(no subject)
it time for a real entry i suppose.
so for those of you that dont know, im still in memphis. i did ok at school last semester, but apparently it wasnt goo enough to convince them that i should graduate. to im here taking 3 courses that i fucked up my freshman and sophomore years. two of them are lab sciences (chem I, and calculus physics for engineers II), so that takes up a considerable amount of time on top of the normal schedule. I will be going back to IWU next fall to finish there. after that i have no idea what i want to do. there are plenty of positions open in the field, so maybe i'll get lucky.
aside from school, i am almost too busy with other shit. last semester i told you guys about that research paper that i was really excited about for political science, and i am going to be revising it in the next week or so and trying to get it in by the feb 17h deadline to see if i can at least get the data published. my analysis isnt exactly brilliant or anything, so i'll let other people deal with that, but i could definitely get credit for the data, which would be sweet.
my physics prof at memphis is doing a bunch of research for DARPA and NASA on flexible displays and some other stuff. WARNING: i am about to put in links for terms that are not in most peoples diction. I am going to be doing some research for her in this area, and the primary goal of the whole thing is to get e published she said, even though that wasnt why i volunteered for the job...but w/e. hopefully i'll get my shit published in 2 completely different fields, and that would be awesome and helpful at making people overlook my transcript.
we are working on using argon sputtering techniques to lay a 10-500 nanometer (yes, nano) thick layer of heavy metals (starting with copper for tests, then moving to 99.999% pure gold for the real deal) on a substrate that has been NASA approved for space and work on Mars (the planet) called SVT 655. Its some pretty serious stuff.
first, we have to mix the RTV 655 (
) in exact (to within 1 ten thousandth of a gram) proportions, then we pour it into a custom machined mold and use a simple vacuum oven (which gets to something like 1/1000-1/10000th of atmospheric pressure) to degas it (bring out all the air from the mixture) and then cure it into a rubbery substance. After that, we cut it up, and use this big fucking machine that shoots argon particles at a thin strip of metal and then directs the individual metal atoms into a random but even distribution onto the substrate. This is done at high temperatures, within another mold that has clamps that we use to stretch the substrate. after we sputter, then we let it cool and then slowly release the clamps so that the substrate resumes it original size. this creates a periodic (wave function) buckling effect at the micrometer level. there are a ton of possible things that could happen with this but my main focus is going to be on repeated heating and cooling to see if the buckles stay exactly the same. ill also be looking at lambertian effects , and how that affects lasers. furthermore, while im heating and cooling the materials, i'll be setting up a laser array so that i can check the visual properties of the sine function and how they change over a temperature difference.
im excited.
the third class i am taking is a repeat of a poli sci class i took on congress, and in it we are trying to simulate what we can of an actual legislature through a site called legsim.org . its pretty cool, and im excited, cuz i plan on delivering a hell of a speech and getting elected as speaker for the house for our class, which nets me like 5% on my average.
im currently working at the deli that alex has been at for like 10 months. its pretty fun, and all the people are great. If you're ever in memphis, stop by New York Deli where jersey mikes used to be, cuz its extremely likely that either alex or i will be there (he opens and i close). I also just (saturday) got hired to work at a new independent coffee place that is literally 1 block away from the starbucks at forest hill and poplar. Its called high point coffee, and the owner/manager liked me enough to basically set up the schedule so that i could come in 3-4 days a week and close. i also might be opening on the weekends which means i would have to be there at like 4:30 or 5 am. w/e it'll be fun too.
because i now like 450 miles from alex bad, instead of 50, and because alex good and i are o alternating schedules of class and work, my usual contact with mempis, and my planned contact with memphis have both AWOL. so instead of looking for new friends, i started playing WoW with them. Its fun, but i prolly wont play it past the summer when i finally have to break away from everyone for reals.
my car is a complete piece of shit. someone apparently stole a $1000 computer from it at some point, so i havent had any traction control, ABS, or the primary shutoff for my indoor cabin lights (my lights stay on for like 10 minutes after i get out). there are a ton of other problems including alignment, new tires, leaky coolant, and a fucked up right from wheel or axle, i dunno. in total it would have cost like $2500 to fix, so instead, we are getting me a new (used) car. right now, the front runner is a 2002 neon 5-speed. i'll prolly decide in the next couple of days.
Good and i are definitely going to gainsville for this weekend. bad and taylor might prolly be joining us. good and i are going to leave memphis after he closes (when i was suposed to) on thursday, then we are going to drive in in the middle of the night to taylors, crash there while he goes to class or something on friday, then leaving there and getting to gainsville around 8-9. then we'll prolly come back sunday morning. bad might fly in or join us in mempis on thursday night, we'll see. either way its going to be a hell of a time.
in order to do all of this this weekend, though, i am going to use my first (ever) dead-grandmother-card. you only get two of them at every school, and i havent used one at either, so i feel like this is the right time. im excited.
in order to get all of this done, and spending time on WoW doesnt help as a principle, i am missing the any kind of opportunity to socialize with the outside world, and therefore to find girls. so that whole deal is totally, and sadly, non-existent for me.
as glyn mentioned, our cousin died. i knew him even less than her, ( i only met him once) and i was only 6 or 8 at that point, so i dont really remember him. I do know that he was doing very well for himself even though he had severe downs, but several illnesses were just too much for him, with pneumonia taking it too far. my family has, in general, been extremely lucky with our lives, our grandfather on my dad's side being the only other person to have been taken, 3 years ago at age 83, on his birthday. this has made it easy for us to almost deny the reality of death in our family, which makes all of them that much harder.
i think that's all. i'll try to update more because i think i keep missing stuff that might be relevant. have a nice february!
so for those of you that dont know, im still in memphis. i did ok at school last semester, but apparently it wasnt goo enough to convince them that i should graduate. to im here taking 3 courses that i fucked up my freshman and sophomore years. two of them are lab sciences (chem I, and calculus physics for engineers II), so that takes up a considerable amount of time on top of the normal schedule. I will be going back to IWU next fall to finish there. after that i have no idea what i want to do. there are plenty of positions open in the field, so maybe i'll get lucky.
aside from school, i am almost too busy with other shit. last semester i told you guys about that research paper that i was really excited about for political science, and i am going to be revising it in the next week or so and trying to get it in by the feb 17h deadline to see if i can at least get the data published. my analysis isnt exactly brilliant or anything, so i'll let other people deal with that, but i could definitely get credit for the data, which would be sweet.
my physics prof at memphis is doing a bunch of research for DARPA and NASA on flexible displays and some other stuff. WARNING: i am about to put in links for terms that are not in most peoples diction. I am going to be doing some research for her in this area, and the primary goal of the whole thing is to get e published she said, even though that wasnt why i volunteered for the job...but w/e. hopefully i'll get my shit published in 2 completely different fields, and that would be awesome and helpful at making people overlook my transcript.
we are working on using argon sputtering techniques to lay a 10-500 nanometer (yes, nano) thick layer of heavy metals (starting with copper for tests, then moving to 99.999% pure gold for the real deal) on a substrate that has been NASA approved for space and work on Mars (the planet) called SVT 655. Its some pretty serious stuff.
first, we have to mix the RTV 655 (
) in exact (to within 1 ten thousandth of a gram) proportions, then we pour it into a custom machined mold and use a simple vacuum oven (which gets to something like 1/1000-1/10000th of atmospheric pressure) to degas it (bring out all the air from the mixture) and then cure it into a rubbery substance. After that, we cut it up, and use this big fucking machine that shoots argon particles at a thin strip of metal and then directs the individual metal atoms into a random but even distribution onto the substrate. This is done at high temperatures, within another mold that has clamps that we use to stretch the substrate. after we sputter, then we let it cool and then slowly release the clamps so that the substrate resumes it original size. this creates a periodic (wave function) buckling effect at the micrometer level. there are a ton of possible things that could happen with this but my main focus is going to be on repeated heating and cooling to see if the buckles stay exactly the same. ill also be looking at lambertian effects , and how that affects lasers. furthermore, while im heating and cooling the materials, i'll be setting up a laser array so that i can check the visual properties of the sine function and how they change over a temperature difference.
im excited.
the third class i am taking is a repeat of a poli sci class i took on congress, and in it we are trying to simulate what we can of an actual legislature through a site called legsim.org . its pretty cool, and im excited, cuz i plan on delivering a hell of a speech and getting elected as speaker for the house for our class, which nets me like 5% on my average.
im currently working at the deli that alex has been at for like 10 months. its pretty fun, and all the people are great. If you're ever in memphis, stop by New York Deli where jersey mikes used to be, cuz its extremely likely that either alex or i will be there (he opens and i close). I also just (saturday) got hired to work at a new independent coffee place that is literally 1 block away from the starbucks at forest hill and poplar. Its called high point coffee, and the owner/manager liked me enough to basically set up the schedule so that i could come in 3-4 days a week and close. i also might be opening on the weekends which means i would have to be there at like 4:30 or 5 am. w/e it'll be fun too.
because i now like 450 miles from alex bad, instead of 50, and because alex good and i are o alternating schedules of class and work, my usual contact with mempis, and my planned contact with memphis have both AWOL. so instead of looking for new friends, i started playing WoW with them. Its fun, but i prolly wont play it past the summer when i finally have to break away from everyone for reals.
my car is a complete piece of shit. someone apparently stole a $1000 computer from it at some point, so i havent had any traction control, ABS, or the primary shutoff for my indoor cabin lights (my lights stay on for like 10 minutes after i get out). there are a ton of other problems including alignment, new tires, leaky coolant, and a fucked up right from wheel or axle, i dunno. in total it would have cost like $2500 to fix, so instead, we are getting me a new (used) car. right now, the front runner is a 2002 neon 5-speed. i'll prolly decide in the next couple of days.
Good and i are definitely going to gainsville for this weekend. bad and taylor might prolly be joining us. good and i are going to leave memphis after he closes (when i was suposed to) on thursday, then we are going to drive in in the middle of the night to taylors, crash there while he goes to class or something on friday, then leaving there and getting to gainsville around 8-9. then we'll prolly come back sunday morning. bad might fly in or join us in mempis on thursday night, we'll see. either way its going to be a hell of a time.
in order to do all of this this weekend, though, i am going to use my first (ever) dead-grandmother-card. you only get two of them at every school, and i havent used one at either, so i feel like this is the right time. im excited.
in order to get all of this done, and spending time on WoW doesnt help as a principle, i am missing the any kind of opportunity to socialize with the outside world, and therefore to find girls. so that whole deal is totally, and sadly, non-existent for me.
as glyn mentioned, our cousin died. i knew him even less than her, ( i only met him once) and i was only 6 or 8 at that point, so i dont really remember him. I do know that he was doing very well for himself even though he had severe downs, but several illnesses were just too much for him, with pneumonia taking it too far. my family has, in general, been extremely lucky with our lives, our grandfather on my dad's side being the only other person to have been taken, 3 years ago at age 83, on his birthday. this has made it easy for us to almost deny the reality of death in our family, which makes all of them that much harder.
i think that's all. i'll try to update more because i think i keep missing stuff that might be relevant. have a nice february!