the crunch

now is that time when the honeymoon of starting of is over and you're at about full blast into the curriculum. These are the best of times. These are the worst of times.

So we have to read Boethius for my german gen ed class, and though I'm already behind on the reading he's got a couple of interesting ideas and truths. I don't know how I feel I feel about the whole "oneness" of his neo-Platonic philosophy, but maybe that's just cuz it reminds me of the LGM's from Toy Story. My circuits class is getting better. maybe it has to do with the fact that the amont of homework I've spent on that class averages to like 10 minutes a week. but those happy go lucky tests are right around the corner. whoopi. And my scary numbers in boxes class is not very intimidating at all. It's more like a lot of cute puppies in a box, romping around.

BTW, did you hear/see that story about the baby in Brazil who was found in the river or something? WTF is wrong with these parents?!?!?!

I still am not mutual friends with diff eq, though. And thermo's getting on my nerves. and so is statics. it's kinda odd: the three classes I thought I was gonna like and the three I thought I was gonna hate have been 0% accurate so far.

so far.

My nana's in the hospital, too, so I'm naturally worried about her. It's just weird that the X-rays and the MRI's are showing no fractures of any kind, and yet she's still in a lot of pain in her lower back. She fell a couple weeks ago. Plus we found out that she fell under 100 pounds. She's always been quite short and petite- in short, very Mexican granny like- but it's still not cool. I'll keep you posted.

I need a job so mom doesn't have to get a second one to pay for these medical bills. I can do it, working and full time student-ing. I can do it. I can do it nine times.

be careful what you wish for

So we did get a new roommate. and his name actually is Jason. For the most part, he's pretty cool. he beat me on quite a few mini games of mario party. Also he's a bit on the neat side, so thats always handy. The only problem is he partakes in some... stuff... that frankly I am not comfortable with in the least. Neither is my other roommate Dan, and I don't know how Brian feels about it. I think right now we're just playing it by ear, see how much of an issue this actually is. and whether or not we ought to confront it. I know this is college, but there has to be a line somewhere, right?

indecisions, indecisions

Had a talk with the Econ advisor today. Turns out all I would need for an Econ BA is one more gen ed and 8 econ classes. That's it. And under other circumstances I would be ecstatic. I mean, 9 classes? That's awesome. But, alas, time and sanity stand in the way. For the Engineering Math degree I'd only need 19 more classes after this spring and summer (if I can get into the class I need to take for the summer). For Mechanical I'd need 23 classes, but a couple of them are only like 1 or 2 units as opposed to the typical 3. I could theoretically combine the Mechanical and The engineering Math, but then I'd have basically no time for anything else. A math degree by itself is no less than 8 classes away, depending on what branch. And then there are the minors.

I figure I should be taking somewhere between 30 and 32 classes, though 24 would be the minimum for full time status. And 36 is probably asking a little too much.

Right now switching to a double major in Math and Econ and double minoring in Mechanical Engineering and Physics sounds really tempting. I mean that'd be only like 23 classes. But I think I just fear that any one degree by itself won't be "good enough" by itself and I hate being trapped down by super tight schedules and rigid curriculum. At least UHS gave the option of picking what time in the morning you could take gov, as long as all your other classes fit in place somehow. Idunno. I just really like the freedom that college offers. take the classes you want when you feel like 'em. But that's only for people who can afford to go to college. For the rest of us, we have to stay dedicated and keep our GPA high enough and go to workshops on how to get into grad schools and maintain our scholarships and apply to internships and learn about how life is. The rich kids just get to be the new VP of their parents' companies.

But today was pretty cool. Played pool with Sean Whitsiitt. We should hang out more, cuz Sean's cool. Had lunch with Suzannah Herron. Don't mix Dr. Wells and Orange Slice: it's not that good. And I only had 1 class today. Yeehaw!

And then there's the whole Coke debacle here. Of course, this is of high priority for me. At the campus food marts, the prices of all Coke and dr. Pepper 20 oz bottoles went up by 50 cents! Naturally I was outraged when I discivered this, only to find out that they also removed all the vending machines from my dorm. They say it's for unrelated reasons, but I'm not so sure. I know Pepsi has a deal with the U. I mean how many McDonald's nationwide sell Pepsi? While Pepsi is still the same price, oke just skyrocketed thorugh the stratosphere. If I wanted to experience highway robbery, I'd play GTA.

Also, it appears as if we really are getting a new roommate for real this time. He even has a name. Jason is supposedly moving in today but we'll just have to wait and find out. His facebook profile makes hm seem like a upbeat person. We need some upbeatness ever since Matt left. It's almost as if he were the centerstone that you put in the middle of an arch or something. We haven't played a single game of Mario Party as a room this semester even! and that just totally sucks.

brain drain

My classes from 2-5 on T, Th are a total bore. GAH! Just thinking about them makes my kinetic skiils slow down, they're that boring. But I must.

maybe I should sit a little more back in Diff Eq. Stretch my legs out. My foot was kinda numb from 75 excurciating minutes where we didn't really learn anything.

My circuits or something class is a lot better in comparison, but still unpleasant as a whole. I render how good a class/ teacher is by how long I'm not looking at the clock. I made it 2/3 of the way in that class, whereas I was mentally done w/ DiffEq in like 10 minutes. Meh. It's just not my learning style, that's all. All the formulas for amps and resistors are starting to come back. And then they'll be joined by their friends whom I haven't met yet. Whoopee!

german was cool. We talked about how history is reflected is perhaps more important than what actually happened. But of course. We got into small groups and talked about the Daily Show. But it worked out. It was kinda funny though that the girls who were sitting next to each other and in my small group are named Cassie, Cathy, and Cassidy. Spelling uncertain. I just though that was amusing.

But while 40% of the school week might suck, the other 60% totally rocks! Now I get why my roommate Brian is only taking 12 units. cuz it's so much easier!

But then again I am a workaholic. and have no extracurricular activities.

version 1.5

Ok so school started up this week. Also we never got a new roommate, so there's a big gaping hole in our hearts. My schedule sucks, as it turns out. These are my first impressions:

thermo- McGrath seems cool enough. The fact that the only way he can encourage us to attend class is through the fear of an unannounced quiz (since ALL materials weill be available online) doesn't seem that efficient, though of course that ploy reels me right in.

Linear algebra- I have a grad student teaching it. Siobahn is in my class, so that's cool. It's cool that he's trying to emphasize on the logic of argument, but I'm not sure if giving us a crap definition and then making us figure out where the flaws are is taht useful. It seems to put a little too much reliance on us, like h'es not actually teaching us anything. And also he's going way out of order, apparently. We start with chapter 4. the oher class go in a linear fashion (get it? of course you do.)

Medieval philosophy- cool, but intense. The girl to guy ratio is nice, though. LOTS of reading, lots of writing, lots of talking, none of which I like a whole lot but when you must you must. Had I gone to Rice, I still think I would be getting a minor in medieval studies; that's prolly still my biggest influence.

Engineering Statics- basically an applied physics course. Seems easy enough. the prof is a little anal on neatness and order, but I guess that's necessary for Engineering. Though I do believe that Dr. Budhu is, as far as I can recall, the first African-American teacher I've ever had in all my schoolig years. So that's exciting and fresh.

Diff EQ- I'm not sure what to make of it yet. The main prof seems a little distant. I actualy fell asleep during his calc review. The discussion group TA is nice, but her Greek accent is quite heavy.

Electronic somethings- This is gonna be icky. As the first class where grades are somewhat curved (only half can get an A or B under normal circumstances) and historically an 80% is an A, 70% a B and 55% a C, this is one I'm gonna feel lost in more than once. It's all about circuits and nodes and impedence and other things I can't pronounce. The prof is cool and tries to make jokes, but is rather strict and kinda unaproachable, like you wouldn't want to touch the old person on the other side of the hospital room unapproachable.

So it's a mixed review. Maybe the DVD version will have cool bonus material.

And also playing pool and video games with all the people I've hung out with this week has been awesome!

books are so freaking expensive!

My physics-y book: 40 that I got from a guy in my TRAD class. It would've cost 120.
My German-y books: like 100 altogether for the 5 of them. Lots of reading, ugh. Oh well.
Math book number 1: 33 bucks, used
Math book number 2 and solutions manual: 68, used, with trade discount
Heat Engineering book: 180, with appendix
Circuits book: 130, new

Total: like 560, which is like 25% the cost of tuition for one semester. Geesh. Had I got everything full price, I'd've spent like 720.

runaround

I went to the U yesterday becuase I had to get a couple of things out of the way, namely try and buy my textbooks for the spring, but also to figure out where my classes were and try to get my AP English credit established.

It turns out that all of my books for my German class are in English! That makes me happy. It was confusing though since they had two copies of the same book. I wasn't sure how they were different, so I lookwed thriugh them. They are exactly the same book- same intro, same font, same numbers of pages even. The only difference s the ppblisher and how much they cosy. So I bouoght the cheaper one obviously since i found one in really good condition.

I also went to another bookstore on Sppedway because I had some credit in their system from selling some books. Unfortunately they don't have any new books in. This worries me- I'm starting to get the notion that the place could be a scam. But f they don't have any of my books in by tomorrow, then I'm just gonna have to suck it up and pay the regular price at the U. I only need 3 more books, but boy are they expensive. Each one is like 125.

The psychology building smelled lemony fresh. I have a math class in there. My german class and my math disucssion group are opposite of each other in the same hall in the Collge f Education building.

And then there was the whole issue with my AP credit. See below for further details. But so I went to the registrar. After waiting 20 minutes, they tell me to go to Modern labguages 440. So I go there. I wait 10 minutes for them to return from lunch, and then they tell me to go to room 450. So I go to 450, and they redirect me to 380. If this isn't the right place, I said to myself, I'll worry about this when school resumes. So I get there and the lady tells me to go... to the chair to sit down. At last, success? I then told the nice lady of my situation. and she said that she would do what she could. Well, at least it's AN answer from the bureaucracy. I say my thank you's and left content.

then I got an email this morning. You should get your change within a month, it says. A MONTH?! Crikey, why is this so comlpicated?

about damn time

The U certainly took its sweet time posting up my grades. I had all but one by Christmas, and to that extent I was pleased. Straight A's were something I hadn't seen since the end of Sophmore year.

But I still didn't have my english grade. Christmas came and went. The bowling party came (which was awesome!) and went, and still no. Finally almost 4 weeks after my English final, I finally got my grade. And it was an A, too. That made me happy. The teacher had posted our percentages online, and I had a 90.1%, so I had a feeling it was an A but you never know with these college professors. I heard that one of the Engineering classes used a bellish curve with a C being like an 83. That totally sucks. I doubt my Engineering teacher gave anybody less than a B. It was kinda like Blondeau's class, even though you actually did have to work for your grade.

But this is only a small step forward. I think I have to go talk with the registrar because even though I got my A in English, I didn't get my AP English credit actualized. It's complicated. That's the only conditional AP credit I know of- you had to get at least a C in my english class to get the Ap credit, but I looked at my unofficial transcript and no AP English credit. Phooey. But in the big picture of life it's only 3 credits that I don't need by any means. I already have junior status. the only way I could have senior status after the spring would be to work with administration and my colleges and declare a math major first and an Engineering second. And the only real perks would be earlier registration (ooh! maybe I can take the rock and roll history class that's always full next fall!!) and of course being able to say, "I'm a senior. Outta my way, you freshman."

I move back into my dorm on Sunday. One of my roommates left. He went back to Nevada since he can graduate a little faster; he was doing some Comp Sci/ Business combo since he wanted to start a web company. Anyway so we don't know if we have a new roommate or, if we do, what his name is even. I hope we get a new roommate and he's just as cool as Matt was. After all, we need four people to play a good game of Mario Party.

Wow. College goes by fast.