Samantha J Day.com

Who am I to deny this right?

Another one I seem to sign round my head all the time ...

They keep playing this on BPM, and I just can't seem to get it out of my head.

More below the cut.

As mentioned below, the photo of the lamps as promised.

The Lamps I bought for the Livingroom

I'm been a bit slack on updating this last week, sorry about that.

Obviously the big news at the moment is the election win. Have to say I'm looking forward to seeing how things change in the next few years. We have to remember he's taken on a hell of job when it comes to tidying up this country. Can't expect too many changes, but I believe he'll be able to put the USA on the right path again.

Monday, as I mentioned, I went to the Dentist, my mouth is all finished now, all my teeth perfect. I spent nearly $8000 on my teeth this year (my credit card company is jumping for joy right now on the interest I'm paying on that) and many hours in the dentist chair. My dentist is great but I'm glad its over.

I also had a quick clean while I was there.

Tues, School in the morning, I did an essay that was so bad that my teacher said she wouldn't even mark it, and struggled with my algebra because she didn't have time to go through it with me. I got some pre Algebra packets off her for homework though.

Afternoon, was spent with Debra. Had a good chat.

Wens, I went to see the Evil Hell Witch, for my zappings. 3 Vicodin and I crashed out for the rest of the night!

Thurs, more school. This time my essay got a 3 (I wont ever get a 4 as it pretty much has to be perfect for that, and we know my writing skills are not that great). two is the lowest score I can get and still pass, 3 is what I'm aiming for.

Kinda goofed off after break and just chatted (I was working outside the classroom so I wasn't bugging anyone).

End of class I was talking to the teacher in the classroom next to ours and she asked me if once I'd finished my GED if I'd be interested in helping her in with her ESL (English as a Second Language). Its not a paid position or anything like that, but she felt I might be usedful as a) My teacher has been signing my praise about how I'm good with the other students and b) because while I am english speaking, I have been through a lot of what her students have been / are going through and that could be of help.

As you guys know, Teaching is becoming a strong interests for me now so this would be a great opportunity to have some hands on experience. I guess we will see when I pass my GED.

Either way, its kind of an ego boost to be asked :)

Friday, I had my appointment with the school councillor to talk about my test results and so forth. I'll make another post about that, as there is a lot of detail. I might even just scan in the results for anyone who is interested to read.

I was pleased to see Teaching, IT/Network consultant and Architect all in the top 10 jobs suggested (I've been thinking about Teaching and Architecture, and I work in IT already). But it did suggest a few that I hadn't considered before, and I'd like to look into more.

Yesterday I picked up a couple of lamps for the living room, I have a picture on my phone so I'll upload that after this post.

Today ... boring day of cleaning, laundry, etc hence why I'm blogging to avoid having to do it.

Okie ... well I'll upload the photo now, and get back to you on the job front later.

toodles.

So yesterday I did my Science GED test ... and I did a little better than my previous exams.

800/800 this time, which yes, puts me in the top 1% again.

In true "Samantha is stupid" fashion, despite getting some great results so far, I can still hear my father saying something along the lines of "Well the tests must be easy if she's getting such high marks" - Which to be honest is kinda what I believe too, although I am allowing myself a bit of cocky smugness every now and again.

I dunno, they are easy, I don't even feel you needed to know anything beyond the very basics of science to past the test I did, just an ability to read and understand the questions. 85% of the questions have the answers right there on the sheet (and I don't mean in the multiple choice answer bit either).

For example one question gave you a chemical formula and asked you to say what it was long hand / how you would pronounce it.

This could of been challenging and you would of had to of had the at least basic understanding of chemistry to be able to do this, however, they then tell you what element the abbreviations stand for and then go on to explain that the what the little number means in relation to how its written long hand.

Question : If N = Nitrogen and O = Oxygen, and when there is a little 2 after one of the chemicals you put a"di" before the word, then what does NO2 Stand for?

Answer : Nitrogen dioxide

So really I didn't need to know anything about chemistry to get this answer right, as they had giving me all the information, I just had to use what I was given to work out the answer, and if I was struggling to work it out then they have given me 5 answers to pick from, and 3 are obviously incorrect making it much easier for me to simply guess the answer, should I not know.

I dunno, I should just take the scores and be happy, its a great thing, and a lot of people are talking about scholarships to me (Lets be clear, I haven't been offered anything, its just been suggested that I would have a higher chance of getting one). So I should be all proud and bouncing off the roof etc. It just all feels too easy and like any second now someone's gonna pull the rug out and go "Ha Ha, your not really that smart".

God I'm a miserable b*tch sometimes ~laughs~

So what other news do I have ....

I was over at the office last week, getting the warehouse floor ready to be painted (needs to be cleaned with a solution of acid to roughen up the surface for the paint to stick), thats all been done, and hopefully I can get that painted this week.

Jacob as got himself into something really stinky and he smells like ass, so he's getting a bath tonight.

Monday, I have the dentists.

Tues, School and then Debra

Wens, I have my Zappings

Thurs, School

Fri, Appointment with a career councilor at school

I have a load of algebra homework to do before Thurs, as well as a Essay to write. Don't think I have any homework for Tues. Doesn't matter really because I'm now working on stuff thats 2 or 3 packets ahead of what is been taught in class so if I don't do any homework, I'm still ahead for a week or two, although I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of Algebra so I'll probably start that today.

I also have a few craft projects to complete, a Cross Stitch Thank You card, a coupe of blankets, and then I have to make a start on my Christmas Cards, so that they are done for the 1st Dec.

Gonna be quite a busy little bee over the next week.

See ya on the flip side.

Political Quiz thing under the cut ...

School again today, I did a Math Pre Test and got a pitiful 530/800 - Really bad because Math is actually a subject I really enjoy.

There were a couple of reasons I got such a poor score, I missed 5 questions because I ran out of time and while doing my exams I had the lovely D trying to chat to me about nothing in particular during the exam period as he was taking a non time limited test at the same time.

Every question I did do, I got right, so while the score is shitty (I need a 550 in math minim for some college requirements) If I can just learn to speed up a little I should be okay.

As a result I have 15 pages of Algerbra to do before next Thursday. o_O
(heh, I'm secretly loving it, but don't tell anyone I don't wanna look like a swot).

I also spent some time with V helping him with his constitution exam as he missed it last week.

V has a lot of responsibility laying on his huge (he's 6'6 at least and built like a football player) but young shoulders. He's only 18, already has 3 kids and he's from a rough part of town, a dangerous and rough part of town. One could assume he's part of the dangerous part too if you get my drift.

But this kid is so sharp, so very sharp, and such a quick learner.

Before I helped him, he score around 50% for his exam, we spent half an hour together and this time he got 88% - I was so proud of him. I gave him a big hug and cheek kiss, and he blushed so hard *laughs*

It was just so good to see that spark in his eye, of opportunity and options.

Gale, the teacher, has commented that she thinks I'm the "Mommy" of the class, that I look after the other students and so forth. While being called a Mom isn't a compliment I usually like, in this case it feels good.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been doing testing and teaching outside of what is being taught in class (we recently got a bunch of new students and we are having to repeat a lot of stuff that I don't need), and as I have mentioned before, I really do love the teaching / assisting side of things.

I dont think I could teach kids, especially not teenagers, I'm just not chilled enough for that.

I also don't think I could handle the bureaucracy of working for an educational facility, but I am really into this whole teaching thing.

I got a e-mail from the college councilor who I have been talking to about what path / job I should take, and she says she now has my aptitude test results back and she's ready to talk to me. Typically, I'm now busy until Wens, but I'm gonna call in the morning and see if I can fit her in asap.

I'm really curious as to what the computer thinks I should do. You guys got any guesses?

I'll be sure to let you know (unless its really bad like "dunnycleaner" or something).

Its all so very very exciting time for me right now :)

This had me giggling ....

So I did my Constitution Test today, I passed, of course but didn't quite get the score I wanted.

I got the fantastic score of 97% but I can't help but feel a little disappointed with myself.

I got a question about how many times the Illinois constitution has been updated, I answered 3 times (its 4) and I accept that. I simply didn't know / got it wrong.

The frustration comes with my 2nd error, the one in the Pledge of Allegiance.

At the end of the constitution test you have to write out the pledge in full (as I mentioned in a previous post) Its worth 10 points.

I spent all weekend writing it out, over and over again. I paid addition attention to the two words I would have difficulty spelling "Allegiance" and "Indivisible" - I must of written them down a hundred times of the weekend, I was determined to get the pledge right.

So why I wrote ...

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the flag for which it stands, ...."

(None US readers : the 2nd use of the word "flag" is the error, it should say "republic")

... I shall never know.

I'm really super annoyed with myself.

However, it could be worse, some examiners take off the full 10 points if you make one error, fortunately I only lost 1 point for that mistake.

Anyway, I redeemed myself, I helped the adorable mexican kid who is new to the class, with him constitution study. He was struggling with some of the vocabulary (I mean who knows what "fillerbuster" and "Gerrymandering" is really) as english is his 2nd language, but he came through in the end and passed the exam. The smile and pride on his face was priceless.

I also managed to fit in enough time to do my Science pre test, I scored well in that (800/800) and so my teacher thinks I'm ready to take the real test, which I'll do early November time (as the testing center is closed this week).

Its not really a real Science test, its just being able to understand graphs and what they are telling you and use that information to answer the question - You don't need to know a lot of science, just how to understand what they are asking. Very little study will be needed for this.

THEN .... the hard tests kick in ... Maths (which I think I'll pass with no problems, but certainly wont be getting the scores I've been getting used to) and English language, were I have to know grammar rules (which I know) and write a short essay (where I forget to use the grammar rules I know).

Spelling isn't so important in the essay, thankfully, I'm scored more on how clearly I put my message across. I know the format of how they want the essay, I just have to hope I don't go blank when I see the topic.

And then thats it, I will be able to say I have the education of a high school kid *snort*

Just got a copy of the Funeral Service from my Mum, she has included a bunch of pictures in for me to scan too.

He was so hansom when he was younger.

To be honest I haven't been up to a great deal over the past couple of weeks, cos thats just the kind of exiting life I lead.

Obviously I'm still doing the whole school thing, and really enjoying that.

Today I went to a College night to find out about the local Colleges / Universities in the area (not really feasible for me to look for a great school further away). I got a little bit of information, mainly just names so that I can look them up on the net later, it was far too busy to try and talk to the reps.

One of the reps upset me a little by asking me "Do you have a kid who's interested in engineering" and while technically, yes, I could have a 18 yrs old child now, I was kinda hoping the "I'm 29" lie was still holding strong. I guess not :/

So I headed over to the counseling dept, to set up an appointment to work out what I'd be good at, what path I should take, what I wanna be when I grow up kinda thing.

Tomorrow I'll head over to the library to do one of the tests that you fill out loads of information about yourself (example : I like to draw and I like people) and it suggests jobs / paths for you to take / study (example : Be a characture artist at your local tourist spot).

It then takes TWO WEEKS to be sent over to the careers advisor, before you can then talk about what you wanna do when you grown up.

Seems kinda long winded to me, but I think it will be helpful.

I kinda know what I field I wanna go into, maybe, well I have interest in a couple of classes. I'm just not sure what kind of job I could get out of it in the end (or even if I want to work for someone else).

Next week I have another exam, this one is Constitution (basically what most American school kids take in 9th grade) - I'm a little concerned about this test as its not something I understood fully until a couple of weeks ago, but I have been studying it.

Part of the test includes me having to write out the pledge of allegiance with no errors.

Some examiners remove the full 10 points if you get any part of it incorrect, fortunately my examiner only takes a point off for each error.

I have I feeling I'm going to be writing out the pledge of allegiance over and over again this weekend so that I get it right for the test

I think it is ...

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, from liberty and justice for all.

I have to get it correct down to the last little comma and everything (how did I do?).

Being a British citizen, I must admit it grates a little to have to keep saying it over and over to myself, so I have to remind myself I'm not actually "pledging" just learning what people say when they do.

Just feels a little odd.

However, doing this exam will help me immensely if I ever to decided to become an American Citizen.

I'm pretty confident I'll pass, I"m just not sure if I'll get a score I'm happy with.

After that I think I'm going to take my Science test, then Maths (I'm really loving my maths at the moment) and then my English Language/Writing test which is gonna suck royally I just know it.

Today, we had a whole bunch of new kids in the class, so me and a few other of the students who have been in class since the start of the semester sat outside the classroom while our teacher focused on the new students and giving us time to study.

I ended up teaching a couple of the other students that are having problems with Maths.
I really enjoyed teaching and got a real buzz when they "got it" , I just don't know if I have the skills required to do it as an occupation. Pays crap anyway :)

So yeah, my life is pretty much GED all the way at the moment, and I'm loving it :)

WANT WANT WANT

Just got back from my Social Studies exam.

I passed with a 730 (I was expecting something in the 600's) so that was pleasant news until I looked down at my score sheet and noticed once again I'm in the top 1% (99th percentile).

I'm kinda stunned to be honest, I mean I knew I'd pass, or at least I was pretty sure I would but I never in a million years thought I'd be capable of getting in the top 1%.

REALITY CHECK NEEDED

I do have to say the exams are pretty easy, so I don't think this instantly makes me smart or anything. I dunno I'm just really stunned.

Oh well, least its good news :)

Constitution exam next, but thats not for a couple of weeks, and then I'll do my Science.