Yak yak yak, I got a job!
As usual, it's been too long. Since I last updated, I went to Florida, which rocked. My mom and my sister and sentral and dragon_wings were all there, and it was a really good time. We went to the four main parks of Disney World, as well as Pleasure Island one evening, which were all a lot of fun, even if we couldn't get into the techno club in pleasure island. We got to sit in the hot tub and eat steak, although not at the same time, and everything except the eighteen hour drive either way was quite enjoyable. Before that, however, was Christmas. I got the entire set of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD, making me at least as good as Grant, as well as a three-way chess set. Mel made me a shirt that has a built-in name tag on the front identifying me as Max Power, and a picture of me interspersed with a bunch of pictures of Homer on the back.. She also got me some chocolates containing nuts, which are quite great. Speaking of shirts, we went to goodwill yesterday, where many an excellent suit jacket was ruined by the lack of or the poor fit of pants. Mel did, however, locate a brand new white shirt with a picture of the Simpson family on the couch, which I am currently wearing, and a shirt parodying the Intel logo by adding lect to the end of the first word, which I will wear later, as well as a Fellowship of the Ring shirt which she will wear.
I've been picking up media as well. I got two-disc versions of A.I. and Dogma on DVD, the one-disc version of UHF (I don't think there is another one,) and Goodburger on VHS (I douibt they made a DVD.) I've also come into possession of a thoroughly ludicrous amount of KMFDM. If anyone wants some, I currently have slightly more than a CD of MP3's from them and their side projects. I also got the DVD with videos and live footage and stuff. I also got the limited edition of System of a Down's first album, and a copy of their latest from memyselfandus. I enjoy both thoroughly, and the release of the latter calls for a revision of my B-Sides list. I'll do that eventually, especially if someone gets me a copy of Mastertarium live featuring them.
By and by, the new semester started up last week. I'll take the rest of this paragraph to go through my courses. CHM 126 is a continuation of 125. Same professor, same TA, ought to be good. RUSS 102 is the Russian course I tested into. I did, however, have two years of Russian, so most of what we're covering is coming very easy to me, and hopefully will be for a while. Good grades are my buddies. RUSS 112 is the conversation supplement to 102, which ought to be a fun course. PHYS 422 is Optics, taught by Professor Ramdas, who is quite funny by my account. On the first day of class, he told us that when you have a large piece of diamond, two things can happen: you can take it and leave without a forwarding address, or you can perform an experiment to enlighten your fellow citizens. He has also compared a light source to the starting point in a leprechaun race, saying that the boss leprechaun with a stop watch will declare the one who takes the shortest path to be the winner. I think we're in for a fun semester. My other Physics, 342, is modern. It meets twice a week for about two hours, and it looks as though it may be somewhat difficult, but it ought to be quite enjoyable, so I'm sure I'll manage, and probably do well. This brings us to MA 351, Linear Algebra. In this course intended for Math majors but well populated also with Engineers, we spent the first week learning what vectors and lines are. On one occasion, a student actually gave an answer to a problem that proved that he, like the rest of us, had no need to be told this again, and the teacher told him we needed to go slower. The prerequisite for this class is multivariable calculus. Students who come out of multivariable calculus without a thorough understanding of vectors and lines have most likely not passed the course. Also, the teacher told us that the second half of the semester would be easier, and that though things might seem crazy early on, we'd quickly get out of "all that abstract nonsense." As a potential Math major, I want my abstract nonsense, dammit! That's what made linear algebra more than new ways to use my calculator! Vector spaces! Inner products! APPLESAUCE! We have a quiz one day a week and homework due another, so I can't even really ditch the class, unless I wanted to just miss one day a week. I'm trying to find things to do on my calculator so I won't come out dumber. I guess I'm coming off really harshly, and I realize I probably shouldn't be telling my prof how to do her job, but she's not going to accomplish much teaching us things we already know, and after she asked the class if we were going too slow and the class said we were, I should think she ought to do something about it. In any case, whine whine whine, moan bellyache complain. The rest of my classes are good.
Work this semester is changing slightly. I'm still working Monday and Wednesday dinners in the dining room, but I've asked not to be put on the weekend shifts if possible. In infinitely cooler news, however, I'll be working with the detector assembly lab on the computers at CDF! For this, I have to get a CDF computer account, which requires me to get A FERMILAB ID! If you had told me a year ago that I'd pass up a perfectly good job operating a particle accelerator, I wouldn't have believed you. By doing so, however, I have gotten the coolest job ever. Ha ha ha! I rule! Eat it, those who would have me fail, whoever you are!
As the rest of my yattering indicates, things are going well. I'm sure I've left out plenty of stuff, so remind me of the particularly important things that I'd have to be a total jerk to forget, and I'll put them in post-haste.
I've been picking up media as well. I got two-disc versions of A.I. and Dogma on DVD, the one-disc version of UHF (I don't think there is another one,) and Goodburger on VHS (I douibt they made a DVD.) I've also come into possession of a thoroughly ludicrous amount of KMFDM. If anyone wants some, I currently have slightly more than a CD of MP3's from them and their side projects. I also got the DVD with videos and live footage and stuff. I also got the limited edition of System of a Down's first album, and a copy of their latest from memyselfandus. I enjoy both thoroughly, and the release of the latter calls for a revision of my B-Sides list. I'll do that eventually, especially if someone gets me a copy of Mastertarium live featuring them.
By and by, the new semester started up last week. I'll take the rest of this paragraph to go through my courses. CHM 126 is a continuation of 125. Same professor, same TA, ought to be good. RUSS 102 is the Russian course I tested into. I did, however, have two years of Russian, so most of what we're covering is coming very easy to me, and hopefully will be for a while. Good grades are my buddies. RUSS 112 is the conversation supplement to 102, which ought to be a fun course. PHYS 422 is Optics, taught by Professor Ramdas, who is quite funny by my account. On the first day of class, he told us that when you have a large piece of diamond, two things can happen: you can take it and leave without a forwarding address, or you can perform an experiment to enlighten your fellow citizens. He has also compared a light source to the starting point in a leprechaun race, saying that the boss leprechaun with a stop watch will declare the one who takes the shortest path to be the winner. I think we're in for a fun semester. My other Physics, 342, is modern. It meets twice a week for about two hours, and it looks as though it may be somewhat difficult, but it ought to be quite enjoyable, so I'm sure I'll manage, and probably do well. This brings us to MA 351, Linear Algebra. In this course intended for Math majors but well populated also with Engineers, we spent the first week learning what vectors and lines are. On one occasion, a student actually gave an answer to a problem that proved that he, like the rest of us, had no need to be told this again, and the teacher told him we needed to go slower. The prerequisite for this class is multivariable calculus. Students who come out of multivariable calculus without a thorough understanding of vectors and lines have most likely not passed the course. Also, the teacher told us that the second half of the semester would be easier, and that though things might seem crazy early on, we'd quickly get out of "all that abstract nonsense." As a potential Math major, I want my abstract nonsense, dammit! That's what made linear algebra more than new ways to use my calculator! Vector spaces! Inner products! APPLESAUCE! We have a quiz one day a week and homework due another, so I can't even really ditch the class, unless I wanted to just miss one day a week. I'm trying to find things to do on my calculator so I won't come out dumber. I guess I'm coming off really harshly, and I realize I probably shouldn't be telling my prof how to do her job, but she's not going to accomplish much teaching us things we already know, and after she asked the class if we were going too slow and the class said we were, I should think she ought to do something about it. In any case, whine whine whine, moan bellyache complain. The rest of my classes are good.
Work this semester is changing slightly. I'm still working Monday and Wednesday dinners in the dining room, but I've asked not to be put on the weekend shifts if possible. In infinitely cooler news, however, I'll be working with the detector assembly lab on the computers at CDF! For this, I have to get a CDF computer account, which requires me to get A FERMILAB ID! If you had told me a year ago that I'd pass up a perfectly good job operating a particle accelerator, I wouldn't have believed you. By doing so, however, I have gotten the coolest job ever. Ha ha ha! I rule! Eat it, those who would have me fail, whoever you are!
As the rest of my yattering indicates, things are going well. I'm sure I've left out plenty of stuff, so remind me of the particularly important things that I'd have to be a total jerk to forget, and I'll put them in post-haste.