Man, Dick Clark is in bad shape. He was on the New Year's show, and he's not doing well. He's been old for a while now, but I didn't remember him being that bad. I guess no one can be a teenager forever.
Charlie Eppes: Everything is numbers.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
I Love a Rainy Night
Not so much a rainy morning and afternoon which cancels my disc golfing plans. Such is life. Although 60 degree days the week after Christmas don't come around very often.
I was going to write a longer update, but I spent too much time looking for a good quote.
Faith: [to Connor] Cut me a switch, son. There's gonna be a whoopin'.
More tomorrow.
I was going to write a longer update, but I spent too much time looking for a good quote.
Faith: [to Connor] Cut me a switch, son. There's gonna be a whoopin'.
More tomorrow.
Friday, December 29, 2006
It Lives!
I fixed my hard drive. It was actually much simpler than it should have been. Brent had done most of the disassembly of my old enclosure, so I just needed to unplug a few connectors, plug them into the new enclosure, and tighten 8 screws. My newly reconnected hard drive is up and running. This incarnation has LEDs which light up the entire side of the enclosure when it's on and running. It's almost cheesy sci-fi looking, where anything with way too many lights on it has to be advanced alien technology.
Today, I decided to catch up on TV. Today's show of choice was The 4400, which is another of the serialized dramas where you need the entire backstory to follow new developments. I caught the very end of Season 3 as it ran, but didn't follow much of what was going on. I got the Jesus reference they slam you in the face with, and some of the character backgrounds, but most everything else required explanation and a lot of "well, sure, OK." I watched Season 1 (all 5 episodes today) and have been downloading Season 2 for a while. I had Seasons 1 and 3 on my external hard drive when it died, so I was reluctant to re-download them since I just needed a $20 piece of aluminum to get to them. Weekends are traditionally busier (read: more family time) than during the week, so it may be Monday before I can get back to episodes, and I want to watch each season in as short a time as possible, with my breaks matching the hiatus time. Not length, because there's no way I'm waiting almost a year between seasons.
While I've been waiting for The 4400 to finish, I've been watching Shark. I like the show, so far, but it's nothing I'd go out of my way to see. James Woods plays himself very well, and the first couple of episodes have found a nice groove, but it's not a place a series can survive in for very long. Still, for a few minutes of entertainment, it's not bad.
Shawn Farrell: Me and 4,399 of my closest friends popped out of a ball of light right about here.
More tomorrow.
Today, I decided to catch up on TV. Today's show of choice was The 4400, which is another of the serialized dramas where you need the entire backstory to follow new developments. I caught the very end of Season 3 as it ran, but didn't follow much of what was going on. I got the Jesus reference they slam you in the face with, and some of the character backgrounds, but most everything else required explanation and a lot of "well, sure, OK." I watched Season 1 (all 5 episodes today) and have been downloading Season 2 for a while. I had Seasons 1 and 3 on my external hard drive when it died, so I was reluctant to re-download them since I just needed a $20 piece of aluminum to get to them. Weekends are traditionally busier (read: more family time) than during the week, so it may be Monday before I can get back to episodes, and I want to watch each season in as short a time as possible, with my breaks matching the hiatus time. Not length, because there's no way I'm waiting almost a year between seasons.
While I've been waiting for The 4400 to finish, I've been watching Shark. I like the show, so far, but it's nothing I'd go out of my way to see. James Woods plays himself very well, and the first couple of episodes have found a nice groove, but it's not a place a series can survive in for very long. Still, for a few minutes of entertainment, it's not bad.
Shawn Farrell: Me and 4,399 of my closest friends popped out of a ball of light right about here.
More tomorrow.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Are Ya Smokin' Yet?
Second night in a row I've been in a place with lots of smoke around. Last night, at the bowling alley, I had trouble breathing a couple times. Tonight, at Buffalo Wild Wings for trivia night, it wasn't as bad, but it was still too much. I would be OK with a ban of smoking inside anywhere, though I don't believe that governments should have that power. Although, the old standard that your rights stop at my face (in relation to a thrown punch) would apply. I am being affected by something you would normally have the right to do, so it is the role of the government to control such action. As long as I like the result, the government can have the power; when I no longer like what the government is doing, the power shall be removed.
I got my new external enclosure for my extra hard drive today. I hope this one works better than the one Brent told me would work, then is too small. Computer expert, my foot. I may try to get that hard drive working tonight before I go to bed. It's not doing me any good in its present state.
I read an interesting article about the U.S.' math and science scores compared to those of other countries. The spread in the scores is higher between U.S. whites and blacks than between the U.S. and the leading country(ies). The article also talked about the way math and science are taught - mile wide, inch deep in the U.S. (essentially all topics are taught every year) versus teaching only a few topics each year. I'm open to discussion with this. Is it better to introduce all topics early on and (in theory) increase the depth of coverage each year or teach a few topics completely in each school year? As it stands, there are about 100 or so topics that must be taught in "lower" math (before high school, let's say). I like the idea of teaching fewer topics with more depth, assuming that's what you actually do. Our current system of social promotion doesn't support that as even possible, though. On the flip side, most of my readers here excelled at math through school. Would covering fewer topics bore you in class? I was usually bored in math class anyway, but was that because I'd mastered topic 23 three years before, but still had to cover it every year? What about the argument that we learn things much more quickly when younger, so introducing topics early will help us later on? Or that with the current system, one bad teacher doesn't screw you up as much since you cover the same things every year? I'm interested to see where this goes and if any changes actually help. Comments are open, feel free to discuss.
Mr. Blonde: Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?
More tomorrow.
I got my new external enclosure for my extra hard drive today. I hope this one works better than the one Brent told me would work, then is too small. Computer expert, my foot. I may try to get that hard drive working tonight before I go to bed. It's not doing me any good in its present state.
I read an interesting article about the U.S.' math and science scores compared to those of other countries. The spread in the scores is higher between U.S. whites and blacks than between the U.S. and the leading country(ies). The article also talked about the way math and science are taught - mile wide, inch deep in the U.S. (essentially all topics are taught every year) versus teaching only a few topics each year. I'm open to discussion with this. Is it better to introduce all topics early on and (in theory) increase the depth of coverage each year or teach a few topics completely in each school year? As it stands, there are about 100 or so topics that must be taught in "lower" math (before high school, let's say). I like the idea of teaching fewer topics with more depth, assuming that's what you actually do. Our current system of social promotion doesn't support that as even possible, though. On the flip side, most of my readers here excelled at math through school. Would covering fewer topics bore you in class? I was usually bored in math class anyway, but was that because I'd mastered topic 23 three years before, but still had to cover it every year? What about the argument that we learn things much more quickly when younger, so introducing topics early will help us later on? Or that with the current system, one bad teacher doesn't screw you up as much since you cover the same things every year? I'm interested to see where this goes and if any changes actually help. Comments are open, feel free to discuss.
Mr. Blonde: Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?
More tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Bubble Bobble
As in the old NES game, which I beat today. Somehow, by playing it once every six months or so, I have become much, much better. In the past, I could get to the end, struggle, and maybe get lucky and win. Now, I don't win every time, but I make a serious dent almost every attempt. I credit grad school.
A large group of people went bowling tonight. I think we had 15 at one point, though only 14 bowled. My score was about 230, total for the three rounds. It was much better than I expected. We bowled maybe 2 hours, after waiting almost an hour from getting there until starting. Lee and I may bowl some in Tullahoma now that the weather can't be counted on for disc golf. I have a feeling we'll both be trying to get more research done, though, so free time might not be so plentiful.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
More tomorrow.
A large group of people went bowling tonight. I think we had 15 at one point, though only 14 bowled. My score was about 230, total for the three rounds. It was much better than I expected. We bowled maybe 2 hours, after waiting almost an hour from getting there until starting. Lee and I may bowl some in Tullahoma now that the weather can't be counted on for disc golf. I have a feeling we'll both be trying to get more research done, though, so free time might not be so plentiful.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Happy Boxing Day, Canada
My vacation doesn't lend itself to blogging - too boring. Today, I tried to buy an enclosure for my external hard drive at Best Buy. The parking lot was packed, and they just moved into a bigger location with more parking. Then, when I found the enclosures, they had 1, for $51. I have seen dozens online for less than $20. I came home, found one that was well-reviewed, and bought it. It should be here by the end of the week, and hopefully my hard drive will be working soon thereafter. I need to transfer the BSG season so far to it, and maybe some others that I decide to hang onto a while longer.
There has to be something useful that needs doing, so I can ignore it and feel a sense of accomplishment over this break. Nothing immediately comes to mind.
Charlie Epps: You are rocketing into space, Larry, there's no downside to packing a lucky shirt.
More tomorrow.
There has to be something useful that needs doing, so I can ignore it and feel a sense of accomplishment over this break. Nothing immediately comes to mind.
Charlie Epps: You are rocketing into space, Larry, there's no downside to packing a lucky shirt.
More tomorrow.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Sabotage!
Gesundheit!
MST 3K: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
I watched that after getting back tonight.
Santa Claus: No siree! We're going out the good ol' fashioned way. Prancer and Dancer and Donder and Blitzen, and Vixen and Nixon... oh, consarnit I get those names mixed up, but the KIDS know their names.
More tomorrow.
MST 3K: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
I watched that after getting back tonight.
Santa Claus: No siree! We're going out the good ol' fashioned way. Prancer and Dancer and Donder and Blitzen, and Vixen and Nixon... oh, consarnit I get those names mixed up, but the KIDS know their names.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas
To all and to all a good night.
Narrator: He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!
More tomorrow.
Narrator: He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!
More tomorrow.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Another Day
They get easier from here. For the past several months, and for years and years, Saturday was when my dad saw his parents. As far back as I can remember, he went to the farm on Saturday. The farm is land he and my mom bought which is adjacent to, and was part of, his family's land. His parents lived on their part of the farm. I don't have any memories of a working farm (other than a large garden), but at one time, the farm was a large working farm which helped support my grandparents. Saturdays, my dad would go out there and drive the tractor around, doing whatever. After his parents were unable to live out there and had to be put in a nursing home, he continued to work on Saturdays, and we'd visit them on Sundays. A few months ago, he and his sister switched days so that we would usually go on Saturdays to visit them. Today, for the first time, he didn't have anyone to visit on Saturday.
My cousin, his nephew, came out to the farm this morning to deer hunt a little, then my dad and I drove around and spent some time together. We went to the Honda store in Southaven to look at fourwheelers. We have one in like-new condition, but there have been some significant engineering changes to the new models that we wanted to see. While in Southaven we looked for a place he'd been to that sells bedliners for trucks, because I want one for my Colorado. The place had either been sold or moved because it wasn't where it had been 3 or 4 years ago. We ate at Backyard Burgers and watched a little bit of Patton on TV, too.
They get easier from here.
Patton: Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight - wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and never will lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.
More tomorrow.
My cousin, his nephew, came out to the farm this morning to deer hunt a little, then my dad and I drove around and spent some time together. We went to the Honda store in Southaven to look at fourwheelers. We have one in like-new condition, but there have been some significant engineering changes to the new models that we wanted to see. While in Southaven we looked for a place he'd been to that sells bedliners for trucks, because I want one for my Colorado. The place had either been sold or moved because it wasn't where it had been 3 or 4 years ago. We ate at Backyard Burgers and watched a little bit of Patton on TV, too.
They get easier from here.
Patton: Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight - wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and never will lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.
More tomorrow.
Friday, December 22, 2006
I Ain't Your Social Director
I got to sleep in this morning, then pretty much lounge around all day and watch Star Trek: Voyager for a while. It's vacation, after all. I'm not planning a wedding or anything.
At 7, a group of us met at El Porton. Lee and Jennifer left about 9. Garrett left about 10. Sheena, Melissa, and I left about 11, as they were closing. Then we stood around a talked for another ten minutes outside. We always do that, though. I've known Melissa forever, and Sheena almost as long. We would have talked longer if the place had stayed open. A few years ago, we sat in a movie theater parking lot talking until 2AM. So 11, not so late.
The Doctor: Don't you think she looks tired?
More tomorrow.
At 7, a group of us met at El Porton. Lee and Jennifer left about 9. Garrett left about 10. Sheena, Melissa, and I left about 11, as they were closing. Then we stood around a talked for another ten minutes outside. We always do that, though. I've known Melissa forever, and Sheena almost as long. We would have talked longer if the place had stayed open. A few years ago, we sat in a movie theater parking lot talking until 2AM. So 11, not so late.
The Doctor: Don't you think she looks tired?
More tomorrow.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Long Couple of Days
I don't know which felt longer, yesterday when I was at the funeral home for 3 and a half hours, or today with the funeral itself then family coming over afterwards. Today, I felt like I did more, but just being somewhere for as long as I was yesterday takes a lot out of you, too. It didn't bother me so much letting go of my grandmother, because I've been preparing for a while, knowing that she wasn't going to be around much longer, and I know she was in a lot of pain and is in a better place now. The hard part for me was seeing my aunts in pain. They are the younger two children of my grandparents and don't have any children of their own, so their mother was the closest family they had.
I've been making fair progress on How Few Remain, the alternate history novel I borrowed from Lee. I probably won't have it finished in time to start Empire, the book I bought myself for Christmas and let my parents wrap and put under the tree. Although I could probably read Empire in about one sitting and start back on How Few Remain without losing any time. I guess it'll depend on how I feel about it on Christmas day, when I have 4 hours worth of drive time to fill.
It looks like a thuderstorm is coming this way, and I don't want to lose my connection before I can publish, so I'll end here.
Max Guevara: I had to have radical emergency amateur brain surgery to remove a nanochip from my cerebellum before I stroked from a neurochemical overload.
More tomorrow.
I've been making fair progress on How Few Remain, the alternate history novel I borrowed from Lee. I probably won't have it finished in time to start Empire, the book I bought myself for Christmas and let my parents wrap and put under the tree. Although I could probably read Empire in about one sitting and start back on How Few Remain without losing any time. I guess it'll depend on how I feel about it on Christmas day, when I have 4 hours worth of drive time to fill.
It looks like a thuderstorm is coming this way, and I don't want to lose my connection before I can publish, so I'll end here.
Max Guevara: I had to have radical emergency amateur brain surgery to remove a nanochip from my cerebellum before I stroked from a neurochemical overload.
More tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Not Cool, Man
There were lots of people at the visitation tonight. I even knew some of them. I had not seen my grandmother look any better. My mom said she looked 25 years younger, and I agree that she looked a lot younger than I remember her. That funeral home has always been very good to our family - kind, thoughtful. I know my way around a little better than maybe I would like, but they've always been very good about handling things.
Some of the guests, however, I would have preferred to avoid all together. It's a long story, but my dad and I were sitting on a couch when we got cornered. He spotted someone he knew leaving, so he had to "walk them out," and he escaped, and I was stuck behind enemy lines, alone, with no visible means of escape. I called him on it when we were leaving, and he didn't deny that he just left me there. I did eventually escape when a distant cousin provided a distraction, and I was able to jump a couple chairs and combat roll over to the door. This was about 10 minutes before we left, too. I almost made it without having to worry about it.
I need to remember to burn my dad the CDs he wants for Christmas. I was able to find most of the songs he wanted online, and he picked about 2 CDs worth that I'm going to burn. Free Christmas presents, most excellent.
The Doctor: Small talk is a vital dating skill. It helps to establish a rapport with your companion.
Seven of Nine: Perhaps there's something to be said for assimilation after all.
More tomorrow.
Some of the guests, however, I would have preferred to avoid all together. It's a long story, but my dad and I were sitting on a couch when we got cornered. He spotted someone he knew leaving, so he had to "walk them out," and he escaped, and I was stuck behind enemy lines, alone, with no visible means of escape. I called him on it when we were leaving, and he didn't deny that he just left me there. I did eventually escape when a distant cousin provided a distraction, and I was able to jump a couple chairs and combat roll over to the door. This was about 10 minutes before we left, too. I almost made it without having to worry about it.
I need to remember to burn my dad the CDs he wants for Christmas. I was able to find most of the songs he wanted online, and he picked about 2 CDs worth that I'm going to burn. Free Christmas presents, most excellent.
The Doctor: Small talk is a vital dating skill. It helps to establish a rapport with your companion.
Seven of Nine: Perhaps there's something to be said for assimilation after all.
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Arrangements
Visitation: Wednesday, 5-8PM, Peebles Funeral Home, Somerville, TN
Funeral: Thursday, 2PM, same location
I don't foresee anyone who reads this needing that, but I put it here anyway.
Not a lot to talk about from today. I watched a lot of the Star Trek: Voyager marathon on Spike. I think they're showing them in order, but they jumping around a little, too. The skipping of episodes is throwing off my continuity meter, but I remember enough that it's not bad. Episodes make the normal rotation starting in January.
Somehow, my room is the hottest in the house, which wouldn't be so bad if the rest of the house were kept reasonably cool, but the rest of the house is just a little too warm, so my room is quite a bit too warm. I turn the heat (yes, the heater) down, but somehow it always ends up back where it was. I've been sleeping with a fan trained on me, and I still get too hot.
Tom Paris: When a bomb starts talking about itself in the third person, I get nervous.
More tomorrow.
Funeral: Thursday, 2PM, same location
I don't foresee anyone who reads this needing that, but I put it here anyway.
Not a lot to talk about from today. I watched a lot of the Star Trek: Voyager marathon on Spike. I think they're showing them in order, but they jumping around a little, too. The skipping of episodes is throwing off my continuity meter, but I remember enough that it's not bad. Episodes make the normal rotation starting in January.
Somehow, my room is the hottest in the house, which wouldn't be so bad if the rest of the house were kept reasonably cool, but the rest of the house is just a little too warm, so my room is quite a bit too warm. I turn the heat (yes, the heater) down, but somehow it always ends up back where it was. I've been sleeping with a fan trained on me, and I still get too hot.
Tom Paris: When a bomb starts talking about itself in the third person, I get nervous.
More tomorrow.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Thank You All for Your Kind Words
I've talked to several people since I posted earlier today, and I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for my family. I am doing fine. My dad had told me a few weeks ago to be sure I had my suit with me when I came home, so her death wasn't a surprise to anyone. I was a little surprised that it happened so quickly. The hospice nurse who was there Saturday had talked about a little bit longer timeframe, but nothing is ever certain. I am glad I got to see her when I did, though. I don't know if she knew I was there, but I know. I don't believe I'll ever regret the time I spent with my grandparents (or spend with the one I have left).
There was a pretty bad school bus accident near my high school this afternoon. Four buses and a car were involved, and several people were taken to the hospital. From what I heard, no one was seriously hurt, though several had sore necks. I hope this causes some consideration of putting seat belts on school buses. I don't know that kids would wear them, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be there.
It's nice to see someone else has decided to continue blogging. Lee said he was going to blog everyday in December, and he made it almost halfway into the month without missing a day. He did have to go back and do research at UTSI, so I can't say I blame him for neglecting his blogging. While I'm on the subject, some time around now is the anniversary of my blog. I think it's today, but I could be wrong. I don't have the original posts online anymore, and it wasn't "The Daily Jeffrey" back then, but I started blogging on or about this day 2002. I miss that webpage. I liked that format, and it worked well, as evidenced by all the people who eventually took it for themselves. It was also nice to have the time to do all the work on it. That page had a blog, several lengthy editorials (about one a month), plus links, pictures, updated class schedules, and all sorts of other things. It went away when CBU deleted my student account. I still have the files, but I can't repost them because of the formatting that I liked so much. It just doesn't work on the free hosting sites, and I'm too cheap to buy a domain.
I forgot to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians again. I got started watching a Stargate marathon, then a BSG rerun, then talking to people. The conversations were a little odd because my internet connection is bad (I'm connecting to someone in my neighborhood's wireless network), so I'd get about 5 messages at once, reply, wait several minutes, then get replies all bunched together again, as my connection went from good to bad to good. If I missed any messages or took a while to respond, that's why.
Grades finally came out today, and I'm pleased, though I am a little surprised that the grades weren't a little higher across the board in Inviscid. The final was rough for several people, but I really expected Vakili to be a little more generous on the overall grades.
Angelica: You dumb babies, monsters are just frigments of your infactuation.
More tomorrow.
There was a pretty bad school bus accident near my high school this afternoon. Four buses and a car were involved, and several people were taken to the hospital. From what I heard, no one was seriously hurt, though several had sore necks. I hope this causes some consideration of putting seat belts on school buses. I don't know that kids would wear them, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be there.
It's nice to see someone else has decided to continue blogging. Lee said he was going to blog everyday in December, and he made it almost halfway into the month without missing a day. He did have to go back and do research at UTSI, so I can't say I blame him for neglecting his blogging. While I'm on the subject, some time around now is the anniversary of my blog. I think it's today, but I could be wrong. I don't have the original posts online anymore, and it wasn't "The Daily Jeffrey" back then, but I started blogging on or about this day 2002. I miss that webpage. I liked that format, and it worked well, as evidenced by all the people who eventually took it for themselves. It was also nice to have the time to do all the work on it. That page had a blog, several lengthy editorials (about one a month), plus links, pictures, updated class schedules, and all sorts of other things. It went away when CBU deleted my student account. I still have the files, but I can't repost them because of the formatting that I liked so much. It just doesn't work on the free hosting sites, and I'm too cheap to buy a domain.
I forgot to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians again. I got started watching a Stargate marathon, then a BSG rerun, then talking to people. The conversations were a little odd because my internet connection is bad (I'm connecting to someone in my neighborhood's wireless network), so I'd get about 5 messages at once, reply, wait several minutes, then get replies all bunched together again, as my connection went from good to bad to good. If I missed any messages or took a while to respond, that's why.
Grades finally came out today, and I'm pleased, though I am a little surprised that the grades weren't a little higher across the board in Inviscid. The final was rough for several people, but I really expected Vakili to be a little more generous on the overall grades.
Angelica: You dumb babies, monsters are just frigments of your infactuation.
More tomorrow.
In Memoriam
My grandmother, Lenora King, passed away early this morning. She was 81. She had been in a nursing home for the past couple of years and had been deteriorating for several months. I had been to see her on Saturday with my dad. Funeral arrangements will be finalized tomorrow morning, though there will probably be visitation Wednesday night at the Peebles Funeral Home and the funeral will be Thursday afternoon.
More tonight.
More tonight.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
I Got Tired All of a Sudden
It's not really that late, and I feel like I'm about to fall asleep in my chair, so I'll try to post an addendum tomorrow, but I may not. Not a lot happened today, so it's just a matter of whether I have anything to rant about in the middle of the day.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." --Albert Einstein
More tomorrow.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." --Albert Einstein
More tomorrow.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
The Happy Couple
Tonight was Brent's wedding. It was also the first time I'd ever met his wife, although I still doubt that she could pick me out of a crowd. Not that I can blame her, it was her wedding day, she doesn't need to remember people. The ceremony was very nice. It wasn't over-the-top or showy, it was very much about the two of them. There was a slideshow with pictures of them growing up, then when they were dating, then engaged (as evidenced by the showing off of the ring). I had flashbacks to Wedding Crashers during the reading from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, but you can't really avoid that when you choose that passage. In the (huge) wedding party were a guy who used to live two houses down, another I knew from high school, another from college, and a girl I went to middle and high school with (who happens to be Lee's distant cousin). I also knew a few attendees, including some who didn't put forth the effort to wear a jacket and wouldn't have worn a tie if their Mommy hadn't made them. I'm looking at you, Wellikoff. Both cakes were very good; I had to try both to be sure. It's hard to judge, seeing a couple together for the first time at their wedding, but they both seemed very happy and very much in love. I wish them all the best as they go forward in their new life together.
Another reason Ashley might not be able to pick me out of a crowd is that Brent didn't introduce me by name. Instead, he and Ashley walked over, and he introduced Lee and me as "Rocky and Bullwinkle." Lee mentioned a couple days ago that she refers to us as that. It led me to start putting the Bullwinkle quotes at the bottom of the page, which led to the other quotes. They didn't stay and talk long, they had more people to greet and talk to. I had talked to Brent a minute before the ceremony, then spoke again before I left, so they met their "talk to all the guests" quota with me, if no one else.
I have more of my day, but it can wait for another entry. I want to keep this one about the title characters. They better bring me something back from Hawaii. Maybe a hula girl, and not the kind that goes on the dashboard.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
'Cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.
More tomorrow.
Another reason Ashley might not be able to pick me out of a crowd is that Brent didn't introduce me by name. Instead, he and Ashley walked over, and he introduced Lee and me as "Rocky and Bullwinkle." Lee mentioned a couple days ago that she refers to us as that. It led me to start putting the Bullwinkle quotes at the bottom of the page, which led to the other quotes. They didn't stay and talk long, they had more people to greet and talk to. I had talked to Brent a minute before the ceremony, then spoke again before I left, so they met their "talk to all the guests" quota with me, if no one else.
I have more of my day, but it can wait for another entry. I want to keep this one about the title characters. They better bring me something back from Hawaii. Maybe a hula girl, and not the kind that goes on the dashboard.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
'Cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.
More tomorrow.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Sleeping Single in a Triple Bed
There's an old song "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" that was referenced on the radio today, then in Battlestar Galactica tonight, one of the characters fit the description in the title. If you watch the show (even if you missed the episode), you'll know exactly what I'm saying. If not, use your imagination, you'll probably be close enough for government work.
I watched Memento after BSG. We need to learn to split the crazy movies up more. In the past few movies, we had Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, Seven, and finally Memento. Seven was the least crazy of the bunch, and it had its own twists. In general, I like a movie like this once in a while, but not 4 out of 7 rentals (the other three in this span were The Wild World of Batwoman, Chicken Little, and Super Troopers). I knew the "trick" to Fight Club and Memento, so I wasn't completely surprised by either movie, but even knowing about the movie, trying to follow things and tie everything together is tough. I'm not sure if I need a rested brain to watch the movies or one in a hyper-aware state. It's freakin' me out, man.
I'm mad at my professors for not posting my grades fast enough to suit me. Now, the online system is down for the night and I can't check to see if they posted anything between the last time I checked, just a few hours ago, and now. I want to know, and I want to know hours ago.
Dr. Daniel Jackson: Oh! Sorry, guess I was wrong. I'm sure your information is correct and . . . In fact, I'm usually quite wrong, quite unreliable actually. To be honest with you, I'm insane.
More tomorrow.
I watched Memento after BSG. We need to learn to split the crazy movies up more. In the past few movies, we had Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, Seven, and finally Memento. Seven was the least crazy of the bunch, and it had its own twists. In general, I like a movie like this once in a while, but not 4 out of 7 rentals (the other three in this span were The Wild World of Batwoman, Chicken Little, and Super Troopers). I knew the "trick" to Fight Club and Memento, so I wasn't completely surprised by either movie, but even knowing about the movie, trying to follow things and tie everything together is tough. I'm not sure if I need a rested brain to watch the movies or one in a hyper-aware state. It's freakin' me out, man.
I'm mad at my professors for not posting my grades fast enough to suit me. Now, the online system is down for the night and I can't check to see if they posted anything between the last time I checked, just a few hours ago, and now. I want to know, and I want to know hours ago.
Dr. Daniel Jackson: Oh! Sorry, guess I was wrong. I'm sure your information is correct and . . . In fact, I'm usually quite wrong, quite unreliable actually. To be honest with you, I'm insane.
More tomorrow.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
The Only True Wisdom Consists of Knowing You Know Nothing
Maybe Socrates was right when he said that. Then again, Socrates didn't just win $100 in free wings from Buffalo Wild Wings. Lee and I did. We tried to get a group of people to go, but no one else was free (or they were sick), so it was just him and me, against all others. At halftime, we were in third place, nicely positioned for a second half run to the top. The first round of the second half almost killed us, though. We aced the last two rounds and were still in third for the final question. The question was - order these countries from most to least in the order of beer consumption per person: Germany, Australia, Ireland, the United States. Take a minute to think about how you would answer. We knew that in order to have any chance of winning, we needed to risk the maximum possible - 20 points. We had 83 points, first was 94, and second was 88. Missing the question meant losing anyway, so we risked 20. Our answer: Ireland (most), Germany, Australia, the United States. The other teams at the top all missed it. There was a tie for third and a tiebreaker round, but we knew we had the answer right and thought the tie was for first, so we were in third. As it turns out, the tie was for third, and we smoked the competition 103 to 81 to 76. [Air guitar.]
Also today, I went to another mock trial meeting. I got to be a little more involved in the planning and shaping today, which I like. I got to object to some questions and argue some technicalities, which I like. Some crazy little Asian girl kept asking me if I liked weird music, which was disturbing. It might have been a little less disturbing if she spoke plain English. This wasn't even stereotypical "l" and "r" stuff, this was bad grammar, thick accent, the works. I'm not trying to be mean; other than the "completely off her rocker" she seemed nice enough and fairly intelligent, for a high school freshman.
I finally bought my copy of Empire by Orson Scott Card. It's a little bit of an odd story, though not compared to his usual writing. From what I've read (the first 5 chapters were posted online at the author's website), there is a movement pitting Red States against Blue in a new Civil War, of sorts. A military man is recruited into some type of group that seems shady. As part of his duties, he thinks up ways terrorists might try to attack, and then how to prevent said attacks. One of his proposals for an attack is actually used, killing the President and most of the Cabinet during a meeting. The Vice President and any absent Cabinet officers are killed individually at the same time. The military man and his aide kill some of the attackers, track down some infomation, and prepare to take on whoever might want to blame them, then the preview ended. It's already good, I have a feeling it's going to get even better. Card is usually pretty good about his sub-plots, and I've glossed over some interesting ones here. If you liked Ender's Game and any of that collection, give this book a try. If you haven't read anything by Card, read Ender's Game and you'll be hooked. Zero gravity laser tag is the coolest thing ever.
"Ender, if you're on one side of the battle, it won't be equal no matter what the conditions are."
- William Bee
More tomorrow.
Also today, I went to another mock trial meeting. I got to be a little more involved in the planning and shaping today, which I like. I got to object to some questions and argue some technicalities, which I like. Some crazy little Asian girl kept asking me if I liked weird music, which was disturbing. It might have been a little less disturbing if she spoke plain English. This wasn't even stereotypical "l" and "r" stuff, this was bad grammar, thick accent, the works. I'm not trying to be mean; other than the "completely off her rocker" she seemed nice enough and fairly intelligent, for a high school freshman.
I finally bought my copy of Empire by Orson Scott Card. It's a little bit of an odd story, though not compared to his usual writing. From what I've read (the first 5 chapters were posted online at the author's website), there is a movement pitting Red States against Blue in a new Civil War, of sorts. A military man is recruited into some type of group that seems shady. As part of his duties, he thinks up ways terrorists might try to attack, and then how to prevent said attacks. One of his proposals for an attack is actually used, killing the President and most of the Cabinet during a meeting. The Vice President and any absent Cabinet officers are killed individually at the same time. The military man and his aide kill some of the attackers, track down some infomation, and prepare to take on whoever might want to blame them, then the preview ended. It's already good, I have a feeling it's going to get even better. Card is usually pretty good about his sub-plots, and I've glossed over some interesting ones here. If you liked Ender's Game and any of that collection, give this book a try. If you haven't read anything by Card, read Ender's Game and you'll be hooked. Zero gravity laser tag is the coolest thing ever.
"Ender, if you're on one side of the battle, it won't be equal no matter what the conditions are."
- William Bee
More tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Edit
I forgot to mention this last night, and I should have
One of my great uncles was in the hospital (I don't remember the reason right now). His brother, another great uncle, was going to see him and fell on some stairs at the hospital and broke his hip. The uncle with the broken hip has hemophilia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemophilia), a blood disorder where the blood does not clot. If not the oldest, he is one of the oldest people in the United States with the disease (he's about 58). Most people with hemophilia die very young, either from cuts that won't stop bleeding or from complications related to treatments such as blood transfusions. The broken hip will require surgery to repair. The doctors will not operate because of the hemophilia (presumably because of the low chance of survival). Without the surgery, he will be bed ridden for the rest of his life. He has told the doctors that he would rather die on the operating table than live that way, but thus far they have not consented.
I don't know what is the best outcome here. I certainly understand both sides. If it is your wont to seek guidance from a higher place, I hope you can remember their families and join me in asking for the best result for everyone.
One of my great uncles was in the hospital (I don't remember the reason right now). His brother, another great uncle, was going to see him and fell on some stairs at the hospital and broke his hip. The uncle with the broken hip has hemophilia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemophilia), a blood disorder where the blood does not clot. If not the oldest, he is one of the oldest people in the United States with the disease (he's about 58). Most people with hemophilia die very young, either from cuts that won't stop bleeding or from complications related to treatments such as blood transfusions. The broken hip will require surgery to repair. The doctors will not operate because of the hemophilia (presumably because of the low chance of survival). Without the surgery, he will be bed ridden for the rest of his life. He has told the doctors that he would rather die on the operating table than live that way, but thus far they have not consented.
I don't know what is the best outcome here. I certainly understand both sides. If it is your wont to seek guidance from a higher place, I hope you can remember their families and join me in asking for the best result for everyone.
Home
It is NICE to be home. I slept in this morning, ate breakfast, wandered around Memphis for a little while, went to Germantown for the mock trial meeting, ate lunch, did a little more wandering, got Chick-Fil-A, and sat around doing nothing for the rest of the night. Doing nothing was all I remembered it to be, and more.
The kids at mock trial are in a tough spot this year. Most of their experienced people graduated last year, and almost no one is returning in their roles from previous years. Since I'm not in Memphis through the week much anymore, this is the first meeting I've made it to since last year's state competition, where we beat two top-ten teams and yet somehow we finished out of the top ten. I'm still angry about that. The meeting today was just to go over what they'd written and what questions they had developed during the writing. It's good to brainstorm and discuss issues, but I have a feeling most of what I say goes in one ear and out the other. This is one of those things where you don't get better until you get embarrassed a few times. I hate to see that happen because a lot of these people are clearly very intelligent, but it's the competition that forges the best lawyers, and no one has really been through that yet. My role has always been to scare the newbies, to make willing to learn, then to challenge them and make them better through a competition that didn't mean anything. It was a great role because I got to play Devil's Advocate all the time, then teach how to avoid or respond to the problems. Now, I'm the visiting expert and the reason we took second in the district last year (that was my introduction today), and almost no one knows me or has any reason to listen to me. And I got called "sir" today.
There is general agreement that UTSI professors, while knowledgeable and nice people overall, do not make good bosses. I was misinformed about the timeline of my project more than a year ago. I don't think that was all my advisor's fault (contracts had to go through about 12 government agencies, including the military, before they reached the company that was contracting with us), but it also made for a year of absolutely no work toward my thesis, and will probably cost me at least one semester on my graduation plans. Lee's advisor kept telling him that things weren't pressing, so Lee came home. Now, it seems, work needs to get done yesterday and Lee might have to go back to school to get things done. Amy's advisor didn't give her much work at all during the semester, but has now loaded her down with things to do over the holidays (and her sister's wedding). Amy, a math major, also gets to take a Reading class with the always fun Dr. Kupershmidt. I think they should start with The Little Engine That Could and see if they can make it all the way through the Dr. Seuss collection. Although if Kupershmidt picks, it'll probably be all the fun books he told us to read "if we had time." (To be fair, he acknowledged that would probably be after the completion of classes.) I have an interesting book on Cryptography that I did a math report on, if that helps. I'm sure it doesn't.
I really should have read the mock trial questions that I told that girl I'd look over. I'm a bad visiting expert.
Drew Carey: Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.
More tomorrow.
The kids at mock trial are in a tough spot this year. Most of their experienced people graduated last year, and almost no one is returning in their roles from previous years. Since I'm not in Memphis through the week much anymore, this is the first meeting I've made it to since last year's state competition, where we beat two top-ten teams and yet somehow we finished out of the top ten. I'm still angry about that. The meeting today was just to go over what they'd written and what questions they had developed during the writing. It's good to brainstorm and discuss issues, but I have a feeling most of what I say goes in one ear and out the other. This is one of those things where you don't get better until you get embarrassed a few times. I hate to see that happen because a lot of these people are clearly very intelligent, but it's the competition that forges the best lawyers, and no one has really been through that yet. My role has always been to scare the newbies, to make willing to learn, then to challenge them and make them better through a competition that didn't mean anything. It was a great role because I got to play Devil's Advocate all the time, then teach how to avoid or respond to the problems. Now, I'm the visiting expert and the reason we took second in the district last year (that was my introduction today), and almost no one knows me or has any reason to listen to me. And I got called "sir" today.
There is general agreement that UTSI professors, while knowledgeable and nice people overall, do not make good bosses. I was misinformed about the timeline of my project more than a year ago. I don't think that was all my advisor's fault (contracts had to go through about 12 government agencies, including the military, before they reached the company that was contracting with us), but it also made for a year of absolutely no work toward my thesis, and will probably cost me at least one semester on my graduation plans. Lee's advisor kept telling him that things weren't pressing, so Lee came home. Now, it seems, work needs to get done yesterday and Lee might have to go back to school to get things done. Amy's advisor didn't give her much work at all during the semester, but has now loaded her down with things to do over the holidays (and her sister's wedding). Amy, a math major, also gets to take a Reading class with the always fun Dr. Kupershmidt. I think they should start with The Little Engine That Could and see if they can make it all the way through the Dr. Seuss collection. Although if Kupershmidt picks, it'll probably be all the fun books he told us to read "if we had time." (To be fair, he acknowledged that would probably be after the completion of classes.) I have an interesting book on Cryptography that I did a math report on, if that helps. I'm sure it doesn't.
I really should have read the mock trial questions that I told that girl I'd look over. I'm a bad visiting expert.
Drew Carey: Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
That's a Long Drive
I made it through the Inviscid Final. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. Really, it was half what I was expecting. One problem dealt with the Helmholtz, Kelvin, and Kutta theorems or conditions. I knew that would be there. One problem dealt with flow boundary conditions, and that was to be expected. A third problem was a derivation of the Bernoulli equation for rotational flow. While the end result is the standard everyday Bernoulli equation, it's derivation is far from straight-forward. There are some crazy vector calculus identities that no one ever remembers, then you integrate over a streamline, and everything works. I couldn't do the vector anlysis, so I carried the offending term all the way through the problem until I rewrote it in the integral in the form it needed to be in to get the final answer. That problem was completely hit-or-miss, either you remembered the derivation from the book (which we covered months ago) or you didn't. The last problem was another Helmholtz / Kelvin explanation, but much less clear as to what any type of reasonable answer was. I did get to use my drafting template to draw a circle for that problem. I rambled for a while about vorticity and circulation and other buzz words, and I think I said what needed to be said somewhere in all that. It was a lot like my blog, but for a grade.
After the final, I managed to create a problem for everyone by trying to print my timesheet. It should be fixed, eventually. Lee and I got a quick lunch, then loaded up our respective vehicles and headed to Memphis. It rained on us from about Manchester almost to Nashville, then there was a car on fire on I-24 just south of Nashville, right after it quit raining. We sat at nearly a dead stop for 15 minutes, then traffic cleared and we didn't have any other problems the whole way back. The rain left the sky overcast, and the sun only peeked through to blind us for about 10 minutes total. I made it home in about the normal amount of time, even being stopped on I-24. Food is good.
Tonight has been all about relaxing. You can take that statement as a goal of my entire break. I plan to do as little as possible as much as possible.
Bullwinkle: But here, cleverly disguised as a bomb, is a bomb.
More tomorrow.
After the final, I managed to create a problem for everyone by trying to print my timesheet. It should be fixed, eventually. Lee and I got a quick lunch, then loaded up our respective vehicles and headed to Memphis. It rained on us from about Manchester almost to Nashville, then there was a car on fire on I-24 just south of Nashville, right after it quit raining. We sat at nearly a dead stop for 15 minutes, then traffic cleared and we didn't have any other problems the whole way back. The rain left the sky overcast, and the sun only peeked through to blind us for about 10 minutes total. I made it home in about the normal amount of time, even being stopped on I-24. Food is good.
Tonight has been all about relaxing. You can take that statement as a goal of my entire break. I plan to do as little as possible as much as possible.
Bullwinkle: But here, cleverly disguised as a bomb, is a bomb.
More tomorrow.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Two Down
Heat Transfer was about what I realistically expected. I had hoped that I wouldn't need to solve an actual differential equation, but that was a little too much to hope for. As it ended up, there were three problems related to the same physical problem, and each built on the previous one. Essentially, the first problem dealt with the first big step, finding the eigenfunction. The next problem was applying that eigenfunction to a subproblem of the last one. In order to solve the last one, you needed to do the other two, but if you did the test in order, you already had them. The test was then 50% that problem and 50% other stuff, but with the questions weighted equally. I'm almost positive I got everything "right." I qualify with quotations because at least one problem wasn't black-white grading. You might do steps correctly, but make some bad choices about variables (not wrong, just not optimal) and I don't know how he'll score that. I like my answer to the problem, but that doesn't mean anything when he's grading it.
Tonight, the Lee-and-Jeffrey tradition of steak overload after finals continued. Usually, we do it after all finals are over, but we (at least I) won't be in town tomorrow night, and all-you-can eat steak is too good to pass up. The soft serve was good, too.
I'm just about packed up for the semi-move home. I haven't been home for this long since last December, before I started to UTSI. I'm not really taking that much with me, for a trip that long. My room at home is still furnished (everything here is either new or came from relatives who didn't need it or from yard sales), so I don't need anything but clothes and my computer stuff.
Agent 99: You'll be in extreme danger every minute.
Maxwell Smart: ...and... loving it.
More tomorrow.
Tonight, the Lee-and-Jeffrey tradition of steak overload after finals continued. Usually, we do it after all finals are over, but we (at least I) won't be in town tomorrow night, and all-you-can eat steak is too good to pass up. The soft serve was good, too.
I'm just about packed up for the semi-move home. I haven't been home for this long since last December, before I started to UTSI. I'm not really taking that much with me, for a trip that long. My room at home is still furnished (everything here is either new or came from relatives who didn't need it or from yard sales), so I don't need anything but clothes and my computer stuff.
Agent 99: You'll be in extreme danger every minute.
Maxwell Smart: ...and... loving it.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Christmas Music and Final Exams
I didn't do a lot of studying today. For one thing, my exam tomorrow is Heat Transfer, and there's just not a lot that can be covered. He listed the general topics for the exam (which also happen to be the general topics for the class), and I understand them and can do problems related to all of them, but that may not mean much. In order to ask any range of questions, he can't have us solve many problems (as in none). His policy is that doing all the homework allows you to negotiate your grade higher, anyway, and I did all of those and have them ready to show him, if needed.
I bought my books for next semester. I can't find mention of it in previous posts, but I registered for two classes, when I really don't need anything in order to complete my requirements. I signed up for Heat Transfer II: Convection and Tactical Missile Design. Tactical Missile Design: how cool is that? I will learn more in a semester than the North Koreans have developed in 3 decades. Well, probably not, but it's still going to be interesting. The instructor is the same guy I had for Rocket Propulsion I. He's extremely knowledgeable and very practical in his explanations, since he owns a rocket engine design company. All I have to say is that by May everybody better be on my good list or they'll be meeting my design project in a very unpleasant way (for them, at least). Convection is going to be useful as a class, I guess. Dr. Shultz felt that was a better class for me to take, and Dr. Moeller didn't disagree, though Moeller supported me taking Tactical Missiles if I wanted. The "compromise" they came to was that I should take one class and audit the other. Since auditing convection is essentially the same as taking it, minus the grade, I just registered to take both. It may be a little more work, but it doesn't look like my thesis is getting done by May anyway, so I have more time, too. Tactical Missile Design.
Bullwinkle: Well this is a pickle...actually its more of a kumquat.
More tomorrow.
I bought my books for next semester. I can't find mention of it in previous posts, but I registered for two classes, when I really don't need anything in order to complete my requirements. I signed up for Heat Transfer II: Convection and Tactical Missile Design. Tactical Missile Design: how cool is that? I will learn more in a semester than the North Koreans have developed in 3 decades. Well, probably not, but it's still going to be interesting. The instructor is the same guy I had for Rocket Propulsion I. He's extremely knowledgeable and very practical in his explanations, since he owns a rocket engine design company. All I have to say is that by May everybody better be on my good list or they'll be meeting my design project in a very unpleasant way (for them, at least). Convection is going to be useful as a class, I guess. Dr. Shultz felt that was a better class for me to take, and Dr. Moeller didn't disagree, though Moeller supported me taking Tactical Missiles if I wanted. The "compromise" they came to was that I should take one class and audit the other. Since auditing convection is essentially the same as taking it, minus the grade, I just registered to take both. It may be a little more work, but it doesn't look like my thesis is getting done by May anyway, so I have more time, too. Tactical Missile Design.
Bullwinkle: Well this is a pickle...actually its more of a kumquat.
More tomorrow.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
You Got Your Helmholtz in My Kelvin
For the two sample Inviscid Flow finals that Dr. Vakili gave us, we needed to know the difference between the Helmholtz theorem and the Kelvin theorem. Without going into detail, they're the same thing, just using different words and different ways of thinking about the same process. I could explain the difference before I realized that, now I just think about how they're really the same thing. It's like telling someone to clear their mind, but they can't help but think of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. It's exactly like that.
After I worked through both sample tests, for the second time now, I fixed some tacos and Mexican rice while Lee worked on Rotel. Then we watched Chicken Little, the latest installment from NetFlix. It's definitely a kid's movie (it was only an hour 15 minutes long), but it had some laughs in it. Also, it wasn't the worst expansion of a 10-minute story into a feature-length movie that I've ever seen. I would have preferred a longer "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" scene, just to be truer to the original. I don't find enough occasions to use my big voice, either.
Dr. Kupershmidt emailed us our grades on the final and our final grades. He said he'd do this by last night, but he probably had more to grade than he realized. There was also some issue with the last problem being copied wrong from book to test. I ended up with a 4.5 / 5, and an A overall for the course. It's good to be the King.
Brent's fiancee apparently refers to Lee and me as Rocky and Bullwinkle. Lee wanted to be Rocky, so I'm "Mr. Know-It-All" himself, Bullwinkle J. Moose, president of Moosylvania. It's good to be the President.
Rocky: Do you know what an A-bomb is?
Bullwinkle: Certainly. A bomb is what some people call [my blog].
More tomorrow.
After I worked through both sample tests, for the second time now, I fixed some tacos and Mexican rice while Lee worked on Rotel. Then we watched Chicken Little, the latest installment from NetFlix. It's definitely a kid's movie (it was only an hour 15 minutes long), but it had some laughs in it. Also, it wasn't the worst expansion of a 10-minute story into a feature-length movie that I've ever seen. I would have preferred a longer "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" scene, just to be truer to the original. I don't find enough occasions to use my big voice, either.
Dr. Kupershmidt emailed us our grades on the final and our final grades. He said he'd do this by last night, but he probably had more to grade than he realized. There was also some issue with the last problem being copied wrong from book to test. I ended up with a 4.5 / 5, and an A overall for the course. It's good to be the King.
Brent's fiancee apparently refers to Lee and me as Rocky and Bullwinkle. Lee wanted to be Rocky, so I'm "Mr. Know-It-All" himself, Bullwinkle J. Moose, president of Moosylvania. It's good to be the President.
Rocky: Do you know what an A-bomb is?
Bullwinkle: Certainly. A bomb is what some people call [my blog].
More tomorrow.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Bless His Heart
My first final is in the books. It was Vector Calculus, and it was much easier than I was expecting it to be. The midterm was 7 problems in 75 minutes. The final was 6 questions in 120 minutes. They were all from what I'll call the "easier" set of homework problems - none of the involved, winding, trig identity problems or proofs that we were all fearing. The last question could not be completed in the manor required. He said it could, but both Amy, the math major, and I disagree with him on that. Heather and Lee also agree with us, but I talked to Amy about it first.
Lee and I went to UTSI well before the final was to start in order to do some final review, away from television and computers. I don't usually like to go over material right before a test, but I stopped early enough that I could get into my test-taking frame of mind. Lee's flavored Tums were popular in the test room, and he joked about them making Amy pass out (in order to improve the curve, since she's the math major). I was going to make a reference to Scrubs where the a couple that Jordan and Perry are out with put ruffies in their drinks, but I wasn't sure anyone would get the reference, and then it's just creepy.
It looks like I'll be driving back to Memphis Tuesday afternoon, almost definitely now. My exam ends, officially, at 12:15, and I plan to be ready to go soon after. I'll probably have everything packed, but still at the apartment, load everything, and leave as quickly as practical. It'll be nice to be home and relax, but I'm also leaving this apartment for almost a month. I don't foresee any problems. It's been the coldest nights in a row that I can remember, and nothing has frozen. I don't like that the mail is going to build up, but I guess the real estate guy can handle that . . . ? I need to get that handled.
In the time before the exam, Amy, Lee, and I were studying, and Amy said that when she moved to Tennessee, she noticed that people would say awful things about people, but everything was excused with a "bless his heart." "That Timmy is a lying cheater, bless his heart." "Amy is as dumb as a post, bless her heart." (Not you, Amy, the other Amy.) It's like Lee's favorite insult introduction, "With all due respect." "With all due respect, you are a moron."
Now, I need to prepare for my Heat Transfer final (it's not exactly studying, but I can't do nothing, either), and study a little for Inviscid. Inviscid is just to make sure I go back and read all the things he said to and I skipped during the semester. My hardest final is over, though. More tomorrow.
Lee and I went to UTSI well before the final was to start in order to do some final review, away from television and computers. I don't usually like to go over material right before a test, but I stopped early enough that I could get into my test-taking frame of mind. Lee's flavored Tums were popular in the test room, and he joked about them making Amy pass out (in order to improve the curve, since she's the math major). I was going to make a reference to Scrubs where the a couple that Jordan and Perry are out with put ruffies in their drinks, but I wasn't sure anyone would get the reference, and then it's just creepy.
It looks like I'll be driving back to Memphis Tuesday afternoon, almost definitely now. My exam ends, officially, at 12:15, and I plan to be ready to go soon after. I'll probably have everything packed, but still at the apartment, load everything, and leave as quickly as practical. It'll be nice to be home and relax, but I'm also leaving this apartment for almost a month. I don't foresee any problems. It's been the coldest nights in a row that I can remember, and nothing has frozen. I don't like that the mail is going to build up, but I guess the real estate guy can handle that . . . ? I need to get that handled.
In the time before the exam, Amy, Lee, and I were studying, and Amy said that when she moved to Tennessee, she noticed that people would say awful things about people, but everything was excused with a "bless his heart." "That Timmy is a lying cheater, bless his heart." "Amy is as dumb as a post, bless her heart." (Not you, Amy, the other Amy.) It's like Lee's favorite insult introduction, "With all due respect." "With all due respect, you are a moron."
Now, I need to prepare for my Heat Transfer final (it's not exactly studying, but I can't do nothing, either), and study a little for Inviscid. Inviscid is just to make sure I go back and read all the things he said to and I skipped during the semester. My hardest final is over, though. More tomorrow.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Technical Writing No More
My first final is gone, done, finished. It was technical writing, rescheduled because the instructor couldn't make it back from Orlando in time to give us a final on Tuesday night. I'm not complaining about that. The final, however, was crazy. Question 1: List three ways to avoid plagiarism. (a) Don't do it, (b) See number a, (c) See number b. Is there anything other than just not plagiarizing? It's not a hard concept. There were some grammar questions that were pretty obvious, I thought. Some weird quotation / paraphrasing things. I finished in about 10 minutes.
I also got my paper and presentation grades. Paper was an A, not bad for an afternoon of writing and another of finding sources to claim for everything I said. The presentation was an A-, but an overall score of 9/10. Those two don't match, in my opinion, but since the grading is only pass / fail, I really don't care. If somehow I fail because of the final I barely tried on, I need everyone to pool their money to bail me out of jail. It'll be justified homocide, but I'll still need bail money. I promise I won't skip out on it.
I downloaded and upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 today. I like most of the changes, and I'm sure I'll get used to the others. The tabbed windows and multiple homepages are nice immediately. I give it a B right now after about an hour of total use.
I'm getting to bed as early as possible tonight to be well rested for my math final. More tomorrow.
I also got my paper and presentation grades. Paper was an A, not bad for an afternoon of writing and another of finding sources to claim for everything I said. The presentation was an A-, but an overall score of 9/10. Those two don't match, in my opinion, but since the grading is only pass / fail, I really don't care. If somehow I fail because of the final I barely tried on, I need everyone to pool their money to bail me out of jail. It'll be justified homocide, but I'll still need bail money. I promise I won't skip out on it.
I downloaded and upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 today. I like most of the changes, and I'm sure I'll get used to the others. The tabbed windows and multiple homepages are nice immediately. I give it a B right now after about an hour of total use.
I'm getting to bed as early as possible tonight to be well rested for my math final. More tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Nothing Says Christmas Like an Explosion
That's my motto for the year.
The Superfriends had a study session today for Inviscid Flow. We reviewed the old tests he had given us, mostly, but we also discussed a few topics related to, but not actually in, those tests. I think it went pretty well. I need to do more, but that's mostly reading of material rather than discussion. Math is before Inviscid, though, so I need to spend time on it first.
Tonight's Mythbusters were both entertaining. They aren't doing as interesting myths as they started out with, but they still make things explode on a regular basis. Or break gel and plaster models of small animals with frozen turkeys. All are acceptable.
Brent has a blog on his website now. The website has been around, but it was incomplete and lacking a blog, until recently when Brent really put some time into it and made it very nice. Keep in mind, he is an electrical / computer engineer, so he knows his coding.
Need to study. Don't want to study. Need to study. More tomorrow.
The Superfriends had a study session today for Inviscid Flow. We reviewed the old tests he had given us, mostly, but we also discussed a few topics related to, but not actually in, those tests. I think it went pretty well. I need to do more, but that's mostly reading of material rather than discussion. Math is before Inviscid, though, so I need to spend time on it first.
Tonight's Mythbusters were both entertaining. They aren't doing as interesting myths as they started out with, but they still make things explode on a regular basis. Or break gel and plaster models of small animals with frozen turkeys. All are acceptable.
Brent has a blog on his website now. The website has been around, but it was incomplete and lacking a blog, until recently when Brent really put some time into it and made it very nice. Keep in mind, he is an electrical / computer engineer, so he knows his coding.
Need to study. Don't want to study. Need to study. More tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Shut Up and Let Me Outta Here
My presentation tonight was awesome. Lee's was OK, too, I guess. I wasn't really paying attention. I might have involved chickens, or baseball, maybe acrobatic monkeys juggling flaming bowling balls and chainsaws. I'm sure he'll go into great and boring detail about it in his blog.
We had a math review session today. I hate just memorizing problems, but it seems that's the best solution. It's a fair number of problems to know, so actually knowing how to do most of them will be helpful. I guess.
Heat Transfer ended early (WAHOO!). He finished up some finite difference methodology, talked about the final, and let us go. I got the solution manual from him to make copies of the Chapter 2 homework for me, Lee, and Tim while Lee ran copies of the solutions to chapters 4, 5, and 7. We now have all the right answers to the problems that won't be on the final. (They are way too long to be on anything other than a two-week take-home final exam-from-hell.)
Technical Writing was a complete waste of my time. I presented, Lee presented, then Hot Rod presented. Hot Rod's presentation was not fully put together, and he made up most of it on the spot. The other two Injuns decided to call him on it, and they were taking no prisoners. They also didn't have half a clue about most of what he said. They were just sharks smelling blood. It was painful to watch, mostly because it was keeping me from leaving. After a minute or two of it, though, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy.
My hand smells like marinade. More tomorrow.
We had a math review session today. I hate just memorizing problems, but it seems that's the best solution. It's a fair number of problems to know, so actually knowing how to do most of them will be helpful. I guess.
Heat Transfer ended early (WAHOO!). He finished up some finite difference methodology, talked about the final, and let us go. I got the solution manual from him to make copies of the Chapter 2 homework for me, Lee, and Tim while Lee ran copies of the solutions to chapters 4, 5, and 7. We now have all the right answers to the problems that won't be on the final. (They are way too long to be on anything other than a two-week take-home final exam-from-hell.)
Technical Writing was a complete waste of my time. I presented, Lee presented, then Hot Rod presented. Hot Rod's presentation was not fully put together, and he made up most of it on the spot. The other two Injuns decided to call him on it, and they were taking no prisoners. They also didn't have half a clue about most of what he said. They were just sharks smelling blood. It was painful to watch, mostly because it was keeping me from leaving. After a minute or two of it, though, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy.
My hand smells like marinade. More tomorrow.
Monday, December 04, 2006
I Have To Find That Sword
All my shows are going on hiatus, and I don't like it. Tonight's Heroes was the last one for 6 weeks. They did make up for it with a great episode, though. I didn't get a chance to do my usual post-Heroes and Studio 60 discussion, however. That's half the fun of the shows.
Today was my last Inviscid Flow class. We watched movies. They were on reels and projected onto the wall. No kidding. They also had no sound, save for the click-click-click of the projector. Yup, Space Institute, cutting-edge research, century-old movie projector. To be fair, I'm sure this stuff is updated and available in modern formats, but Dr. Vakili knows these videos, so that's what he uses.
I don't want to make a PowerPoint for class tomorrow, but I have to. It's going to be horrible. Granted, the slides will be better than some of the slides from last week, because they'll have a background. I can't stand purely white slides unless they are mostly inhabited by pictures. Also, I'm trying real hard to be annoying, so I'll have random pictures of things which have no relevance to anything. I'm going to have fun with this, even if I don't want to do it.
I'm now eligible to graduate in May if my thesis gets approved. It won't, not in time to actually finish in May, but August is only a semester behind my original plan, which was ambitious for my project. I'm also going to end up taking an extra extra class. I was going to take one (Tactical Missle Design), and two of my committee really want me to take Convection, so I could audit one, but I'd rather just do the little bit of work and have both on my transcript as completed. Also, they should pad my GPA and help that B+ out. Stupid ODE essay exam.
AIM seemed to go crazy this morning. I don't know what it was doing. It seems better now. More tomorrow.
Today was my last Inviscid Flow class. We watched movies. They were on reels and projected onto the wall. No kidding. They also had no sound, save for the click-click-click of the projector. Yup, Space Institute, cutting-edge research, century-old movie projector. To be fair, I'm sure this stuff is updated and available in modern formats, but Dr. Vakili knows these videos, so that's what he uses.
I don't want to make a PowerPoint for class tomorrow, but I have to. It's going to be horrible. Granted, the slides will be better than some of the slides from last week, because they'll have a background. I can't stand purely white slides unless they are mostly inhabited by pictures. Also, I'm trying real hard to be annoying, so I'll have random pictures of things which have no relevance to anything. I'm going to have fun with this, even if I don't want to do it.
I'm now eligible to graduate in May if my thesis gets approved. It won't, not in time to actually finish in May, but August is only a semester behind my original plan, which was ambitious for my project. I'm also going to end up taking an extra extra class. I was going to take one (Tactical Missle Design), and two of my committee really want me to take Convection, so I could audit one, but I'd rather just do the little bit of work and have both on my transcript as completed. Also, they should pad my GPA and help that B+ out. Stupid ODE essay exam.
AIM seemed to go crazy this morning. I don't know what it was doing. It seems better now. More tomorrow.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Heroes is on Tomorrow Night
First, let me say that the past two update titles had nothing to do with anything, except that I had watched SVU and MST 3K. I realize now that they might carry some unintential double meanings. They are not meant towards any person in any way. They were just funny phrases from stuff I'd been watching. If this seems odd to you, ignore this paragraph. If you thought I was making a personal statement, I apologize.
So now to the fun stuff I did today.
Now to the other stuff I did today. Lee and I made our weekly supply run to the store. It's odd, the way supplies need to be replenished. I don't need the same amount every week, even though I assume I eat about the same amount of food every week. This week, I spent maybe $10 on food. Last week, I think I was over $60. Budgets are weird that way.
The first summer I was working for the bank, my truck battery died. I was going to meet my dad for lunch, went out to my truck, and it wouldn't crank. I called him, and fortunately I was right across the street from either a battery place or a shop in general, and he knew the manager or owner. It's been a while, cut me some slack. I was able to get my battery replaced that afternoon and not lose the use of my truck at all. That would make for a bad week, even if I only didn't have it for a couple of days.
For TNT originals, The Librarian movies are pretty good. I liked the first one better, but that can be said for most movies. This one involved less cool stuff and tried, I think, to be more National Treasure than The Librarian, and it just didn't have what it needed. Also, the first one was original and clever where this one was contrived and almost boring. James Bond needs to be smooth and in control, the Librarian needs to be a little bumbling.
Well, I still need a shower. I don't need to add "I stink" as an awkward-producing moment tomorrow. Finals start at the end of the week. More tomorrow.
So now to the fun stuff I did today.
Now to the other stuff I did today. Lee and I made our weekly supply run to the store. It's odd, the way supplies need to be replenished. I don't need the same amount every week, even though I assume I eat about the same amount of food every week. This week, I spent maybe $10 on food. Last week, I think I was over $60. Budgets are weird that way.
The first summer I was working for the bank, my truck battery died. I was going to meet my dad for lunch, went out to my truck, and it wouldn't crank. I called him, and fortunately I was right across the street from either a battery place or a shop in general, and he knew the manager or owner. It's been a while, cut me some slack. I was able to get my battery replaced that afternoon and not lose the use of my truck at all. That would make for a bad week, even if I only didn't have it for a couple of days.
For TNT originals, The Librarian movies are pretty good. I liked the first one better, but that can be said for most movies. This one involved less cool stuff and tried, I think, to be more National Treasure than The Librarian, and it just didn't have what it needed. Also, the first one was original and clever where this one was contrived and almost boring. James Bond needs to be smooth and in control, the Librarian needs to be a little bumbling.
Well, I still need a shower. I don't need to add "I stink" as an awkward-producing moment tomorrow. Finals start at the end of the week. More tomorrow.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Cheating. Cheating is Bad. Richard Basehart is Good
Mystery Science Theater 3000 presents The Wild World of Batwoman. The movie was terrible, absolutely awful. The MST 3K commentary was great. Just as it should be. This Batwoman had no relation to anything Batman (and a lawsuit resulted), and there was no reason for her to need to be Bat-anything. The bevy of bikini-ed bat beauties were nice to have around, though. Also, the movie reused part of some mole-men movie from a decade earlier, for no reason whatsoever. Oh, here are some mole men. Next scene.
Finals are in less than a week. I'm not overly worried about any of them, I don't guess. Heat Transfer is the one where I know the least about what to expect, but I've done all the homework, so I should be fine. The others just require that I do a little bit of review of some things I glossed over during the semester. This includes everything in the courses. I have at least two study days between now and then. Plenty of time.
Break can't come soon enough, and not because of classes. More tomorrow.
Finals are in less than a week. I'm not overly worried about any of them, I don't guess. Heat Transfer is the one where I know the least about what to expect, but I've done all the homework, so I should be fine. The others just require that I do a little bit of review of some things I glossed over during the semester. This includes everything in the courses. I have at least two study days between now and then. Plenty of time.
Break can't come soon enough, and not because of classes. More tomorrow.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Ho-Jack
RFID tags injected into a person's shoulder can track them to determine if they are having an affair. This I learned on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
Anything else from today will have to wait until I'm in a better mood. More tomorrow.
Anything else from today will have to wait until I'm in a better mood. More tomorrow.
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