(no subject)
[I will post more soon, but I know if I don't post this I'll never get anything out!]
Well, there goes the school semester.
And November for that matter.
I don't know...I just really wasn't moved to make a post then. I'm usually not I suppose, just because everything falls into a sort of normal routine. Overall it was fairly trying, but that is the nature of most college level material. My main concerns now are whether or not my proposal for a senior project may get approved, and if it does I'm still not quite settled on just what I'd like to do. I asked one of my professors about it and he said "Just make sure it doesn't turn into a research project. I've seen some people working on their master's degree get caught up in research projects, and before you know it seven years (that's how much time I've already been in school...) have gone by!"
Damn.
So that's the real catch of it: I have to find something which is challenging, and that I find interesting, but it has to fit within the scope of a year.
Thanksgiving was nice all around. We ended up having our Thanksgiving dinner at a nearby church that had been rented out by a local family which, by marriage, is related to our own. Three families related by marriage, as it would happen. But the most entertaining part of dinner was Ryan bringing his fairly recent girlfriend, because when she arrived in town the first thing she did was go to the bar with Ryan's brother Keith. When I say Keith drinks, understand it like this: he has the coors mountain tattooed on his ankle.
So her first introduction to our family Thanksgiving event was getting into a drunken argument with Keith (which fortunately remained at a low-volume, and was only heard by Keith, Ryan, and myself) about how well she can sexually pleasure men, and "teach Keith a thing or two" But shortly thereafter once she realize the words out of her own mouth at the table she stepped outside and started sobbing.
But I could care less, it made dinner more interesting and as it is she doesn't drink much I can pardon her for it. Thanksgiving aside, the stay at Mendocino was nice. I'd like to be able to engage with my Grandparents in conversation with a little more depth, but I can never thing of commonalities to touch down on. Grandpa is a man who married at eighteen, had three children by age 25, worked three jobs, and became a millionaire by chance of correct stock-options in the telecom industry. Whereas I've only really had one real job, don't plan to have kids for at least another five years, and have worked most of my life as a student in the field of sciences. But there are some ways I can see we are common. When we first arrived at Mendo. I went along with Grandpa to the store to get some groceries for Grandma, just a mix of vegetables to stew up along with the rest of the food. As we walked from the car to the store he was digging through his pockets and realized he'd forgotten the shopping list back at the cabin. I said, "Well, we could always just call back to the house and ask what was on the list again." to which he replied, "Ehhh, I think I'd rather not." I couldn't help but be amused by it a little.
I wonder what his generation thinks of ours anyways. I mean, we all have our deep ambitions as to how we think the world ought to be improved right? I just wonder what his are.
I am hoping for my senior project to get into something involving robotics with the application to biomimetics. Basically put, machines which are modeled after living systems. While I'm not explicitly sure just what I want to construct yet, maybe a jointless robot armature (robot tentacle, or a humanoid hand, the idea is that if I can use these plastics which are just as muscle I can model the anatomy of it directly after a living one that already exists. So to say, I'm cheating off of nature's current projects for my own. But I still don't even know if it will happen yet, I've heard nothing from the department regarding approval of the project.
Still need to find work...
Oh, and I've also decided I'm going to take it upon myself (and any help I can find along the way) to learn programming. I've gotten several recommendations about its benefits from some of my professors. And, well, as you know, I have obviously got some secret gaming ambitions to fulfill. :P
But you've gotta crawl before anything right? I've had some experiences with programming before, some committed and some just dabbling, and I spend a lot of time at computers as it is.
Quarter of a century...
I like where I am, and where I've been so far.
And I want to go out on a good note for my senior year of school. Grades, projects, and all.
Take some business courses, and get this minor. I've also found I'm just a couple other classes away from having a mathematics and physics minor.
Wouldn't be a bad little list, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in business, mathematics, and physics.
Maybe it'll give me a chance to get with a business that will have me travel, or who knows, maybe I can get a shot at NASA.
Graduating next fall...finally.
Well, there goes the school semester.
And November for that matter.
I don't know...I just really wasn't moved to make a post then. I'm usually not I suppose, just because everything falls into a sort of normal routine. Overall it was fairly trying, but that is the nature of most college level material. My main concerns now are whether or not my proposal for a senior project may get approved, and if it does I'm still not quite settled on just what I'd like to do. I asked one of my professors about it and he said "Just make sure it doesn't turn into a research project. I've seen some people working on their master's degree get caught up in research projects, and before you know it seven years (that's how much time I've already been in school...) have gone by!"
Damn.
So that's the real catch of it: I have to find something which is challenging, and that I find interesting, but it has to fit within the scope of a year.
Thanksgiving was nice all around. We ended up having our Thanksgiving dinner at a nearby church that had been rented out by a local family which, by marriage, is related to our own. Three families related by marriage, as it would happen. But the most entertaining part of dinner was Ryan bringing his fairly recent girlfriend, because when she arrived in town the first thing she did was go to the bar with Ryan's brother Keith. When I say Keith drinks, understand it like this: he has the coors mountain tattooed on his ankle.
So her first introduction to our family Thanksgiving event was getting into a drunken argument with Keith (which fortunately remained at a low-volume, and was only heard by Keith, Ryan, and myself) about how well she can sexually pleasure men, and "teach Keith a thing or two" But shortly thereafter once she realize the words out of her own mouth at the table she stepped outside and started sobbing.
But I could care less, it made dinner more interesting and as it is she doesn't drink much I can pardon her for it. Thanksgiving aside, the stay at Mendocino was nice. I'd like to be able to engage with my Grandparents in conversation with a little more depth, but I can never thing of commonalities to touch down on. Grandpa is a man who married at eighteen, had three children by age 25, worked three jobs, and became a millionaire by chance of correct stock-options in the telecom industry. Whereas I've only really had one real job, don't plan to have kids for at least another five years, and have worked most of my life as a student in the field of sciences. But there are some ways I can see we are common. When we first arrived at Mendo. I went along with Grandpa to the store to get some groceries for Grandma, just a mix of vegetables to stew up along with the rest of the food. As we walked from the car to the store he was digging through his pockets and realized he'd forgotten the shopping list back at the cabin. I said, "Well, we could always just call back to the house and ask what was on the list again." to which he replied, "Ehhh, I think I'd rather not." I couldn't help but be amused by it a little.
I wonder what his generation thinks of ours anyways. I mean, we all have our deep ambitions as to how we think the world ought to be improved right? I just wonder what his are.
I am hoping for my senior project to get into something involving robotics with the application to biomimetics. Basically put, machines which are modeled after living systems. While I'm not explicitly sure just what I want to construct yet, maybe a jointless robot armature (robot tentacle, or a humanoid hand, the idea is that if I can use these plastics which are just as muscle I can model the anatomy of it directly after a living one that already exists. So to say, I'm cheating off of nature's current projects for my own. But I still don't even know if it will happen yet, I've heard nothing from the department regarding approval of the project.
Still need to find work...
Oh, and I've also decided I'm going to take it upon myself (and any help I can find along the way) to learn programming. I've gotten several recommendations about its benefits from some of my professors. And, well, as you know, I have obviously got some secret gaming ambitions to fulfill. :P
But you've gotta crawl before anything right? I've had some experiences with programming before, some committed and some just dabbling, and I spend a lot of time at computers as it is.
Quarter of a century...
I like where I am, and where I've been so far.
And I want to go out on a good note for my senior year of school. Grades, projects, and all.
Take some business courses, and get this minor. I've also found I'm just a couple other classes away from having a mathematics and physics minor.
Wouldn't be a bad little list, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in business, mathematics, and physics.
Maybe it'll give me a chance to get with a business that will have me travel, or who knows, maybe I can get a shot at NASA.
Graduating next fall...finally.