I was awakened around 4:30 in the morning to this loud and strange combination of the building rattling the family dog barking and neighborhood car alarms going off along with an unusual, almost unsettling swaying sensation, like someone was rocking my bed. At first I thought I was dreaming, but the dog barking and the car alarms confirmed something else was happening, perhaps a severe thunderstorm or maybe a tornado? So, I looked out the window and saw nothing but calm weather. It turns out there was an earthquake with its epicenter somewhere in downstate IL, like 5.2 on the Richter scale. At first I was like WTF? Shit like this only happens in Hawaii, or Cali, or some 3rd world country, but apparently there's a tectonic fault that shifts every decade or so. So my bed shakes about every decade or so, given my track record with the ladies, that sounds just about right...

So moving right along, the chick (a one-time good friend) that took some random guy to my apartment and wound up "bumping uglies" with said random guy in my living room (who the hell does that?), left her phone in my apartment (which I mentioned last entry). I wound up taking the high road and dropping the phone off to her work. She wasn't there which was cool because that would have been kind of awkward, so I left it with her co-worker who put it in her mailbox. She texted me a few times since then, to thank me for dropping off her phone (which I replied "no prob").

She also sent me a text saying that the guy she hooked up with was offering to fix the plumbing in my apartment (I'm assuming to make up for turning my living room into a makeshift 70's porn reenactment), which I thought was semi cool, since I'm assuming the random dude she hooked up with was no longer just a one-nighter. I responded via text saying that I'm too busy to worry about maintaining my apartment because of work and school (both statements are true) and that I'd get back to him when things got un-busy for me (that statement is probably false, because what was awkward is pretty much still awkward, however well-meaning the dude meant to be). Thereafter, maybe sometime last week, she sent 2 texts asking if there was anything going on and I pretty much just didn't feel like responding to them, so I didn't and that's that.

Really though, it's not just the whole porn star re-enactment thing that I had to run into in my own apartment, it's that our friendship dynamic has changed. When we first met, she had a large circle of friends and I'd only hear from her when we were hanging out and having fun. Then she started having personal issues, she lost her apartment in the city and eventually lost her job. I let her stay at my apartment at a particularly low point in her life for a few days and when she finally recovered herself emotionally and physically she went back to her dad's in the 'burbs. She has a new job now and is relatively stable now that she's living with her dad, but whenever she comes out to the city, she kind of just goes overboard and it seems she has gotten spoiled knowing that I'm a stand up guy that she could rely on. The thing is, she started becoming too much "work" for me, I'm already busy enough as it is, and I barely get by worrying about myself. It may sound selfish of me, but this whole fiasco provided an "excuse" for a much needed break from her. I'm not usually one to judge, or hold extended grudges or anything like that, but become enough of an inconvenience for me and I'll find the first opportunity to ditch you like the plague. Derrick's time is valuable leaving very little if any time to be fucked with. Well, it's not as cut and dry as that, but hell, its close enough.

So anyway, I've gotten closer to my inner geek. I wasn't able to save the data on my 60GB HD on my PS3, thus losing over 300 hours worth of saved game files for my Oblivion game, but I was able to slap a 320GB drive, partition and format it and load the Yellow Dog Linux Operating system onto it, basically making it an alternate computer system when a Keyboard and mouse is attached to it. All I need to do is get a wireless one and I'll be set to surf the net from my HDTV. I was also able to reformat the old 60GB and use it as a backup.

Speaking of Linux, (and my geekiness in general) I've loaded openSUSE Linux with the KDE interface onto a separate partition on my company's Dell Laptop as a multi-boot option, just for the fuck of it. I like the looks of the KDE interface over the Gnome interface, mostly because the openSUSE mascot "Geeko" the gecko is prominently displayed in the user interface on the lower corner, where the Windows "Start" would be if it were XP.

Oh, I pre-ordered the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a decently featured preview of sorts to Sony's popular auto racing game franchise. I also ordered the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, from the previews it looks like it's going to be the hottest game, period. I also had a chance to play the drum part of Rock Band. Very addicting I tell ya. I may get the full microphone, guitar and drum set with the game sometime after I graduate.

Speaking of school, aside from the reading and the assignments and having to work with not one but two separate groups, one for each class, It seems like it's not going to be overly challenging like it would be if it were a programming class. Time consuming yes, but not excruciating like some of my other classes were. Aside from the time drain, I take that as more or less of a good thing. Although part of me is going to mis the challenge of school, I think I'm more relieved than anything else that it's almost finally done and I can't to finally fucking graduate and for once breathe a nice long sigh of relief...