Michael's Blog

KQ and Spring Break

2006-03-04T23:23:00.000-06:00

My house, Anders House, is the KQ 2006 champions. We beat our rival honors house Harwood by 10 points. Even more amazing is that with about half of the competition done, we were behind 5oo+ points. It was quite fun to participate in this 26-hour marathon quiz. And it is even better that we have bragging rights over Harwood for the next year.

Also, in a week, I will be going to Slidell, Louisiana to help with the cleanup effort after Hurricane Katrina. I will be at a camp at Lamb of God Lutheran Church with about 100 other college students (about 20 of which are from Iowa State). We will be mucking out houses, which is removing all of the sludge/mud/who knows what out of houses that was left after they were flooded. I hope that this enlightening project will lead to me appreciating what I have even more.

But I have written long enough, and I will try to make a post about Louisiana.

Hectic Days & Days to Look Forward To

2006-02-04T22:02:00.000-06:00

Things have been really hectic around here. I am involved with Concrete Canoe (and yes, it will float) though ASCE and we just had pour day today. It was a long day (from 8 am to 3:30 pm on a Saturday), but was a lot of fun. Other than that, I have been playing intramural basketball (man, I suck) and doing lots of homework. Lots of classes, so I do not have as much time as I wish sometimes, but oh well. It is a perseverance builder. I will survive.

On another note, I am pretty sure that I am going to Slidell, Louisiana over spring break to help with the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina. It is something that I am glad that I can be involved with. I am going with Memorial Lutheran Church in Ames. It will not be band tour, but it will be doing witnessing through actions.

I am also looking forward to Concrete Canoe Competition at the end of April in Iowa City, but that is a long way off and I need to keep focused on the present. That will keep me busy enough.

Hectic, yet Fun Times

2006-01-18T16:28:00.000-06:00

Life can be hectic at times. I have been extremely busy with the beginning of the semester and with all of that class work. However, I still have time for a couple other events. I went to Des Moines on Monday to volunteer at the Republican caucus. I worked with other ISU College Republicans with the keynote speaker, Rep. Tom Tancredo from Colorado. He gave a great speech on how we need to secure our borders better, especially the southern border with Mexico. Well, I hope I do not have to pull too many more late nights, and can do a few more fun things.

Spring Semester

2006-01-10T09:28:00.000-06:00

I think that this semester will go well. I do not have any regular 8 am classes, which makes it all the better. I hope that I will be up to the amount of work I have gotten myself into.

Here is my schedule.

CE 104 Civil Engineering Projects 1 credit W 3:10-4:00pm
CE 111 Fund of Surveying I 3 credits MF 2:10-3:00pm, W 12:10-3:00pm
CE 170 Civil Engineering Graphics 2 credits TR 12:10-2:00pm
EM 274H Honors Statics 3 credits MWF 10:00-10:50am
HON 290H Mentor Program 1 credit TBD
MATH 266 Elem. Diff. Eq. 3 credits MWF 11:00-11:50am
MUSIC 115 Symphonic Band 1 credit MWF 3:10-4:00pm
PHYS 221H Honors Physics 5 credits MWF 9:00-9:50am, TR 11:00-
11:50am, Lab T 8:00-10:50am

Some of you might call me insane for this schedule, but it is very much doable.

Break

2006-01-01T17:19:00.000-06:00

With the beginning of a new year, I have decided to make a blog for my new homepage. I hope you enjoy it.
This break has been great. Being back in New Berlin has been nice. I have been mainly spending my time working at American Bolt corporation in New Berlin. In this job, I am working at sorting bolts in their new warehouse. This is a boring job at times, but the pay is good, so I cannot complain.

I enjoyed my church's Christmas Service (my first year in the choir) and got to see many relatives there. I got to see a lot of my extended family on my mother's side, including Uncle David, Aunt Heidi, Aunt Miriam, Uncle Craig, and my cousins Kevin, Becky, Sarah, Karl, Anna, Daniel, and Caleb. My Grandma Meier was also there.

On Christmas Eve, I got to see a bunch of my relatives on my father's side in Oconomowoc. It included Grandma and Grandpa Baird, Uncle Dick, Aunt Chris, Uncle Billy, Aunt Terry, Uncle Paul, Aunt Judy, Uncle Robert, and cousins Dan, Ryan, Marcus, Andrea, Aaron, Beth, Joey, Craig, and Brian. I had not seen a lot of them for a long time, and it was really nice to talk to all of them.

I wish break would continue, but I only have one week left, so I will enjoy it.