I am (sometimes)

So, I probably told most of you what a crappy week this was going to be. It certainly started off crappy. Saturday was the worst day I'd had in a long time. See, I had this midterm in Ethics on Monday for which I was totally unready. I had a project due Wednesday for which a day in the labs on Saturday only lead to discouragement. I have another project due Monday May 9th that I didn't expect to get to work much on, and my attempts on Saturday indicated our failure. I came home Saturday night planning to study for my midterm on Monday, but was too upset/frustrated to be able to focus. I decided to watch Pirates of the Caribbean. That was a good choice - quite funny, and a very hot Keira Knightley. Not good enough though. I went to bed in a foul mood. But, despite all of this, this last week turned out well. 'Twasn't a crappy week at all. I started off pretty diligently, and it paid off quite nicely. I woke up on Sunday and studied profusely for Monday's midterm. I woke up on Monday nice and early. I usually hit the snooze button on my alarm, but I was quite perkey Monday morning. Did my routine, read over notes while consuming bunches of oats and honey soaked in milk. On the way to class I picked up a blue-book (standardized recepticle for written test answers). I thought it odd I didn't see anyone else from my class picking up one as well. Our class started on the hour while most start on the half, so there should have been just people from my class. So I got to class ten minutes early, and everyone was there writing feverishly. With a confused look on my face I asked my teacher, "did we start early?" "No. You're an hour late." I look up at the clock. It is indeed ten A.M.. So much for that. It's an eighty-minute class, so I have half an hour left. I grab my test and write as fast and coherently as I can, my mind racing as I try to recall all the things I didn't like about these philosophers. I thought, "I have to assume she'll give me more time. If I try to rush this, it'll suck even worse. Just answer one question at a time." I managed to get through the first three sections of short answer and the first essay question done when time was up. Oh man. The prof came up to me and offered me some more time. Eagerly I accepted and followed her into a little white-board room in the philosophy office. She offered me until eleven, which I readily accepted. I sat down and finished the last essay, but didn't have time to go over my answers. I thought this wasn't my best work, but given the circumstances, I was pretty sure I deserved whatever she was to give me. Well, we got back our tests today, I got a 95%. Freakin' sweet. My essays, with which I was most concerned got a "good answer" and an "excellent answer." I lost a few points not being as detailed as she wanted on the short answers. I have since moved my alarm clock further from my bed.


Monday after work I went to the labs and worked on my Compiler assignment (the one due Wednesday). My partner and I didn't get as far as we'd hoped. On Tuesday I left work early so I could get to the labs and finish, and to study for my OS midterm (also Wednesday). I ended up finishing the project on Tuesday after my partner left to study for her midterm. I came home and went to bed after trying to study for OS. Wednesday had the OS midterm, which was not at all what I expected. There were a lot of little details and regurgitation for which I was not confident of my answers. Went back to the labs after work on Wednesday to meet with my OS group. We discovered that the problem I had found on Saturday was not a problem at all, but me running the test program in the wrong configuration. Sigh. So we got that part finished. I went in again on Thursday and tried to finish up the last part, but I failed. Oh well, at least Google gave us free pizza. Yay for corporate sponsorship! Apparently Google picked one of my classmates to give money to, then this guy goes out and buys us food while we're in the labs. Totally awesome. For the first time, I know my partners will be able to do a project without me. Thank you! Thanks for letting me take the weekend off, guys.


Thursday was pretty cool. Thursdays I have an afternoon section, so I've been getting up early for work, then taking off for class. This has worked out well. I don't get as much sleep as I did last quarter when I could recover on Thursday mornings, but I get a lot more homework done. And it's nice having some time out during midday to do stuff. Thursday, for instance, I got to deposit all my checks - work, birthday, tax rebate, roommate utilities, etc. That was a good feeling. Lots more money. Not that I won't take more. Keep those checks coming! Anyway, I had some errands to run on The Ave, and was going to go back to the labs, so I didn't want to go home after class just to eat. I managed to run into Zach (like I always do) on the way to section, so we scheduled lunch after my class. Section got out early. We had a nice long lunch, chatted for quite a while, mailed mother's-day cards, etc. We decided we needed a better way to pick up chicks than staying in Zach's place watching movies, so we went and forked out an ass-load for a shitty (get it?) frisbee at the UW Bookstore. I don't know why I didn't think of Big 5. Oh well. We played on the hub lawn for a bit, and we both sucked a lot. We'll need to do this a lot if I'm going to be able to throw. But I blame the frisbee. I was able to catch it fine. I had called Jo to meet her quick to discuss things after she got off work at five, but shortly before that, another pair of guys with a much nicer (though wobbly, it was nice and heavy) frisbee and we through it around with them a bit. Jo called me and I headed up to meet her. As I was gathering my things, a girl who had been watching us asked me to fill out a survey. I said I was too busy, but changed my mind and filled it out anyway. I could have flirted with her a bit more, but I was feeling rushed - I had to meet Jo, and I wanted to get lab work done - I'd put it off for two hours already. Sigh. Missed opportunities. I was just talking to Zach about them earlier too. I was in the library last week, and choose to sit at the table with the cutest girl. She got up to go to the bathroom for a minute, and I was so tempted to leave a note with my phone number and "call me" on it. I know nothing would probably come of it, but it was an interesting thought. Wonder if there could have been something? I dunno. It's pointless speculation at this point. Maybe in the future I'll be more bold. Then this survey girl... Guess not. Sigh. (I've sighed a lot for a "good week" so far, haven't I?) Anyway, it was a good time. I actually ran around (did a lot of walking that day too) for once. Amazing.


Today was cool as well. Work went by quickly and easily, my boss and I chatted quite a bit. Fridays are good excuses for that. Though the biggest thing was my Ethics class - and it wasn't getting my test back. When the prof was handing back tests after class, the cutest girl in class used it as an icebreaker. She asked me why I was so late, I explained my alarm clock went off for an hour and I kept hitting snooze while asleep. Apparently the exact opposite happened to her. She got to class an hour early. Hehe. We chatted a bit as I walked her to the computer lab. She seemed pretty cool. It's her last quarter here, so hopefully we'll chat more this quarter before she leaves. Though I am a little concerned about one thing. As I was walking to class today, I saw her with a cigarette. I swore I'd never date a smoker, it's a vile habit. And I hate addiction. She reeked of it when she walked in to class, and it lasted quite a while. I've never smelled it on her before, so I'm (foolishly) holding out hope that she doesn't smoke regularly.


I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm going to finally sleep in. It'll be totally awesome. I'll hope to get some work done before people, since I suspect I'll be indisposed come Sunday. Tomorrow night will be fun too. Though I must admit, I am worried about doing or saying something stupid - something I will regret having said. Though, I must admit, I don't have (m)any opinions which I keep to myself. So hopefully that'll help. Wish all you Simians were here! We'll have to make sure we'll make Chad feel left out, if I manage to make it down before November, that is. Otherwise, poo.


"You're full of beans!"
"Beans? Beans? I am NOT full of beans!"

Well, I think It is my turn to do my part. All you time-travelers out there. THIS is where you need to be. Basically, some guys at MIT have decided to hold a time traveler's convention. The idea is to make it big enough, that time travelers will hear about it in the future, and journey back to see it. Hopefully it'll get bigger each time.... (Not quite sure how that'll work) It's only happening once, so make your way over! Location:
May 7, 2005, 10:00pm EDT (08 May 2005 02:00:00 UTC)
East Campus Courtyard, MIT
42:21:36.025°N, 71:05:16.332°W
(42.360007,-071.087870 in decimal degrees)
See you all there! <sigh> I wish I could go. Maybe later....

Heh. It would be so awesome to attend and pretend I'm from the future, then to meet a future version of myself who had come back for the Woodstock of time travel. I wonder if I'd believe him....

"Time travel in the classic sense has no place in rational theory, but temporal distortion does exist on the quantum level, and more importantly it can be controlled. - Acamedician Prokor Zakharov, For I Have Tasted The Fruit