Finals are over and the strike is on...

...and I have a new problem to deal with: how to get to the airport for my flight home for Christmas! Actually I don't think that is a big concern for me right now. If all else fails I can walk down to Atlantic Avenue LIRR and catch the train to Jamaica and transfer to the AirTrain to JFK. I'm glad the strike hasn't shut down every mode of transportation here. I bet the taxi drivers and everyone with a car and some free time is having a great time. Yesterday, I tried booking a car service for tomorrow and they were mostly booked up already. The ones I could look at online had jacked their prices up to at least double the normal price. I may resort to just calling one of the random people on Craigslist who is offering a ride for a small fee. No reason the cab drivers should reap all the benefits. Mayor Bloomberg gave a very rousing press conference. He was very adamant about this strike being selfish and illegal. He is right. The sad thing about this is that despite this being a very Blue city in a very Blue state, there is not a lot of support behind the TWU. They say stuff like, "The last thing we want to do is hurt the riders." If it were really the last thing, then why did they do it. They also accuse the MTA of bargaining in bad faith, while at the same time claiming the MTA is lying about another set of books and hiding money. Um, hello? Claiming the other side is lying isn't exactly a good faith effort on your part, TWU.

I finished my last final today. It was a take home exam and not a very good thing for me. It was an enjoyable exam with very relevant questions in copyright law, but it was hard to focus, what with all this strike stuff going down. Thanks to the strike, I didn't have to make the trek to Manhattan today--I was able to turn in my exam over the Internet. What a great invention, this "Internet". I'm sure glad it doesn't go on strike.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

...and it only gets better when finals are over! I have two down and two to go, but only one that is troubling me: Federal Income Tax. [cue: scary chord] It's been a difficult subject for me to grasp and I feel utterly unprepared for it. To make matters worse, I having a terrible time trying to study for it and the final is first thing on Monday morning. I can come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid studying it, like right now for instance, I felt I really needed to update my blog--in the heat of finals. I set out to get a calculator today for my final since we're not allowed to use our cell phones, palm pilots, laptops, or anything that we already own that can do mathematical computations. That trip ended up being a tour of 5th Ave. in Brooklyn from Park Slope to Bay Ridge and back again. Then, I spent several hours watching the Christmas special of In the Attic starring Rachel Fuller, Mikey Cuthbert, Simon Townshend, and Pete Townshend (including special guest Jerry Hall). That was a blast. Great music, great show. My only complaint is that there wasn't really any Christmas music on their Christmas show.

So, back to talking about school. The first two finals went pretty well. I was somewhat prepared and almost understood what was going on when I read the questions. Tax, however, is a different story. I have no idea what section to apply to the problem. If I can figure that out, then I'll do okay, because I do have some skill at reading code and sort of understanding what is happening. Oh, so far, we have avoided a transit strike, but it looks like it may be happening after all. I'm just glad I'll be done with my finals when they do strike. That certainly alleviates some stress out of my life knowing that when I wake up Monday morning I will be able to go to school on the train and be there for my exam.

I leave to go home for Christmas on Wednesday. I can't wait. I haven't been home since last Christmas (which was a nightmare--not being home, but the trip). Last year, it took me 30 hours to get home because we got stuck in snowed in Cincinnati airport. I wised up this year and although there aren't supposed to be any blizzards; I've taken the precaution of getting a flight that goes without stopping anywhere that isn't less than 2 1/2 hours from home. Yay for getting older and wiser!

Alright, I've got to get back to studying, or I have to start studying....just as soon as I eat dinner, and play guitar, and juggle, and call my girlfriend, and oh who am I kidding?