Michael's first post.

Well, I can't let Mandy have all the fun. I will be starting a new term in school this week. I will be taking Statistics and begin my Individual Senior Project proposal. It will be nice to have a lighter load than usual, but I may need to pick up another class or two.

Work at Intel is good. I may take a promotion at the start of next year as an engineering technician(as opposed to manufacturing technician). Another option is to begin an internship in layout and digital design engineering. Although the economy isn't thriving, people are still buying our stuff. The new Atom processor is pretty cool and its selling like mad.

As mandy said, I finally finished the volvo fix, with help from the man upstairs. I was stuck, unable to put the axle back to gether, and I prayed for help. I felt like I should take it all apart again, and do a dry-run. I learned what was wrong, and the rest of the job was quick. Except that we had apparently been running the transmission with about 7 quarts less than it requires. So, its now topped off and should stay healthy.

I bought some new toys with my allowance: a barcode scanner(will be used for a future electronics project) and a video capture device. The two items totalled $7 at the goodwill. I also bought some new shews with a leather upper part(required for safety at work). Mandy bought some cute sandals with her allowance. We had a date, eating at a restaurant called Stanfords here in Hillsboro. It was good food, but a bit expensive(we went during happy hour, getting 60% off).

We feel that we need to build our scanty food storage, so we are getting organized and are budgeting money each month to increase our preparedness. Our goal is a 1year food supply. I would also like to have a supply of fuel and other goods.