasn't a very social person then but Dave helped me out in this area of my life, and got me to open up.

Eventually, through Dave's encouragement, I moved into the same apartment building in Lockport. Now that we were both out of college, we had to become responsible. Our adventures were not as extravagant anymore as we had to consider more important things. Sometimes, Dave would ask me if he should refrain from buying some new game or comic book, or hold off obtaining some item of nerdy proportions. Perhaps my characteristic caution was affecting him as well.

Dave eventually left for Japan to teach English, but his real reasons was to soak up the culture. He loved Japan. He visited home and told me about his adventures there, and how much he wanted to stay over there. Dave was happy, but it was not to last. He started having health problems there to which the doctors in Japan had no experience, and he was forced to come home. He didn't have a place to stay so I offered him my foldout bed on my couch. He stayed with me, and while the arrangement was not ideal, at least I could provide Dave with a roof over his head and friends who could be there.

Dave was in and out of the hospital after that. Eventually we got him an apartment in the hopes he would improve- he did for a short time. We visited Dave as often as we could, played video games and tried to do the things we could do. We talked about our hopes for the future, and and tried to stay optimistic. Dave talked about going into criminal justice, or going back to Japan when he got better.

Eventually, Dave had to go back to the hospital, this time for good. We still kept up hope, that things were turning around, things were improving. Dave did improve enough that I was able to take him to my family's Christmas party- That was an adventure! Heavy snows and difficult driving made the trip memorable for both of us, with Dave acting as my second pair of eyes for some sign that I was still on the road. Through the grace of God made it safely to his hospital room, and we had one last adventure together.

That was the last time Dave and I were able to pretend he didn't have anything wrong going on. I visited as often as I could and we still figured out ways to hang out at the hospital, from watching a movie or playing video games. It became more difficult because Dave wasn't feeling up to playing, or visitors-and we had to work around my school and work schedule.

Eventually, Dave had to be moved and his health continued to decline. At one point I think he realized just how grave things were. He told me that he believed his days were numbered, but not to worry. I tried not to because I wanted to believe in a bright future. Soon after, Dave was put on a breathing tube and sedation. I still visited him when I could.

I didn't know what to expect when I came in Thursday afternoon. The nurses had always took a bit before allowing me to visit, but they always still allowed me to visit. When Lucy met me in the waiting room, I knew something was up. I knew this was it. Dave was awake and Lucy let me know what was happening, what was going to happen. It was difficult to hear it.

I couldn't be there Friday morning. I couldn't watch.

There will be no more adventures this side of life with Dave, and for that I am sad. But I'm grateful for his influence on my life. He taught me to live a little more, to not be afraid of socializing, and more importantly, he taught me that caring for someone, for being there for someone is what God wants all of us to do. I hope I live up to that expectation.

I finally got a chance to write. As some of you know, and many of you do not know, my friend David passed away Friday morning. His condition had not improved since his return to the hospital from the nursing home. Thursday, his aunt wanted to discuss the doctor's options to put a trache in to ease his breathing, but this was no guarantee that it would help Dave get healthier. David said he did not want a trache, and in fact wanted the breathing tube removed. He was in such pain, and he wanted it out. I got to visit him that Thursday, not knowing any of this, but once his aunt had told me, I knew this was it. Removing the breathing tube would essentially end David's life here on Earth.

I talked to Dave for a bit- though he couldn't respond but in a few feeble written phrases- and I told him to be humble before God. This life is a temporary one, and it is nothing compared to eternity. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

They decided to take the breathing tube out Friday morning. I couldn't watch such a thing, so I went to class. I had to keep my mind on other things. I didn't get word of how it went until just before failing my chemistry exam. It was quick and quiet. I still went to work after that. I didn't know what to feel then and I still don't know what to feel now.

David W. Miller, Jr was my friend. He was never perfect and he certainly had a different view on life, but it was very appreciated and I'll miss him greatly. My fondest memories will be the video games we played, and the places we visited here in Buffalo.

A friend of mine at work said that Dave got to do something that most of us never have much choice. I hope it was the right one, and when it comes time for me to face the music, I'll see Dave once again as I remember him.

I got the results back, and the score on the Chemistry exam was a 78- which is just shy of the A grade I was shooting for. However, there are some bonus points that were not tallied yet so it's still possible that I will have gotten the A nonetheless. Tomorrow I have another Economics exam and it looks like its going to be another piece of pie. Again, I won't be relaxing my efforts to study but I don't anticipate additional difficulty.

That being said, its getting towards the end of the semester. I still have 4 labs to write up, another Physical Chemistry exam, two final exams and an oral presentation to complete. Seems like a lot, yes? Well one step at a time, one problem at a time.

I found out I need more work done on my car- small stuff really but it can add up over time. I'm going to need new rear brakes and four tires. I've got a couple good estimates and the money to pay for them(I love my emergency fund!). Now all I need is the time to complete them.

On my mind lately has been Dave. The prognosis isn't good, and from what his aunt told me, Dave's health isn't improving and it looks worse and worse as time goes on. When I talk to Dave I try to keep him optimistic. When I spoke to him last Thursday, he mentioned going into criminal justice once he gets healthy. I thought it would be an awesome goal for him to reach. I tried to see him on Sunday, but alas he was sleeping. I'm going to try to see him today as well. Please, I ask everyone who reads this to keep Dave in your prayers, and pray for the best of all outcomes.

I did survive the exam. It took much longer than the one hour time she had allotted, but we were allowed to go over the time limit, thankfully. I did well on most of it, and did poorly on exactly what I expected: the calculus. The next exam will likely be just as intense but I expect to do better with the calculus. I won't know for sure until I'm at the point. The results are not in yet, but I expect they will be soon.

I can't believe the end of the semester is fast approaching! While I'm excited to be finished with classes, I'm more excited about the prospect of getting a second job and working faster to pay down my debt. Strange isn't it? I have a strong motivation to do so, and I only hope it lasts at the end of April.

I'm about to head to bed. Tomorrow(well today, it's after midnight) I take my second Physical Chemistry exam. I'm not as stressed as the last exam but I definitely feel the pressure. I hope I have everything down and I don't blow up on the calculus. I'll have a few hours in between my Economics class and the Chemistry class, so that will give me some extra time to study. I am amazed at my own focus for this class. I have no idea how I am doing it, but I am doing it. I think God is involved somehow.

Wish me luck!

Just a project I worked on a while back. These are surprisingly very good shakers.

Plus a new skin for the spring. $5.00 to the first person who can guess where the forest/stream image was taken.

Dave's going in for another surgery. He has a cavity in his body that continuously fills up with fluid. They're going to open it up and let it air out over time, and hopefully drive out the infection. This is the alternative to removing the rest of his lung(which hasn't fared very well these past months). Keep him in your prayers, he really needs it.

These past two days have been extremely eventful. With Tuesday and Wednesday being my days off and having Spring Break from classes, I took the opportunity to get a few things done. Tuesday I affected several car repairs as well as some dental repairs, and Wednesday I took the opportunity to visit my Dad.

I knew that once I purchased my car it was going to need new struts within a year. I had attempted to save up several times but it wasn't until my tax return came in did I have enough to get them fixed. I also had the problem of finding a good place to get them repaired. My dad's favorite mechanic has become unreliable as the owner had suffered several health problems. The shop I was using locally does good repair but their prices were too high. My supervisor(and good friend) at work who also lives in Lockport recommended Housel's Repair Station. At first I was skeptical but I looked into them. It turned out that their estimate for the repairs was almost $300 cheaper than my other shop. Given this I decided to take the chance. At first glance their shop is almost overlooked- they have no large sign stating who they are but upon close inspection you can see their name written on the wall. Their waiting area was typical for a small-time repair shop- somewhat dirty, chilly, and most of all empty. However there was a sign that stated that this place was voted "Best Auto Repair Shop" in Lockport for 2008. I had the feeling I came to the right place. Their work was quick and efficient- I waited only an hour for it to get done. While the car was raised up they noticed that I had a loose tie-rod. They offered to get that fixed with no extra charge for labor since the struts are in the same location. I agreed and it was all done at once. The mechanic said I could use an alignment later on and he was surprised when I told him it was only done a couple months ago at my dad's favorite mechanic. Needless to say when they did the alignment they failed to notice the loose tie-rod then. Good to know these guys spot all these things. It really is hard to find a good mechanic and I think I found one.

The dental work when much better this time around than the last time. Dr. Retell numbed me up much better and I only felt some discomfort. He filled 4 cavities on 3 teeth. Previously I had 2 cavities filled on 2 teeth and was supposed to have a third one done, but I couldn't stand it. The Novocaine wasn't strong enough so I had to quit while I was still coherent. This time around... oh man, was it better. So the plan is to finish up the top teeth and then get a crown for a root canal, and after that I'll have to get a crown for my front tooth. After all that, maybe I can spend a little on getting them whitened

Wednesday I spend most of the day with Dad. It was great- we got to talk a great deal and got a ton of plinkin' done. For those who might not know, plinkin' is the practice of shooting a .22 rifle at a bunch of targets. We had a blast with so many targets. My Dad fired a round of his high-powered .22 and blasted a pop bottle clear over the hill at the firing range. I also took the opportunity to take numerous shots at my final credit card.

With that I had the opportunity to discuss my plans to be debt-free. I never want to use a credit card again, and I never will. I've been following Dave Ramsey's plan. This guy is very smart and knows what he's talking about. He's inspired me to get off credit cards and pay only in cash and I know I can do it. I tried explaining this to my Dad and to my aunt, but they both said "you still need a credit card." I disagree, and there are thousands if not millions of people who are doing it right now. I hoped that I could inspire my Dad to do the same and at least he's open to the idea. I'm going to save up a little cash and buy him an mp3 player so he can listen to Dave Ramsey's show, as well as the audiobook lessons I picked up when I took the financial class last year.

And I'll leave you with a little scripture today. "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." - Proverbs 22:7

I will be a slave no more.

I'm currently taking entry level economics in order to satisfy a requirement in order to add History to my teaching certification. The class has its faults- lazy TAs, poor attendance-tracking methods, Captain Tangent as our professor...

But the real problem I have with this class is the professor's unabashed and unapologetic love for socialism. The professor never outright says he's a socialist, but he agrees with socialist policies. He uses this view to justify FDR's big government policies, and now Obama's policies as well.

The class has gone pretty well up until now- most of the early content I have already learned and it pretty basic for Economics. Now that we've turned to the Great Depression, the professor has begun to heap praise for "the greatest economist of the 20th Century," John Maynard Keynes. Keynesian(pronounced Canes-ian) economics is roughly described as using government(public) spending to make up for the slowdown of private spending during a depression or a recession. The idea is that the government, with its massive power, can spend money to create jobs and thus giving people the confidence in the capitalist system. FDR took this idea and ran with it as part of his "New Deal" policies, creating new entitlements like Social Security, and setting the stage for more entitlements in the future.

Despite my professor's laudatory attitude towards Keynes and FDR, he stated clearly in class that FDR's Keynesian policies didn't work- because he didn't spend fast enough. It wasn't until the government stepped up spending for World War II did the economy start picking back up again. So was it Keynesian economics that got the economy going again? I doubt it.

In an earlier discussion, our class talked about how early capitalism was helped along by reducing taxes and reducing regulations in order to give people more opportunity to spend on business. Entrepreneurs(good ones at least) want to reinvest their money back into the business so that they can grow. This is a fundamental element to understanding capitalism, and my professor agreed that it can make an economy grow. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush had each proven that lowering taxes and reducing regulation can pull the economy out of a recession with their policies as well. So, why have the government spend like crazy if reducing taxes/regulation could achieve the same effect of creating growth?

The answer is simple: If the government gets out of the way and reduces taxes and regulation, business picks up and reinvests that money back into business again, reinvigorating the economy. The average Joe American entrepreneur gets the credit for growing the economy, and ending the recession. However, if government follows Keynesian economics, and spends the money to create jobs and pushes make-work programs, government gets the credit! And with that credit comes power- people will become beholden to that power.

My economics professor stated that Keynesian economic policies were used at every recession since the Great Depression, and gave complete credit for the victory over the recession to those policies, and not the tax-lowering policies of the presidents mentioned above. I reject this claim.

So this discussion brings us to today. People are equating Obama's policies to FDR's, and believe Obama is trying to apply Keynesian policies. Despite my disagreement with Keynesian economics, I can't even say Obama is trying to follow such a doctrine. The "stimulus" package he signed doesn't do what he claims it will. Argue with me about that and I can say you didn't read the bill! In fact, no one did! Not even the people who signed it! The "stimulus" bill does not have the make-work ideas that FDR put forward, it has 8500 earmarks and pet spending projects that have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. Didn't Obama say something about no earmarks?

Suffice it to say, Obama was voted in and now we have to deal with him for two more years until we can do something about him. Let's hope the damage he's done can be mitigated or delayed. He said he was about hope and change, Well I hope he fails, or changes his path towards socialism.

PS: UCLA Economists say FDR Prolonged Great Depression

I know the question that is on your mind. It was a very difficult exam and every ounce of studying that I did was well worth it. Suffice to say, I managed to get an 88 out of 100, and the way the professor curves it, it counts as an A. In other good news, the results to my Economics class was a 94, which is also an A. Not that I'm going to rest on my laurels here... I will nonetheless take a deep sigh of relief.

The other class I am taking, as it counts as a separate class, is the physical chemistry lab. While I haven't had any exams, the writeups for the labs are very involved. I haven't gotten an scores back yet so I don't know how well I've done so far, but I hope to find out soon. It would be a shame to get 3 labs into the class and find out I've been doing something wrong the whole time.

In related news, the past few classes in my Economics course has lead me to conclude that my economics professor is a socialist. The class was going really well up until we started discussing the American economy. He lavished praise upon FDR and the idea that a large government is what's best for an economy. He often goes off topic but sometimes goes into his political views and totally agrees with Obama's "stimulus" plan. I had thought that anyone with a brain would realize that this "stimulus" package that's being crammed down everyone's throats doesn't do anything to stimulate the economy, only the government itself.

I thought that if I stayed in the sciences, I wouldn't have to deal with the political liberal/socialist bologna I hear about so often on campuses. It's something completely different to have it fed to me as part of a class.

I can now claim victory over that Chemistry exam that I've worried about these past few weeks. It was every bit as difficult as I expected, too. They say stress isn't good for you, but in truth it was the stress that pushed me to study hard for it. My stomach isn't sorted out yet but at least now I can breathe a sigh of relief for a short time.

There were a few problems that I was not totally sure about, but I think this time around I've done worlds better than the last time I took this class. It's almost a natural high to have done so well on the exam. I even managed to complete a bonus that was on the exam as well. I can't help but feel bad for my classmates though. Two of them were complaining that they didn't study and they were expecting the worst- kinda like I felt the first time I took this class. I'm surprised at myself that I took so much care to get this exam right. I've been pretty lazy(let's be honest) up until now. It's like I kicked it into 5th gear to study hard, and it paid off.

As for the stress on my stomach, I have it under control. Unfortunately my insurance requested a re-authorization before they would pay for the Protonix. I contacted my surgeon's office and they said they'll try to get it covered for me, and if that doesn't work I'll have to try an alternative. I hope it works out, but I won't know until I call the pharmacy tomorrow.

That's it for now. I'll post my grade when I get it pack. Oh yeah, I'm on a new shift, one that is far better than before and it fits my school schedule perfectly!

I've been under a great deal of stress lately, and my doctor thinks I might have an ulcer for it.

I have two exams due this week, and while I'm not too concerned about the Economics exam, the Chemistry exam has gotten me worried. I am doing quite a bit to make sure I can survive it, but something in the back of my mind keeps telling me it isn't enough. It's gotten pretty bad lately that my stomach has been aching pretty bad. Not quite acid-y, but definitely aching. I scheduled an appointment with Dr. DiBennedetto, and he prescriped Protonix, an ulcer medicine. I haven't been able to get it yet, as it requires pre-authorization, but I hope to have it soon.

My car has also been emitting a new sound on the right side of the car, and I think its wheel-related. I scheduled an appointment at Lockport Tire for today to find out what it might be. Here's hoping it's nothing major.

Wow, has it been busy around here. School has started in earnest, and between that and work I've barely had time to do much but the bare minimum.

So far I'm proceeding well in my classes. Economics 101 is an entry-level course and if you can imagine your typical freshman class with 200 students and a boring professor with the hour-long slide-show notes, you'd be very close to the mark. The content is interesting but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. I think I could sleep through the class. Speaking of sleep, the class starts at 11am and with my current work schedule my current sleep budget SUCKS. Thankfully it's changing on the 27th.

As for my chemistry class, I'm understanding the concepts fairly well but I know I'm going to get hit(and hit hard) on the calculus involved. I spend a great deal of time looking at calculus guides but they are only marginally helpful. It isn't panic time right now but I'm doing what I can to re-teach myself how to do derivatives and integrations. D:

If I do get some free time after class and before work, I'll stop by to see Dave. He was almost discharged this week but again fell victim to pneumonia again. His doctor said that it wasn't just Dave getting unhealthy again but also the mismanagement by his caregivers at his nursing home. I'd like to see Dave get moved to a new nursing home but I don't know how feasible that would be. He needs to be near his main doctor but the one he's at could quite possibly make things worse.

My schedule is going to be changing again and hopefully for the good. I'll be working 3:30pm to midnight, with Tuesday/Wednesday off. This will be much better and allow me to sleep a little longer and definitely work around the cockup of Thursday mornings(I have a lab at 9:30am, after coming home from work at 2:30am!)