Not my week

In terms of things happening, this just have to go down as one of the worst ever for me. Hardly anything went right. Most things went wrong, though in some cases they could've been much worse.

Let's start off with my fender bender. I'm not all sure what combination of events led me to hitting that truck, but before I knew it I was slamming my brakes and swerving just enough so my headlights didn't get smashed by the mammoth truck right in front of me. It was trying to turn into Los Betos, and it hadn't dawned on me that it wasn't moving. So, yeah, I hit it. I admit it. Maybe I was just astonished that somebody would actually want to eat at Los Betos. I can't say for all certainty.

I got off lucky. The guy didn't want to call the cops. I was already well decelerating by the time I got to him, so my guess is I was going 10, 15 max. But that's just my guess. So nobody got hurt. My airbag didn't even deploy. (I hadn't even thought about that non-event until we had contacted the insurance company.) The guy's truck was really high up, and with my pretty low car, I wound up just sliding underneath him. Don't think I scraped any paint off his. I know for certain I beat up one of his exhaust pipes, but only because it did a worse number on my hood. I can't see any damage from sitting in the driver's seat, so from that standpoint it's pretty localized. Still not a pretty sight, and I'm just more traumatized than anything, but I'm guessing my repairs, maybe if we find a good place, maybe 400 tops? I have no serious rush to fix it, oddly. Besides the fact that I have little money, it kinda feels like a scar that you can tell people about. Granted, the story is pretty lame, but it gets people talking.

Hopefully the other guy's repairs won't be too much, and hopefully my mom's insurance won't go skyrocketing. It's a wait and see thing. Sure, I could've not been singing to one of my original works, that might have made me underly focused on driving. Plus I was just a hop and skip from school, so all my worries of driving down Oracle had passed. I let my guard down. And something bad happened. But I can't be a person who always stays guarded. It wears you down too much. Sometimes the chips have to land where they land.

Speaking of letting my guard down, I locked myself out of my house for almost two hours on Thursday. I had gone to the garage to get a soda from the fridge in there, and, what do you know, the door locked itself behind me. I was like a rat caught in a trip and Pepsi was my cheese. I had left my keys in the kitchen, and my phone was in the living room next to the remote control because I was ready to watch a block of Discovery Channel. So I had no way to get back inside or let anybody know what had happened. I could have gone to the neighbors, but that just felt too awkward for me. One, it was past their bedtime at 8PM. (I do live, unfortunately, in Oro Valley) Two. What am I supposed to say? Hi, I live across the street. I locked myself out of my house and need to call my overbearing mother. Can I borrow a cell phone or make a call inside? No, of course not. So, instead of trying to overfret about the whole ordeal, I just sat on some boxes we had out there and waited.

I got to think about stuff. Do I need to be more guarded of myself? Am I an idiot? What the hell am I gonna do for grad school? I got a confirmation that one of my supervisors from Berkeley will write me a letter. He just needs a CV and my application essays for the schools I'm applying to. Um, sure, Brent showed me how to write a CV, but I kinda feel ashamed that I'm gonna be giving him this list of not-totally stellar grad schools. I know I very well shouldn't. These are my choices that I want to make. I don't want to go to MIT. I don't want to go to Berkeley. I don't want to go to Stanford. Every waking moment I was at Berkeley and MIT during my visits there, I never felt comfortable. There I always had my guard up, but I felt like it got me nowhere. Here, at least I am in some semblance of comfortable. I can let my guard down. Maybe I can do the same in Merced or Albuquerque. You know, I did fail my Xanga ultimatum. At least I think it was my Xanga. I should leave and wait for someone to find me. Maybe that person will be myself.

Plus my cell phone was down for Tuesday and part of Wednesday, including when I had my fender bender. So I had to postpone my emotions until I got out of school. I had missed my first class because of what happened, and didn't feel particularly strong the rest of the day. I felt like crap. I mean, this was my first car, so it almost felt like breaking a bone. Of course, I've never broken a bone, so I don't know what it actually feels like, but I have broken my nose. Does that mean it's still broken?

I have two killers presentations next week. One is for my Mechanical AME lab. Each member makes a 7 minute presentation answering one question they took as part of the lab (I took the correlation between friction and Reynolds number in a flow), and then 3 minutes of grilling by the professor. I do this 3 times in the semester, and those 3 account for 80% of my grade. The second one is a group presentation for my Senior Capstone group. We just have a 10, 11 minute talk (combined) about our project, what we will need to design for, and what we know and think the customer needs/wants. Not too bad. We grouped our slides and made a dry run-through today at school. It took us 3 hours, though. Ouch. BTW, if you want to find a hip place to study, I recommend the 8th floor of the Optics building. Sweet stuff.

Life will have to wait until this year is over. Not sure what classes I will take in the Spring. But I have a little time for that.

Oh, and this week was career fair. I went on the first day. Had an interview on Thursday for an Internship at Citgo in Texas. Think it went pretty well. If I get it, that would be cool. If not, the search process is still young. I need to find something to do before I start grad school. That is, if I ever find the time to actually apply for them.

4th and 11

So four weeks of the semester are now over. I have sent emails to everyone who I hope will write rec letters for me. I'm gambling a bit by putting most of my eggs in just a few baskets- I hope everything turns out alright. I have 2 1/2 rec letters for Engineering, and I hope to hear soon whether I have 3 for Math. I say I only have 1/2 a letter for Engineering because one of my math research professors says he can write me a good letter for the Engineering. I like Dave, and I have no doubt that he can do it.

I need to spend a lot of money on things and SOON!
MATH GRE
GRAD APPS
A Suit?!?!?!

It looks like I'll be moving in a couple months. Not to give all the details, but my aunt is being asked to move to a new apartment complex (She's a manager for one of the local Apt. companies) and we think our landlord is gonna try and put the house my whole family is currently renting back on the market. He's a nice guy, but I just hate moving. I just moved last December! Grr.

I need to make more time for me. End of story. I need to transfer all the files from my old computer to my new one pretty soon. Need to find my flash drive. Need to watch more movies. Need to breathe. Need to learn PowerPoint. Need to learn abstract algebra and complex analysis before the GRE. Need to get off soda. Need to organize my time better. Need to find out if I can get Confirmation at the Newman Center next semester.

Hail Mary pass! Can anyone catch it?

Getting beat up in a dark and unliked alley

Not literally, just figuratively.

Geez, this semester got hard fast. At first it felt like a nice little ride, not too much homework. Then, all of a sudden, woosh, like a roller coaster you find yourself going at top speed and afraid you might lose your glasses. I hate roller coasters. Of real and metaphoric kind.

One of the problems is that all of my physical work is to be handed in from Monday to Wednesday. I got heat transfer (That got crazy hard, and fast!) and one of my labs on Mondays. 2 assignments on Tuesdays. Plus whatever the senior design class decides to throw it you. It's hectic. I don't want to drop anything cause I ain't a quitter, but we are on very sketchy terms with some of these classes.

Things I need to do ASAP:
REC LETTERS!
MATH GRE in NOV!
FE EXAM?!
GRAD SCHOOL!
breathe

I really do miss video games. I got no time.

I just came down with a viral infection last week, and add the stresses of being a senior in college, yeah, I got sick. Not too bad, though. Doc gave me some stuff. Although now as I type this I'm not feeling all that hot. Actually, I do feel hot. That can't be good...

My cousin's birthday is today. I had no idea what to get him since he and my aunt pitched in to get me the laptop which I still mostly use for watching Sesame Street on YouTube. All I could get him was a new pair of sunglasses (Someone swiped his pair when he was at work) and a DVD of Sonic The Hedgehog I had never heard of before, Sonic Underground or something. Ooh! Let's look it up!

There is a delicate balance between sleep, homework, and general well being. Right now 2 of them are in the backburner, nudging me gently ever closer to the danger zone and relapse.

And for some unknown reason, "All these things I've done" by the Killers popped into my head. I got soul, but I'm not a soldier. You know you gotta help me out...

Oh, that's why: the word 'backburner'. Blast ye, tangents!

I miss playing video games

Dang, this week has been so busy, and I didn't even have all my classes. I met my Engineering group. I think I've got a good team, and I hope this good feeling lasts throughout the whole year.

Being focused on the summer math project has reduced my ability to multitask. As it turns out I will have massive blocks of free time between certain classes, so hopefully I can utilize that to the fullest by doing homework.

My mom said she wants me to go down to Douglas with her next weekend. Her dad's birthday is this month, so it figures we should clean up the grave. Been like 6 months. Dang. Already. Time flies. That's why class always seems so much longer. It's basic relativity. I think. Physics people? Help? Granted, I think the time difference for even going 100 mph compared to being sedentary is like one picosecond, but there's your evidence.

I think I figured out where I'm applying for grad school. No real big names. I think I want a downsize. Granted, grad school programs are microcosms in their own sense, but here at the U even in my class of 100 Engineers I don't feel all that special.

Mechanical-
Arizona
Maryland

Math-
UC Merced (Applied)
Arizona (Applied)
Arizona (Stats)
New Mexico (Applied)

If I have any money left, maybe Berkeley for Mech. Still need to hear from Berkeley on whether or not I made the Edge Program, but since I haven't heard from them at all my guess is that they didn't pick me. I thought it weird that they extended the deadline. What, there weren't enough good people for the regular deadline? That was insulting in a way. Also, nnote to self- MATH GRE!!!!!

Got some books for my birthday. Really should read those. Really should read the ones I actually bought myself. Really should read the ones for class. Words, grr. Where would we be without you? Definitely not blogging, that's for sure.

I need to work on my admissions essay for grad schools. I actually need to make 2 and a half since I'm applying to different programs. Bugger. The big issue I need to figure out is whom to get rec letters from, especially in my Mech classes.

Ideas-
AME 324B teacher- I talked with him like twice
AME Advisor- I'm definitely on his good side
Dr. Chan- Brent knows him. He's teaching one of my classes now. Plus he's the guy in charge of graduate school admissions.

Other than that, I might be coming down with a cold. I like making playlists on imeem.com. I almost finally got 5 Star on Raining Blood on Guitar Hero- the last song I need to 5 Star on Expert Career Mode- by 400 points, or 2 well placed notes. Grr. I honestly think it was a fluke. The less I think about it, the better I do at it. How's that for logic?

I need to find an additional class to sign up for in the Spring. Maybe two, silly full time-status requirements. I techinically only need 7 units to graduate (how awesome is that?) but I figure I should take an extra math class to up my cred. Any ideas?

Oh, and I also got a new toy for my birthday. Seriously, what am I gonna do with it? My regular computer works fine...

birthday!

Eep. My birthday is in 40 minutes, or 20 hours and 12 minutes, depending on whom you ask.

Being 21 was awesome. I got to have beer when I went bowling with my friends. I got wasted one time, knowing I never want to or have to do that ever again. I got my first car and earned my driver's license. I met my MSRI family for the last time in Kansas City. But most importantly, I was able to be with as many of my friends as I could when they turned 21, being one of the oldest from our high school class.

These past 2 days have been a hectic compromise trying to get my senior classes in control as well as try and celebrate my last days of being 21. I managed to meet a few people on 1-1 or 1-2 bases last night. The more I think of it, the more I liked that idea. I told Brent I had wanted some 20 people for a 4-hour ish bash. Frankly, I'd much rather be with each person for 12 uninterrupted minutes, and preferably more time than that. I'm not one for massive groups. Sure, you see more people, but that loss of one-on-one intimacy sometimes isn't worth it.

I hope I don't have a homework due tomorrow morning in my Fuel Cells class. I don't think the professor ever assigned any, but in the online notes it says there are (but there is no date and based on the old book they don't use anymore). So we'll see.

Got my info on my senior design project. I will be working on this year's UofA Solar Car! I am assigned to developing this year's solar panels, along with some Electrical and Computer Engineering people. Plus I know people working on the other aspects of the car (body, chassis, alternate power supply). This should be cool. A lot of hard work, but cool.

Life awaits.