Cruise the Gut and college
Well, today it today. Still no word on the jobs I applied for, which just makes me want to hit something--violently! I mean, the least they can do is email me and say that they have filled the position already, Koyo did that, or that they got my resume and will get back to me. That way, I would know that something is happening. The way it is now, I just feel like I am in limbo.
Last night we had a good time--we went downtown (in Battle Creek, Michigan) for Cruise the Gut and got to see all the different cars that showed up for the event. The event is set up for cars '72 or older or unique vehicles, like a group of 10 dune buggies, to be able to cruise the main streets of Battle Creek and show off their cars. To do this, they basically block off all of downtown and only let in the event cars. Then the car owners find a section of curb to park their car--usually the ones that will cruise around later--or a section of sidewalk or grass to park the cars up on--these are usually the ones that are more for looking at then really driving.
Well, last night, they has just starting to get going around the streets when it started to rain. Not too badly, but just enough to have at least half the car owners scrambling for car cover or to put the top up. The rain eventually stopped after about a half an hour and that was when everything really got going. They were cruising pretty well steadily up and down Michigan and it was very cool to see all the different cars. A couple of cars had spark plugs at their exhaust and were lighting up the exhaust.
We also saw a couple of Challengers--my senior design project, for my Bachelor of Science in Engineering, partner was always talking about a kind of Challenger that he wanted to buy once he got an engineering job, so I liked being able to actually see the car that Brian was always talking about. I haven't talked to him since we graduated in 2001--I am a horrible friend and can never seem to keep in touch with people. I wonder how far he has gotten on getting that Challenger.
What happened when we graduated was funny because of how ironic it was. I was planning to go straight from my Bachelors to earning my Masters and Brian wanted nothing to do with graduate work, just wanted to get a job and work as a mechanical engineer--which is what both our degrees are in. However, life had a different plan. I was offered a job at Consumers Energy and decided to take it. Brian ended up staying at Western to earn his Masters.
And now, over four years later, our positions have reversed again. I am going to school at Western Michigan University for my Masters in Mechanical Engineering, and since I haven't seen Brian around at all--it has been 4 years--I have to assume that he earned his Masters and got a job. Or at least I hope he got a job. I'll just have to check out what Brian is doing now.
I still need to register for my fall classes--I will call the Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Department tomorrow and see what classes are still open. I know there are some because the new Masters students from overseas don't arrive at school until about three days before classes start, so to have classes available for them to take, the graduate classes have their capacity set low so that the classes don't fill with undergrads. Our engineering program is growing--the new engineering campus and the new labs that were built in it help--but the graduate program still isn't large enough to offer a wide range of graduate classes. 8 a semester is probably the most they will offer and that is counting both 600 level and 500 level classes--the 500 level ones are the one that the undergrads can take.
Well, we'll see what happens. I still want to get a job before school starts--have to go hunt some more. It doesn't really help that the largest employer in the area is where both my parents work and therefore isn't really an option. I will find something--I am determined.
Last night we had a good time--we went downtown (in Battle Creek, Michigan) for Cruise the Gut and got to see all the different cars that showed up for the event. The event is set up for cars '72 or older or unique vehicles, like a group of 10 dune buggies, to be able to cruise the main streets of Battle Creek and show off their cars. To do this, they basically block off all of downtown and only let in the event cars. Then the car owners find a section of curb to park their car--usually the ones that will cruise around later--or a section of sidewalk or grass to park the cars up on--these are usually the ones that are more for looking at then really driving.
Well, last night, they has just starting to get going around the streets when it started to rain. Not too badly, but just enough to have at least half the car owners scrambling for car cover or to put the top up. The rain eventually stopped after about a half an hour and that was when everything really got going. They were cruising pretty well steadily up and down Michigan and it was very cool to see all the different cars. A couple of cars had spark plugs at their exhaust and were lighting up the exhaust.
We also saw a couple of Challengers--my senior design project, for my Bachelor of Science in Engineering, partner was always talking about a kind of Challenger that he wanted to buy once he got an engineering job, so I liked being able to actually see the car that Brian was always talking about. I haven't talked to him since we graduated in 2001--I am a horrible friend and can never seem to keep in touch with people. I wonder how far he has gotten on getting that Challenger.
What happened when we graduated was funny because of how ironic it was. I was planning to go straight from my Bachelors to earning my Masters and Brian wanted nothing to do with graduate work, just wanted to get a job and work as a mechanical engineer--which is what both our degrees are in. However, life had a different plan. I was offered a job at Consumers Energy and decided to take it. Brian ended up staying at Western to earn his Masters.
And now, over four years later, our positions have reversed again. I am going to school at Western Michigan University for my Masters in Mechanical Engineering, and since I haven't seen Brian around at all--it has been 4 years--I have to assume that he earned his Masters and got a job. Or at least I hope he got a job. I'll just have to check out what Brian is doing now.
I still need to register for my fall classes--I will call the Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Department tomorrow and see what classes are still open. I know there are some because the new Masters students from overseas don't arrive at school until about three days before classes start, so to have classes available for them to take, the graduate classes have their capacity set low so that the classes don't fill with undergrads. Our engineering program is growing--the new engineering campus and the new labs that were built in it help--but the graduate program still isn't large enough to offer a wide range of graduate classes. 8 a semester is probably the most they will offer and that is counting both 600 level and 500 level classes--the 500 level ones are the one that the undergrads can take.
Well, we'll see what happens. I still want to get a job before school starts--have to go hunt some more. It doesn't really help that the largest employer in the area is where both my parents work and therefore isn't really an option. I will find something--I am determined.