Spring Break Is Almost Over

Below are updated photos of my Tekbot taken with my Nikon Digital camera, so the quality is much better than with my cell phone. To view close up, click on the image.

I finished Winter term with a 3.04 GPA. I got a B in Discrete Math, a C- in Applied Differential Equations, an A- in Java programming, and an A in Engineering. School starts again on Monday...can't wait (sarcasm). Well, I am gonna go for now. I get to spend the day with my daughter tomorrow.

Dead Week or Dead Weak?

Sorry if the pictures aren't great, I took them in low light with a camera phone. This is my Tekbot, which I am working on for school. Right now, it just consists of the charger board, analog control board, sensor board, and motor control board. Currently, it is just a Bump Bot: if it hits an obstacle, it reverses turns and goes forward again. I have the part to add IR sensor so it will reverse before actually hitting objects, but I have not programmed the IC yet. Perhaps next term.

It is Friday of dead week. Is it dead week because you don't do much, or is it dead week because you are dead tired from the term? Next week I have finals (2 on Tuesday and 2 on Thursday. Since I have no class on Monday (just a help session for Applied Differential Equations in the afternoon), I don't have to leave at 5:00am to get back to Corvallis. Well, I am going to start packing up for the weekend and grab some food. Adios.

Why Women Don't (Usually) Barbecue

My family loves the barbecue. Occasionally, I will pick up some nice tri-tips, trim them up a bit, add some seasoning salt and throw them on the grill. Even my daughter, who is a picky eater, loves the meat, as long as I don't over season it for her. In fact, last night I used the BBQ to do just that. My wife bought a steak tonight and was contemplating whether to use her George Foreman Grill (which tends to leave the meat dry) or use the big grill. After stepping her through the basics on the phone (since I am, of course, in Corvallis) all was going well. A short time later, I received a frantic phone call telling me that flames were coming out the front of the grill, and asking what to do. Not being able to see the goings-on for myself, I calmly told her to turn the gas off, which did not go over well. With more frantic conversation ensuing, I told her to grab the fire extinguisher from the garage and use it (which she did quite well, judging from the picture). All is calm now, but apparently, my grill was engulfed in flames and the knobs are no longer existent. This is a good time to ask who decided to use plastic when making grills? Anyway, this is what's left of the grill. I am obviously going to get a new one for the summer so we can start grilling again. I love my wife, and she knows I am only giving her a hard time, but this is why the grilling should be left to the men. In my family, I know this won't be a problem. She doesn't even want to own another grill.

Another Midterm Down the Crapper

For those who are interested, this is what we are doing in math right now (although this exact image is from a course taught elsewhere). I got my midterm II back in math today. I fared better than my first midterm, but still bombed. On the first one, I got a 28.3%. On this one I got a 51.7%. How's that for improvement?? The thing that sucks is that I have to get a C- in this class to pass, and all we are graded on is our midterms and final (plus a tiny bit from recitation quizzes). I am looking at a miracle if I want to pass. Granted, part of the problem is my understanding. However, part of it is also due to the damn Honor students taking this class who are jacking up the curve. Damn them! Oh well. I am not one to worry much, I just hope I don't get to retake this course another term...or perhaps I do...no! If I can pass and be done with it, I will be happy. Gotta run...have school and all.

My Daughter

Keeping with my latest tradition, here as an ad for Windows XP with firewall. It should only take a minute to get the picture. If you still don't get it, then XP with firewall is probably perfect for you.

I just had my last midterm today. Only two more weeks in this term. Then it'll be a short week of spring break and back to school again. The nice thing will be getting to spend a week with my wife and daughter. My daughter is almost four now and she is so much fun to be with at this age. She is absorbing everything like a sponge and loves learning. This past weekend she asked me the name of my town. I told her Corvallis, and she repeated, "Cordallis." I told her she was close but it was "CorVallis." Then I could hear her in the back seat of the car saying, "Corvallis" over and over. She is beginning to learn to play checkers. It's a challenge explaining that her pieces can only go on one color. She has discovered The Threee Billy Goats Gruff, a book I grew up with. She starts reciting parts of the book before I can get to them and we both end up laughing.

My wife may enroll her in preschool soon. She loves learning, so it only makes sense to get her into a loosely structured learning environment for part of the day. Since it's a small town, there are limited spaces, so we are hoping she can get in. Well, I suppose that's enough for now. Have a wonderful day.

Inefficiencies with "Higher Education" in Oregon

If you want to see my schedule for next term, here it is. It should be pretty intense: 20.5 hours in the classroom, 6 of which are labs, 2.5 recitations, and the other 12 lecture.

I have a gripe. I am still taking midterms...yes, this is week 5 of midterms and I still have another next week. Six weeks of midterms in all. And the term is only 11 weeks!! It makes no sense. We don't learn anything because every week we are focused on a test which makes up between 15-33% of our final grade. In states that use the semester system, they get 16 weeks and only 1 midterm per class.

Another gripe concerns Southwestern Oregon Community College (is it SOCC or SUCC??). I had nothing but problems with them...EVERY single term it was something different...some new form that had to be filled out because it "disappeared," etc. One term they actually enrolled another guy in all of my classes instead of me. Anyway, Kristi was all set to graduate after completing her current chemistry class. Hell, her advisor and the transcript lady even SIGNED OFF on her graduation application. Then she gets a call today because a new requirement was added to the curriculum...another course so she can no longer graduate. What the hell??!! It's the most messed up crap I've ever heard.

It's hard enough to complete your education with the cuts in education spending and hikes in student loan interest rates, but then they have to pull crap like this. That's me 2 cents.

I am still using Linux and enjoying the stability. There are a few times when I think it would just be easier to go back to the familiar, but then I realize what crap Microsoft is. I have had to tweak my computer a bit to get somethings to work, and others work amazingly easier without Windows. One issue I have, and it's with Apple, is that I cannot currently play my LEGALLY downloaded music on my computer because they have created their iTunes so that it will not work on Linux. In fact, when people have cracked it and found ways for Linux users to PURCHASE music from their music store, they fix the "hole." So my iPod sits here, incapable of receiving new songs. I can only play the ones currently on it. Apparently Apple is trying to force people to resort to illegal downloads that do not have the DRM (digital rights management) attached to the songs.

Well, my blog entry has been stunningly negative, so I will go for now. I have an engineering lab to type up and a computer program to finish writing.