It's that time. Time for new bookbags, dusting off my textbook (note the singular), and cracking open the toolbox. That's right - school time! Automotive school time! The summer has flown by and I am fully engaged in school again. In fact, we just finished our third week. It's been a rough three weeks. On top of getting back into the routine of rising out of bed before the sun peaks out behind the mountains in the east, I am working a more-than-full-time job as a manager of a cafe in Portland. The cafe went from 5 mph to 90 mph at the very same time as school started and I barely slept, ate or studied for the first two weeks. The cafe is attached to the biggest theater company in Portland and they kicked off their theater season the day after classes started. I went from having 3 employees to 12. EEK! I DO NOT like being the boss.
So....school has been rough because my brain capacity is limited. I think I may squeeze out a 'B' from Brakes I which will make me elated! I've been really upset with myself for the last week or so about my performance thus far. I got a 'C' on my first test and then a 'D' on one of my homeworks. I got freaked out enough to talk to the teacher who assured me that I'm doing ok and he told me, considering how much I have on my plate, I'm doing great. Phew.
We've been working on a brakes inspection this week and I get really frustrated being one of the slowest students in the class. At least that's the perception of myself. In reality, we are barely behind most other students. Considering I didn't even know the names of most of the brake components until two weeks ago, that is pretty gosh darn good.
By "we" I am referring to me and my partner in crime, Stephanie. She kicks ass and I really don't know how I would do all the school work without her. We even got together this week and did our homework together. Just like college the first time around. Except she has a curfew. :) It was really good to see her back in class. Most of the my old classmates came back and we even picked up some new students. For the most part they all seem to be decent people.
Also new developments, I am selling my beautiful '06 Jetta TDI (diesel) soon. I bought a car from a good friend of mine for $1200 and am on the road to no car payments. I'm going to be extremely sad to let it go. I highly anticipate that the Jetta will sell for a good chunk of change since it's a diesel and Portlanders are high on the bio-diesel craze. My housemate actually drives an older model of the exact same car and dons the recognizable "BIO_DIESEL" sticker. There are probably between 5-10 diesels in a 2 block radius from my house. Crazy.
My new-old car is a Subaru wagon. It's been well taken care of, but like a lot of older cars needs a little bit of attention. Luckily I attend automotive school and can have it fixed for the cost of the parts. Gettin' a new front axle this week and a look-over from the HVAC class next week. Gonna be a dream when I'm done with her. Including climbing underneath and putting on a new muffler. I am excited to have a car that I can work on.
That's about it for now. I did write a few memorable lines down in my class notes in the last couple weeks. It's still a shock how ridiculous the naming of the parts and procedures is. Rod. Shaft. Just call it the drive penis why don't you?! My lab partner keeps me young and constantly on guard for new ridiculous statements. Last weeks:
Then the newest lingo on the street: How's the angle of your dangle? Use instead of "How's it going?" or "How's it hanging?"
Go forth and spread the good news of the little automotive girl that could.
Friday, October 12, 2007
School is in session.
