Hammer down.

I don't remember when I last wrote but I can be sure as shootin' that it was before this week - I have not been so busy in quite a while. I would like to blame it on having to work last Tuesday, my defense being that had I had all of that day to write assignment #9 for my programming class, I would have been able to begin assignment #10 (a real monster) earlier. Had I been able to begin #10 on time, I might not have had to scramble to juggle it and my homework for calc and physics and had I been in a better spot with those two courses, I surely would have had more time to work on the calc/physics project whose rough draft was due on Friday. Oh, and after all that, I could have spent a few more hours in the lab like I had hoped to be able to do at the beginning of the week.

You're probably dying to know if all that stuff got done and the answer is: yes it did. However, I didn't contribute as much to the rough draft as I normally do and I submitted the programming assignment late. I also didn't sleep much and had to go from 7:30a to 9:30p without eating on Thursday. You know how I loves me some lunch. But let me stop here because my tone is starting to sound bitter and I don't mean for that to be so. So...

The show at the Three Chimneys went well last night. I didn't go as well as the last one but I attribute that to the fact that I hadn't been in the door two minutes before I broke a ceramic mug that was hanging over the "stage" area. Maybe it was in a bad spot, maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to where the head of my bass was. Likely, the truth is somewhere in between. We still had a fun show and some friends from the physics department (three grad students, two of whom work in the MIRL) came to watch. The show tonight at the IOKA has been cancelled because the man who runs the booking operation could sell enough tickets. I think that's pretty weak and Moses thinks it's reeeeeeally weak. The bright side, though, is that he just called to tell me that he found a last-minute gig in Newmarket. It won't be as classy but it'll be a good time as usual. When Moses told me that the IOKA show was cancelled, I almost called Friday's to say I could work and now I'm glad that I didn't.

I am finally at the data analysis stage of my recent computer-oriented work at the MIRL. I have two projects going but they use nearly identical display codes and the subjects, as you might guess, are related. It would be futile to try to explain it without the visuals - you'll just have to come visit me in the lab on some Friday afternoon! I will say that it will be a lot easier to make progress as quickly as possible on these two projects since I can show up and put time in nearly whenever I please. I suppose the only constraint, aside from being busy with actual school work, is that I need to arrive before the last person leaves because I don't have a key. Once I'm there, though, I can stay late and lock the door when I'm done.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day, school should be light this week and I'll head to New London on Wednesday. As luck would have it, I have exactly enough pairs of boxers to last until Thursday. Ain't life grand?

Overdue-ing it.

Okay okay okay. Phew. Here I am. The most aggravating thing about not writing this post has been that I've actually had stuff to say! Now I hope I remember it all. There's nothing Earth-shattering - just a handful of comments.

My mood as been up and down as a function of my perceived workload but this week has been marked especially by getting the job(s) done so I feel (at the moment) upbeat and successful. I also know that bedtime is near and that is a lovely thought.

For my one holiday in a while, I worked ten hours at Friday's which is not how I had intended to a week ago but I let Heather guilt me into it because I have to take so much of next weekend off for Moses gigs and Turkey Day. I do have to mention, however, that I have been having more fun at Friday's lately. I won't speculate needlessly (needlessly because I have no intention of using the information gained to change anything I do at Friday's) but I suspect that it has been a healthy combination of being scheduled with coworkers with whom I like working and caring less. That always brings my stress down: often when I find myself getting upset with Friday's, it's because I'm putting too much mental effort into it.

The MIRL, on the other hand, continues to grow into a better and better job. I spent Monday teaching myself more about the IDL programming language and expect to begin working with another Matt on some code for his project on Friday. I can't believe how quickly I've changed my tune about programming. What's even better is that there is so much programming involved in physics that I don't have to switch majors again! ;-) 

In roommate news, I am happy to report that Al, who has described himself repeatedly as "not a sweets guy" can't keep his hands off of those peanut butter cup cookies. Nice job Steph. Don't lose that recipe. Better yet - make so many batches over the course of this winter that you memorize the recipe.

And I guess that's it for now. Classes are just fine. I got a flu shot today, which means that I'm slowly working my way back into the world of the health-insured. It also means that my left shoulder is sore. Talk to you again in....a few days?

Desk job.

Moses slept on my couch last night and we got a late start headed to Durham but once I got there, things went swimmingly. I think he missed his train to Exeter, though. 

Calc was enjoyable and productive; we spent part of the time walking around along random paths but I haven't taken the time to explore the pedagogical basis for that exercise because I trust the professor. What really excited me about the day was that I got my own desk at the MIRL. I hope they haven't been reading this and seeing me complain about winding cables and making boxes. However it worked out, I set up my laptop and started exploring another programming language, called IDL, taking the shift to prepare myself for a bunch of data analysis that will have to be done in the near future. This program uses higher-level interface commands that does C, which means that I don't have to tell it every little detail as I do have to when writing a program in C. Essentially, it's more like writing a list of steps in a process, as opposed to writing the specific code to carry out those steps. If you're lost, forget it. It's not worth worrying about. It will be more interesting when I start helping them analyze data and we uncover some terribly interesting principles or whatever.

There's a birthday get-together tonight and then there will be work and homework this weekend. I'll keep you posted!

Fat and gay.

When Mme. Vingeault mentioned to a high school peer of mine that he looked fatigue' , he shot back "I look what? Fat and gay?"

So I guess I'm fat and gay. There's not much news; this is another I-have-a-few-minutes blog post. Between catching myself up on school work Monday night and watching the returns/speeches at a friend's house last night, I am exceptionally tired. I had planned to come home and cook a batch of gloop for the week but instead had a sandwich and soup. I've moved some school work around my desk a few times but it looks like tonight is going to be largely characterized by sleep.

Oh yeah - I gave up on a book that Kristin leant me, a memoir called Travels with Barley (yes I get the reference) with a promise to pick it up when I feel more like reading a travelogue. The book is about one man's search for the greatest beer joints in America. The premise is fun and the first chapter didn't turn me off but I'm not in love so when a copy of All the Pretty Horses sauntered into view, I had to give Travels with Barley the bad news. I am but a man.

I'll let you know how much I like it after more reading. 

Monday, again.

When people talk about having "the Mondays," this is not what they mean. This day of the week has shaped up to be my most stressful: I am scheduled for something from 9a to 9p, save a quick lunch after class, and my workload for the week hits the fan. As you can see, I got out of Friday's early so I figured that I would do one of my civic duties and post and entry.

The MIRL was quiet today; Paul has shipped off to take a piece of equipment to Virginia(?) and Hyomin's stuff ships tomorrow morning so there was nothing left to do but pack. I was stuck winding a cable that I've been trying to wrestle into a professional-looking circle for the past two weeks, then taping together boxes and affixing labels and different labels and the work felt boring but I reminded myself that the only other thing I have to look forward to is parking cars for MIT students so I kept making those boxes.

I had a bunch of tea at work in the hope that if I accomplish a bunch tonight, I can spend more time studying tomorrow (with a break to meet with my advisor) so as to get myself back into that one-step-ahead position I thought I was once in. Maybe if I work hard, those MIT kids would let me polish their pocket protectors. One huge advantage of the way our calc and physics course are set up is that I can study concepts in such a way that I kill two birds with one stone, or at least kill one and maim the other.

What else? The weekend in New London was nice: in addition to delicious food as usual, I got to stack wood and do other manly things that make me feel better when I'm a little down about school. I don't want to own a landscaping business but I like knowing that I can do useful things when called upon. 

Okay it's time.