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A new new iPod

I used some of the money I received for graduation and purchased an iPod last month. Well, this month Apple released the next generation of iPod (G4). It’s $100 bucks cheaper, weighs just 159 grams, and boasts a 12 hour battery life (a 50% increase from G3). Understandably, I was rather pissed. My iPod wasn’t even 2 months old before the next version came out. So I called Best Buy today to see what I could do about the problem. Turns out, since I purchased a replacement plan, I can just bring it in my old iPod and get the new one for free! How cool is that. Now the only question I have is whether I get the 20GB or the 40GB. We’ll see.

Colorado

It seems that some people are unware of the fact that I am in the state of Colorado right now. Well, I am. Now that’s out of the way. Tomorrow we’re heading up to Estes Park to go paintballing. In preparation, I purchased some new supplies including a new face mask, camo jacket, camo gloves, and camo head thing. I’m also going to try and make a ghillie suit at some point.

Mines moon mission may be NASA’s next

From the Rocky Mountain News:

By Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News
July 19, 2004

A Colorado School of Mines proposal to collect rocks from the far side of the moon was selected Friday as one of two finalists for a $700 million NASA mission.

The proposed Moonrise mission would send twin robotic spacecraft to execute the first lunar landings since the Apollo program ended in 1972.

Both craft would land in the 1,500-mile-wide South Pole-Aitken Basin. Robotic arms would scrape about 5 pounds of rock and soil into return capsules, which then would head back to Earth.

In January, President Bush outlined a plan to return astronauts to the moon as early as 2015. Robotic missions would pave the way for the manned lunar landings.

“Our mission is consistent with the president’s new vision for exploration,” said Colorado School of Mines geologist Michael Duke, who heads the Moonrise team.

“I think it fits,” he said Friday. “I think we will benefit from the fact that the country’s space program will be focused on the moon for the next few years.”

The South Pole-Aitken Basin soil and rock would be “clearly different from anything we’ve sampled before,” Duke said.

In February, seven proposals were submitted for the next mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program of unmanned solar system exploration flights.

The other finalist announced Friday is Juno, a Jupiter orbiter that would study the giant planet’s atmosphere and magnetic field. The Juno team is headed by Scott Bolton of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“It was a very tough decision, but we’re excited at the prospect of the discoveries either of them could make,” said NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler.

Each of the New Frontiers finalists will receive up to $1.2 million to complete a detailed “implementation feasibility study” in the next seven months. In May 2005, a winner will be named. The selected mission must be ready for launch by June 30, 2010. Costs will be capped at $700 million.

Road Trip!

We drove to Pueblo today to visit my mothers aunt. I think that makes her my great aunt, hmmm. Anyways, we drove through Colorado Springs and picked up my aunt (my mothers younger sister). She’s moving to Virginia and needs help driving out, so I offered to help and now it sound like I might go! ROAD TRIP! I’ve never been east of the Rockies, so this should be very fun and even educational. If this does work out, I hope to have lots of pictures.

In other news, we’re going paint balling on Thursday.

Explore CSM

We drove the entire Seattle-Broomfield, CO trip in just under 24 hours. It was quite a feat of driving. We drove essentially nonstop the entire way. I went to my college orientation today and learned quite a few new things. The day was long and I was really tired when I got back. I’m glad I only have to do this once. I checked out the Greek scene and decided to go Greek and then changed my mind to not go Greek, but to at least check out the Greek thing the first week of school (Rush).

Move Day

Well, this is it. After 18 years, 5 months, and 14 days, I’m finally “out of the house,” so to speak. Practically my entire life is packed into about 9 filing boxes and a couple bags. I am leaving most of my memorabilia at home, so I’m not really completly moved out; but I am pretty much. What is staying for sure is AndrewFerguson.NET. I’ve been working since the begining of the school year knowing this day would arrive and now it has. The servers should be set to work completly independently now. They even have a battery backup system in case we lose power. Stay tuned the next five years for my adventures in the college world, availible right here on AndrewFerguson.NET. Hey…this is kind of exciting!

Questions?

Do I have everything? What did I forget? What if I can’t find what I need? Can I ship it out? Who will be my friend? Will I succeed? Will I fail? What if I fail? What if I don’t like it? What if I don’t like Mines Park? What if I don’t like my roommate? What if I don’t like Colorado? What if?

Home Sweet Residence Hall

I got a pick fat packet in the mail from Mines today. It contained (drum roll, please) my Residence Hall information. That is, where I’m going to be living for a little while. I am staying in Residence Halls @ Mines Park. It’s off the main campus area, but it looks very promising. I also recieved information about my roommate, Jason from Colorado, and my apartment mates, Logan from Nebraska and Michael from Colorado. I am currently attempting to contact Jason, my roommate. I better continue packing. I never knew I had so much crap.

Wisdom teeth and all that jazz

On Tuesday morning I went to go have my wisdom teeth ripped out. They started me off with some good ol’ Nitrous Oxide. After that, it was a little poke and then I really don’t remember much. I do remember that I had my eyes closed and that I need help from the nurse to get out of the chair. I stumbled over to the recovery area and sort of sleep there for a little while. I really have no idea how long it was. I think they put a heart monitor on my finger, but I’m not sure. Anyways, we left and drove over to QFC to get my meds, Penicillin and Tylenol 3 (Codeine). I was feeling pretty good at this point. We drove over to the Apple store and I picked up some new headphones. Then we drove home. I popped a Penicillin and some Codeine and then went to bed. The next few days were filled mostly with sleeping. I really don’t remember much. By Thursday night, I had finally figured out that Codeine is a narcotic and was not only making me very tired, but also causing me to not remember things. I put an end to that, taking IBProfuen instead. Friday sucked quite a bit…probably from the withdraw of the Codeine. And that brings me to today. Eating some solid foods (e.g. cut up grilled cheese and bagels), but using my front teeth to chew…which really sucks. I periodically check to ensure that all 4 stitches are in and I have to rise out my mouth with salt water 3 times a day. The maxillofacial surgeon said not to brush my teeth for a little while. I suppose it’s so I don’t rip out the stitches or anything. I plan to begin brushing tomorrow. I start the sucking out fluids part on Tuesday. Jeez, at least I only have to do this once! In other news, I picked up an APC Smart-UPS 3000 for free. It can draw up to 60 amps, but it seems satisfied with well just under 20 for now. I’ve been trying to get my hands on one of these for ages and now it’s mine! All mine! Mu ha ha ha ha ha ha. ERhm. Anyways, very exciting none-the-less. I also started cleaning out my office and bedroom in preparation for driving to Colorado. Only 44 some days left.