HELP

Does anyone know where I can buy a voucher for the exam?! Am I able to purchase one at the time of the test like before you test or do I have to have a pre-purchased voucher? And is there a way to only by just one or does it have to be a group of them?

Thanks in advance.

-Turtle man

PASSED

Dang it feels good passing that test! Even though it was just barely, still counts as a pass! Pumped right now. How'd everyone do? I feel like I did better than what the score reflected, guess I wasn't as prepared as I thought.

PSA: Chuff is back!

Hello classmates,

I'm back! It's been awhile and the mountain of life hit me for awhile, including some other things that had to be tended to, but I am back and ready to finish this semester out with a bang. Hope all of you have been well and excited to see you next Friday!

The best time to wear a stripped sweater....

is all the time.

Inspiration per Val

Val, who gave a presentation on her favorite band, has inspired me to share with you a few of my favorite bands.
The genre I prefer is varied. I enjoy all genres other than like folk, classical (other than piano and flute), and most forms of grindcore (though I do enjoy the band Waking the Cadaver).
For a long time, my favorite bands have consisted of: A Day to Remember, Blink182, Senses Fail, Taking Back Sunday, Sum 41, Jimmy Eat World and others. More recently I listen to a lot of Neck Deep, Knuckle Punch, Too Close To Touch, Alive Like Me, Kingdom of Giants, If I Were You, I See Stars, I Prevail and many others.
Country music also is a love and I enjoy some Rap and Hip-Hop songs.
Music is rad.

Question

As some of you may know, at times, a gas line underground may leak or be hit by a excavation company or other reasons. When this happens, usually it is a type of plastic pipe that they use almost exclusively now for new gas lines which is called polyethylene, or, PE for short. There are many kinds of gas piping materials out in the country but this is the most common new installation and usually, the easiest to repair if something were to be hit. Some line are made of PVC (very dangerous),black iron steel, cast iron steel, etc. The reason I spoke about the excavation hitting lines at times is because when a PE line is hit, it can be squeezed at both ends and the repair can take place right there. But what about a steel line that is hit? It isn't possible to squeeze a steel line, they can isolate the gas at different valves but the result will be the loss of homes in the thousands typically and the relight process is daunting. So how would they be able to repair a steel line if they wouldn't isolate the lines at valves? They would actually weld right there the hit is, with gas blowing out of the pipe. But how? Wouldn't they cause an explosion? Any thoughts?

Shortening

Seems as though  my posts have been diminishing in size that last few I have had. It it terribly difficult to be doing so many tasks that all seem to have priority over the others! I am in the process of buying a house but there has been a lot of issues with sellers and offers being made. It is interesting that I can't seem to get the houses we want! My realtor who is actually a really good friend, has been helping us and she has said that the amount of offers she has had to write up and the limbo she has been put through with most offers placed and other realty groups is just so insane. I feel bad and like we have been working her to death going to several house after hours just so we can look at them because of our busy schedules. It is frustrating let me tell you to never have time to breathe. But, it will all be worth it and other than a few rants every now and then, I don't complain much. I admire so much more people who are able to do what I am doing now. Funny how you don't appreciate something until its happened to you.

Inner Comments (03 0f 13)

I chose this degree (Associate of Business) because business is what I enjoy and I plan to either work high up in a business or to own my own business. Right now I have a projected date to graduate in Fall of 2020. I'm pretty sure I will not meet this goal unless I start taking summer classes which I plan to do. I plan on taking more credits in the Spring and Fall semesters and also taking summer classes.

Late

Seems to describe everything I'm doing lately. Behind on assignments in this class but at least I'm trying to complete them. I've never had a class so demanding in assignments. Hopefully I can find a better method than what I'm doing now! Any tips?

Natural gas dryers

Just a tip for the day. If you are using a 220 volt electric dryer (or just an electric only dryer), you are overpaying for energy for that appliance. In fact, natural gas is dirt cheap in comparison to most other energy sources. And is relatively safe, as long as maintenance, proper use and installation is done correctly. A good comparison of the cost of natural gas to electricity is that for one load of a natural gas dryer you will pay the same amount for two in an electric dryer. Now this may not seem like much, but you can literally cut your energy consumption for laundry in half. You may be surprised on how much money you will save. If you need installation help, I am available for you if you would like. This goes for any natural gas appliance you have, if you want me to look at it/them I will make my best effort to do so.

Soutwest Gas Safety Announcement

Though I may not sit at a corporate level as of right now, I have the ability to advise and recommend certain policies in which Southwest Gas Corp. has assigned as protocol.
If you smell gas in your home, please DO NOT wait to see if it will go away. Chances are that you could be smelling gas that can be dangerous if a large amount accumulates in an area without much ventilation. Common gas leak areas- dryers because of people moving in and out of a home/apartment. This is the most common item installed by the owner of the appliance. Sometimes  fittings just aren't tightened tight enough. Also, new installations of any appliance. If you buy the appliance from Home Depot, Lowes, etc. and they offer to install it. In my experience, its almost always done wrong and they try to stack fittings that don't fit together properly, on top of one another and this will lead to a leak at some point. Key word being will. Stacked fittings will leak eventually. Please call a contractor that is a professional.
Another problem area is outside on the MSA or, meter set assembly. This typically refers to the gas meter on the side of your home. Maybe be a single meter to a single home or a large amount of meters on a single MSA at an apartment complex/condos. Smelling gas outside is a lot safer than indoors but nonetheless can still be potentially dangerous. If you smell gas out by the meter or in the street, please call Southwest Gas ASAP, along with 911. If you are indoors, please leave the building. In any event of gas odor in the air, refrain from building static electricity, using your phone in gaseous atmosphere (so call somewhere away from gas odor), starting car, opening garage, flicking switch, touching breaker box, and obviously lighting a cigarette. Though the actual lit cigarette will not be hot enough to ignite gas (has to be 1200 degrees), the inhaling of the cigarette can cause it to reach the ignition temperature of gas.
And just an additional bit of information-natural gas is odorless. But what? I thought it smells like rotten eggs? Your right, natural gas coming out of facility owned utilities, an odorant is added to the gas called Mercaptan. So, in the natural world, if there was a gas leak in the wild, you would have no way of smelling the gas the way you smell it now. If you don't know what the difference between the smell of natural gas and car gas, sewer, etc. You can turn your stove on without lighting it right away. Please do not do this for more than 4 seconds at a time, if you need to do it at all.
Hope this is helpful. More natural gas facts to come.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Relieved

It was interesting to me to see all of you guys have similar things going on in your life (and for those of you that don't, I'm sure you can relate at least one time in your life haha). As I read the comments I was actually relieved and felt a sense of community amongst you guys because I'm not the only one that is having a hard time balancing the time. One of the biggest reasons to stay in school, for me, is the fact that work is so demanded by my time. I would like to be in control, at least in part, of my schedule. To own my own business in the future and though I know that will require a significant amount of time, at least I could better schedule to do things that I felt were most important. I wonder if there is a big chunk of you guys that are also looking to do your own business as well. And since I'm on the subject of business, I have recently started looking into possibly starting a special needs daycare that would be open late as well for those couples and families that may need a break to go on a date every once in awhile to those families who need to be able to go to work. Has anyone heard of anything similar to this in town? I went as far as looking on Google, (which isn't much) just to see what would pop-up. Mainly just special needs sitters came up offering their wage per hour. I didn't see anything about a facility where they would work at. That's in part where this idea came from. My wife is a Special Ed teacher at Brinley Middle School. She is also part of the reason I thought we might be able to help in this regard. I know CCSD has some programs but they are limited to age. Does anyone know of other options out there? Is this a good idea/do you think it would flourish? Any ideas/recommendations would be great!

PS. Professor Wu, I can hardly believe the ability you have to be able to get to all the tasks for everyone in this class, not to be a suck up but thank you for all your hard work and dedication.

PPS. I have ideas as well for a washer and dryer combo being one machine meaning you throw the load of laundry in with the detergent, and the fabric softner in another compartment and an hour or so later, clothes washed and dryed. No more switching over. Any thoughts? Good? Bad?

First Impression

To be completely honest, I was a little taken back by the amount of work that would be in this class right from the start. It isn't a problem for me as long as I can have the week, typically, to accomplish any assignments before the next class. I work anywhere from 45-52 hours a week an a very normal basis and unfortunately with my job, there is no standard get off time. Which makes it even harder when I am working a 12 hour long or longer shift on a Saturday. I am in no way trying to justify or make an excuse for not completing an assignment on the weekend, it's just not feasible at time. I also have Sunday services and due to religious beliefs, I frown doing anything on a Sunday.
I have a lot of hopes for this class. I believe it will be a neat experience and I hope to take away information and/or learn programs I haven't used before and ones I feel will be conducive with my objectives here at CSN and later in life. Thank you for all the support and the constant aid when needed, I can see you truly do love doing what you do. Thank you.