July 2005

Yesterday we went to a Dave and Busters like place called Main Event... first we bowled for an hour, which my arm is still sore because I used a 16 lb ball... I am getting really good at putting the spin on the ball though... anyways, once we were done with bowling we played some arcade games to win points (equivalent to tickets)... with $30 we won 2206 points because we found this one game that Megan was really good at... so we just kept getting points... but that was only after we wasted 10 of that $30 on skiball which gave us hardly any points at all... With the points Megan got a gumball machine and a stuffed animal... and then we both got cups with spiral straws and cool little parachuting aliens... oh, and I got a deck of cards... the gumball machine has got to be worth at least $20 alone... at least if you bought it at Spencer's Gifts it would have... so yeah, we made off pretty good... if only we didn't waste all that money on skiball we'd have a ton more points... Well, after that we played two games of pool before heading home and watching Hitch... which is a great movie by the way... Then I was stupid enough to introduce Megan to the Sims 2... 7 hours later I was able to pull her off so that I could go to bed... now she is obsessed with the game... I'll have to be more careful next time I suggest the Sims 2... it tends to have that affect on people...

Today was Megan's last day here... her sister suggested that we all go to this park down town that is a natural spring that pumps 36 million gallons a day into a creek... They gated it off and damned two ends to make the creek deeper near the spring and to keep the street runoff from polluting the immediate area so it is completely clear and clean... (even if a little kid would to pee in the springs, 36 million clean gallons would be there the next day)... at first the 68 degrees that it is year round is extremely cold after being in the 95+ degree air... but after about 5 minutes in the water it becomes rather refreshing... After swimming, we sat under an old tree and talked, which was just another way to relax...

Oh well, bed time...

Labels: austin texas, best friend, bowling, gaming, vacation

My best friend (and yes, friend only) Megan is driving all the way from Atlanta to visit me here in Austin for a week... I very excited because she is really the only person I feel completely comfortable around... We have been best friends since I asked her out the second week of 9th grade... Our relationship only lasted about four days because she only dated me because she needed an excuse to dump the boyfriend she was with when I asked her... I forgive her though... we just became closer and closer after that and we even made the common pact of "if we are old and both single, lets get married..." Well, at the time the ripe old age of 26 seemed suitable... I mean that was 11 years from then... but now it seems so soon, and so it is an on going joke that we better hurry and find somebody so we don't get stuck together... Of course, if we ended up together, it won't be a completely horrible thing... he he... I mean, if only she weren't republican... but I am hoping she will grow out of that, but we'll see... I mean she is moving to the wonderful city of Democrats (Boston) for Grad School... maybe she'll see how miserable it is being a republican, or at least she'll want to try and fit in... he he... Anyways, recently she has been my lifeline during a rapidly changing time in my life... I'm balding (rapidly), I'm single, I feel old, I am starting Grad School, etc... She has always been able to help me step back and take a deep breath, she lets me realize everything is ok... So yeah, she is awesome... I just hope everyone in the world can be lucky enough to have a friend like her, because I know I'd be lost without her...

Labels: best friend, boston, grad school, politics

I woke up this morning thinking I was about to get a root canal because the dentist called me yesterday telling me that it looked like I needed one (he was judging from the x-rays I took last week)... I thought I only need a crown because the temporary filling I had for over eleven years fell out about three weeks ago... well, when I was there, and he examined it up close, he said that if I don't feel pain then it looks like I won't need one... so I was super excited, obviously... so all I had to do was get a crown, like I had hoped... I got the temporary one until August 8th when the lab sends back the tooth (since I am heading back to Florida they called up the lab to see if they could rush deliver the tooth because it usually takes 3 weeks, which I don't have)... it is going to be gold because of how my bite is it can't be ceramic, but that is fine with me... I'll get some bling going...

I am also hoping very much that my awesome dental insurance covers it like they are suppose to, I am hoping they don't see this as a pre-existing condition because then I am screwed out of $1000 rather then the $278 I paid already... The lady at the dentist was amazed at how much the company covered... they pay for 80% of the cost of the crown (less deductible)... she says usually people are lucky to get 50% covered... Oh well, this is the first dentist I've been to that seems to know what the hell he is doing... which makes me much more relaxed about things...

Labels: dentist

Well, I just registered two domain names... www.nikkfolts.com and www.nicholasfolts.com use whichever suits your needs, but link to me if you have a site and I will link to you as well... I setup a blog under the news section of the site, it will probably replace my live journal postings in time... everything is still "under construction" if you will... and I keep changing the layout over and over again, but I think I am finally happy with it... the only problem I see with it right now is that the colors look great on some computers, but the yellowish color is ugly on others, so I might have to do some slight adjusting... If anybody has ideas/comments of what I should add, or what they don't like, or what they like, then I would appreciate them... They aren't in the Google listings yet, but they should be within the next few days if I am lucky... I want them to be the first thing when you google me... Oh well, thanks for feedback...

Labels: development

My whole life I have been wrongfully been considered a dork... dork - slang. A stupid, inept, or foolish person. It is sad that so many people don’t know the true meaning of the word… I accept being called a nerd or a geek, despite being synonyms for dork, they have a more precise meaning... nerd/geek - n. slang. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept... Geek would probably be the most accurate term out of the three, and therefore it is my favorite thing to be called...

Labels: dork, geek, nerd

I was told by my boss today that I possess "the skills, knowledge, motivation, and ethics" that make me a perfect fit for Freescale... Pretty nice... I didn't think I would have another internship opportunity next summer because I have finished everything he needed done, but it turns out that he thinks he will need somebody next summer for something similar, yet different... So he hopes he can pull me away from summer classes at FSU so that I can do that, and if he ends up not needing me he said he is going to put in a good word for other departments so that I could still get hired... The exciting thing is that now that I have this internship under my belt, as well as I would be half way done with my Masters degree, my starting salary should be closer to $65-70,000/year ($33/hour... $264/day... $1320/week)... and I'll have nobody to spend it on except for me! They explained how they decide the pay rate by plugging in your credentials and it spits back a number after assessing you... They explained how it assesses you by how much school and how many internships you have had... woot woot... and so if I decide not to stay at Freescale, which I would rather not in the long run, but still, if I don't stay here then I could still say that I made $70,000ish at my last job so I would be making tons when I got out of school... I think I am going to apply for internships at other companies next summer as well... maybe diversity would be better, it doesn't matter where your internships were according to Freescale, but I would think other companies might think otherwise... If I could find an internship at a video game company I would scream... yeah... oh well...

Megan comes to Austin on Wednesday... I am excited to see her... I am going to take off most Thursday and all of Friday so I can chill with her...

I miss my fellow CSers... can't wait to get back to Tallahassee, move into my house, buy a dog, and start programming... I still want to program after programming the whole summer, which is a good sign that I am on the right career path... Oh well...

Labels: austin texas, best friend, freescale, tallahassee, work

I official decided (again) that the health care in Tallahassee stinks... My goddaughter hasn't grown since she was born and they kept saying she was fine but now that she is approaching the age of three, and still hasn't grown, they are finally worried and did some tests... Well, they think it is hypothyroidism... "Infants will grow and develop normally if hypothyroidism is treated within the first month of life. Untreated hypothyroidism in infants can cause brain damage, leading to mental retardation and developmental delays." Anyways, it makes me made because it is easily diagnosed and they still are too unskilled to know for sure... She'll have to be on medication for the rest of her life if she does have the disease... yeah... so that is all...

Labels: ashlyn pinner, sick, tallahassee

I am done with the book, and now I am so excited to talk about it but I don't know anyone else who has finished it... AHHHHHHHHHH... come on people... read up... Chapter 24 is definately my favorite chapter out of all the books... I won't say why because I don't want to ruin it, but yeah, great chapter...

Labels: harry potter, reading

I was suppose to go out to the clubs tonight (despite it not being my sort of thing), I worked 5 hours and rushed home and took a 2.5 hour nap just so I could not be too tired and I could actually have fun, but then my cousin and his girlfriend backed out so now I am wired and not doing anything... My cousin's cousin (she is on the other side of his family) is here talking to me... oh well, tomorrow night I am going to the Harry Potter grand release party at Barnes and Noble with my aunt and my cousin's cousin... hopefully it is fun...

Labels: cory folts, harry potter, tina folts, tina marie palma

"No, no, I don't have a problem, not like that. At least I don't think I do (although isn't denial the first stage of something or other?) But in China, a new clinic is opening for people who show the "clinical" signs of video game addiction: "depression, nervousness, fear and unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation.""(News.com)

Labels: gaming

Well, I worked for 10 and a half hours yesterday which was good because I don't want to work much this Friday... On Friday we are having a intern picnic so if I only have to go to that and not come into the office, that would be nice... Harry Potter comes out at 12:00 midnight, but if Heather wants to hang out I don't think I am going to the festivities... I preordered mine (Deluxe Edition) through Amazon.com because it was $18 cheaper then in stores... Last night I went to see the Fantastic 4... pretty good... it is unrealistic in my eyes so I liked Batman a ton better but it was still a worth while movie...

After that my uncle started talking about genealogy and I got him really excited about some things I have found out using census records... nerdy, I know, but still, genealogy is so much fun... a HUGE puzzle to solve history... I'll probably be spending a lot of time with him working on that now... Anyways, as I likely mentioned before, my friend Megan is coming to visit in the end of July and that really excites me... she is so much fun... she relaxes me too... I want her to meet Heather too... Oh well, we'll see if anything happens with Heather and I... I want to do something to night but I think she is working... I might just go sit at Chili's and let her serve me B)...

Labels: amazon, best friend, genealogy, harry potter, heather, kelly folts, movie, work

My friend Megan and I weren't sure if we were up to the long drive to my Grandparent's lake house (I wasn't because I had had 9 hours of sleep in the 3 days before) but finally we decided it would be good to get our minds off things... so we both hopped in our cars and headed there... right before leaving I got my car its first oil change, which turns out to cost me extra because it is difficult to do... so that cost me $45 because I didn't know of any cheap places to get it done... hopefully in the future it will be cheaper... anyways... About 200 miles into my trip as I approached Dallas the sky turned pitch black, and it was noon... The clouds were nearly touching the ground and the winds were blowing hard... the horizon had a green tint and it began to hail... I was freaking out because I was still 20 minutes from Dallas and I had to go about 10 miles before I found a good place to stop to let it pass... I swear a tornado had to have passed within a mile because that was some sort of storm... that is exactly what you see when you see it on the weather channel... Luckily it only lasted like 20 minutes until it cleared up enough for me to get out on the road... so I jumped in my car and started to drive... the highway was flooded after the quick storm and I was in a construction area and the construction dust had combined with the water, making it white... yeah, that was scary...

Once I finally got there I greeted everyone and then played basketball... I pitched one over my head, without looking, all the way across the court, and made it! That shot almost let me win in horse... but, when I was about to win, Megan pulled up and I was sweaty and covered in dirt so I gave her a big hug... aren't I nice... When she got there we ate dinner and then I think we went kayaking for the first of many times during the weekend... Then we just chilled and talked about stuff that was on our minds... the next morning I woke up early, Papa and I went outside and talked while he had his morning smoke... he is hilarious... by 6:30 I was bored so I went to see if Megan looked like she was in a deep sleep and she did, so I stayed talking to my papa for another 30 minutes and then checked on her again, this time she had an angry look in her face and her hand was over her eyes so I knew she wasn't sleeping soundly (the sun was beaming through the window straight into her eyes)... I went inside and tickled her arm pit to wake her up... We just chilled most the morning and went kayaking, swimming in the middle of the lake and ate... then sometime in the afternoon we both passed out in each others arms... I don't know if it was her breathing that calmed me, but for some reason I was able to relax and get things out of my mind and sleep for a much needed hour...

Once we awoke, the Fourth of July celebration started (yes it was the 2nd, but that is when they start on the lake) with a parade of all the boats decked out in red white and blue... this happens as the sun sets and once a full circle around the lake is complete, the boats gather by the dam and watch a fireworks display...

The next morning was much like the first, just chilling... We tried to take a nap on the hammock but just ended up talking for 2 or 3 hours... in the afternoon we went inner tubing, but as soon as Megan got on the boat ran out of gas, so I didn't get a turn and her's was a short one... after a jet ski towed our boat back to the dock we talked to the neighbors (the Browns who are the parents of my Dad's childhood best friend) until dinner was ready... on the way to dinner Megan pushed me into the lake where it was only 2 feet deep so she had to run like crazy before I got out and tried to drown her... after dinner it was time for more fireworks! We were all out on the dock and my uncle tried to push me in but barely missed so then, when he was trying to push Tina in, I ran up behind him and pushed him instead... Everyone was so happy I did because they love picking on him, mainly because he is constantly picking on them...

The next day Megan had to leave really early in the morning because she worked at 6:30 AM on the 5th... I decided to stay though, and played scrabble with my sister, watched karate kid, and stayed in my pjs all day even to watch the fireworks... (I knew I couldn't go down by the lake or my uncle would have pushed me in) After the fireworks, we all played Scategories, which was really hard because we had around 9 people playing so it was hard to be creative enough to get any points...

At 4:45 the next morning I headed back to Austin with my sister so that I could make it back in time for my appointment where I got my wart removed... hopefully it won't grow back, I got it removed before and it did, but this time they cut it off, then burned it, so it didn't bleed, and also so it might destroy it at the root... oh well, we'll see...

Labels: best friend, family, homer, honey folts, kelly folts, megan folts, papa folts