About Me - how inadequate of an analysis, More later.

I'm just a (ab)normal college Senior, without a desire to go out and do the "crazy" things that really make a college experience. My free time is mostly spent working on schoolwork. It's not that I don't have other things that I would like to do. I have many hobbies that focus on my uncanny ability to fix things. My major is Computer Engineering for which I do a lot of coding composing many programs and systems to accomplish those somewhat behind the scenes actions that we don't thing about regularly. I found out yesterday that one of my teachers' assistants owned a company that built the software for controlling the orders at McDonalds. That's something I had never thought about, that's how Mcd is so much faster (not than other fast food restaurants, they are equally enabled, just poorly managed). I enjoy my major, immensely, but it's not what I do as a hobby. I don't seem to have the ingenuity or need to think of my own problems to be solved using my skills. So, I put my effort into the problems posed by others. I like solving others' problems and helping people out. Instead I spend my free time when I have the opportunity into fixing and improving things of mine. Over winter break (a whole month, good or bad in terms of accomplishments) I was able work on my first vehicle (a beautiful 1993 Chevy C1500 stick-shift short-bed pickup) including sticking the rear view mirror back up -- i know, not that hard -- pulling the fabric off the ceiling piece -- equally easy but needed, I'll replace it when I get back to it -- and replacing 75% of the steel brake line --painfully long process without a proper shop (I had to move the gas tank, and with all the rust I couldn't take it all the way down so I had to work in a 5 inch gap. Slightly convenient was the fact that the old line was so rusty it just snapped and came out without me needing to disassemble it. Unfortunately I found that out after I had done 90% of the disassembling, lol.). Oh, I should mention, I live in Central Illinois, where we have a decently mild winter. It was only around 20 degrees Fahrenheit on average for the entire time I was working on the truck. I was in a garage so I didn't have the beautiful snow to contend with, or the wind, but the only thing keeping me warmer was an electric space heater placed right next to the two layers of pants and shirts I was wearing! It was really fun, I think the part that kept me going was listening to the Christian music station (WIBI) as well as my desire to keep that old truck running. I don't think my dad wants to keep putting money into it, but with me doing most the work to keep it running, it's really not that expensive of an investment (except the gas). It gets similar mileage to most pickups even though it has the weaker 6 cylinder in it, which is part of the problem. Burns less gas with a smaller block, but still has to pull the full size truck. It's no S10. I do love to play in it, especially in the snow.
Other accomplishments over my break include a very entertaining 5-day trip to Kansas City, Kansas to see some friends, looking through and reducing the amount of stuff I have stored away to move out with me when the time comes, helping my mother do some "spring cleaning" type stuff, finding some pictures my mother had lost a year ago and making her day with the discovery, finding and purchasing my second beautiful vehicle, an indigo blue 2006 Toyota Corolla (also manual, I love manual), and lastly getting my wisdom teeth pulled out.
Not sure if it's my high tolerance for various things (like those wonderful 20 degree days or body pains of various sorts) or if I'm just lucky or whatever but I had little pain at all from the tooth pulling experience. My beautiful lovely girlfriend Jessica was disappointed when I wasn't loopy at all after coming out of anesthesia. She wasn't there, my mom drove me home, but she would have heard about any from my mom if there had been any. My mother hit the target when she said that she thought I was gonna go off on the orthodontist's assistant. I didn't actually but the lady was talking to me like a 5th grader before the procedure and was treating my no differently afterward when I was at practically full capacity except for my tiredness. The lady had told me to be a couch potato once I was home but after my sleep on the drive home I really didn't feel like sitting around doing nothing. I rarely do. Instead I went about my business going through stuff of mine weeding out and pitching (the part forgotten by my mother the packrat) that which I didn't need.
I love helping people like I mentioned before. I'm good at fixing things but at some point all my stuff is, well, fixed, at which point there's nothing left for me to have fun doing. I'm pretty sure I get the handyman trait from my mom's dad. He has always been good at fixing things including things his friends bring to him to have fixed, things given to him that he fixes from broken, or things he finds "dumpster diving" though in a small town there is rarely the requirement of getting into any dumpsters to find these treasures. I can't really say that the trait all comes from that side though because my dad is pretty good at the same and his male relatives are similarly enabled. I suppose it comes from the small town roots. There isn't always someone around to fix everything, and why pay for it when you can do it yourself?! I don't like to. I have somewhat of a trust issue with strangers fixing my things. I rarely thing other people can do any better of a job than I can. The only reason I really ever do it is the fact that they have the proper tools to do so. I'm working on a remedy though. I know I'll never get the specialty tools required for every job but I am building up a tool base with which I can perform most repair tasks.
Anyway, I'm pretty good at fixing things, and if I have the materials and tools to do the job I don't turn down the opportunity to have fun fixing or building/making in the first place.

Bored now, stuck at school without anything to fix. I started this blog and have run out of flowing ideas for the moment. Check back later.

Jesus is my Savior.
God Bless.
-Gregory Michael