June 1, 2014

This morning I watched Tiger Eyes. I saw it the other day when I was renting movies and the cover caught my attention because I think it was the girl who played the little sister on The O.C., but I didn't end up renting it. Then I saw it again when I was scrolling through Netflix last night so I decided to give it a shot. It wasn't too bad. Not necessarily my kind of movie but it was decent.

After that I watched The Adventures of Tintin. Wow. The animation was crazy, the textures in particular. Almost everything had beautiful textures. There was also a shot where they showed Tintin's face really close up and you could see the peach fuzz on his face. That's just an insane eye for detail. I didn't really care about the overall story but the animation and action kept me engaged. I would definitely watch it again. The most interesting thing I got out of watching the movie was that the guy was named Tintin, not the dog. That just sounds like a dog's name, and not just because of Rin Tin Tin, although that helps.

This morning we went to look at a house that my mom is thinking about buying. It belongs to the brother of the kindergarten teacher that my mom works with. My mom has really gotten tired of the neighbors around us and has been thinking about moving for awhile. This house is about fifteen or twenty minutes outside of town and there are neighbors but they aren't right on top of you like they are in town. And from inside the house you can really only see one of them which the dogs hopefully wouldn't have too much of a problem with. There is a huge yard and off in the backyard there is a pond shared by the other houses in the area. And one of the neighbor kids has already volunteered to mow the yard for whoever moves in. For at least the next few years while I go to grad school (fingers crossed) I would be in the basement. There are three rooms down there which means I could use one as a bedroom and use another for more of an office-type room with my computer and books and music stuff. The bathroom down there is also pretty spacious which would be good for when I have kidney stones.

It's a really nice house and I think my mom really likes it. The two biggest problems I see are the distance from town and the outside maintenance. Running to the store will be more of a commitment and you'll be less likely to hop in the car to go grab one thing. But my mom will be going to town everyday for work so that won't be much of an issue. The drive is also a lot of highway and then gravel road. Both will be kind of annoying during the winter, more so probably for my small car. It's not much of a gravel road, country vehicle. As for the outside maintenance, the mowing should be covered by the neighbor kid, but kids grow up and at some point another solution will have to be found. There are a few other smaller concerns but those are the two biggest. Overall, I think my mom would be much happier. And even if this house doesn't work out I think she is going to keep looking for a new house.

Tonight my sister came over for Chinese food. I'm now such a big fan of the Chinese buffet we go to on birthdays that Chinese takeout just isn't as good. It was still good, just a little bit disappointing. After dinner I didn't have a lot going on. I watched YouTube videos and finished making the RPG sprite that looks like me. For awhile I just sat back with my eyes closed, listening to relaxing music and the sound of heavy rain outside. I also read a little bit more of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Tomorrow morning I need to wake up and call the someone about jury duty. I am technically now on-call for jury duty at the district level but I have no idea about reporting for jury duty. I am supposed to call this automated number for the next five weeks and it will tell me whether I am supposed to report or not. But, the phone message wasn't very clear. It said that I had been cleared or that I had qualified for jury duty and to refer to the information on my summons. On my summons, it tells me where to report but in the date and time fields it tells me to “Read All Instructions Carefully.” Those instructions include the date range when I am on-call but then tells me to call the automated number to receive my instructions. And those instructions refer me to the summons which refers me to the other instructions which refers me to the phone number and on and on the circle goes. My assumption is that the automated message will give me a date and time to report to the courthouse if I am actually supposed to but I want to call tomorrow to check that. And hope that I shouldn't be assuming that I need to be at the courthouse tomorrow morning.

Lastly, I finally submitted my resume and statement of objectives. I read over my statement one last time, getting rid of one sentence and changing a word. Then I called it good, saved it, and emailed it before I could give it yet another read through and edit. It's as good as it is going to get and if it doesn't go over well, I certainly tried my best. Now I need to think about the interview. My mom mentioned a couple people at school who are taking classes or have graduated from graduate and thought I should ask them if they had an interview and see how it was. And that is a brilliant idea. So after I finish this I am going to email them, and hopefully they had an interview and can give me some insight into what it will be like. Ease my mind a little and give me something to work with.