I've had a great deal of luck these days, and I don't know with what to attribute it. Coincidence? Divine intervention? The Force? Who knows, but it's been pretty awesome how things have been fitting into place.

On January 5th, I had the remaining 3 molars extracted. If you remember my past dealings with the dentist, you'll know about what I've had to go through. The last three were just as easily extracted as the previous two, and the dentist didn't have to do anything extra for it. I've had zero pain since the day after the extractions, and I've even gone in for a cleaning at my regular dentist. We talked about my ordeals with Aspen Dental, and they were glad I stuck with them. I am too! The hygienist even told me that I had good hygiene, and that my cavities look like they developed a couple years ago during my teen years. I took this as a compliment towards my efforts to keep my teeth in better condition these days, as well as a compliment to my age, seems as I'm 29 and my teen years are nearly a decade in the past. The next few visits will be to plan out restoring my remaining teeth, a root canal or two, but things are looking real good there.

I don't think I mentioned this before, but several months ago I got a small chip on my windshield. It scared me when it happened, and I don't know what or where the foriegn object came from, but it made a tiny, half-inch chip just above the bottom edge of my windshield. I didn't know what to do about it, so I ignored it. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago- the extreme-cold weather we were experiencing had a fertile effect on the chip. From day to day, I watched it grow from a half-inch to an inch, to two inches, and then to three inches. Finally, in the bitterest of the bitter cold(3ºF) two weeks ago, the windshield popped, and that three inch crack exploded into a three foot crack. Again, the popping noise made me jump while driving down the road. This is where my luck came in- I had just gotten an alignment done on the car, as well as replaced the two front tires. The guy who did the work told me that most insurance cover glass and that I should call and find out. Sure enough, the entire repair was covered with no deductible. They did a wonderful job and I have not found any signs that the windshield was ever replaced.

And on the note of car trouble, I also had my brake light pop on too. took it to Lockport Tire where they found out the emergency brake was stuck, and it was a simple matter of unjamming it. Brake light didn't come back on.

Now comes the matter of money. I've done very well this month, and have stuck to my budget most of the way. There were a few hiccups, but on the whole I've managed to keep my books straight. I'm so proud of myself, it makes me feel optimistic about my financial restoration, I almost want to celebrate! But that will come later. I'm still building up for that emergency fund, I plan on having that ready once my tax return has come in. After that I should have a healthy amount saved up and I can start paying back on my debt.

Things are looking up for me right now, and I'm excited. I hope to keep that level of optimism going indefinitely.

So I finally gave up Warcraft again, this time for good. I was speaking a fellow player about our playing habits. He mentioned to me how he used to be very hardcore in the game, and no only played because his fiancée played. He told me about how he failed a couple classes and lost a job to Warcraft. It really dawned me then that I didn't really want to play Warcraft anymore.

I saw what I perceived as poor performance during the last semester. Yeah, I managed to get a B in the chemistry class, but I felt I could have probably done better. Even if the game may not have really interfered, I no longer want to take that chance. I've let my account lapse. It was a good run, and I was still only halfway through the content, but I'm finished with that game.

My video game interests have moved much more over to the casual side now too. Left4Dead, an awesome game and highly recommended, is easy to pick up and set down. I still play some TF2 but not as much. I haven't given up on games completely, but I've decided to move away from something as engrossing as Warcraft.

As of today, I've been dry for 24 days. Wish me luck!

I can't believe I am only now getting around to blogging about Christmas. Christmas is my favorite holiday for many reasons, the most important one being family. This year turned out to be one of the more special Christmases. It was great to see the family again. Visiting with Dad and Cindy, seeing Aunt Wanda out and about, delicious holiday fare, good company- it would seem pretty much standard, right?

Christmas this year was marked by two very exceptional things, both related to each other, but nonetheless distinct. This year I invited Dave to our family's party. He agreed readily- he needed the break from his stay at the nursing home. The only concern about inviting him was the drive. I would have to travel from Lockport down to Buffalo, and then on to Batavia. Overall, this is about a 60 mile drive, taking roughly an hour and fifteen minutes.

Old Mother Nature had another plan for us, instead. Our Christmas party was being held on the Sunday before December 25th. Starting on Friday, the snow and cold weather rolled in. I had a rough drive home from work that night, and I hoped that it wouldn't last much longer than a day. Who knew that the weather would get worse on Saturday, and then make Sunday one of the most stressful drives I've ever taken?

I couldn't say no to Dave. I told him come hell or high water, I will be taking him to Batavia. I didn't count on whiteout conditions and unplowed roads. I managed to pick up Dave without incident- the roads were slow going but still manageable. It wasn't until I was on the Thruway that the enormity of the risk I was taking settled in. The road conditions continued to deteriorate. Dave acted as my second pair of eyes as we dragged along at 20mph, passing several SUVs off the road, a 3-car accident. There were several times where I could not see in front of me, so Dave kept his eyes on the road markers to make sure I was still on the road.

As we approached Batavia, we found a plow and followed it to the exit. Fantastic! The sense of relief was great. As for the party, it was pretty standard. Dave got a few gifts, and overall it was quite satisfying. I didn't want to venture back that night, but Dave said he really needed his medicine. So it was back out on the road.

For the return, we didn't take the Thruway. My uncle recommended staying on local roads for several reasons: AAA will not go there; if I get stuck, I'll be stuck for a longer time; and finally, if I do get stuck, I can walk to a house. I couldn't argue with his wisdom so Dave and I headed out onto route 5 back to his nursing home. This trip was just as slow, just as dangerous, but at least once we reached the route 33 expressway, the skies cleared and I could see a bit further ahead of me. The whole time, I was saying, "Thank you God for getting us this far. Please help us get all the way home." God must have been listening because I did get Dave home to his place, and I also survived the trip back to my apartment, safe and sound.

So there you have it. This Christmas would be special to me, as it marks my friend Dave and his adoption into our family, and it also marks the stressful and dangerous trip in and out of Batavia in some of the crappiest weather I've ever experienced. I hope I never experience it again either.

So 2008 has passed. It will go down as a year of change for me. There are so many things I have accomplished this year, I don't know where to begin. So I won't.

Instead I'll be looking at 2009 with renewed vigor. With my past deeds done, I look forward to even greater ones this year. I don't necessarily want to call them... resolutions... but they will be goals. Resolutions are made to be broken. But goals are meant to be reached. So my goals this year:

1. Budget every single month this year.
2. Blog at least once a week.
3. Camping trip.
4. Getting down to 300lbs.
5. Getting my Chemistry GPA above 2.75, so that I can meet the requirements for my teaching certification.

These goals are tough, but I have every confidence that I will be able to reach them. I have my friends, my family, and most importantly God on my side. How can I possibly fail?

There are four people who have especially made 2008 wonderful, and I'd like to take a moment to thank them.

- Candi, you're one of my best friends. You've always been there when I needed to talk. Thank you!
-Amanda, you are also a great friend. Thank you for being there too.
-Dad, you're my hero. If I can have your wisdom and your motivation, then I will go far indeed.
-Finally, David, you're teaching me how to be a good Christian. How could I possibly consider your friendship worth anything less than priceless?

And to everyone else, thank you for reading my blog and for being my friend. Here's to a hearty, healthy, and happy New Year!

I purchased a beautiful new laptop. I originally intended to let Dave use it until he was able to buy one of his own. However, our mutual friend Tom managed to fix a laptop that is actually much better for Dave's needs than the one I purchased. So I have a new laptop- it was less than a third of the cost of the laptop I bought 4 years ago, and it actually fits comfortably on my lap. In fact, the device is so spiffy, I even take it off my desk and around the kitchen/living room to watch videos while I'm doing chores. I've realized too, that this is the kind of laptop I wanted for school all along. The original computer I bought for the intention of taking to school was not suited for it at all. It was heavy, noisy, and large. It was very heavy. It wasn't very conducive to porting around or playing on a small desk. This new laptop, however, is light, compact, and if I need to put it on my lap it fits quite well(but that may be because of all the weight I've lost). This new machine is actually exactly what I was looking for in a laptop.

But there is one thing I don't like about it. It has Windows Vista. There may be some apologists out there for this Windows Millennium Edition 2.0 operating system, and I say have another glass of the cool-aid. This OS is slow and clunky, takes forever to start up and shut down, and is very difficult to customize. I've read in several locations that my video card, an Intel GMA 4500HD should be able to handled Warcraft and a few other games decently on low to medium settings. It loads the game but plays at a whopping 11 frames per second! I thought I might keep Vista on this computer to learn it, but I don't think it's worth the hassle.

Thankfully, after a tip from Jay Nickerson(Batavia Computer Center), I purchased this laptop with the knowledge that I could indeed upgrade to Windows XP. I think I'll be doing that sometime within the week. I think this laptop deserves something better than this vile crapware known as Windows Vista.

Well the rush of coursework and such is complete. I completed all my necessary work. I'm looking getting an A in my education class and either a C or an A in the chemistry class. "How can it be?" you ask. Well, the last class before the exam, the professor offered us a deal. If we handed in all our labs, and got a perfect 10 on the last exam, then we get an A in the class. I don't know if I managed to pull off the 10 on the final exam, but I certainly did work hard at it.

Now that classes are over, I've been pondering my new-found free time and how I could be spending it. For a while, I was excited to have some time to play World of Warcraft. Now more than ever I find the game fascinating, lore-driven, and finally fun again. Reflecting on those thoughts, however, has brought me to believe that maybe it's not the way to go. I'm 29, still single, and it's frustrating. Even though its the middle of winter, I feel like I should be doing something.

And do something I shall. My college provides free use of the gym, and I've been interested in joining up and using it. I hope... I really hope... that this endeavor doesn't get cut down because the gym isn't open over the winter break, especially now that I have this strong desire to do it.

In other news, I bought a new laptop! It's a fine deal and I hope it travels well when I go back to class in January. This laptop is supposed to be better at traveling than my last laptop, which was heavy and made me fearful it would break. I'm really looking forward to being able to type my notes instead of relying on my poor handwriting.

Dave's doing pretty well. He's discovered the nursing home's Nintendo Wii and is having a blast. I joined him the other day and it was a great deal of fun. We're going to go to the movies on Sunday as well. I sure hope that "Day The Earth Stood Still" remake turns out to be good.

Looking back at this post it sounds kinda funny in my mind. I'm really tired so blame my exhaustion!

Where have I been?! Well it's crunch time for school right now. Both classes have huge demands and I'm only hoping to get most of the work done over this weekend and over Thanksgiving break. I've finally caught up on a few things so this wave I've been riding is about to crest.

I saw my surgeon on Thursday and I'm happy to report that my plateau has broken. Since increasing my protein intake, I've started losing weight again after being the same weight for 4 months. Awesome! Other things to report: Cholesterol, perfect. Blood pressure, perfect. Heart rate, perfect. Vitamin D, perfect. Other vitals, Perfect. My doctor decided that after losing 160lbs since I started, I am a complete success. From here, it can only get more successful!

One of my biggest difficulties for my education class was finding a school to do observations. After being declined a few times I remembered a conversation I had with a former high school classmate. It turned out that she was teaching at our old middle school. I asked if I could observe in her classes and she agreed! I spent 10 hours in two sessions observing in her classes, and I must say it was very informative. I completed my requirement but I also learned how a school runs from the point of view of the faculty. If she ever reads this site, I want to thank Miss Hatch for letting me observe. She saved me from a terrible fate.

That's it for now. I'm sure once school winds down I'll have more opportunity to post. And no, I haven't forgotten...

FOR THE HORDE!

As you know, Dave has been stuck in the hospital since April of 2008, before that he has been in and out. He has been battling the complications due to stomach surgery performed back in 2002, as well as the depression of being in hospital care for a very very long time. He copes with the boredom and depression through his laptop and video games.

Recently, his apartment was broken into, his xbox360 and all his games swiped, and an errant glass of water just trashed his laptop. This is a huge blow to his psychological well being, and I want to help him. I am a man of limited means, and I am putting this request out to anyone who might be able to help:

We're looking for a laptop that is in fair condition that has wireless and can at least play Warcraft. Doesn't have to be fancy or anything. If anyone has a lead or a link to a reputable site where we can purchase one cheap, please let me know. you can also email me at jeffraven65@yahoo.com

We're looking at a price range of under $300.

I missed it, it passed me by without much notice. What happened (slightly more than) a year ago, you might ask? On October 22nd, 2007, I had the gastric bypass performed. It doesn't seem all that long ago, does it? For me it doesn't. The past few weeks have been a bit foggy between my dental situation, school, and work, so the day squeaked by quite easily. It should be signifigant, right? After one year I am at 370lbs. I've plateaued for the most part, but to be honest even if I don't lose any more weight I'm still glad to have had the surgery.

I know what I need to do to lose more weight and it involves eating more protein and less carbohydrates. However, I'm having difficulty implementing this plan. Carbohydrate-rich foods are easier to create and with my busy schedule I don't always have time to make a properly balanced meal. Also, with the weather getting colder and the time I spend on classes/work, I don't have time to get 5 miles a week of walking.

For now, I'll be walking when I can and adjust my diet accordingly, and hopefully jumpstart some more weightloss. I'm still considering the abdominoplasty, but again that is still on the horizon. Dr. DiBennedetto said at my last visit that I can expect to lose weight due to the surgery for another 6 months from now, and I hope I can do it. If I can get down some more, I'll definitely put the abdominoplasty in further consideration.

If nothing makes you proud to be an American, perhaps you should take a look at the Discovery Channel's "When We Left Earth" series. It details the United States entry into the space race, our success and failures in putting men on the moon, as well as the challenges of traveling into space.

It amazed me what we were able to accomplish, what we continue to accomplish as we continue to reach out to the stars. It is still very dangerous and each new mission is an achievement in and of itself. I can only hope to see us travel further, but I don't know if that'll happen. In these days, I can't imagine returning to those exciting times. It seems that traveling into space is passé and not all that exciting, so the emphasis on this area of development seems to be waning.

Does anyone out there care that much about traveling beyond our blue-and-white basket? I think we need to get some eggs out there.

Man the past few days have been beautiful! I've had no complications from the extractions, and the oral surgeon even called me on Saturday(Saturday!) to check up on me. No more tooth pain, and slowly but surely I'm on a path to getting my teeth to something considered normal. I still have a few crowns and many cavities to fill, but that's nothing compared to the extractions. I'm excited!

I had two exams today, one for Instrumental Analysis and another for my education class. I know I did well on my education class but Instrumental... Well, lets just say I probably did better than some of my classmates, but not perfect. My education class was a breeze

I've talked with my academic advisor, and I have a plan moving forward towards my teaching certification. In order to get the necessary 2.75 GPA average for chemistry, I have some choices. In order to avoid repeating any classes, I will need to get an A in my current chemistry class and at least a B in the next one. While I like to be optimistic, I think it may be a bit of a stretch to say I can do it at this point. I will work as hard as I can, but it looks like I'm going to be repeating some of my old chemistry classes that I didn't do too well in back at UB. Hopefully, with better professors and better health, I will improve and get my chemistry requirements out of the way.

I've been watching the NASA missions and I'm filled with patriotic pride. I think I'll expound on that on my next post. For now, wish me luck!

So I had two of the 5 necessary teeth pulled today and I must say it's not that bad. I don't think I would have lasted at work but the pain has subsided greatly. All that is left is a bloody flavor in my mouth and a dull ache. The teeth that were pulled were two decayed wisdom teeth. I have the final 3 teeth scheduled to be pulled in January. Thankfully they are not urgently painful, but they will be more difficult to remove as the oral surgeon said he would need to do some surgery on them.

The cool thing is that since I only had two teeth removed from different sides of my mouth, I won't need stitches and I can let them heal on their own. Phew!

...than the absence of pain. The last few weeks have been a trial, and it still goes on. My dental issues have left me unable to focus on school and work. I'm either buzzed and drowsy on prescription pain killers or working through throbbing pain as I wait for my dental appointment this Friday. It's pretty much shut down my focus on my classes as well as my attempts to blog often on here.

I'd like to take a moment to give a heartfelt thank you to those who have sent something my way- every little bit helps and I greatly appreciate it.

If you guys want to play an awesome-fun game, check out World Of Goo. I have obviously refrained from buying the full version but there's a demo on Steam. The game is addicting and tons of fun.

As most people know, I've got debt. However a more immediate financial problem is my dental work. Right now, I have to get 5 extractions performed, and my insurance does not cover the cost fully nor does it pay up front. The dentist I have chosen offers the best deal in this area, but since he does not participate in my insurance he requires the payment be made up front. I cannot afford to do that. The past 3 days I have been in excruciating pain due to decay on several teeth and it needs to be extracted soon. I hate to do this, but I realize that one way to fund this is to seek donations. I've found that my paypal account will let me set things up so that with a click of a button, my generous readers could help me out(even in a small way). I am not asking for much, and I don't have much to offer, but I will promise that all funds generated here will go to my dental work. Thank you for your support.