Semi frustrating week

So they finally got the computer system at school fixed to where I could actually register for classes after I'd already sat through my first course. Of course, by that time everything I wanted to sign up for was already filled. Started the day first thing in the registrar's office, grabbing a handful of slips to see if professors would sign off on letting me take the courses on an overflow basis and headed off to class. Sat through my first one on solar thermal and got a maybe, I might know by Wednesday. Of course, there's a book to buy and a reading assignment due before I find out. Wednesday morning comes and there's 21 people in a classroom for 14 - at least he told me I couldn't get in before making me sit through another day and buy the book.

Sustainable building was no problem to get into, in fact there's a project due where we have to design a residential building and a commercial building then run all the LEED certifications on them to see how feasible they are. Instructor said the shipping container project would qualify and might even be something to enter into a sustainable design competition going on throughout the state.

Last class of the day was Intro to sustainability - very interesting, multi discipline class. Really enjoyed the instructor and style of the class (it's a place to debate ideas!!). Will know Wed on that one as well, but after sitting through the course, came up with the perfect reason for Chuck to let me stay in it. I'm the small businessman builder/developer that we spent most of today's class trashing for their insensitivity to the environment and exploitation of the masses for their own personal profit. Should make for a very fun class to say the least, especially the one young lady who's completely convinced that all capitalism is inherently bad. I want to be on some group projects with her obviously, that will really be enjoyable to work on showing her that the unbridled idealism is just as destructive as the capitalism that she rails against (probably will turn out to be a trust fund baby as well, which will only make it more fun!) (OK, got registered for this one - if I hadn't would probably have been the biggest disappointment of all that I wanted to take) Billy had tried to get me to meet this instructor before, said I'd probably enjoy talking to him and turns out he was right.

Turns out I may be eligible for credit for 8 semester hours in military science and phys ed for being a veteran. I've also got to check what credit I can get for "life experiences" - if nothing else being married three times and a single dad should qualify me for something with one of the Marriage and Family courses! Seriously, things like Blueprint 101 should be something I can test out of. It also occurred to me that while I was active duty, I took almost 40 hours of CLEP tests - I have no clue how long they are good for or if I can still use them for credits, but if I can that would take care of alot of the core basics. None of this can be completely answered until I've gotten 30 hours at ASU and they evaluate - but at least I know who I need to talk to about this to find out what paperwork is required and gives me plenty of time to get the papers out of whatever storage silo the US Army has them buried in.

Seriously, I finally broke down and said I was going to go ahead and get the degree - don't know why I kept being so wishy washy about making a commitment like that - perhaps because not being able to go to school when everyone else did back then is really the only thing that I've ever really expressed regret about - now, after all these years, maybe I'm just not trusting that that the opportunity is actually there. Once you've turned down a full scholarship to a school like Duke due to some of your other life choices, it's kind of tough to see yourself ever getting to go.

So I've decided to focus on the degree courses for now and see which of the core courses I won't have to take. If they won't count that stuff, then I'll have a couple of very boring semesters covering the basics with none of the more interesting things, but seems like the best route to go.

Found an electronics course in the same time slot as the solar I got bumped from - it even had openings! Clicked on register and get a note that I don't have the required math class or placement testing. Kelly pointed me to the area online where the placement tests are, of course it doesn't show up for me, so I email the appropriate person who adds it to my list. Got up this am and took the test and blew it horribly - didn't even get finished with the last 9 questions out of 25 (and only got 9 of the one's I did finish right). Amazing how much you can forget if you don't use it in a couple decades - in spite of scoring incredibly high on the SAT's back then (chisel and stone tablet!) Emailed the professor and told him I wouldn't be signing up after all.

Found another class I was interested in for that time - fits the major, has openings, even in the same building as my second M/W class. Click the button and find Time Conflict - it's listed as running until 11, while the other one starts at 11. Literally down a flight of steps and 1 door away from each other. Emails to both instructors to see which one would have to sign whatever waiver to allow me to register for that class.

Finally found potential spots in the other 2 classes I want to take on Thursday - Environmental Ethics and Science & Technology. Of course we finally get a snowfall and some classes get canceled, but so far the only one was the 9:30 - which I'm already registered for. Tomorrow is last day to add classes, so it either happens today or I'm not going to sweat about it. Would sorta piss me off since I've already hit the top tuition tier, only cost for those hours would be my time and the books. Now that I've decided to go for it, I want to be done yesterday (huge surprise, huh?) Don't get me wrong, I want to enjoy it, but it's not going to be the same college experience I would have had at 19 (I shudder to think about the number of people I would have slept with back then or how much alcohol I would have consumed LOL)