I just finished up my first week of the new school semester about an hour ago. So far, things are going well. It’s only the first week though, so we’ll see if it stays that way. I’m taking four classes: operating systems, networking 2, and a class each on Excel and Access. The operating systems class seems like stuff I’m already somewhat familiar with and it’s going to end with setting up a homelab-esque network with Windows server and active directory. I have no experience with that, but I’m looking forward to learning. Networking seems like mostly a review of the second half of networking 1 from last semester. Cisco shuffled the curriculum around I guess. I’m not even mad. These two classes are the regular self-paced online class where there isn’t any face-to-face with the teacher. The Excel and Access classes are taught by the same person, which is neat I guess. Those are going fairly slowly so far, but I’m sure they’ll pick up as the class gets more comfortable with the programs. Those classes were planned to be on campus, but due to the pandemic, they’re also online. We all gather in a Zoom meeting instead of a classroom. I don’t really mind the virtual class thing, but I don’t think it would be anyone’s first choice.

I’m disappointed that my school is using Zoom, because it’s a totally unproven piece of software whose owners/executives have bowed to Chinese pressure to silence dissidents who aren’t even in China. My school has some sort of deal with Microsoft for email and Office 365, which I have to assume comes with Microsoft Teams and involves some exchange of money. A Zoom package for a large organization also costs money. Why would you pay for worse software when you already have something perfectly functional? I’m really, really disappointed in my school.

But whatever I guess. I only have this semester and then one more before I graduate. Hopefully I won’t have too much trouble finding a big boy job in a year or so. I’m looking forward to making some real money so I can get a car. I’m tired my old salvage stuff and I’m willing to trade more money in exchange for a more solid car. On the other hand, I noticed that supercharged 2012 Range Rovers are in the $15,000-$18,000 range, which would probably be attainable. I would love a Range Rover, but it’s a Range Rover. Probably known more for its unreliability even more than its luxuriousness and off-road ability. I’m not sure if I want another car with a reputation like that.

In other news, my dad has asked me to troubleshoot my brother’s old laptop so my dad can use it. Currently, my dad is using a laptop that’s probably 10 years old at this point. It blows, in my opinion, but he soldiers on. My brother had a fairly decent Asus laptop that stopped working for some reason. He needed a laptop right away for school, so he just got a new one. I’ll be checking out the old Asus on the weekend. I hope I can get it going again because it’s fun to “supercharge” older computers I think. If I can get it running again, I plan to install some more memory (8GB at least, unless it already has that much), an inexpensive SSD and probably some fresh thermal paste on the surfaces that require it. Plus a thorough cleaning. My brother’s laptops get gross as hell very quickly. There will be more on this computer over the weekend.