Another one from New Year's Eve
Rock on
Originally uploaded by sbjuengst.I can't help it - it was just a great party.
This is one of my favorite pictures from that evening.
To give some context - it was probably sometime between 2 and 3 am, and much drinkage had been passed around.
I shall leave the others anonymous and let them claim their fame if they so choose (okay, yes, I know you can just link to flickr and read the captions, but those only have first names anyway, and 90% of you know them anyway, so it doesn't really matter!!!).
I'm the short one. I'm ALWAYS the short one. The one with the Pat Benatar style going on.
Tuesdays are crappy
Outside, it can't decide if it wants to rain or not. So, it just sort of **spits** and looks all grey and dreary. JUST THUNDERSTORM ALREADY!!!
My office, as usual, is freezing. Other than the three or four days of sweltering heat when the AC busted (right in the middle of the 90+++ heat wave), this is its normal state of being. Cold.
If I could be anywhere I wanted, where would I be at this exact moment?!?!?
Somewhere on the Mediterranean.
Instead, I get to go the hospital now. yay!!
Three Gunthers
Three Gunthers
Originally uploaded by sbjuengst.Classes started tonight. Not much to say other than I'M TOTALLY CRAZY FOR WORKING FULL TIME AND GOING TO CLASS FULL TIME. But, we all knew that.
Anyway, I am starving, so I'm off to eat. I just wanted to give you all this wonderful picture of the three Gunthers, from our New Year's Eve party this past year.
OOOH, you touch my tra la la....
Letter of Recommendation
A good friend and former co-worker agreed to write one of my letters of recommendation for the grad program here at Pitt. He was so kind as to attach a copy of it to an email for me to read, before he mailed it to the school. I couldn't resist sharing it, so, here it is:
August 18, 2005
University of Pittsburgh
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this evaluation on behalf of Schna in consideration of her application to your graduate program in rehabilitation counseling. I have known Ms. Schna for approximately four years, the first year of which she and I worked together as staff in a residential program for adults with serious mental illness.
One thing that always struck me about Ms. Schna was her ability to remain positive with all the clients that we worked with even though she was usually drunk off her ass. Whether it was helping to motivate a client with terrible personal hygiene to shower or helping a client with extreme delusions to get her basic needs met - whatever a particular client needed, she was able to help them without losing patience, positivity, or losing her liquor, if you know what I mean.
Another positive thing about Ms. Schna is the fact that she can down a cucumber like nobody’s business. I mean, seriously – have you ever seen a woman that small make a cucumber disappear in ten minutes flat? (Besides on those porn sites – but I didn’t mean like that, sick-o!)
I would highly recommend Ms. Schna for admission to your program, as long as you have available treatment for that raging alcoholism and her cucumber issues. Other than that, I have no reservations recommending her for treatment. I mean, admission. Yeah. And stuff. Whatever.
Sincerely,
RSS BA CPRP CL
SCOP In-Home Team Coordinator
Triple R Behavioral Health
All it was missing on the end was the all-encompassing closer: So yeah, Marijuana.
So tired, so wired
Over the past several nights, I haven't gotten much sleep. Today, I am exhausted. Add to that the mocha I had a couple of hours ago, and I find myself in this strange state of near-total exhaustion with a serious buzz. I was just on the phone with The Coco, and I COULD NOT STOP TALKING. Yes, yes, I talk a lot - but this was beyond that. This was totally out of my control. I was just a tired observer to the espresso-induced maniac inhabiting my body. I think I could honestly lay my head down on my desk right now and fall asleep with my legs still bouncing up and down. Alas, I will soon head off to do some calming Yoga.
AND, I will be watching the new Family Guy movie tonight. A coworker burned a CD for me, as the DVD doesn't come out until mid-September. Good times will be had - if I can keep myself awake long enough to have them.
How to go from 0 to 50 in just 3 seconds
Here is the story of how my life suddenly got really crazy as of Tuesday at 3:30pm:
I was looking into grad programs here at Pitt. I figured that, even if I could only complete 1 year of a program, I could always transfer, and I’ve been getting very anxious to be back in school. I sort of stumbled across a program that is relatively new here, but PERFECT for me (MS in Rehabilitation Counseling). So yesterday, I went and talked to the director of the program about starting in the spring (as they have rolling admissions). After learning my background and listening to what I wanted to do, he agreed that this was a good program for me and encouraged me to apply to start THIS FALL (that's a week and a half from now!!!!). So, today I have to throw together and application, get letters of recommendation, write a personal statement, get transcripts - all that stuff. I will be starting classes Monday the 29th of August. Classes will be M, T, W, TH from 4:30-7:30pm and F from 9-12. The Friday is the only one that conflicts with work, and today I'm sitting down with my boss to work around that. Next semester, there won't be a Friday afternoon class - just the evenings.
This program lasts for two years full-time through the summers. I will finish with a MS in Rehabilitation Counseling and will be a Nationally Certified Rehabilitation counselor. I will also be prepared to take state licensing exams to be fully licensed as well.
Unfortunately, this program is not funded at all. So, I will have to continue to work full-time in order to pay the rent and the bills and to eat, and I'll have to take out student loans to cover tuition (which is pretty ridiculous for a state school, but what can you do?). BUT, I will end up in two years being able to do what I really want to do, with the possibility of getting my PhD down the road still open.
Needless to say, I’ll be busy. Work from 8:30-4:30, class from 4:30-7:30 - by the time I get home and eat dinner, it will practically be time for bed!!!! Weekends will be spent writing papers, reading, and doing all my other school work.
I will probably leave my job a year from this spring (most likely end of April, 2007) so I can do my 600 hour internship over that summer (some of these internships are paid). At that point, LHPJ will most likely be done with his program as well and will hopefully have a job somewhere starting that Fall.
So, that's the news. I was OVERWHELMED yesterday. I went in to see what the program was all about and IF I could get in for the spring semester (or at all!), and he practically told me I was admitted before I even applied (If I can't get all my transcripts and letters together before classes start, he said that they will admit me provisionally until I do - so I can start taking classes no matter what).
Sometimes, things just happen that quickly. Three weeks ago, I’m just started to have an idea of the TYPE of program I want. Two weeks from now, I will have already had my first two classes IN that program.
To sum it up in a word (and a word I’m particularly fond of as of late): FABULOUS! :)
The votes are in...
Look
here to see who have been voted the sexiest celebrities. Sure, Brad Pitt and George Clooney make sense, and I can understand Angelina Jolie, but CLAY AIKEN?!?!?!?!?!?! Tiger Woods???? Susan Sarandon????
Once again, the voters come through when needed most.
An argument for sterilization of the stupid
Infant Daughter Dies as Parents Play Online GameAccording to Incheon Police Station on Tuesday, a 29-year-old man husband identified by his family name of Yu and his wife put their four-month daughter in the bedroom of their home and went to a neighborhood PC café at around 4:00 p.m. on May 24 to play the online game "World of Warcraft.
Time flew by as the couple lost themselves in the game, and when they returned home at 9:00 p.m., their daughter was lying on her stomach, dead of suffication.
And the cherry on top of their towering sundae of stupidity:
Police said, "It's unfortunate, because the tragedy could have been averted if the couple had just left their daughter with Yu's mother-in-law, who lived upstairs from them... We booked the pair on criminal charges, judging that when you consider the situation, they were responsible for their daughter's death."
(via
Tiffanie)
Feeling hot, hot, hot
Yesterday afternoon, the temperature in my office, at about the level of my head, was 90 degrees. No fans, no windows, no air flow. No good.
Today, nothing is fixed. However, we have several fans at least circulating air throughout the office, so this morning it is certainly bearable. By this afternoon? Who knows.
Can I hope for a half day? :)
Probably not.
Things you never needed to know
Things I like to eat that most people find strange:
*** Cold (or warm) mashed potatoes with apple sauce
*** Mac&Cheese with apple sauce (this isn't terrible uncommon)
*** Grilled cheese with apple sauce
*** Grilled cheese wrapped around a hot dog
*** Cold hotdogs
*** Peanut butter and pickle (MUST BE DILL) sandwiches
*** Frozen grapes
*** Frozen corn out of bag
*** Frozen cheese off of a frozen pizza
Monday
I am suffering from a total lack of creativity at the moment, hence, the title of this post.
This weekend, we FINALLY picked the right Pirates game to attend. Yes, we actually saw them WIN. However, I have come to realize that going to sold out games at PNC Park (this ONLY happens on fireworks nights, such as this past Saturday) is not such a great thing. We could only get tickets in the really cheap seats ($9 as opposed to our normal $16 seats). As a result, we were with all the people who paid $9 to come see fireworks. People were standing up, going for food, going to the bathroom, walking up and down the aisles, standing and talking to people in the aisles throughout the whole game. Sadly, we were right on the aisle, and therefore missed about 60% of the game.
Listen people, here is some baseball etiquette for you:
DO NOT GO BACK AND FORTH FROM YOUR SEAT UNLESS IT IS AN INNING BREAK!!!!
Honestly, how hard is that? It would be FIRST PITCH in an inning, and I would miss it because some idiot two rows down decided IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INNING BREAK that he HAD TO HAVE a hotdog right that minute.
We've been spoiled by usually having half a section to ourselves at PNC. I have come to realize that people are just inconsiderate. Never mind there's actually a GAME going on that some people actually want to see. Still, I should know better. Fireworks in Pittsburgh only happens every other week, after all.
And baseball just isn't Nascar, right?
And so we come to this
Remember what I just said about not being a violent person? Well, I'm beginning to reconsider as the ire mounts and I want more and more to PUNCH SOMEONE!
In all their infinite wisdom, tv execs have decided to
extend Dr. Phil's contract into the 2013-2014 season!!!
WHAT THE HELL???????????????????????
8 YEARS?????
My disgust knows no bounds.
It is Friday!!
This morning, I'm in a good mood. True, it's sort of grey and dreary out, threatening to storm. True, it's first thing in the morning, I have a full day of (doing other people's) work ahead of me instead of my own. True, both the Cubs and Pirates got TRAMPLED yesterday, making me once again wonder why I'm so drawn to teams that don't disappoint my expectations of loss and embarassment (still, I love them anyway).
Why, you might ask, am I in a good mood?
We'll start small and work our way up.
Last night, I FINALLY found a pair of black shoes that are the perfect blend of comfort, casual, dressy, jeans or skirt appropriate, any season goodness. And they were really cheap too.
Rehearsals start for Savoyards (the Gilbert and Sullivan group for which I play) in a couple of weeks. I've missed this (and the people there too).
A good friend from college will be here next week for work training and I will get to see her.
Another good friend from college is coming to visit me at the end of the month. I haven't seen her since a year ago May when she graduated from law school. I'm looking forward to this very, very much.
I might have the opportunity to take a two semester course on fMRI through Pitt and have UPMC PAY FOR IT. Of course, this would require me giving them my life for at least the next two years, but that was likely to be the case anyway. This class would actually TEACH ME WHAT I AM DOING, so that I don't have to fumble my way through everything. And the best part...it would meet during the day, so that would be 4 hours of every week that I would be in class AS PART OF MY JOB - like training. This would be very good. Fingers crossed that I get permission from the instructor to enroll.
FInally, and this is the BIG one - I have made a decision about graduate school. It occurred in sort of a strange moment last night. After Mama Coco said something to me that started certain wheels turning, I did some looking online and suddenly things sort of fell into place. True, this doesn't mean I'll actually GET IN to any program - just that I know to what I want to apply. And of course, the application process itself is still over a year away and school over two years away, and who knows where I will be living and applying then. Still, this gives me a focus. It makes my job more bearable, because I know now that IT IS THE BEST POSSIBLE THING I COULD BE DOING TO GET MYSELF INTO A PROGRAM WITH A 3% ACCEPTANCE RATE. Yes, I'm very emphatic about this.
One down side - I took the GRE's too long ago and my scores will have expired, so...I get to take them again. WOO HOO! True, my verbal score could use improvement, but the math and analytical, not to mention the subject test scores were just fine. I don't need a chance to fuck that up. oh well.
Anyway, in the meantime, I remain a grunt. However, at least now I'm a grunt with some motivation and some things to look forward to. There are foci for my wandering energies, which keeps me from wanting to punch people or break bottles in the street (though really, I am not a violent person by nature and have never actually punched anyone before).
And it's Friday.
It should be Friday
Yesterday, I had the equivalent of about three days in one (work days, that is). It actually wasn't a BAD day - just LONG and full (yes, yes - make jokes now...okay, done? now i'll continue...).
I finally got all of my 35mm pictures developed and online. However, now I have to think of some clever way to get them from
Snapfish to
Flickr WITHOUT shrinking them to the size of a thumbnail. I'll work on it.
I've also discovered that I cannot post pictures from Flickr from work, because I cannot download the necessary programs from multimedia (flash). Stupid protections on my stupid work computer. *sigh* oh well, I should be working anyway.
Matt Lawton made his lead off debut with the Cubs yesterday and had a decent game. While I will miss watching him play with the Pirates, I was ECSTATIC that he went to the Cubs, particularly when I had feared he would go to St. Louis (who were also looking at him as a replacement for the injured Reggie Sanders).
Finally, I leave you with something amusing (Warning: NC17) that my sister showed me while I was in Chicago (make sure you scroll down and read them all):
Revenge Bumper Stickers.
A tribute to Pittsburgh
A tribute to Pittsburgh
Originally uploaded by sbjuengst.My sister actually took this picture, but I thought that it seemed a loving tribute to Pittsburgh. This was taken at the reception for my Mom's wedding.
Speaking of pictures, you'll see I've added a Flickr bar to in my sidebar. Just click on it, and it should take you to my Flickr page. If not, you can click here to get there. Feel free to leave comments and tell me what you think. I will try to update it often.
I don't have all of my Toronto pictures or Mom's wedding pictures up yet, as the ones I took on my 35mm SLR have not yet been developed. I will get on this as soon as possible.
Also, MOST of the pictures from the wedding were NOT taken by me. They are a collection of everyone's digital camera shots.
