I wrapped up my 17-hour semester and the grades have been rolling in for the courses lately. To my amazement, I landed a 79.99% “B” in Spanish I and was registered for Spanish II for Spring. While I didn’t manage to get a 4.0 (or even a single “A”) this semester, I’m more than happy with my grades considering running my business for countless hours and working on homework every weekend.
I can tell how busy I was by how much “free time” I seem to have now – it’s ridiculous, really. When Kristin goes to bed, I don’t have to work because I was at school during the day. When the weekend rolls around, we can go shopping or just lay around watching TV and deciding what to eat next without working on Spanish or some other online deadline.
I’m on my way to the advisor today to see what I can do for my final elective. The exit requirement sheets are so darn confusing, it’s better to go see an advisor and get into the right class without any surprises when I apply to graduate in a few weeks.
Did I just say “apply to graduate!?” It’s been a long road since this high school graduation pic was taken in 1997: in the last decade/century/millennium. The road started out promising: full-ride scholarship plus books to any state school and got accepted both to USF and the Honors College. Something just wasn’t clicking right in my brain and it took too long to realize that college students actually have to study to get good grades (at least when they’re 18). I quickly lost my scholarship and had to get a job, and another, and another. Going back to school wasn’t really an option when I needed to provide my own health insurance and things just seemed too busy to go to school and work. I had no idea how anyone could do both.
A few years later, some friends of the family made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I was pretty close to having my A.A. and the offer was for a 50% scholarship to finish my 2yr degree at community college. I finished in 3 or 4 semesters while working during the day after all.
Love and marriage kept things going pretty easy in my life by having a partner to share the load of day to day living and I kept plugging away at my 4yr degree with the school assistance program at work. I got something like 7 out of 8 classes with an “A” and got those all reimbursed. When I left that job, I was on my own for school again and had to take the summer off. We hit classes hard this semester with the goal of walking in May 2010.
After meeting with my advisor, it was going to take 17 hours (including Spanish I) for the Fall and 14 hours (including Spanish II) in the Spring. No slips. No D’s. No vacations. No hospitalizations. Hardcore school all the way for the next 30 weeks with 4 relaxing weeks in the middle. Time to get my USF diploma on the wall next to Kristin’s to make for 2 HCC diplomas and 2 USF diplomas in the house.
Here we are in the middle – to be continued…
We have a lot going on recently, so I apologize for not updating in over 10 days. Tonight is my Spanish final. I learned that I got a 60% on my third exam, so I am feeling the weight of this one, though I’m more confident about the contents of this exam than the previous one. I just can’t get to sleep, so I fixed the way this site look on that stupid browser called Internet Explorer after Kristin informed me today that it was wonky. Once my exam is over, it’s time to step my new projects into high gear to take a break for Christmas/New Years.
I’ve been working off and on, sometimes furiously and obsessively with some Thesis theme projects that I am doing for residual income. I’ve developed some cool tools that work hand in hand with the theme, but I wanted to do things right. I purchased aMember, a membership software that protects areas of my site, my product files, maintains my member lists, and automatically logs members into the member areas and my members-only support forum. Very cool stuff, but I also had to hire a programmer with experience with aMember to get it to all work together. Now I’m building the support forum content while another programmer adds new features to my tools that were outside my skillset, but within my vision. Once this first item is ready to go and selling, I need to bring him back into the picture to hit a home run on my next tool. I guess I’m beginning to be more visionary in my “old age.”
I am also working on some new business models, which includes monthly retainer clients. I acquired a new client that has a base of 1/6th of what I need each month with a likelihood of reaching 2/3rds of my monthly goal, so long as his 10yr-old business stays as successful as mine has been. Working together, we can do some great things, but the time needed is far from putting all of our eggs in one basket.
I am aware of 3 projects that clients have been waiting until I begin Christmas break from university to start so they can be completed quickly. They are very exciting and… shall we say bill-paying projects. If all goes well, I will be in good position to get ahead in some classes when the new semester begins without worrying about cashflow.
It is time for a face lift on all of my sites now that I have learned so much more since they were last modified. I will have to write a regretful e-mail to one developer because he is a major source of traffic because my sites are in his theme showcase. The flipside of that is I should get more traffic from the new developer when they do the same.
Related to that, I’m going to be combining my company site with a full-featured blog that I’m going to come up with a publishing schedule for. I’m determined to add value to the WordPress community with regular tips, commentary, and discussions. I’ve got plenty of people bored with P-squared now that I’m talking business so much now… it’s time to move them to a new home. I can hear my wife cheering in her sleep as I write that.
Just a few more days until the fun begins. Stay tuned…
The panhandler situation in Tampa is getting even worse this year. They are getting bolder, hungrier, and more “persuasive.” No, I’m not talking about homeless people.
I’m talking about droves of “charity” workers. Who are these people? They come in two main varieties around our part of town:
- women dressed in some sort of funky 1940’s nursing uniforms with buckets and no indication of their charity
- men in shirts and ties with buckets marked “Help Homeless Children of America”
Let’s start with what I know about the situation. They used to be satisfied to walk up and down the median. No longer good enough, they walk up the middle of double turn lanes and don’t get out of the way so you zoom past them at 45 mph with 9″ to spare to get through a long light. They frequently walk in front of your hood and stare you down. They will walk right up to your window and look in to see if your peripheral vision is broken. Regarding the first group mentioned, two weeks ago I witnessed a collector who was glad to stay put in the median, however she was clapping, singing, and turning in circles. Yeah… I’m giving you money.
Secondly, what homeless kids in America need donations on the street like this? Homeless children are accompanied by their parents or are considered orphans. Have orphanages sunk this low for raising money? Homeless children are almost always going to be in a shelter with one or more parent or they are in the foster care system because their parents are homeless and our government cares so much about kids that they won’t allow them to sleep on the streets with their parents. So don’t give me this bull about the money in your bucket going to homeless children in America. What’s the money really going to be spent on? Your salary? Your spiritual leader’s 3rd car or second divorce? I’d like to see your 501(c) and your financials.
The mayor needs to put an end to these types of fund-raising. I know you can’t stop all of the homeless people and people on hard times, but these organized groups of 2, 4, and 8 collectors has got to stop.
I’ve recently realized that I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform in too many areas of life that are so non-stop, it’s relentless… and probably taking a toll. I set the goal to graduate in May, which required taking 5 courses this semester and 4 next semester with each one including a Spanish course. So, while every course is necessary, the Spanish is “do or die” because they are 1) sequential; 2) much better to take in a 13-week semester; and 3) going to change the curriculum after May. To have to take Spanish 1 twice would be devastating to my goal.
Yet that is the course I have the least control of. How do you force yourself to absorb the concepts of a foreign language while not immersed in speaking it and working 50-60 hours/wk (in English, I might add)?
Things will only get worse in February when I apply to graduate. I’d really like to have some sort of celebration of my 13-year journey to get my degree, which would involve invitations and then require a follow-through performance to pass Spanish 2.
It’s time to stay positive and focus on the goal: hearing Dr . Silverman rattle off 800+ names at commencement, one of which being “Jesse Petersen,” walking across that stage with 5,000 watching with no clue about who I am, and then hanging my diploma in the hall next to my wife’s.
That will be a fine “job well done.”
Did I just say “apply to graduate!?” It’s been a long road since this high school graduation pic was taken in 1997: in the last decade/century/millennium. The road started out promising: full-ride scholarship plus books to any state school and got accepted both to USF and the Honors College. Something just wasn’t clicking right in my brain and it took too long to realize that college students actually have to study to get good grades (at least when they’re 18). I quickly lost my scholarship and had to get a job, and another, and another. Going back to school wasn’t really an option when I needed to provide my own health insurance and things just seemed too busy to go to school and work. I had no idea how anyone could do both.
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