Textbooks

Here is a miny bitch rant:

What is unbelievable to me is how expensive textbooks are. I will be spending aboout $600 on four textbooks, used textbooks. I have had it with these prices. It is robbery. What gets me even more frusterated is when you have to purchase these expensive textbook, that is only read or used once or twice.

I think there should be a textbook library at UC, or a system similiar to that of highschools. College is expensive as it is, books don't need to rival the cost.

Goodbye Helen

Unfortuantely, we had to fire our housemother/cook at Beta this week. It was sad because, although kind of weird and creepy at times, Helen was an important individual to the house. She cooked us lunch five days a week and dinner four days a week.

She was fired because we just cant support her salary and food budget anymore. Our chapter was $20,000 in the hole for this year and Helen was the only significant expense we could cut. Although I didn't really care for her food. I appreciate the service she has provided to Beta Nu. We will miss you.

Summer Vacation

My family has decided our summer vacation plans. This summer we are going out to Idaho to visit my dad's sister in Sandpoint and my mom's sister in Idaho Falls. Although Idaho is kind of boring, I do enjoy being immersed in nature. My aunt Joni lives in a real log cabin on a ski mountain. It is fairly isolated from the town and I enjoy the peacefulness.

We will visit Yellowstone National Park. I have been there once before and I really enjoyed it. Fortunately, we are flying this time instead of driving/.

Financial Stress

Money doesn't buy happiness. I agree with this statement, however, I also believe that money does buy comfort. As of right now, I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I worked hard in highschool and made a pretty large amount in highschool from my landscaping business. However I have become increasingly lax on spending and am now afraid that I may have to take student loans.

The biggest reason for this is my investment accounts. My portfolio is down about 35% this year. Although it has outperformed the market, it is still causing a lot of stress. In reality, my picks havent been to bad, my portfolio is just significantly being weighed down by Citigroup. Citigroup's year high was around $50.00. I bought in at $19.00, thinking there wasn't a chance it could go lower. Well, now citigroup is fluctuating at around $3.00 a share. It is scary, but at least I am not like my former coworkers who had a majority of their 401k in citigroup. One of my co-workers has lost close to $500,000. That is crazy.

Talk radio

Brushing my teeth, taking a shower, sleeping... these are all things that are built into a daily routine. However, one abnormal routine of mine is to listen to talk radio every day. If I am studying, driving, or at work, there is a very good chance I am listening to talk radio.

I listen primarily to conservative talk radio. My favorite hosts are Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and Mark Levin. Mark Levin is the best, I find him to be very intelligent and absolutely hilarious. I like talk radio, because it allows me to stay up-to-date on current political matters. I DO NOT use talk radio as a credible news source, but rather for entertainment and enjoyment.

Sometimes, I listen to liberal talk radio like AIR America, but after about 15 minutes of listening I want to punch the next person I see in the face. Whether you are a lib or a conservative or a moderate, I encourage you to explore talk radio and find a show that you enjoy.

Blogging

I wanted to give an assessment as to how I feel about blogging. Honestly I don't see what the big hype over blogging is. I understand that blogging might be interesting if you are following an author, athlete, or celebrities blog, but who cares about what I have to say .

If people enjoy blogging then more power to them. I do not. The only potential problem I see with blogs is that it is sometimes seen as a credible source for news.

Beta Theta Pi Conflicts

As you are aware I am a member of Beta Theta Pi. I was just initiated a quarter ago. Being a fairly strong and opinionated person, it hasn't taken long for me to clash with certain members. Specificallly, I have been at constant odds with those in recruitment, in which I am the contact chair.

Those in charge refuse to take risks and are unwilling to think outside of the box. Recruitment is probably one of the biggest challenges facing our chapter and it is taken with a grain of salt. I feel as though I am constantly coming up with big, outside the box ideas and am constantly being told that we are unable to do that because we are to small. I have had with these close-minded people and do not want to work under them anymore.