June 30, 2011

Remarkably, we have reached the last day of June.  This month has been so incredibly busy between my classes and work that time has flown by like you wouldn't believe.  Not only was it the last day of June, but it was the first truly hot month of the year.  I'm not sure if we broke into the triple digits today, but it was definitely up there.  I went for a walk downtown, and I saw on a digital sign that it was 98 degrees.  Fortunately, there was a strong wind and it was dry heat, so it didn't actually feel as bad as it could have. Even though the heat wasn't that bad, it motivated me to stay inside for a good part of the afternoon to work ahead on homework.  I didn't have to work today, so I had no distractions, and I was able to accomplish a great deal.  My last week of class will be considerably less stressful because of the time I put in today.

Anyway, a few minutes ago, I had showered, was watching Conan, and was preparing to blog before I hit the sack when I heard some very odd noises.  I heard loud noises that sounded like they were coming from the roof.  I was a little alarmed at the thought that someone was walking around on top of a ten story building, and I looked out my window in search of an explanation.  I discovered that the source of the strange booms was actually a fireworks display!  I had no idea that there was going to be any kind of show this early or this close.  I'm not exactly sure of the origin of the fireworks, but it seemed like they were coming from the parking lot on the north side of Memorial Stadium.  It was a pleasant little surprise that has made me even more excited for my Independence Day weekend.  Tomorrow I'm going to class and then I'm gettin' outta dodge for the weekend.

Oh, one last thing.  Here's a short, shaky video of the fireworks display:

June 29, 2011

Today was a hot one.  It was sunny, clear, and around 95 degrees.  I don't think the humidity was extremely high, but it was high enough to enhance the heat.  I wisely decided to take a walk in the morning when it was only about 70 degrees.  Even then, the temperature was rising so quickly enough that, when I got back, it was already starting to feel pretty toasty.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.  The forecast says 101, so I'll have to keep watch to see if we actually reach triple digits.  If we do, it will be the first time this summer.

Other than endure the heat, I had class, a staff meeting, and now I'm on a duty shift.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though.  Starting when I clock out at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, I do not have to work until next Tuesday at 7 p.m.!  I wish I could say the same about my class, but still, that's the longest break I've had since May.  I am really looking forward to going home, where I will not only be able to see my immediate family, but a few cousins, an aunt, an uncle, and grandparents that I don't get to see all that often.  Only a couple more days, and I'll be GI-bound!

Edit:  I made this post in such a hurry that I forgot to explain the second picture.  The second picture shows a crane/construction device that they just brought in by Memorial Stadium.  The east side of the stadium has been torn up all summer because they've been working on the East Campus Expansion Project.  I have no idea how they're going to clean everything up for football season, but I fear it's going to be a mess...

June 28, 2011

It was a pretty typical day: got up, went to class, messed around all afternoon, and now I'm working.  It was sunny and clear the entire day, and not too hot (though that's about to change these next couple days).  It's my second-to-last shift before my Independence Day Weekend break, and it has been a very productive shift indeed.  I completed a great deal of homework for my Spanish class (I was working ahead), calculated all of my hours and figured out my entire work schedule, and now I'm typing this and answering ChaCha questions.  There's never a dull moment at a desk shift when you have a lot to get accomplished...

Anyway, tomorrow I have class, a staff meeting, and work.  These next couple days are supposed to be scorchers, so we'll all have to keep an eye on the mercury...

June 27, 2011

The pictures make it fairly obvious that today was an infinitely better day outside than yesterday.  The first picture was taken around 10 a.m. this morning, and the second was taken around 9:00 p.m. tonight.  It was a beautiful day.  It may have been a tad muggy this morning, but it was nowhere near yesterday's humidity levels.  It wasn't too hot (low to mid 80's) and the sun was out all day.  It made my day off truly excellent.  I had a pretty active day, but it wasn't stressful and I didn't have to clock in anywhere!  I only have work tomorrow and Wednesday, and then I'm off for a good five days!  Woo!  My long awaited trip home is now within reach!

June 26, 2011

This post is way late, so I'll try to keep it short.  Basically, when I woke up yesterday morning (a Sunday), I could barely see the capitol building through the obscenely thick fog.  It depressed and disgusted me so much that I forgot to take a picture at that particular time.  The first picture shows later morning when the fog had eased up slightly, and the second picture is in the afternoon when the sun was trying (unsuccessfully) to burn off some of mist.  It's okay that it sucked outside, though, because I had to work for most of the day anyway.  I had the morning off, but from 12 p.m. yesterday to 7 a.m. this morning (not counting about an hour and a half off the clock yesterday afternoon), I was working somewhere.  This isn't something I typically say, but yesterday was a perfect day to be inside.

Then, last night while I was on duty, there was a nasty little thunderstorm that rolled through town.  I couldn't leave the building, but I watched from the front door as it rained like crazy and hailed (probably quarter to ping pong ball sized).  That particular storm blew through pretty quickly, but overnight there was a storm that came with unbelievably loud thunder.  The lightning must have been right on top of us because there was almost no delay between the "flash" and "boom".  Anyway, enough about yesterday. Today is shaping up to be a much better day weather-wise, and I don't work, so I'm going to get off the computer to go enjoy it!

June 25, 2011

The forecast was quite wrong...again.  It was supposed to be mostly cloudy with an 80% chance of rain today, but all of the rain occurred overnight and early this morning.  This forecast flub worked in my favor, though, because it allowed my sister, brother, and mom to make a quick trip to Lincoln.  It was extremely muggy, but there weren't any storms to interfere with travel.  It's the first time in a month I've seen anyone from my family, so it was great that the weather allowed them to come down. We got lunch, went to a few random stores around town, and went back to my dorm briefly.  It wasn't some fantastically fun-packed day, but it reminded me how much I miss being around my family sometimes. :( Fortunately, I won't have to wait long to see them again.  This Friday I will be leaving after class and heading straight for GI.  I have a stretch of about five days off of work and three days off of class, so I'm taking advantage of this window of opportunity.

Anyway, I'm working again, but my shift is nearly over!  Yay!  Today was the last official day of the International Thespian Festival, so tonight and tomorrow UNL will have a tremendous amount of people leaving campus.  "Hell Week" is over for my coworkers.  I can't say it was really "Hell Week" for me because I learned from last year and didn't take as near as many hours...  I want to make money, but some things--like sleep and sanity--are more valuable to me than a paycheck.

June 24, 2011

I woke up to clear and sunny skies.  Everything outside looked perfectly normal, but radar did not.  There were some spotty, isolated thunderstorms heading east towards Lincoln that were NOT predicted by forecasters.  I knew they had arrived when I heard screams through my tenth story window from people on the ground below.  I looked out in time to see people dashing for cover to avoid getting drenched by the sudden torrential downpour.   Obviously, I lack compassion because I thought it was hilarious.  It brightened my Friday morning...

Fortunately, these thunderstorms were extremely isolated and were out of the area well before my class.  Unfortunately, it created the perfect conditions for a hot and muggy day.  It wasn't awful, but it definitely made it a little more uncomfortable to be outside.  Anyway, I am about 20 minutes away from the end of my desk shift.   I worked a weird block of time today (3 p.m. to 9 p.m.), but it's actually to my advantage.  I hung out with a coworker for nearly two hours off the clock last night, so I didn't go to bed until 2 a.m.  This odd shift gives me the opportunity to go to bed before midnight for a change...

June 23, 2011

Being the responsible person that I am, I forgot to take my camera to my desk shift...again.  I only worked from 9 p.m. to midnight, but the extra time didn't help me remember to bring everything I needed.  Anyway, yesterday was a gorgeous day outside.  It was the first day since this little cold front moved in that the weather was truly beautiful.  It was sunny and partly cloudy the entire day, between 75-80 degrees, and just pretty.  The sky didn't have any of that nasty haze, and it seemed like it was actually a pure shade of blue for once.  It was really an awesome day.  No complaints!

June 22, 2011

I was up bright and early this morning to clock out from my duty shift.  It was a quiet shift, but when you don't fall asleep until 2:30 a.m. and have to get up at 6:50 a.m., it's not always the most pleasant of situations.  In the brief period of time that I was up to clock out and head back to my dorm, I noticed that there was nothing but clouds (with a patch of blue here and there) in the sky (see picture 1).  This concerned me a little because I thought today was supposed to be decent.  It stayed cloudy and kind of cold until mid-afternoon when the clouds began to break up a little (see picture 2).  The rest of the day was partly cloudy and a little nicer.  Unfortunately, although many of the clouds left, the wind remained...  I'm hoping that tomorrow is going to be the day we finally have good weather.  It's supposed to be 77, partly cloudy, and less windy.  We'll see if that holds true.

Other than that, I really don't have much else to say.  I'm working a desk at the moment, and I'm really not up to much.  I did a little homework, edited some photos, and did some coloring (yes, coloring), but other than that I don't have anything going on...  No riveting tales for you tonight, I'm afraid.

June 21, 2011

So, the weather today was a little irritating at times, but I have to say, the sky was really interesting the entire day.  It was particularly cool in the morning.  The first shot above is from when I woke up around 8:30 a.m.  There were low hanging fly clouds all over the place, and there were patches of blue sky.  Then, as shown in the second photo, there were a bunch of unusual dark clouds that came in about a half hour later around 9:00 a.m.  These clouds were really bizarre because you felt like you should see under and past them.  I could almost see where the clouds ended (not too far south of Lincoln), and you could see rain shafts from showers that were far in the distance.  It was extremely unusual and interesting.    As for the rest of the day, it was mostly cloudy (but the clouds were always intriguing) and it sprinkled/misted off and on.  I managed to fit in a walk during the brief period of time the sun was out, and it really wasn't too bad outside.  I don't mind the cooler weather, it's the rain that depresses me a bit.  There was no heavy rain or anything severe, however, so today was uneventful in that respect.  Tomorrow should be a good day (IF the forecast is correct): 76 and partly cloudy.  That's my kind of day.

Anyway, I'm currently working at duty shift.  I'm on security detail right now.  I'm playing "bouncer" until curfew.  I'm hoping it's not too long of a night...  Well, I don't really have anything else too exciting to share!  I will see you on the morrow!

June 20, 2011

Today was an eventful day for more than one reason.  One, about 3,000 people are in the process of checking into their rooms to stay at UNL for the 2011 International Thespian Festival.  I have been bombarded with questions the entire night.  The influx of questions is not entirely unwelcome (dead shifts get old after awhile), but it can be overwhelming at times.  It's especially stressful when you have online Spanish discussion homework that has to be done by midnight.  It took me four hours to do what normally takes me under an hour because I kept getting interrupted.  Fortunately, I am done with that now, which is why I actually have time to type this right now.  The nice thing about busy shifts like this, though, is that it makes time fly.  I feel like I just got here, but I'm already almost done with my shift.

Two, the weather was back to more typical Nebraska summer behavior for once.  Today there was originally only a slight chance of rain (maybe a 20 or 30% chance according to this morning's forecast), but it quickly became obvious that there was a much better chance of precipitation than that.  I ended up not being waken by storms overnight.  In fact, I don't think Lincoln got a single drop of rain last night.  However, when I woke up this morning to go to a shift and then class, I noticed that the air felt heavy and thunderstorm-ready.  When I went for a walk around 2 p.m. there was already stuff popping on radar, and there were dark, ominous clouds hovering overhead that made me nervous.  I got sprinkled on during the last half of my walk, but nothing too damaging.  Later, right before my 6 p.m. to midnight shift, I noticed that Grand Island and other parts of western and central Nebraska were getting absolutely drilled.  Grand Island had some heavy rain and hail, and there was a small tornado north of Kearney.  There was still nothing in the Lincoln area at that time.

I went to eat and then clocked in for my shift.  Around 7 p.m. it started raining cats and dogs, lightning like crazy, and we had gale force winds.  Many people were caught outside in the storm and walked into the building soaking wet.  We were in Thunderstorm Warnings and a Tornado Watch for much of the evening.  Eventually, most of the rain moved east, and I don't believe it is doing anything outside at the moment.  Unfortunately for the people of eastern Nebraska and Iowa, the huge line of red and yellow storms has currently lined itself up perfectly with the Missouri River (where the entire border is constantly in a Flood Warning).  Sucks for them.  They definitely don't need anymore rain over there.

Well, this has been a long post.  It was just the first eventful day in a a long time!  The weather has been relatively dull this year.  I'm not saying I love destructive hail and tornadoes all the time, but from time to time it makes life interesting....

June 19, 2011

Twas another nice day in Lincoln, NE.  I got up at the crack of done (4:55 a.m. to be exact) to go to my shift.  In the five-minute walk to work, my hair curled like crazy from the 95% humidity.  However, I could tell through the windows near the desk that the sky was clearing and the fog was burning off as my shift wore on.  It was a quiet shift, but it allowed me to get a lot done.  I wrote a paper for my Spanish class, finished my Stephen King book, and had plenty of time to browse the internet.  Despite the fact that I got up so early and went to bed so late, I was strangely awake the entire day.  Even now, I'm not feeling as tired as I would have expected. I guess the four or five hours of sleep I did get were quality ones.

Other than my shift this morning, it was just another lazy Sunday.  A huge camp of approximately 3,000 people will be arriving on campus Monday and Tuesday, but today there were only a handful of buildings open.  My floor was pretty dead all day.  I think everyone was either catching up on rest to prepare for the upcoming week or out having some last minute fun.  Personally, I went for a couple walks outside in the 85 degree heat, watched a couple more episodes of Dexter, and now I'm watching a new episode of Bridezillas (that's quality TV, right there).  I plan to turn in for the night fairly soon, but there's a good chance storms will wake me up at some point.  We just missed some nasty storms to the south, and I have been able to see lightning in that direction for the past hour.  As for my family in GI, there appear to be some wicked blobs of red on radar approaching them from the west.  The whole state of Nebraska is lit up with tornado and thunderstorm warnings right now.  We might be in for an eventful night...

June 18, 2011

Yesterday was a glorious day.  It was the first time I've had a day off on the weekend for about a month, and it was excellent.  I was worried that I would get bored with all of my free time, but that was not an issue.  I was able to sleep in, spend a lot of time outdoors, catch up on reading, watch complete television shows, etc. My friend gave me some Netflix login information so I could watch Dexter.  I ended up watching three episodes before bed, and I was thoroughly entertained.  My only complaint, being a forensic science major, was the way the characters tromped through crime scenes stepping on evidence and picking stuff up without documenting it.  Like all CSI TV shows, it definitely did not reflect reality.  I am going to continue watching, however.  This show doesn't try to pretend to be too scientific, so it doesn't bother me as much when they're dead wrong.

Anyway, the weather yesterday just added to the awesomeness of my Saturday.  It was right around 80 (maybe slightly higher) all day, and mostly clear.  The picture above shows what the sky looked like around 7 or 8 p.m.  It clouded up a little, but cleared off again once it got dark outside.  I was going to try for a sunset picture, but the sky in the west was ugly.  There were too many clouds in that direction, and it started to get extremely humid late in the evening, so it was just a hazy mess.  I can try again tonight.  I'm working right now (huge surprise), and I get off at noon, so I'll have one more night of opportunity before I'm booked solid again.

June 17, 2011

This picture shows the scene I awoke to when I opened my blinds this lovely Friday morning.  It was a sunny, fairly hot day.  I wasn't outdoors for most of the afternoon because I did a little shopping immediately after class.  I did have the opportunity to spend some time outdoors this evening, and even then it was hotter than I would have expected.  Overall, not a bad day at all: easy class, a good haul from my shopping trip, a nice walk, and a very short shift at work.  I'm actually on the last leg of that short desk shift.  I only had to work from 9 p.m. to midnight tonight, so this shift is only half as long as usual.  The time at this desk has absolutely flown by.  When you get so used to six hours, three hours passes by like nothing.  I'm also super excited because I have NOTHING going on tomorrow.  No work, no class, no obligations whatsoever.  That hasn't happened for quite some time, so it makes me extremely happy.  I'll probably end up bored tomorrow, but I think we all need to be bored sometimes to make class/work more bearable.

Finally, here's another feeble attempt at a sunset pic.  I snapped this through the window before I hurried off to my shift.  I wish I had been able to wait around until the sun actually set.  Oh, well.  As I said before, I don't have to work tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a sweet sunset shot tomorrow.

June 16, 2011

I woke up this morning to clock out, and glanced out my window to see Picture 1.  The sky was looking rather ominous for so early in the morning, so I checked radar, and there was a tremendous amount of rain heading in Lincoln's direction.  After I clocked out, I went to bed for another two hours, but that didn't keep me from noticing when it started to rain.  I could hear the rain hitting my window as well as occasional thunder for quite some time.  Ultimately, though, Lincoln didn't get any more serious than some heavy rain.  Fortunately for me, the rain was done by the time I had to walk to class.   During my Spanish class, I could see through the windows that the clouds were breaking up.  The rest of the day was sunny, mostly clear, and (shockingly) not humid.  There are supposed to be more showers and thunderstorms tonight, but there is absolutely nothing on the radar at the moment.   I still have a good four hours until my shift is over, so there's definitely still a possibility that I will be heading home in a thunderstorm.  We'll just have to see.

June 15, 2011

Today was lovely.  It wasn't too hot, but it was warmer than Monday and Tuesday.  I would venture to guess that it got into the lower to mid-80's today.  It wasn't humid, there was a slight cool breeze, the sun was shining, and it was an excellent June day overall.  I really can't complain.  Adding to the wonderfulness of this Wednesday, I get to be on duty in my own building.  I'm on the clock, but I'm hanging out in my own room, watching my own TV, and tonight I get to sleep in my own bed.  It's awesome.  It's too bad shifts like this are hard to come by.

I also snapped a couple sunset shots through a north-facing window in the lobby.  It's not the most spectacular sunset ever, but it was pretty.  I haven't had the opportunity to photograph any sunsets this year, so I grabbed my camera when I saw that the sky looked halfway decent.

June 14, 2011

When I opened my blinds this morning, I was greeted by this lovely sight.  We all know how much I love it when I can't see the Capitol Building due to the ridiculous amount of fog and humidity.  I can't say I was surprised to see this, though, because the forecast called for a cloudy day.  It was a little chilly when I left for class, but I did notice that it was at least a little warmer than yesterday.

Since the forecast predicted nothing but clouds all day, I shouldn't have been surprised when the sky cleared and the sun came out shortly after my class.  After all, the forecast has been consistently WRONG recently.  I guess what shocked me was the fact that, for once, the weather was wrong in our favor.  Rather than taking an unexpected turn for the worse, the weather improved.  Other than being extremely humid and hot for about an hour when the clouds were first breaking, it ended up being a really nice day.

I know it seems like I'm too hard on the National Weather Service in some of my posts, but I really don't feel that they deserve much mercy.  I know predicting the future is rather difficult, but with all of the fancy weather models and technology that we have now, is it too much to ask for to get an accurate forecast for the next day (or even the next 12 hours)?  I think it's rather pointless to even attempt a 7-Day forecast, especially in Nebraska, but you'd think that the morning weather forecast would have a shot at being correct most days.  How is anyone supposed to plan ahead when the forecast is never right?  Even something as simple as dressing appropriately or packing an umbrella requires an accurate forecast.  There's nothing like getting caught in the rain when there was supposedly a 0% chance of precipitation.

All I would like is a little consistency from the NWS.  I know that their jobs are hard, but it would be fantastic if they could improve their accuracy a little bit.  It would also be wonderful if they stopped changing the forecast in the middle of the day like they're fooling anyone.  Most people are not as weather-obsessed as I am, so they listen to the weather at night or in the morning and assume that it's correct.  If the nightly/early morning forecast is incorrect, it's not going to save face to change it later.  By then, everyone knows you were wrong and they're already angry!

Okay, enough ranting for tonight.  I'm back to work behind a desk, and it's been pretty steady out here since six.  Only about two more hours and I get to go to bed.  I just hope it doesn't storm on me when I have to leave.  There are some thunderstorm warnings west of Lincoln, so my concerns are valid...  Anyway, goodnight and wish me luck as I leave here tonight!  I may have some interesting stories to tell tomorrow depending on how it goes...

June 13, 2011

Yeah...so, today was an epic fail by the National Weather Service.  From yesterday until about 1 p.m. today (the last time I checked the weather), the forecast insisted that today was supposed to be partly cloudy and 80 degrees.  Well, they were off by about ten degrees, and they got the skycast wrong, too.  I'm not even sure if it broke 70 today, and we never saw a speck of blue sky.  Lame.  I don't know how they got it so horribly wrong, but someone dropped the ball.

Despite the less than ideal weather, I still had a great day.  Fortunately, I had no work today, so it gave me the opportunity to spend time with an old childhood friend.  I haven't seen/talked to her in person for about three years, so it was great to catch up.  I ate at Chipotle with her, so people can't bug me anymore about never having been there.  Honestly, I do not understand why people make such a fuss over Chipotle and Qdoba.  I had a chicken burrito at each restaurant (I went to Qdoba for the first time a few weeks ago), and the food tastes virtually the same at both restaurants.  Personally, I think the food is good (but not fantastic), and it's pretty expensive.  I don't see myself going back to either restaurant unless someone drags me there.  Restaurant food just fails to impress me the vast majority of the time.  I'd take a home-grilled venison steak over some overpriced fast food dish any day of the week.

Anyway, enough about the food.  We also went to Morrill Hall on UNL's campus to look at all the dinosaur/mammoth bones, rocks, and other historical items.  My friend isn't a university student, but the museum worker assumed that we were both students and let us both in for free (haha!).  I haven't been through the entire museum since the 4th grade, so it was nice to take some time to examine the exhibits more closely.  After our free museum walk-through, we decided to drive to the mall to hang out.  We didn't actually buy anything (we're both stingy with our money), but we needed something to do indoors since the weather sucked.  We browsed for a while, but ultimately spent most of our time chatting in the food court.  Our conversation eventually moved back to my dorm, where we hung out for a few minutes before my friend took off for home again.  It was a marvelous way to spend my day off, and I hope we're able to meet up again soon.  We certainly can't go another three years without seeing each other!

June 12, 2011

As I said earlier today (when I wrote the post for June 11), I woke up today after a refreshing 12-hour sleep.  I know some people live by the saying, "You can sleep when you're dead," but I tend to disagree.  Not getting enough sleep seems like a great way to expedite death...

Anyway, it was a lovely day in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Once again, the weather was the "perfect" temperature.  It was a tad windy, but not enough to bother me.  I guess it stormed overnight, but seeing as I was comatose, I didn't hear it.  The only evidence of precipitation was a little humidity in the air when I walked outside this morning.  You couldn't really feel moisture in the air, but my hair curled, which is always a clue.  The skies were also less boring today, as you can see from the picture.  Today was a perfect example of what is (in my opinion) the best kind of "cloudy" day.

Finally, the most glorious part of the day is the fact that I am working the final day of my long streak of work days!  Tomorrow I have my first day off in two weeks and I get to hang out with an old friend for the first time in about three years.  I'm looking forward to it immensely!

June 11, 2011

I actually had all the time in the world to make this post yesterday, but it just didn't happen.  After a terrible sleep on my duty shift, I got up at 5:15 a.m. to get ready and go to my 6 a.m. desk shift.  Once the first hour had passed, I felt pretty decent and fatigue wasn't getting to me at all.  My energy lasted all afternoon until about 6 p.m.  I was in the middle of walking around and taking pictures on campus (something I haven't had time to do for a couple weeks) when I started feeling really rough.  Every time I would bend down to take a picture of something, I would get a massive head rush when I stood back up.  I didn't want to pass out on some random sidewalk on campus, so I decided to head back to my dorm.  I felt that going to bed at 7:30 p.m. was too ridiculous, so I watched TV for another hour or so before calling it a night at 9 p.m.  I ended up sleeping for 12 hours!  That sounds excessive, but I think I needed it to make up for all the missing hours of sleep I accumulated over the course of the week...

Anyway, my exhaustion aside, yesterday was an excellent day as far as the weather was concerned.  It was sunny, calm, and what I consider the "perfect" temperature at around 75 degrees.  Not a bad day at all!  Today, I have most of the day to myself, but I do have to work from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight.  Then, tomorrow, I have my first day off of work in 13 days!  :)

June 10, 2011

That's right, I have three pictures for today!  It started off as a gloomy, chilly Friday morning in the capitol city.  The first picture illustrates nicely what the majority of the day looked like.  It wasn't terribly cold, but it sprinkled on and off all afternoon. The second picture was taken around 6:30 p.m. when the clouds were finally starting to drift away from Lincoln.  As you can see, half of the picture shows clouds, and half shows the sun starting to peek out.  By the time the sky had completely cleared (except for a few scattered clouds), it was time for me to clock in and be stuck in a building for the rest of the night.  It's unfortunate that the nice weather waited to show up right before I was required to be indoors...

Anyway, after going back and reading my post from last night, I'm a little horrified by my second grade writing skills.  When I wrote yesterday's post, I was sleep-deprived, in a hurry, and carrying on a conversation with about four other coworkers--never a good combination.  All of these blog posts take under 10 minutes to complete, so I know my writing is never stellar.  However, my previous post was exceptionally bad, and I apologize.

So, goodnight and Happy Friday!  I wish I could say that I'll get a chance to sleep in tomorrow morning, but that's just not going to happen.  I'm working a duty shift tonight, but instead of clocking out at 7 a.m. and going back to my dorm room, I have to clock out around 5:45 a.m. and go straight to a desk shift.  Given the fact that I am already tired, I don't know if I'll be able to last until noon...

June 9, 2011

It's about a half hour from midnight, but it looks like I am going to make this post on the right day.  I woke up to clock out bright and early this morning.  I crashed when I got back to my dorm room, and woke up a couple hours later to see that the ground was wet (see picture above).  The rest of the day was dry, but my hair was freaking out the entire day from the humidity.  It was extremely cool compared to the past few days.  I think it was only 60 when I woke up and only slightly higher than that when I walked to class.   It was cloudy for the majority of the day, but I enjoyed the cooler air.

Anyway, the reason I am posting this so late is because I have had the busiest desk shift of my life.  There are tons of high school kids staying where I'm working, and they kept me and my coworkers busy all night.  It was almost constant flow of people, and we never had a break!   It was overwhelming at times, but at least we were never bored.  Sometimes it's nice to not have to surf the internet, read, or do homework to pass the time.  We had actual work to do for a change.

June 8, 2011

Well, it was another easy day of class and the first day in a while that has been a reasonable temperature. While the heat so far has all been dry heat, it still gets uncomfortable.  The air today was refreshing and much cooler than it has been.  It still got to about 85, but it's amazing the difference that 10 or 15 degrees can make.  Tomorrow it's supposed to drop another 10 degrees and storm/rain.  I'm not excited about rain, but I am happy about the possibility of a (gasp!) cloud in the sky.  Even if it does rain tomorrow, I'll be glad that tomorrow's picture will actually look different.  The weather hasn't been terrible, but I know that the pictures have been super boring recently.

Anyway, I have reading to do for Spanish and some TV shows to catch up on while I'm on my duty shift.  I'll be back tomorrow with a more interesting skyline picture to share (I hope).

June 7, 2011

Once again, forgetfulness kept me from posting on the correct day.  I remembered my camera this time, but I left my USB cable on my desk.  Also, the picture shows that the sky has not changed much.  Yesterday was just as hot as Monday at around 97 degrees.  Though the humidity wasn't very high, you still couldn't walk outside for more than a minute or two without breaking a sweat.   As it got into the late afternoon and evening, the sky was so hazy that I thought it was clouding up.  It was bizarre.  The sky was white instead of blue, yet you could still see the sun.  I always associated haze with humidity, but that must be incorrect because according to my hair and weather websites, humidity has been around 30 percent for the past few days.  I'll have to Google that...

Well, I'm going to wrap this up.  I have to be at my class in a few minutes. So far, the class doesn't seem too bad at all, but I still feel like it's too early to know for sure.  Goodbye for now!  I work again tonight, and I will do my best to actually remember my camera equipment this time.

June 6, 2011

So, I intended to write this post during my 6 to midnight shift last night, but I forgot to upload the picture to my computer before I went to work, and I hadn't brought along my camera or USB cord.  Anyway, this picture is actually a rare early morning shot.  Honestly, the only time I see this part of the day is if I have a duty shift the night before and need to get up earlier than usual to clock out.  As the photo suggests, it was another clear day outside.  The humidity was very low, but the temperature was VERY high.  I believe the temperature got to around 97 degrees at its peak in late afternoon.   Unfortunately, I had to work in a building on East Campus with a terrible air conditioning system.  I had nothing but a tiny--yet surprisingly loud--fan to keep air circulating behind the desk.  

In other news, my class started yesterday.  I'm taking a 300-level Spanish class that is meant to improve reading comprehension.  The class is small (only 13 or 14 people), and goes for 95 minutes every single day.  I can't tell yet how challenging the class will be.  I'm hoping that it's challenging enough to not be boring, but easy enough that it doesn't cause much stress.  I did my first reading assignment yesterday, and I was quite surprised by how long it took to read the second passage that was assigned to us.  I didn't mind the length of time it took me to read, though, because it kept my shift from dragging too much.  We'll see how Day 2 of my class goes in a few minutes!

Glancing out my window today, the view looks very much the same.  Still, not a cloud in the sky.  According to the forecast, the weather is supposed to be identical to yesterday and top out at 97 degrees. Looking ahead a few days, we're supposed to experience a major cool-down at the end of the week.  We're supposed to dip back into the 70's and have the possibility of storms on Thursday and Friday.  I can't say I'm disappointed.  The dry heat hasn't bothered me much, but I would be overjoyed to see a cloud or two in the sky. Clear skies get really boring really quickly.

June 5, 2011

Well, I can't say this is the most intriguing of skyline pictures. Once again, it is clear.  Fortunately, that haze seems to be gone and the sky is actually blue again.  It was pretty darn hot outside today, but not super humid.  I would guess that it got to about 91 or 92 at the hottest.  Tomorrow is supposed to be absolutely scorching at around 97 degrees.  Nebraska can be very odd sometimes.  A week or two ago, we were having temperatures well below normal, and now we're having above normal temperatures.  It generally gets hot in June, but I don't remember coming close to the triple digits until July last year.  Weird...

As usual, I am typing this on a shift.  I'm working a duty shift this time, so I get a break from being at a desk.  I figured out that I am on Day 6 of 13 consecutive days of working.  There's no such thing as "weekends" or "weekdays" with this job, so it's possible to work that many days in a row.  It's not so bad, though, because I mostly work at night.  My social life is extremely low key, so I don't care if I have to stay in on a Friday or Saturday night to work.  Anyway, today is also the end of my break from classes.  My first Spanish class starts tomorrow and will continue every day for the next five weeks.  Then, immediately after that, I will start another Spanish class that will go until mid-August.  I'll have about another week or so off, and then fall semester begins.  It's basically the same schedule I had last summer.  Oh, well...at least I got a month off of school to let my brain atrophy a bit.

June 4, 2011

Well, another boring looking day.  I took a few photos today, and I chose this one because it actually had a cloud in it.  If I had gotten back to my room quickly enough, I would have captured a small rain cloud or something more interesting.  I went for a walk this afternoon, and when I was nearing the capitol building there were very dark clouds overhead, and I feared a downpour.  The sudden downpour never came, but when I finally made it back on campus, there was a little bit of a sun shower.  I will never fully understand some sun showers.  The sky above me was perfectly blue, the wind was blowing towards the storm, and yet it was still sprinkling on me.  Anyway, I wanted to catch the dark cloud in a picture, but it had moved too far east by the time I arrived back at my room.   I'm still hoping for some more interesting weather to photograph, but the next few days do not look promising.  It's supposed to be sunny and in the 90 degree range every single day.  I'm not necessarily looking for storms, but I don't think a little blue sky (not this ugly hazy crap) and a cloud or two is too much to ask of Mother Nature.

June 3, 2011

So, I had a both a morning picture and an evening picture as options for this post, but I chose the evening picture.  The morning picture looked identical to the picture from yesterday, so I thought a difference in lighting would make things a little more interesting.  As I said earlier in the day (when I wrote the post for June 2), I didn't experience the weather during the day because I was stuck behind a desk.  The shift was actually fairly entertaining for the most part, but I still don't like noon to 6 p.m. shifts very much.  I feel like it eats up the entire day!   Anyway, I went for a walk after I got off work at 6 p.m. and it was still fairly hot.  The sun wasn't as intense, but it still felt sticky outside despite the low relative humidity.  Still, though, it wasn't so hot that it was extremely uncomfortable, and I was able to enjoy my walk.

One thing I noticed was that this was the first night in a long time that I would have had an opportunity for a sunset picture.  Almost all of my shifts are at night, so I only have a limited number of nights to see the sunset this month.  Unfortunately, even though I didn't work, I could tell the sunset tonight wasn't going to be good.  The sky hasn't been terribly pretty the past few days due to a nasty looking haze that just sits on the horizon all day and night.   That kind of sky makes for icky yellow light and ugly sunsets.    Still, I'm hoping that on the few days when I do get a chance to capture the sunset that the sky actually looks decent.  We'll see what happens...

June 2, 2011

If you pay any attention to that date of each post, you'll notice that I'm actually posting the June 2 picture on June 3.  I was planning on posting it last night during my 6 p.m. to midnight shift, but I was (finally) working a different desk so my shift was considerably busier.  Also, I was working on a fairly long post for my other blog (see link in sidebar), and I kept getting interrupted.  It probably took me four hours to get it completely done.

Anyway, yesterday was clear (although kind of hazy) and hot.  I think it got up to around 90 degrees, but the humidity was mercifully low, so it didn't feel awful.  Today is supposed to be VERY similar.  I'm actually at another desk shift (noon to 6 p.m.) at the same desk as last night, so I will have to view the weather through the window until I get off.  There's a 20% or 30% chance of storms tonight, but I'm not optimistic.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll get some good thunderhead shots after my shift.

June 1, 2011

Welcome to June!  The temperature today finally felt more like you would expect from a Nebraska summer.  It was in the mid-80's and sunny for the majority of the day.  There wasn't originally much of a chance of precipitation tonight, but this evening the air felt very muggy.  Now, as I look out the window of one of the duty rooms (yes, I'm working once again), the sky to the south is looking a little tough.  It's cloudy outside and rather dark.  There's not much on radar that is danger of hitting Lincoln, but there are various thunderstorm and tornado warnings in northern counties in Kansas.  I don't care about a little rain overnight, but I'd rather not have to deal with any kind of severe weather while I'm responsible for the safety university guests...