If you see me posting outside of the lounge...

[Tobin S.]

...kindly tell me how to get back here because I'd be lost.

I swore off this site about a month ago, but here I am back again taking a puff on the virtual nicotine that is DU. I think this place would benefit from a return to the old moderating system, and I'll leave it at that.

I've been busy as hell, lately. This is the first Saturday I've had off in about 2 months and it feels luxurious. I definitely needed that extra dough, though, and I'll probably be back to working Saturdays soon.

I've also been going to school part time. I started taking two classes a semester last summer. I have one more final to take this semester, and if I get a 77% or better on it I will have an 'A' for that class and I will have gotten "A's in all six classes that I've taken since my return to school. I'll be a senior after this semester. I'm going to crank it up to three classes a semester starting this summer, and if I go at that pace I'll graduate with a BS in business administration in December of 2014.

Jen is doing well and we celebrated her birthday yesterday. Our marriage is as strong as ever.

It's amazing what a positive outlook can do for a person. I know some people are bound by brain chemistry, and I used to be one of them, but many of us hold the keys to our happiness in our hands and we don't even know it. To succeed you have to try as the old saying goes. Staying the same can be safe but dull. Doing something, trying to make a change for the better, entails risk but also the potential for rewards. I've always been a rewardian.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Only if you'll do the same for me.

Glad to read all of your wonderful news!

[femmocrat]

2. Good to hear from you, Tobin!

I'm glad all is going well for you and Jen. Congratulations on all those A's!

We know you are busy, but don't be such a stranger!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. good to see you, Tobin. Congrats on the good reports and Happy belated b'day to Jen -

I have to admit that it was a rocky adjustment period for me and is ongoing with DU3.

[hedgehog]

4. Keep up the good work!

[mnhtnbb]

5. Hi Tobin. Congrats to you on your school work!

Happy Belated Birthday to Jen.

Thought of you the other day when I came across reference to a trucker's network
that helps to transport rescue pets.

In case you're interested, http://operationroger.rescuegroups.org/

[hunter]

6. I'm happy to see you here and glad you are doing well!

Wow, what a schedule you have... My schoolwork always suffered when I was working. That's how I flunked organic chemistry the first time -- it was easier to load and unload trucks than sit at a table in the library with a book trying to figure out the behavior of molecules.

I'm impressed!!! Good luck on your final.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. How good to see you posting, my dear Tobin!

I truly have missed you and your clear thinking.

I know you have a lot on your plate, maybe too much, but I sure understand!

Congrats on your successes.......may they only continue!

Here's to rewards!

[HipChick]

8. Wondered how you and Jen were doing

Great to hear both are doing well...you are a couple that are truly an inspiration..

[lunatica]

9. I went back to school after being a stay at home mom when I was 48 years old

I didn't have a clue about how to use computers, but I realized if I was ever going to get a good job I would have to learn (after my divorce). I went back to school nervously but found I loved using computers. I learned all the basic word and excel stuff for jobs, but as an artist I was curious about electronic art and I got pretty good in Photoshop and learned enough html code that I manage a website for a company that does classical concert music series. All self-taught just because I fell in love with computers.

My job now in UC Berkeley is almost all done on a computer and it's pretty secure for now at least.

[Tobin S.]

10. Excellent!

I just took a basic computer class that's required of business majors where I go to school. We did a lot of stuff with Excel and PowerPoint because those are used to a good degree in the business world. I had fun with those and we also did some stuff with Word and Notepad++. I've been a competent Word user for a long time because I write, but it would be a while before I got good at creating web pages. I don't know if I have the patience to write good programming code.

[lunatica]

13. Html code isn't programming code

I don't think I could ever write or even understand programming code. HTML is just the formatting code that's behind what you see on web pages. The basic stuff is very easy to learn and if you're interested you can self-teach at sites like

http://www.htmldog.com/guides/html/beginner/

or get HTML FOR DUMMIES. Those tutorial books are the best there are out there. You don't have to know all the jargon which is so confusing for most of us.

For me it brings in a little extra money each month since I build and maintain the season's concert series page and other pages on a site that already exists.

Anyway, good luck with your next Summer and Spring Semester. You're doing great! Hugs to you and Jen

[harmonicon]

11. Good luck with your class, but you know....

(this is one of my favourite old jokes) what they call the doctor who graduated lowest in his class?



Doctor.




I worked my ass off the last half of last year (really, like 60 hours a week) to be able to live a great life the first half of this year. After June, I'm fucked, but that's not until after June, right?!

Glad you're doing well.

[Tobin S.]

12. Good grades matter when transcripts are requested

and I have to maintain at least a 2.0 overall average to qualify for graduation. If I choose to go to graduate school at the same place I'm going now, my current grades will matter and when I get to graduate school I will have to maintain a 3.0 to remain in good standing. Might as well get in the habit of doing well now.

Don't look six months down the road. Look waaaaaay down the road...as in, your lifetime. I don't foresee a time when I will never be doing anything. When they have my funeral, I'm going to have them play this song.

[Iggo]

14. I agree with you, and I'll leave it a that.

[nolabear]

15. Hi Tobin! So glad to see you feeling so happy.

And my best and a Happy Birthday to Jen. And yeah, it's a good idea to stay close. Everybody hates everything in some neighborhoods iykwim.