Black Friday

I had never actually woken up early for Black Friday, so I figured this year would be a chance to see what it's like... I checked some ads online on Thursday and decided I wanted this:

It's a 22'' wide screen Westinghouse LCD monitor for $199 at Best Buy, regularly $499.  It was less than a third of the cost of my 24" Dell so I couldn't resist.

My alarm clock never seems to work on days that I have to wake up early.  I arrived at 5:20am (half an hour later than I had planned) and ended up waiting in a horrendously long checkout line with just a couple of DVDs in my hand.  Apparently people had waited in line outside all night to get in and there was nothing worth buying left.  I vowed never to wake up for Black Friday again unless there was some absolutely irresistible deal that I couldn't live without, so instead I passed time by looking around at what other goodies all the other early birds got.  The lady two places behind me soon spotted me eyeing the 22" monitor in her cart and started chatting with me.  It turns out the only reason she had gotten one was because she saw everyone grabbing them that morning, but she didn't really need it.  She had waited in line since 3am.  Wow.  3am.  The deals were good but they weren't good enough for me to stand in line for two hours just to get in the door and then stand in line another hour to get out   But what do you know, then she asked me if I wanted it.  I laughed in disbelief and said YES!

So that's how I got my only deal of the day.  Rumor has it that each Best Buy only had ten of these

In other news... here's where I plan to be in the upcoming months:

Dec 15: Last day at El Paso Energy... until January 10th
Dec 12: Last day of finals
Dec 13 - Dec 27: Free... Houston/Baton Rouge
Dec 28 - Jan 7: Trip to NY/MA
Jan 7 - Feb 16: Free... cousins from Brazil visiting
Feb 17 - Apr 20: Grant Thornton Internship
Apr 21 - Apr 30: Free... one week break
May 1 - July 6: ExxonMobil Internship
July 7 - July 31: Studying for CPA... and/or vacationing 
Aug 1: Ernst & Young (the beginning of the end of whatever social life I had starts here...)

Somewhere in there I should be ending my career as a professional student (graduating) too.  Probably in May.

Praises:
Andy got baptized on Nov.12!
My successful interviews
And though not so recent news, Derek & Sheree's engagement

Prayer Requests:
For Alice's father's health and for their family's comfort & unity
For my grandmother's health

I was trying to find a digital picture of myself to send to Grant Thornton as requested by their HR but ended up reminiscing over my old pics....   that was me and my fobby self trying on oversized sunglasses with the store manager glaring from behind @ Kaohsiung... can't wait to see a few faces from my study abroad trip when I go to NY this Christmas...

I need a costume for Halloween................

and I also need to study... when will this madness end!

Aww

my new cousin Erika in Brazil

and my classmate Jessica's daughter Elaine

E. Coli on spinach? 

I vaguely remember learning about it in biology class back in high school.  I think we watched some video about E. Coli and hamburger meat... Anita you remember??  Or maybe it was some other bacteria.  All I know now is that E. Coli causes diarrhea, and diarrhea brings back crazy memories of China.  I bet after what I went through there I could handle E. Coli.

ok maybe not.  I just googled this bacteria and here's what familydoctor.org says...

Symptoms start about 7 days after you are infected with the germ. The first sign is severe abdominal cramps that start suddenly. After a few hours, watery diarrhea starts. The diarrhea causes your body to lose fluids and electrolytes (dehydration). This makes you feel sick and tired. The watery diarrhea lasts for about a day. Then the diarrhea changes to bright red bloody stools. The infection makes sores in your intestines, so the stools become bloody. Bloody diarrhea lasts for 2 to 5 days. You might have 10 or more bowel movements a day. Some people say their stools are "all blood and no stool."  You may have a mild fever or no fever. You may also have nausea or vomiting.

yuck.  no spinach for me this month