Construction.....Complete.

And with that fateful Command and Conquer quote the Summer blogfest is underway.....only about a month behind schedule :-(. Where to begin with what I though was to be the most boring of Summers? I'm currently working on preparing the house for several quests for my 23rd (golden :-D) birthday party on July 23rd. The plan is to hang out at my place and roast smores over a fire and campout...after a brief trip into Peoria to go to Old Chicago (I can add 4 more beers to my World Beer Tour...duh). I got a job that is cool but also physically exerting. I'm NOT joining a gym this Summer, and for those of you who know me that's saying something (or nothing :-/). I'm a temporary geotechnical engineer and materials tester for Whitney and Associates in Peoria, IL. I spend my work days breaking many 30lb concrete cylinders for compression tests, I do compaction tests on soil (with a nuclear source *evil grin*), and test concrete during a pour. I've been working mainly at churches and one car dealership, though I was fortunate enough to be present at a concrete pour in Champaign for the Post-Genomic institute. Last Friday was by far the most fun though. I caught a huge Wolf Spider that made my 40 year old boss simply say "Holy Fuck Dude!" Over and over. Also in the morning while I was driving back from the concrete pour at United Presbyterian I noticed that my check engine light was on and my battery power was decreasing in the truck. I parked back at the office and unloaded the cylinders I was carrying thinking that the car was just overheating in this massive heatwave (there was no shade where I was working). I got Scott to check under the hood and when we opened the hood of the car there were flames shooting out of the alternator......wow. Apparently Ford trucks (especially F-150s and Rangers) have a defect where the alternator can get a short and catch fire. I knew there was a reason I didn't like Ford trucks. I'm also kinda proud since I'm the third guy in the history of the company to do that, and the only temp. worker to boot.

I'm also taking (re-taking :-() Calculus III from I.C.C. and Political Science 101 online from U of I. On top of that I'm in two discussion groups. One is with my friend McG who just converted to Orthodoxy and it is with his sponsor who is going to be entering university for his PhD in church history. We're reading three books from an Orthodox perspective and discussing them, so I'm into that. The other one is with a group of college age kids from my church who meet at Borders to discuss whatever's on our minds. Our D.C.E. intern Kristin set up the thing I guess and I've enjoyed going to that....and helping her T.P. her boss's office (Scott's got a good sense of humor so I'm sure he enjoyed it :-)).

What other news.....oh, Holly's getting married on August 5th and I don't have a date to it....someone want to volunteer? Aside from that I'm just keeping busy with trying to do a little of what I want to do, and the love life is dead at the moment (hopefully just in stasis though). I'll have to depend on my fond memories of last semes......I'll have to depend on my boundless imagination for good thoughts of what might be. For now though, I'm tired and I need to go to sleep.

In the words of Martin from the Simpsons....Excelsior!