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March 4, 2004 - T-e-s-t-s a-r-e o-v-e-r spells Relief™

So this week has been ... not fun. Some of that stems from my slug-like state recently (big surprise), some of it stems from my inability to study or work when needed ... and a big portion stems from the two tests that happened this week.
Wednesday was Sociology; the first test of the year, all essay questions, in which we were expected to write five pages in fifty minutes. To study, we were given the pool of all possible questions. Two long essays were on the exam; we were given twelve possible ones. Five short essays were on the exam; we were given forty-nine possible questions. Patently ridiculous.
Then Thursday was Computer Science, also the first exam of the semester. This one had more material to cover, but the material also sucked a lot less. The test itself was allright, nothing exceptional either way.
So now I have to write a paper for Sociology for Monday, and then I am home free. But, since I really, really don't want to write this, it likely won't get done until Sunday night. You'll have that.
This week hasn't held much in the way of interesting stuff; I've taken more naps than I should have, played racquetball once, and found time for a few video games, but that's about it. Oh, and props to King for a showing of Super Troopers tonight!
We'll see what the weekend holds; no plans as of yet, but you never know. Oh yeah, and I archived February. Whee.

March 11, 2004 - Before I go

Remember the fiasco about the Sociology test I referred to? Well, I have a challenge for you. Read the professor's response and try not to laugh.

March 11, 2004 - So yeah. A week. Sorry.

After an awesomely relaxing weekend, consisting of movies, parties, racquetball, and other things, we're back to the week. It all seems so long ago.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were about the busiest days ever. I spent the majority of all three days running around campus, trying to figure out such things as class schedules for next semester, group meetings and projects, homework assignments, intramural results, donating blood, meetings and flyers for HKN, and the like, which is to say nothing of the homework, websites, updates, etc that needed to be done at home. Case in point: I was printing off HKN flyers at 2:30 in the Computer Science building. Wow.
In summary: I had two advisor meetings on Monday. It looks like, through some fancy scheduling maneuvers and loopholes in the system, I am in fact going to be able to get out of here in four years, and I am going to be able to take the video game design course I desperately want to take, and I am going to be able to take it twice. This puts me having eighteen credits in the fall, and fifteen in the spring, which includes three-fourths or better technical courses, and senior design. I guess those will be two rough semesters, but since my absolute number one goal is to take this game design course, it's just something I have to do.
Those tests last week turned out quite well; I got a 94 on both of them and that's fine by me. There's somewhat of a fiasco with the Sociology test though; apparently our cool professor thinks that giving half the students an extra hour (mind you, the test was only 50 minutes in the first place) to finish, but not letting the other half have this time, is completely fair. She says "she doesn't have any control over our schedules, so if we have a class afterwards and can't stay to work on the test, it's our fault." After a rather large uproar about this, she's trying to figure out a way to even the grades, and she said, "The most fair thing would have been if everyone opted to take the extra time." Fact that some of us had required classes immediately after notwithstanding, I guess. You have to be kidding me.
But on to the more fun stuff. We're heading to Florida for Spring Break this year, and we're doing it right. A 27-hour drive each way, leaving at 4:00 on Friday and coming back on Sunday night. With seven or eight people in a Suburban, plus all their stuff, plus all the SCUBA gear, it's going to be mighty cozy. I promise there will be some pictures when I return, but you're going to have to wait until after the 22^nd.
So I hope everyone has a great week and a half! And finally, a shout out to Patty for a happy birthday!

March 22, 2004 - I'm back!

I've returned from Spring Break... and I am not happy to be back. It was incredibly nice to not think about work, school, classes, projects, roommates, deadlines, registration, ... anything for nine solid days. And now we come back and are immediately thrown back into the thick of it; this doesn't sit well with me.
But enough of that. This trip was seriously the most amazing thing I have ever done. Seven of the SCUBA club's members (Adam, Eric, Emily, Brendan, Megan, Susan, and myself) rented a Suburban and trailer and drove the 1700-plus miles to Key Largo. We had rented a house there, and lined up a boat to do some quality SCUBA diving. The weather didn't cooperate with us in the beginning of the week, leading to one dive in the marina, one terrible dive, and four cancelled dives. However, it cleared up and we had excellent diving for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I can't wait to get my underwater pictures developed and scanned; for now you'll have to settle for the above-water photo gallery I put up tonight. In short, the trip was awesome, we had an incredible group, and it was probably the most amazing experience I've had. I can definitely see myself getting way into the tropical SCUBA stuff.
For an amusing story in which I suffer, I ended up with a pretty nasty case of what I think was Sea bathers' eruption last night. It basically involved me being covered with a lot of red, extremely itchy bumps. Not a fun experience, but thankfully it was gone this morning.
I'm sure I'll gush some more when I finally put up some underwater pictures from the trip, but for now I'll try and contain myself.
Back in Ames, things are pretty standard. That is to say, they're insanely busy. I have a list of running around to do that fills a page, and all the professors have suddenly just realized that there are only six weeks left in the semester. I have three group projects to do by that time, and none of them are started at all. This could prove to be a very large problem.
And I have my registration for next semester figured out: 18 credits, in six courses. We'll see how it goes, since I have time conflicts that I can't get out of. Hopefully this will end up working out, though, since there are one or two courses in there that I really, really want to take.
So for now, I'm going to bed, since sleeping in a Suburban isn't the easiest thing to do, or the most restful. Perhaps the million things to do can wait until I'm well rested. *waits for laughter*
Oh, and you might notice one small change in the links page.

March 28, 2004 - Five weeks...

I'm wishing I was still in Florida.
Remember that lovely Sea bathers' eruption that I had? Yeah, it's getting better, but it's still definitely present on such difficult-to-scratch areas as my ankles, feet, and the backs of my hands. With any luck, it'll be completely gone in another three days or less. Oh, and I seem to have gotten a cold about Tuesday, which is currently working its way through my system. Lots of fun that is, also.
But, physical discomforts aside, this past week wasn't too bad. This is likely because we didn't meet for any of my three impending group projects: all due in five weeks or less, none of which have been started, and only two of which have been thought about. So if those come into play this week, it could be a loooong week.
This weekend was nice, though. My folks came out for an honors ceremony, and it was great to see and hang out with them. Plus, you know, a little free food never hurt anyone.
But now, with this short and utterly uninformative update, I'm going to bed, because I'm very, very tired. Here's hoping tomorrow's exam goes well.

March 31, 2004 - Busy and yet somehow satisfying

I discovered the coolest thing ever today. Academic InfoTech, long my nemesis for things such as crappy Internet connectivity and network restrictions, has redeemed themselves in stellar fashion. It turns out that any old student can walk in there, and for the low, low price of free, check out a laptop for three business days. So, in return for showing my ID card and signing a piece of paper, I have a laptop until Monday afternoon. What does this let me do? Well, my primary reason for getting it is so I can do actual work in my classes, where I usually don't pay the best of attention anyways. I'm really liking it thus far... and I have discovered anew my desire to have a laptop.
But, that aside, I have more SCUBA pictures to display! Check out the gallery of underwater pictures from this break, taken by Eric Smith. There are some amazing pictures in there ... especially for someone like me, to whom all this is still a new and incredibly awesome experience. I still can't get over the trip, and some of the awesome things we saw. With any luck, some of the other members' pictures will get scanned and put up here at some point, but we'll have to see about that one.
Switching gears back to school, the group projects are still chugging along. We have much work to do for them in the upcoming weeks, but I think if we can stay relatively on top of it, it should be a reasonable load. Again though, I guess we'll have to see how everything comes out. Heck, if they're any good, they might even get thrown onto my Programs page.
Check it out too, I redid the bottom props section! I've been wanting to do this for some time. Let me know if it looks strange or wrong in your browser, please! Otherwise, please send me any suggestions for things to put on here!