Building Blocks

OK so based on my last entry I realized that I needed to sit down and actually figure out a plan of attack for the next three years, assuming I keep my upcoming fall schedule the way it is. So for all the possible scenarios I had in mind I made a 3 year plan for each of them. Then I graded each possibility on 3 criteria: difficulty, self satisfaction, and worldly satisfaction (how it looks on a résumé, etc.). And like how HW and tests are weighed differently, I used 65% for self, 45% for world, and -10% for difficulty. Well, I don’t know if that constitutes a valid use of weighing, but at least it adds to 100%. So I ran my analysis and had two clear frontrunners:

Double major in General Math and Mechanical Engineering, get a minor in Physics

Double major in General Math and Engineering Math, quintuple minor in Economics, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, and Physics

So the quintuple minor is still a possibility! And the first plan is eerily similar to one I had haphazardly made for an Engineering class project (Project 4, for those of you in the know). So, at least for now, a couple of things are certain:

I’m getting a Math degree
I’m getting at least a minor in Mechanical Engineering
I’m getting a Physics minor

The rest still waits in the balance.

that eternal question on choosing a major

or set of majors
or majors and minors
or just a slough of minors. that's what people like to call "Interdisciplinary studies"

two of my classes await in the balance, Physics optics and poetry

Blast me and my indecisions

continuing...

If I go an get an official math degree, then I need the poetry class as my arts requirement
If I stay in the Engineering Math degree, I need the physics optics and theromdynamics class (The class I took just this spring was Engineering thermo- I'm sure there's some overlap), though I don't need the english class
If I switch back to Mechanical (mentally), then I don't need either and can
If I stay in Aerospace (which I'm technically listed as), likewise

I could theroetically get a triple major in regular and Engineering Maths, and Mechanical, but:
a) It would be tough (average like 6-7 classes/labs a semester)
b) It would leave absolutely no wiggle room for anything else, and I like the idea of being able to wiggle

So what I think I'm going to do for the meantime is double major in the two maths, and then a junkload of mechanical eng classes as my tech electives, ultimately taking way more than needed, and then being able to fit in one more, possssssssssssssibly 2, minors. Seeing as now I only have 3 years' worth of scholarship money left, I better figure out a way to put it to good use. Cause I still think I want an econ minor, but the problem is that doesn't fit well at all in with the rest of my classes. Except for maybe game theory.

Again, blasted indecisions...

awesomeness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQrHNwnfMRU&search=robot%20chicken%20

aaron burr

um, so I got a myspace. and a xanga. no worries. I won't be falling far from the blogging tree. Mistermitchy has spoken.

haircuts

like the title implies, I finally got a haircut today. Good thing, too. I think it hit 100 today.

Asides from school being over, nothing much has happened. I went to vote on the propositions on Tuesday. And the voters decided that they want to add two more lanes of traffic on broadway and grant, as well as spots on the expanding outskirts (Houghton, La Canada, etc). The only downside to this is they're adding a .5 cent tax to most things and have to tear down a few homes and businesses on the streets in question. They won't be starting on fixing midtown for at least five years, but the Bookman's on Grant is in serious jeopardy.

I got a 4.0 somehow this semester.

yay!

the day after

well, its done. school is done, and I am officially out of the dorm. In a way its good, because now I can not worry about laundry or finding food. On the other side, it's like a prison.

Update on finals:

Statics- I kicked a lot more butt than I thoguht I had. My account says I got a 96% on it, which pretty much clinches an A for me in there. Too bad that's the only class I'll know what I got in.

Diff Eq: I got an email from my TA, and she said that I did "well" on it. She couldn't tell me because of the rules, but she said that I was getting an A for the class.

Thermo: Still have no idea. I partially BSed the final question, but the answer is somewhat reasonable: 220 hp on an internally combustable engine. I redid what I remember and got 3/2 that -330 hp- but it's hard to say which is righter.

Linear Alg- my teacher sent me an email, saying I did a good job. What that means, exactly, I don't know. I thought I had pretty well on it, though I was slightly shaky on some of the proofs.

Circuits- I think I did well. There was one question that I wasn't happy with my answer, though. The magnitudes of the capacitance and the inductance were reasonable, but they were both negative! and I don't think they can be negative. Bugger. At least that was only 15% of the test.

I really hate goodbyes. I just do. It's like a part of your life is over as it boards the cruise ship of history, and all you can do is wave and maybe shed a tear. that's at least how I feel right now.

Dan lied. He said he was coming back to get what was left of his stuff (just some frozen food, cooking pans, detergent, etc) but no. We were hoping to see him again, but the bowling was the last real time.

Brian's packing as I type. He's been the most organized out of anything. I'm glad he's coming back to tucson, but I'll rarely see him.

And Jason, well, who knows?


But this is the last entry from the dorm. TTFN

so far, so ... meh

so three finals down, 2 to go.

8.5 out of 15 stress points are out of the way! that's more than mentally halfway!

But now it's just sad that we are parting ways, my roommates and I. Dan is transferring to ASu (if they let him in). Brian is coming back, but I doubt I'll see him on a regular basis. And Jason is going to cooking school, I think.

How I think I did:

Statics: close but no cigar. I'll probably get a B.
Diff Eq: I whipped the tar out of it, finishing with an hour to spare, and if it ends up that I messed up a smidge, then no biggie. If I don't get an A I will cry.
Thermo: Hard to say. If lots of people do well on the final, then I'll probably get a B. If not, then I might get an A.

finals :(

Gah! Finals are hre, here's a quic rundown.

I'm due for an A in bothm my math classes as long as I don't screw something horribly up. For my Enginering classes, though, I'm gonna hafta fght for that A.

Statics (structures, tensions, prssures, etc)
Right now I have a 89. For an A on the final, I need at least a 92 on the final, cuz the prof doesn't want to consider curving either by perceniles or by percent grades.

Stress level: 4 out of 5

Circuits (resisitors, transistors, amplifiers, impedence)
I have an 83 in there, and average is 68. Anyone above average after the final will get a B. And then somewhere he'll divide it betweenA's and B's. Last semester an 85 was an A. I nered to get at least an 85 to uconditionally guarantee myself at least a B, ad for an A, well who knows

Stress level: 4 out of 5

Thermodynamics (engines, steam, work production)
The prof said he'll probably divide grades by percentile, with 80th or 85th being and A, and like 60th a B. So I'm pretty sure I'll get a B. I just have no idea how hard I need to work for a A.

Stress leve: 3 out of 5

Diff eq

All I need is a mid D on the inal to get an A for the class. Plus we just had a study session yesterday. Then weplayes video games.

Stress level: 1.5

Linear Algebra

I do have to reviewmy stuff, espcially the linear transformatios and change of basis rules.

Stress level: 2.5

Wish me luck.

I WANNA be sedated? Heck, i already AM.

Today has been sucha fabulous day. Last lectures, no quiz, work was worry free, last day of work, I got my first of two paychecks, I acn play guitar hero, I have no more homework until June! It's a shame that I'm so sleepy. Ziggy Stardust comes to mind.

It was kinda funny, though, when I was bored waiting fopr people to pass fliers out to. I estimated that I was earning roughly a penny (slightly less, to be technical) for every 5 seconds I was working, so I would think

one one thousand
two one thousand
three one thousand
four one thousand
and another penny
one one thousand
two one thousand
three one thousand
four one thousand
and another penny
one one thousand
two one thousand
three one thousand
four one thousand
and another penny
one one thousand
two one thousand
three one thousand
four one thousand
and another penny
one one thousand
two one thousand
three one thousand
four one thousand
Now I'll buy a stick of gum!

It turns out my linear algebra teacher was having an improptu lecture at his office when I went to turn in my homework, so I stayed there and absorbed a litle more, made a couple additions of my hw and then turned it in.

YAY!

when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year

bugger. there must be some bad cosmic voodoo in my horoscope, cause this week's been pretty crappy.

Among other things, I realized how easy it is to become bored with a job. I mean, it's so freakin' hard to be smiling at evryone, being perky and upbeat in 90 degree weather as the sun blazes on your skin. And now I can't even do that stress free. The UA Bookstore has been having its people approach us and try and scoot us off campus. Now during our orientation, our owner guy assured us that we had the right to be passing out papers on campus. Now I'm sure the UA Bookstore people know that, too, but they're not gonna take it sitting down. They keep threatening us with calling UAPD and having us kicked off campus or arrested or other bad things. Fear is a very powerful emotion. Now I want to believe my boss guy; I mean he seems honest, but all it takes is one wrong glare from the wrong people and you've got your face up in a mess you have no real control over. The first time it happened I was almost done with my shift, so I thought nothing of it and signed out regularly. Today, though, another person comes up and confronts me about it. I told her what I had been told, and she didn't really want to hear my excuses or that as far as I know I have the right to be standing in the well-lit underpass hadning out fliers. I tried to be as rational and calm as I could with a person who is bent out on destroying everything you stand for, so I got her phone number to give to my manager and started to leave.

Now I probably have the right to pass out the fliers on campus, but all this negativity is just really dragging me down. Now I don't like confrontation. So I will do most anything to avoid it, and if that means stop working then that's fine. True, the UA Bookstore people are probably just trying to scare and bully us, and that we shouldn't worry about it. But it still gets to me.

And for something really heartbreaking

Remember how I thought Wheel of Fortune decided to overlook me for the next round of qualifying? well, this weekend I checked my spam email that I never check and -voila- there it was, marked on the 21st. You've been invited to come to the next round of auditions! At first I was gonna get all postal on myself, but after a while and a sip of water, I realized it was really out of my control to start with. After all, they said I would've been notified within 2 weeks. It took 'em over a month.

And among other things, the auditions were
1) In Phoenix
2) On a Tuesday
3) At 8 in the morning!

So perhaps it was just not meant to be. Mom jokes that it's because we're supposed to go to The Price Is Right over the summer and that I'm supposed to play PLinko and win a Jeep Grand Cherokee, water jetski, a trip to New York, a cutlery set and a package of hemmoroid cream. No offense, but I really don't give a darn about Bob anymore.

Also, I'm really starting to hate my folks.

But, at last, a glimmer of hope, a light with which to shine the path to sanctuary:
GUITAR HERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah i bought it. And I am glad.