Doh.
I wore the same pair of jeans today and yesterday, and it was only tonight that I noticed the long size sticker was still on the side of my right thigh. Almost two full days and either no one noticed, or no one told me. I'm guessing the latter happened more often than I'd like. Sadness.
Friday, April 04, 2003
Finally Friday.
This week has officially been the longest ever. Mainly because I've been going to even more classes than I've been scheduled for, trying to decide which ones I want to take. After talking with the econ department I found out that you can basically take any six econ upper division electives you want, which is contrary to what the business economics major sheet says, which acts like it has to be two from each of three groups. This would have been really useful information last quarter, I could have actually been taking things I thought were really interesting rather than stuff just to fill requirements. So given this new freedom I checked out just about all the possible classes before deciding what to add.
I finally settled on two of my classes because I had the teacher last quarter, you just read a whole lot and then write an essay test midterm and final, and if you know what you're talking about you get at least a B, which was my grade last quarter. I don't mind reading, the classes are right after each other MWF in the same room at 8 and 9, so no real effort is required other than the usual getting up early. One is on the economics of ancient civilizations like Egypt and the Middle East (111), which is interesting, and the other is on the economics of Europe prior to 1850 (112A), which isn't really. Given prior to 1850 means everything from 8000 BC really, and economics didn't even really exist until much later, thus far it has been mostly a history class. History is somewhat interesting though, and easy to absorb and write about, so I'll live. The one required class I had to take was 134A which is Corporate Finance, in which all the lecture notes are online as well as the reading that should be done out of a decently fat book. The concepts don't seem altogether difficult, and there are weekly homeworks assigned but not graded for which the solutions are given, so that will keep me on top of what's going on and prevent me from falling behind. Then there's personnel economics (152) which was a really great find. The teacher is coherent, and not only can I understand what he's saying, but I can read what he writes on the board. These are two very rare qualities in professors these days. He goes through the usual concepts and formulas, but then also even throws in numerical exampls to make everything much clearer. Usually teachers of this kind of class give you all the boring derivation of the formula that no one cares about but is "more important" and then leave you on your own to figure out how to use it. Given that's what you're tested on, it's quite annoying. So yes, this guy rocks, and the class's concepts seem easy to learn. Last on the list we have um... Man there have been so many it takes me forever to figure out what the fifth one is every time I try to describe my schedule. It's 180 which is International Trade. My 8am TR class, this is taught by a female professor who clearly knows what she's talking about. She moves pretty quick, but thus far the concepts have all been based on what I already learned when studying Global Economics in AcaDec. Actually I'm pretty sure the whole class will be a review, barring some more in depth topics. I'm tellin ya, the knowledge from AcaDec will be helpin me forever it seems like. Unfortunately aerodynamics and aviation weren't subjects, so during my training I'll be learning as I go.
So there ya have it, twenty units with 8am every day. Whee. Three sections even, when barely any upper division lectures have sections. Lucky me. But it should go alright, unlike last quarter there is no real class where it's like "wonder what I'm going to get in here cuz I have no clue" type situation. Obviously I'll know more after the first set of midterms, of which I think I have like three on the same day. Always nice. The good news is I got out of having three finals on the same day, which would have been much worse. Instead they're all over the place with one on Monday at 11am, two Wednesdays at 8am and 7:30pm, as well as two 8ams on Thursday and Friday. So having three 8am finals on the last three days of finals would usually be lame, but given I'm doing that all quarter it will be nothing new. Besides which I have to stay around for commencement anyway, so it's not like the last final is keeping me here anyway. Would have been nice to have a few days to enjoy myself though.
I'm almost caught up in writing about what I've been up to, prolly by tomorrow will be all up to date and can start writing about things when they happen instead of weeks later, yay!
This week has officially been the longest ever. Mainly because I've been going to even more classes than I've been scheduled for, trying to decide which ones I want to take. After talking with the econ department I found out that you can basically take any six econ upper division electives you want, which is contrary to what the business economics major sheet says, which acts like it has to be two from each of three groups. This would have been really useful information last quarter, I could have actually been taking things I thought were really interesting rather than stuff just to fill requirements. So given this new freedom I checked out just about all the possible classes before deciding what to add.
I finally settled on two of my classes because I had the teacher last quarter, you just read a whole lot and then write an essay test midterm and final, and if you know what you're talking about you get at least a B, which was my grade last quarter. I don't mind reading, the classes are right after each other MWF in the same room at 8 and 9, so no real effort is required other than the usual getting up early. One is on the economics of ancient civilizations like Egypt and the Middle East (111), which is interesting, and the other is on the economics of Europe prior to 1850 (112A), which isn't really. Given prior to 1850 means everything from 8000 BC really, and economics didn't even really exist until much later, thus far it has been mostly a history class. History is somewhat interesting though, and easy to absorb and write about, so I'll live. The one required class I had to take was 134A which is Corporate Finance, in which all the lecture notes are online as well as the reading that should be done out of a decently fat book. The concepts don't seem altogether difficult, and there are weekly homeworks assigned but not graded for which the solutions are given, so that will keep me on top of what's going on and prevent me from falling behind. Then there's personnel economics (152) which was a really great find. The teacher is coherent, and not only can I understand what he's saying, but I can read what he writes on the board. These are two very rare qualities in professors these days. He goes through the usual concepts and formulas, but then also even throws in numerical exampls to make everything much clearer. Usually teachers of this kind of class give you all the boring derivation of the formula that no one cares about but is "more important" and then leave you on your own to figure out how to use it. Given that's what you're tested on, it's quite annoying. So yes, this guy rocks, and the class's concepts seem easy to learn. Last on the list we have um... Man there have been so many it takes me forever to figure out what the fifth one is every time I try to describe my schedule. It's 180 which is International Trade. My 8am TR class, this is taught by a female professor who clearly knows what she's talking about. She moves pretty quick, but thus far the concepts have all been based on what I already learned when studying Global Economics in AcaDec. Actually I'm pretty sure the whole class will be a review, barring some more in depth topics. I'm tellin ya, the knowledge from AcaDec will be helpin me forever it seems like. Unfortunately aerodynamics and aviation weren't subjects, so during my training I'll be learning as I go.
So there ya have it, twenty units with 8am every day. Whee. Three sections even, when barely any upper division lectures have sections. Lucky me. But it should go alright, unlike last quarter there is no real class where it's like "wonder what I'm going to get in here cuz I have no clue" type situation. Obviously I'll know more after the first set of midterms, of which I think I have like three on the same day. Always nice. The good news is I got out of having three finals on the same day, which would have been much worse. Instead they're all over the place with one on Monday at 11am, two Wednesdays at 8am and 7:30pm, as well as two 8ams on Thursday and Friday. So having three 8am finals on the last three days of finals would usually be lame, but given I'm doing that all quarter it will be nothing new. Besides which I have to stay around for commencement anyway, so it's not like the last final is keeping me here anyway. Would have been nice to have a few days to enjoy myself though.
I'm almost caught up in writing about what I've been up to, prolly by tomorrow will be all up to date and can start writing about things when they happen instead of weeks later, yay!
Thursday, April 03, 2003
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Geez, Life Busy Blows.
Okay so if I don't start catching up with this I apparently never will, so here we go.
Last Friday (am I really this far behind, so sad) I headed up to Snow Summit again for my second snowboarding trip of Spring Break. This time I went with my father, who is a self proclaimed "mastur skier." We got there basically as early as possible, and were greeted with pretty much large slopes of uncut ice. For those who have tried snowboarding on ice, it's really not the prettiest picture. Luckily as time went on the sun gave it a decent slushy type surface, which made it about a hundred times easier to dig into the curves on the steep stuff. Ended up spending a great deal of my time on the "Miracle Mile" as they call it, one of the intermediate runs down from the top, with relatively steep sections thrown in. Confidence came even quicker than the previous trip, and I managed to find a better way to carve toe to heel edge than I had been previously by bending my knees a little more and changing my arm position.
Unfortunately not all was paradise, as I managed to suffer the worst accident yet in my relatively short lived thus far career in the snow. Was zipping along across one of the easier runs, when I came across a flat section all snowboarders know and love, where you are skimming along a sheet of ice in the shadow and then plow into a section of slush in the sun. I'm not even sure what exactly happened, as is generally is the case when you eat it while hauling ass. Something dug in, the momentum kept me flying forward, and eventually my board went flinging over my head as my arms flailed around in the air trying to break my fall. They didn't, and I dropped out of the sky to land square on my shoulder and eventually skid to a halt in a heap. The guy who had been following me chimed in with a "Holy sh**, that HAD to hurt, you alright dude?" and a few other people took notice, with my father eventually joining the party as well, having missed the entire thing while trying to avoid a tree further up or something. Luckily other than some major back soreness for a day or so there wasn't anything major wrong, and I was able to continue through the rest of the day. We ended up leaving before 1, which gets you something like twenty bucks off your next trip, which will be nice. It also doesn't seem to expire, so I'm sure I'll make use of it at some point, even if the weather doesn't improve enough for another trip this season. It did rain today, so who knows.
Driving up PCH on Sunday on one of the hottest days in a few months wasn't very intelligent, but apparently driving the 405 and 101 wouldn't have been much better, judging from the radio dj's description of the "worst traffic jam EVER" on the 405 North at Sunset. Ended up taking about three hours instead of under two like usual, but what can ya do. The ocean sure was beautiful in the meantime.
While I was at home I got to spend time with various high school friends I'll probably only see once more if at all before I leave, so that was nice. I'm not a real fan of goodbyes, but guess I'll have to get used to it pretty soon here.
I'm still in the process of deciding which of my classes to keep, as I found out I have a few more flexible options than I thought I did, so I'll finish updating on what I've been doing since I've been back a while later.
Okay so if I don't start catching up with this I apparently never will, so here we go.
Last Friday (am I really this far behind, so sad) I headed up to Snow Summit again for my second snowboarding trip of Spring Break. This time I went with my father, who is a self proclaimed "mastur skier." We got there basically as early as possible, and were greeted with pretty much large slopes of uncut ice. For those who have tried snowboarding on ice, it's really not the prettiest picture. Luckily as time went on the sun gave it a decent slushy type surface, which made it about a hundred times easier to dig into the curves on the steep stuff. Ended up spending a great deal of my time on the "Miracle Mile" as they call it, one of the intermediate runs down from the top, with relatively steep sections thrown in. Confidence came even quicker than the previous trip, and I managed to find a better way to carve toe to heel edge than I had been previously by bending my knees a little more and changing my arm position.
Unfortunately not all was paradise, as I managed to suffer the worst accident yet in my relatively short lived thus far career in the snow. Was zipping along across one of the easier runs, when I came across a flat section all snowboarders know and love, where you are skimming along a sheet of ice in the shadow and then plow into a section of slush in the sun. I'm not even sure what exactly happened, as is generally is the case when you eat it while hauling ass. Something dug in, the momentum kept me flying forward, and eventually my board went flinging over my head as my arms flailed around in the air trying to break my fall. They didn't, and I dropped out of the sky to land square on my shoulder and eventually skid to a halt in a heap. The guy who had been following me chimed in with a "Holy sh**, that HAD to hurt, you alright dude?" and a few other people took notice, with my father eventually joining the party as well, having missed the entire thing while trying to avoid a tree further up or something. Luckily other than some major back soreness for a day or so there wasn't anything major wrong, and I was able to continue through the rest of the day. We ended up leaving before 1, which gets you something like twenty bucks off your next trip, which will be nice. It also doesn't seem to expire, so I'm sure I'll make use of it at some point, even if the weather doesn't improve enough for another trip this season. It did rain today, so who knows.
Driving up PCH on Sunday on one of the hottest days in a few months wasn't very intelligent, but apparently driving the 405 and 101 wouldn't have been much better, judging from the radio dj's description of the "worst traffic jam EVER" on the 405 North at Sunset. Ended up taking about three hours instead of under two like usual, but what can ya do. The ocean sure was beautiful in the meantime.
While I was at home I got to spend time with various high school friends I'll probably only see once more if at all before I leave, so that was nice. I'm not a real fan of goodbyes, but guess I'll have to get used to it pretty soon here.
I'm still in the process of deciding which of my classes to keep, as I found out I have a few more flexible options than I thought I did, so I'll finish updating on what I've been doing since I've been back a while later.
Monday, March 31, 2003
What, Did I Get A Life Or Something?
For once I actually have a lot to say but haven't gotten around to saying it. Strange. 8am classes every day this quarter will make things interesting, but Tuesdays and Thursdays will be especially interesting with class from 8-9:15, 11-12:15, 12:30-1:45, and 5-6:15. Wee. Will update somewhere in between all that mess.
For once I actually have a lot to say but haven't gotten around to saying it. Strange. 8am classes every day this quarter will make things interesting, but Tuesdays and Thursdays will be especially interesting with class from 8-9:15, 11-12:15, 12:30-1:45, and 5-6:15. Wee. Will update somewhere in between all that mess.
