The weather outside is frightful.

OK...not really.  In fact, it could be much worse.  It's only about 48 degrees right now.  But it is not the perfect 70 degree weather I love.  Of course I still wear flip flops and sandals.  I won't stop until it starts snowing.  Also, occasionally I still wear shorts.  I tend to think that if I dress for warm weather, it might end up being warm outside.  Sadly...that is not the case.  But here are a few things that have been on my mind due to the not so nice weather.

First of all, my apartment is all about keeping utility bills as low as possible.  Meaning we have yet to turn on the heater.  The thermostat currently says it is about 65 degrees in our apartment.  Not too bad, but definitely noticeable.  In fact, last night I was drinking water that had been sitting in a glass on the table for multiple hours.  And it was definitely colder than room temperature normally is.  Maybe once water left in a glass on the table freezes we'll turn on the heater.  :)

One of my least favorite parts of cold weather is the fact that you need a jacket.  I do love my jackets, but it is just one more thing you have to do before heading out the door.  That is 3 extra seconds that I could spend doing something else.  And a jacket is just one more thing to match to your outfit.  And if you know me, I hate matching.  Actually I love matching, I'm just weird about it and not good at it.  So instead of 3 seconds, sometimes it takes me 7 seconds.  Also, BYU tends to keep their buildings exceptionally warm which is not necessarily a bad thing.  But it does mean you end up taking off your jacket when you enter a building.  And then you have to waste another 3 seconds putting your jacket back on before you go outside.  Boy...what a hard life I have.  Ha.  Just kidding.  :)  Also, if you are briskly walking to the library or some other unusually warm building, you have to take off your jacket or at least unzip it 30 seconds before you get to the library because if not, heat stroke is a very real possibility.  OK...maybe not heat stroke, but it is definitely way too hot if you don't take the previously mentioned precautionary measures.  P.S. That sentence was not conversational and thus not good for a news story.  And this is why I blog...so I can be as non-conversational as I want.  :)

Finally, I wish to talk about jumpsuits.  Why are they not in style?  They are INCREDIBLY convenient.  Matching is no longer an issue when you wear one.  What could be better?  Anyway, I bought a jumpsuit for a costume back in high school.  I used it freshman year for Halloween and I brought it out for a Halloween dance last night.
 

For uncreative people like myself, a jumpsuit is a must-have.  In fact I would have worn it last year for Halloween but luckily my roommates are creative people and manage to come up with costumes for me.  :)  And did I mention jumpsuits are super comfy?  After the dance last night, I curled up in a chair and slept for about 7 hours.  Shoes and all.  In a chair.  For 7 hours.  Sleeping anywhere in any outfit is a talent I possess and one I am incredibly grateful for.  :)

Anyway...here are my most recent stories in case you missed them.  Didn't the first one freeze on such a lovely frame?  :)

Did I mention it's college basketball season?  That's definitely up there on my favorite things about winter list.      Do something great today!

Microsoft Word 2007

I would describe myself as a PC person.  Don't get me wrong.  If someone offered me a Mac, I would gladly accept it and use it.  In fact, I'm sure I would love it.  But, unless someone else is paying or I decide to be a professional photographer, I don't expect to be using a Mac any time soon.  And, I do not believe the claim that a Mac can never get a virus.  OK...maybe it's true.  Who knows.  But that doesn't mean a whole number of other things can't go wrong.  All I know is whenever I hear about a friend needing to fix a computer, it's almost always a Mac.  Maybe it's just because people who own a Mac tend to care deeply about their computer.

Anyway...back to Microsoft Word.  The point of the entire previous paragraph was to explain that while I do not shun Apple products, I am the proud owner of a PC.  And with PCs comes Microsoft Word.  And currently I use the 2007 version of the program.  This version is great except for one thing.  And that one thing is the default settings of the program.  Every time I start typing a paper, the font is set to 11-point Calibri.  Who in the world would ever purposely choose to use this font?  Never have I had a teacher who requested that I type a paper for their class in Calibri.  And if I wanted to be creative, I would pick a font that looked much cooler than Calibri does.  And size 11?  What a random number.  I prefer 12.  And so do the majority of people I have met.  If the default font wasn't bad enough, Microsoft Word 2007 decided that your document should also be not double spaced, not single spaced, but 1.5 spaced.  How do you even say that?  Now I've had teachers want something single or double spaced so if one of those were the default I'd understand, but 1.5 spaced?  Also, the default makes it so every time you press enter, you get an extra space in between paragraphs.  I guess this might be useful for some people.  But not me.  

The truth is you can change these settings in about 30 seconds max and if I were more computer-savvy, I'm sure I could figure out some way to set the default the way I want it.  But for now, I am forced to change four things every time I want to type anything.  But life could be worse...much worse.  That being said, I am thankful for my computer, Microsoft Word 2007 (including its default settings), and life in general.  Happy almost Halloween.  :)    

More stories.

So here are my two latest stories.  One is about the supposed "rivalry" between Utah State and BYU and the other is about lighting the Y for homecoming.  I have to do a story every Wednesday so there should be a new one by Thursday of every week on elevennews.byu.edu in case you don't want to wait for me to post them.  Anyway, enjoy...