Good News and Bad News

Despite the fact Texas A&M got slaughtered Saturday, I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend. Midnight Yell Practice was especially enjoyable;). Saturday for the game, I snuck over from where I was supposed to be to where the band was so I could cheer the Aggie's pitiful performance on with Meg. After all that was over with, I just went back to my dorm and relaxed. I had had a tough week previously. Turns out I didn't do well at all on an exam, so I'm stressed out about that class. I'm hoping to fix the problem this week by either using the nuclear option or the hard way option.*shrugs* I'm at a loss as to what to do, but with prayer and advice I'm sure I'll make the right decision.

Oddly enough, there's not much else to say. However, we did decorate at work (Student Computing Center) for Halloween. We put up webs, spiders, and skeletons on the walls (not real ones, of course;) ). We even put web all over the Associate Director's (he's about 2 steps below the head honcho of Texas A&M) office door along with "Caution" tape. It looked really cool! Apparently, has a good sense of humor because nobody's been fired yet.

That about sums it up. This week is gonna be rather boring as well as next week. Both of the games (that we're gonna lose miserably) are away, so nothing to do here on the weekends but study study study!:D
Oh wait!! There is one more thing! When I was walking Meg back to her dorm, she asked me to the BQ Ball! Now for those of you who don't know, the BQ Ball is a ball that all of the Aggie Band members go to once a year with dates (A BQ is anyone in the band). Apparently it's a huge deal because I get to wear a tux and get Meg a corsage(did I spell that right ladies?):D. There is gonna be dancing, so I'm a wee bit nervous about that. I've never learned how to dance and Meg said she never has either, so I guess we might just hang out and eat or something, which is a-ok with me!;) Or we might go ahead and try dancing. I don't know. We'll see. I'll keep ya updated!

Hmmm

'Tis been a thoroughly interesting/stressful week. Before I get into that, however I'll tell ya what I did over the weekend. Since the Aggies were playing away against Kansas State (Which we won 30-28 even though one of their touchdowns really shouldn't have counted), I had a free weekend. I decided to take a trip to Austin to visit Oak Hill Primitive Baptist Church (Where Emma goes). I enjoyed myself thoroughly, especially because my older brother Stephen came down too!! By the way, my congratulations to Stephen for finally completing his Masters of Science in Atmospheric Science (i.e. Meteorology/weatherman)!!!!
So, we had a good time and it was good to see everyone at Oak Hill.

After that awesome weekend, I had to study hard for my second Calculus II exam, which took up all of my extra time. After I took the exam today, I'm pretty much home free for the rest of the week save a Chemistry lab report I gotta do. This weekend is a home game, so we've got Yell Practice and everything!! My Yell date said she'll be able to go to Yell with me, but can't go to the game with me.:-\ She has to take her mother, however she said she'd rather take me if she had a choice.:D So, despite that setback, the weekend looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun!

This Past Weekend and Aggie Football

Nothing much is going on right now. We ended up winning our game last Saturday against OSU, 62-23. It was a lot of fun going with someone in the Fightn' Texas Aggie Band! This game was also the game where old BQ's (former Aggie Band members) come back and march in as their own unit and play during the game in addition to the current Aggie Band.

The half-time show was interesting. First the Aggie Band did their show, then they formed up on the south end of Kyle Field and the Texas A&M Singing Cadets walked out on the field. Once they formed up, while the Aggie Band played The Stars and Stripes Forever, the Singing Cadets sang the words to it. After that, as a tribute to all of those in the armed forces for both those who are still living and for those who gave their lives for their country, they played each branch's song. While each branch's song was being played, one member of the Color Guard marched from the sidelines to the center of the field with the flag of that branch. It was very moving to see old veterans stand when their branch was called and sing. What an awesome Saturday!

This weekend we play Kansas State. I'm not at all sure whether we're gonna win or not. We're not consistent at all. For those who would know, obviously our "defense" is our weakness and the only way we can win is to outscore our opponent before they outscore us because we sure can't stop them from scoring. Our next home game will be next weekend against Iowa State. That looks to be a tough game, but since it's gonna be here at Kyle Field, we've got a good chance.

The following weekend will be away against Texas Tech. I'll tell you right now, unless we create an friggin' awesome defense in two weeks, we ain't got a chance. The following weekend will be away against OU. This year they aren't near as good as they used to be. Even though they stink, they'll still be a tough team to beat on their field. Our last game will be against t.u. That's gonna be an interesting game. t.u. is #2 the nation, but as many #1 teams have found out, if you play the Aggies at home, you're not guaranteed a win until the clock goes to 00:00. We've beat #1 OU before and Nebraska back when they were top 5, so you never know.....If we could just fix our defense, we would very possibly be top 15. Anyways, that's all speculation. We'll see.

Really Funny Videos

Trailer Pull:
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/stunts/Car_trailer/
Why Men Don't Ask For Directions:
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/commercials/Why_Men_Dont_Ask_For_Directions/?c=&p=6
Pet of the Week-Would you Like to Adopt a Pinky?
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/animals/Pet_Of_The_Week/
Garbage Flirt
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Garbage_Flirt/
Frustrated Driver-Don't Touch My Car
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Frustrated_Driver/

My Roommate and I

This is me clean-shaven for once.:D

This is my roommate Chris....

Not all my studies are school-related.:D

Fightn' Texas Aggie Band

Aggie Band forming up at the north end of Kyle Field.

The Aggie Band was in a block formation and then once the front line reaches a certain point, those that are in the front do a unique "turn around" and march in between the ranks of those behind them.

Doing the same thing as above, but the move is a little more visible in this picture.

This is just before the Aggie Band forms their signature Block T.

The Block T just as the first few lines on the left side of the picture are turning around and marching back through towards the right side of the picture.

The Block T as the band heads back to the north end of Kyle Field.

As the tradition goes, once the Aggie Band reaches the endzone, everyone breaks formation and runs to the endzone.

TAMU 66 - SMU 8

This is one of the Corps units as they are marching in before the game starts.
















Touchdown! If you looks at the "S" in the endzone, you'll see the guy in maroon who just made the touchdown!
















Scoreboard: Texas A&M 66 SMU 8
















Corps Fish (Corps Freshmen) forming up near the endzone getting ready to grab the Yell Leaders (in white) and carry them to Fish Pond after we won the game.
















The Fish go after the Yell Leaders.
















The Yell Leaders have been grabbed and are about to be carried off to Fish Pond where they will be thrown in, as the tradition goes.

I Survived

The good news is that my toe (I feel like such a baby talking about this) is doing quite well now. I went to the doctor this past Tuesday and he said everything was going really well. He even said I could swim and could start running if it didn't hurt. I was also sure to ask if he thought it would be a problem to play flag football Thursday. He said I should take it easy at first to make sure my toe can handle it. I was also sure to ask him about the game this Saturday. I asked if he thought it would cause problems if I stood for 4+ hours. He said there shouldn't be. All Aggie students (unless they're sick, have a broken bone, etc) stand from kickoff until half-time. At half-time when the Fightn' Texas Aggie Band forms up at the north end of Kyle Field, everyone stands back up. Once the Aggie Band is done with their awesome performance, we sit back down for the remainder of half-time or if/when the other band performs. Then we stand from second half kickoff until the game is over. That's why I was checking.:)

Well, all the plans for this weekend are going swimmingly. As I afore mentioned, I plan on playing flag football Thursday night. The same girl I went to Yell Practice with a the last home game asked if I would like to go play flag football with her and the Aggie Band. Of course I said yes.:D I'm also going with her to Yell Practice this Friday night, which means I get to march with the band again!!!:) I'm also her date for the game against OSU Saturday. So, it looks like my weekend is gonna be a lot of fun and I'll be sure to let you know all about it afterwards.

Pictures will be coming soon. I finally got the roll of film developed from our first football game against SMU. Included in the pictures I will be posting are some game action photos, some pictures of the Fightn' Texas Aggie Band show, a picture of me actually clean-shaven, and a picture of my roommate. I'll try and get those up in the next couple of days.

Toe Be or Not Toe Be

Tuesday was a rather good day for me, in actuality. Class was going well and I had just found out that I had made a really good grade on my Engineering Chemistry exam. Work seemed to be going swimmingly as well. I was in such a good mood, I decided to move the empty boxes from the print room at work to the front of the computer lab where we stack them to eventually get picked up or handed out. Usually I have to get told to do this.:) Well, on the way back to the print room to get more empty boxes, I decided to take the shortcut back to the print room. You see, I could either go all the way down to the hall, go about 20 feet down the hall, turn left into Resource Desk, and then walk into print room or I could walk into where the students come to pick up their printouts and hop over a short counter-top and what used to be a swing-door that is now bolted shut. I decided to take that shortcut and when I hopped over the little swing-door, I landed on the other side right on one of my wittle bitty toes!:-0 Now just think about that. You've got about 145 pounds landing on one single toe. Something bad is bound to result.

At first I just had a sharp pain where the toe is. I went about my business, but about 5 minutes later the pain was getting so bad that I could hardly walk. I called from my station downstairs (because I was in Print 2) to my supervisor, explained what happened, and asked him what to do. He told me that I had to come down and fill out a work injury report. While we were filling that out, I asked about Worker's Comp. and he said I didn't qualify because I was just a student worker. I found that rather odd. I had called dad first when my toe was hurting really bad to get his advice and he told me I should get some form of Worker's Comp. to take care of everything.

I had two choices: since the "Quack Shack" (the Texas A&M Univ. clinic) had closed right after the incident, I could either go to the ER or wait until the next day and go to the "Quack Shack." I decided to do the latter (the cheaper route) and suffer through the night. I made it through the night decently. I got up early, called the "Quack Shack", and made an appt. When I was seen, I was getting ready to get X-Rays when one of the nurses told me that I could use Worker's Comp. if I went off campus. I told her my supervisor said I didn't qualify for it. Her eyes got wide and she said, "Oh yes you do! Either he is not wanting you to know or he hasn't kept up with the latest e-mails regarding policies."

So, I voted to leave the "Quack Shack" and go to the hospital to get checked out. Since I did indeed qualify for Worker's Comp.(confirmed by Human Resources) , I wouldn't have to pay a thing! So I went, got x-rays, and was informed by the doc that I had a possible fracture in that particular toe and one of the bones was visibly out of place. That being the case, he got a nurse to "buddy wrap" my toe with the toe next to it so it didn't move much and then put me in one of those annoying blue shoes that have Velcro straps. In addition, I was not to swim in my swimming class for two weeks :-\ and I was also to get a handicapped parking permit!!

So now, I have to hobble all over campus for my classes, but at least when I go out somewhere I can park in the blue handicapped parking spots!!! My toe does seem to be doing much better, but that may be because I'm taking 800mg Ibuprofen 3 times a day, which about twice the max dose on a regular bottle of Ibuprofen.:D I just can't wait to get that blasted shoe off and wear a normal shoe.

Interesting Week

Forgive me for not posting in such a long time. It has been a rather hectic week. Wednesday I had two exams: Calculus II and Engineering Chemistry. The Calculus II exam was terrible and I ended up not doing very well. The Chemistry exam wasn't that hard, it was just really long and I wasn't able to finish before the time was up.:-\ There was some good news, however. I found out that I made a 90 on my Cultural Anthropology exam!:) That's the class taught by the liberal evolutionist. What made it even better is that there was a 6 point curve, so in the end I made a 96! That's the highest I've ever made on a college exam! I was so excited! The majority of the class the ended up making C's and lower were about ready to take us folks that made A's out and lynch us.:D

Well Friday rolled around and it was time for another Fightn' Texas Aggie Yell Practice! This time I was planning to ask someone to be my "Yell Date." The funny thing was, the girl I was wanting to ask I could never get the guts to ask her in person, so I had planned to find her in the facebook and ask her through that or through e-mail. It just so happens, that as I returned from eating lunch out with some of my fellow band members after rehearsal, one of the girls I've known since the beginning of the year came up to me and asked if I would walk her to the dorm.

You see, she's in the Fightn' Texas Aggie Band, which means she is also in the corps. The band hall where the Symphonic Band (Which both of us are in) rehearses is right by the "Quad" (Where the corps lives) so she has to walk through the "Quad" to get to her dorm. The problem is that since she is a Fish (Freshman), she has to "Whip out" (Introduce herself at the top of her lungs) to the upperclassmen she hasn't met yet in the corps on the way. Even if she has already "Whipped out" to certain upperclassmen, she still has to yell "Howdy Mr./Miss so-and-so Sir/Maam!" to them.

The only way she can get out of doing that is if she walks with a non-reg, i.e. someone who is not in the corps. Therefore, she asked if I would walk her to her dorm so she wouldn't have to "whip out." On the way to her dorm, she asked if I was going to Yell Practice. I said I was and she asked if I had a date. I said I didn't. Then she asked if I would like to be her date. Well, to be sure I was quite surprised! I agreed and I was to pick her up at 10:30pm that evening.

I went to pick her up and when she came out, she introduced me to her roommate and some of her friends. After hanging out for a while waiting for it to be time for the band to "step off," it was time to go "form up" with the rest of the band (Around 11:05pm). We went to go form up and got ready to "step off." Soon, we saw the Yell Leaders and the Drum Majors light the torches and then the whistle blew for everyone to get ready to "step off." The Drum Majors blew their whistle and beat the time with their "batons." The brass started the Aggie War Hymn and when it came time to "step off" in the music (16 beats into the music), we started marching. We marched by torchlight through the campus towards the stadium while people on both sides of the street were cheering and clapping to the beat of the music. It was so awesome! We marched into the stadium and when we got onto the student side of the field, there were thousands of people there in the stands anxious to start some Fightn' Texas Aggie Yell Practice!

I stayed with my date when we got into the stands. It was cool sitting right there with the band. It was an interesting experience having a trumpet blasting to the back of my head!:D The band played some and we did several yells. Then the time came for you to "mug your date"(i.e. kiss your date, as the tradition goes) when the lights were shut off.:D Just so you know, I didn't "mug" my date. It was a lot of fun, despite that fact.:) I walked her back to her dorm, we talked for a while, then we both said our goodbye's. Before we parted ways, she said she could pull my ticket for me so I could sit with her again not only at Yell Practice but for the next home game!:) So I'm planning on doing that!

That leads me up to Saturday's football game. We were playing one of the worst teams in the nation, Baylor Univ. The sad and most frustrating thing about the game was that for quite a while Baylor was beating us. It wasn't until towards the end of the game that we were able to catch up enough to tie the game. That sent it into overtime. Baylor got the first possession and was able to get a field goal. Then it was our turn. It took a few downs, but we were able to get a touchdown, thus winning the game. First of all, even though we ended up beating them, it is truly an embarrassment to have had so much trouble with a terrible team. If we keep playing like we have been playing, I can just about guarantee we will not win another game the rest of the season, except perhaps OSU. Doesn't look like this is going to be the year Texas A&M wins the Big XII Championship.