Jett_Fuel's Blog - 2old2play

Susan G Komen 3-Day - For The Cure

I am walking in November to raise money for breast cancer. My mother died as a result of inflammatory breast cancer in January 1988. I am walking in her honor. I am hoping to raise $5000 but I need a minimum of $2200 to participate. I am at $1650 currently.

I am hoping that my fellow 2old2play members take a moment and click the link below to go to my personal donation page and donate whatever you can.

We all have mothers, some of us are women, some of us have daughters and/or wives, girlfriends etc. Help raise money to find a cure. BTW it is also possible for men to be diagnosed with breast cancer tho it doesn't happen as frequently.

http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/SanDiegoEvent?px=1775741&pg=personal&fr_id=1187&et=ea4tw2kHWaKe5ZpMwaMRBA..&s_tafId=6035

Thanks

Shawn

AKA Jett Fuel

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I Passed the Exam

Cannot believe I did it but I passed the comprehensive exam that I took in April. What a relief. Now I just have to finish up my units and complete my field work hours. Finishing the hours will likely take until December at the rate I am currently accruing them. Working full time at a job unrelated to my new career path makes it difficult to really pile up the hours. Right now I get anywhere from 5 to 10 hours a week.

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Two years already

Short entry - thinking about my brother. He passed away two years ago today and it just doesn't feel like it has been that long. I miss him.

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Comps are DONE

Took my comprehensive exam on Saturday. Feel pretty good about 2/3 of the exam. It is split up into three sections and I need to get 70% on each section to pass that section. I feel really confident about the first and third section, but am not even remotely confident about the middle one. I hope I did enough to pass. I don't really care if I get 70% or 90%, I just want to hear "YOU PASSED THE EXAM". I will know in about three weeks. So for now, since there is nothing I can do about it, I am going to focus on other things as best I can.

I finally got through "Flirtin' With Disaster" on Hard to get through the solo tour on Hard.

Better get to work....

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Tired, stressed and overwhelmed

Was up way too late last night trying to beat Flirtin' With Disaster in Rock Band on Hard. It is the last song that I need to get the achievement. Last night I finally got to where I was nearly out of the solo where I have consistently failed at around 75% complete. I got to 83% last night so I know I am close and eventually I will get there. But an hour straight of nothing but that song...Aaargh!

Then slept poorly due to anxiety related to my comprehensive exam that is coming up this Saturday. I just cannot seem to buckle down and study for any length of time. I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material and worry that I will focus on the wrong thing and fail.

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Pre-Ordered GTA Special Edition today

Yeah, I know - that is a ton of $$$ but I liked the extras...especially the safe deposit box and the music CD. Good think I won't get it tho until after I take comps or my future could be derailed. This is really the only game coming out at the moment that I really want to add to my video game library. Hope it doesn't take me as long to finish the game as it did for GTA San Andreas. Looking forward to the improved visuals.

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OMG - Heat Wave this weekend

It is frigging APRIL and yesterday it was 95 degrees and today was I think 97!!! - both records for this area on these two dates. If you have read my blog entries, you may know I am close to finishing up graduate school with my comprehensive exams in two weeks. I got some studying done yesterday, but today was just too hot and I was drained after yesterday studying in the heat. So I ended up goofing off some more. Played more Rock Band and am edging closer to completing the Guitar Solo Tour on Hard. Currently stuck on Enter Sandman. It is late and I should be sleeping but it is still uncomfortable in my house tho it is 12:30AM now. Short entry...cuz it is just too hot and I'm just too tired.

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Interesting commentary going on in the OFF TOPIC forum

Been watching and reading the couple of threads related to personal freedoms, video games ratings and underage gamers (under 17) playing M rated games. One of my all time favorite movies is V for Vendetta. I own the DVD and the Audio Book which is on my iPod. That movie has quite a message on sensorship and control by the government based on fear. I love the line: "People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of it's people" How true.

If you haven't seen the movie don't read further but go rent it.

The "hero" is a terrorist against the government partly due to what the government did to him personally and what it has done to the country and it's citizens. I watched the "making of" section of the DVD and Hugo Weaving (who plays V) had a good point (at least I think it was him - it could have been the guy that plays Gordon Deitrich) that one mans terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Whether someone is considered a terrorist or not depends on the perspective that person is being viewed from. Tho in the movie V does not target innocents in is fight against the "evils" of the government. He blows up buildings and kills those personnally responsible for the suffering he and others endured at the hands of those in charge of the detainment camp he was imprisoned at and experimented on.

Regulating the sale of video games is already being done by the industry through the use of the rating's system. It is up to the consumer to take individual responsibility for purchase and use of any particular game. Parents should be taking a more active role not a less active one in raising their children. It is not the government's responsibility nor is it the school systems responsibility. We are moving further and further away from personal responsibility and blaming everyone else. Just look at how clogged the courts are with lawsuits that seek monetary compensation for perceived wrongs that in many instances are just seeking to lay blame on someone else.

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Stressed out so I game

I am getting close to finishing graduate school. I take the comprehensive exam which I must pass to get my degree in less than three weeks. I have really not studied for it despite knowing the date is getting closer and closer. Been getting overwhelmed to the point of avoidance. So I have been playing my games as a way to not think about school related stuff. I am also working full time and trying to fit in an unpaid internship because I have to earn 500 field work hours to graduate (I have about 220 currently so have a LONG way to go).

I tried to use my games as an incentive to do something "good" for me by letting a friend hold my Rock Band, Guitar Hero 2 & 3 games plus the two GH controllers (figured he may as well play them if he had them and the Rock Band strat is too fragile to loan out). I ended up just playing something else instead. So I am nearly finished with Need For Speed - Most Wanted now. Only have the last guy (Razor) to beat now. I have had that game since just after getting my 360 and hadn't played it in quite some time thanks to Oblivion, Bioshock, Halo 3, Guitar Hero 2 and Rock Band getting most of my gaming time love.

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Long Time no Blog

I tried to write an entry earlier today but IE quit unexpectedly on me. Grrr

Just finished up summer school and am enjoying a small break before Fall semester starts. Got Bioshock this past Tue as a reward for the stress of the summer between school, work and other stuff.

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Creative Intervention

In my counseling children and adolescents class, we each had to come up with a creative intervention to use with children and/or adolescents. My idea was to use the computer game The Sims 2 to create a "comic book" and allow the child/adolescent to tell a story with it. These stories can be very revealing. Of course, we had to put together an example of the intervention.

Here is a link to my example. I would love to know what you guys think. I created a family in The Sims 2 and used the camera feature to take snapshots periodically of what was happening on screen. Then I used the program Comic Life on my mac to put a comic together using the pictures. Once the pictures were in place...I added dialogue balloons and text boxes to give the story life.

http://homepage.mac.com/schmitz_mft/comiclife/

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Thank goodness!! I got in to the class I need

What a crazy week with regard to school. Thank goodness I was one of those who got into the practicum class in the Fall. I really did not want to have to wait to graduate. I want to move on to my new career and the sooner I can do that, the better. So now the issue has become, finding a field site to get hours and supervision at.

I sent a resume and personal statement to a place today. It is close to home, school and my current employer which would be a big help with the commuting between these different places. I'm both excited and anxious about doing field work. Finally will get to apply what I am learning in the classroom to real world stuff. Talk about a scary deal. Of course, nave to do it eventually. I'm making a big change in my career path. Currently I am a project manager for a construction testing and inspection firm in So Cal. I handle budgets and review inspection and test reports. Boring stuff. What I am going to school to do is a completely different thing. Working with people who are having issues in their lives and helping them to sort through their feelings etc.

I am thinking I want to work with children and adolescents. I am a big kid at heart. Heck I have more video games than most kids do. I also ride a motorcycle (Kawasaki ZX6R) which is considered pretty cool especially since I'm a "girl". I think I can relate pretty well to kids. We'll see if that is true. For one of my classes we have to come up with a "creative" intervention to use with children and/or adolescents. Here is my idea tho it is just a basic idea that can be expanded on...

Create a family or different families in The Sims on my PC and take snapshots of various things happening. Print out the snapshots and have the child/adolescent use them to create a "story" and turn that into a "comic book".

Eventually I would like to have kids create their own families in the game and take their own snapshots when they deem it a good time and for them to create their "story" from those.

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My addiction to GHII

I'm looking forward to October...that is when GH III comes out (or is suppose to). I have been having a blast with GHII. Been making use of my digital camera that I just got a few months back. Not something i thought I would be using it for. LOL

Last night I didn't play much. Had class after work and quickly had to get ready to go play softball immediately after class. Didn't get home until after 9pm. Then watched American Idol on Tivo before finally picking up my axe and rocking. Had to at least attempt the DQC put up by crypticcat. And was given a one on one challenge to try to beat by CrypticCat as well. By the time I did all that it was late and I needed to get some sleep. So not much play time yesterday.

On a more solemn note. My heart goes out to those affected by the tragedy at VT.

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Graduate school frustrations

I am getting close to completing my first year of graduate school at Cal State Long Beach. (seeking a MS in Counseling - Marriage and Family Therapy). My class or as they call "cohort" (those that were accepted and started the program at the same time) consists of about 35 individuals. We all found out last night in our counseling techniques class that only 16 people will be accepted into the practicum in the fall.

This is a BIG BIG deal. If I'm not one who gets lucky and is accepted, I will not be able to graduate as planned in the summer of 2008. I will have to endure another semester (not to mention the cost involved which would be about $1200 or more depending for just ONE class).

According to our professor (who happens to be the head of our program) the reason they cannot admit more is that there aren't enough clients in the oncampus clinic for more than 16. I truly hate my current job and can't wait to get out of here so any delays in graduation means that much longer stuck in my nowhere job.

So everyone ... think positive thoughts and send good karma my way!

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Day dragging by....

Even tho I have been keeping busy today at work (*sighs* about missing out on more GHII time) the day has dragged by, especially this afternoon. Plus I know that when I get home, the first thing I must do is write my paper that is due tomorrow night. Graduate school is great but sometimes it does get in the way of goofing off.

If I get my behind in gear as soon as I get home...I probably can get the paper written in a few hours. It is only suppose to be 6 pages (double spaced). So that isn't too bad. My paper is on the diagnosis and treatment of Separation Anxiety in children. The class is counseling children and adolescents. The class is really good. We watched What's Eating Gilbert Grape in class. How often do you get to watch a mainstream type of movie in a class if it isn't a class on films? We have gotten to try art therapy activities too. Helps we do all this interactive stuff because it is my late class 7pm to 9:45pm on Thursdays.

Taking 4 classes this summer. Wish I didn't have to tho. I could put one of them off but if I do that I won't be able to have an "easy" 2 class semester next spring....when I will be doing more field work in addition to the classes. I can actually see the end of the tunnel now and I want desperately to be able to leave my current job but I need this job to pay bills and school expenses (no...my employer isn't paying for school...I am out of my paycheck). No student loans for me. I just have to gut it out for another 16 months or so...by that time I will have put in 20 years with my current employer. I'd say that was long enough..Hopefully at that point I will have located a paid internship and begun earning the remainder of my hours needed to get my license. I need to get 3000 hours and can only get about 1200 during grad school. So that leaves 1800 or more (if I wasn't able to obtain the max allowable while still in school). That sounds like a lot to me right now.

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