Here There Be Dragons

catenate linked to this article over at Facebook, and I wanted to point some things out about why the article makes a number of good points while being completely wrong about everything.

What the article missing is some base-level postulates. If you stipulate that you are living in order to do as many things that you find valuable as you can, everything becomes much clearer. You can conclude that the path to your own valuable things is in creating valuable things for other people, and that's an achievable course of action.

This is why, about four and a half semesters into my higher education, I abruptly decided that I needed more math, science, and engineering in my life.

All the humanities do for me is give me existential crises and complicate my world. All I need to know is that I should treat every human being as a person just as I am a person and that I shouldn't be a douchebag. If I'm spending all my free time worrying about how powerful, rich, heterosexual white males subjugate everyone who isn't a powerful, rich, heterosexual white male, I'm (a) not happy and (b) not fixing the problem.

Iin other words, the trick is to learn how to be happy while fixing copiers.

I sent the author an e-mail. It probably wasn't helpful, but I can hope.

( Some thoughts on the things academia doesn't tell you. )

And now back to work on the project that's due in just over three hours. You know, the one that's worth 15% of my grade, the one of which have so far completed roughly 40%.

So, a while back (right in the middle of midterms, if you were wondering), Clarkson "resolved" my ongoing roommate conflict by moving me "temporarily" to a handicapped single in the middle of a floor of freshman boys in the dorm furthest away from my upper-class peers. As it turns out, by "resolved", they meant "we will do nothing whatsoever to help you" and by "temporarily", they meant "for the second half of the semester".

Well, okay, I thought at the time. It is an improvement, and it appears that no one is going to to anything else to ameliorate the situation, and they'll find me a real place for next semester.

So, once I got out of the wave of three tests that characterized last week, I followed up with Residence Life. It went a little bit like this:

ME: "So, Res Life, when are you moving me out of temporary housing?"
RES LIFE: "You should look off-campus."

In the meantime, I'm stuck in this room, and while it is more livable than an environment with three openly hostile ass-bitches...

( Reasons Why This More-Livable Room Isn't Actually Livable )

Because people keep asking me.

( Read more... )






Am I right?

Well, I made it almost 70% of the way through the semester without getting hella behind in any of my classes. It's an improvement! And once again, the problem class is Physics. I'm doing fine on the tests somehow, but homework is increasingly difficult and just flat-out long-- and the worst part is that I can't really complain because there is no substitute for doing Physics problems in terms of actually gaining a deep and intuitive understanding of the material. (I can and will complain about the online component of the homework, though. Seriously, what the FUCK, I paid $80 for some shit thing that's hard to use and doesn't get me partial credit. This is my angry face.)

Introduction to Enterprise Resource Planning Systems is a joke class, and the joke is no longer funny now that it's taking some of my time if I want to pass the tests. At least 35% of the points are total gimme points: if you show up and do the labs, you'll ace them. It's not even homework: you just show up during the scheduled block and you can pretty much finish it-- that is, IF Clarkson's network is up. (Come on, Clarkson. Fix your network; you have a ridiculous amount of downtime for a tech school where students rely heavily on technology for coursework.)

Project Management is still fun, but it's also turning into work! I haven't been working on the major project that's due at the end of the year because I've been juggling Physics, and there's one assignment due this afternoon and

I feel like there's something I'm missing in Diff EQ because it's so incredibly easy, but I can't find it anywhere. (Seriously, who came up with this subject? You just fit the equation to the form for any analytic solution. I guess it's a good refresher of Calc I & II before Calc III?) There's a test tonight, though, and AAAAAHHHHGGGG I am nervous even though it looks like positive SIMPLESAUCE. However, if I bomb it, I can just retake it during the final slot. My first two test grades are good, so it shouldn't be a huge deal.


Finance is easy and the workload is pretty much constant. Thank god there's at least one.


I register today at 12:30. Next semester looks something like this:

Calc III
Chem II
Statics
Marketing
Operations and Supply Chain Management

That's in order. The first three are MWF, the latter two are just MW. There are labs and recitations on TuTh.

In short, ouch, but hopefully next semester there will be less of a peak on Wednesdays where EVERYTHING IS DUE AT 5:00 AND THERE IS A TEST AN HOUR LATER.




This post was brought to you by Wednesdays. I'm completely overloaded with work, so clearly I am not working on ANY of it.

According to the manual that goes with my financial calculator: "Few people ever get to work with money amounts that exceed 9,999,999,999.00, but, if you are one of those people whose assets exceed ten billion, you may be interested in how the EL-733A handles large numbers like these."

Or you can buy a better calculator.

Always look on the bright side of a business major: there may always be unintentional hilarity in unexpected places.

On the flip side, there are also simplified explanations of (for example) the difference between Newtons and pounds of force.

Just remember: Y2K was a major impetus for companies to update their technology resources. I learned that at college.

My roommate situation is still slightly ridiculous. I'm trying to work with an RA to make things work, but...

ROOMMATES: "You wake all three of us up when you come in at 2AM! We have ROTC scholarships!"
ME: "I have academic scholarships. I need to study."
ROOMMATES: "Well stop waking us up! You can sleep on the couch!"

Dear Roommates:

Not bloody likely. I pay $3400 a semester for this bed. I am going to sleep in it.

Love,
Me





Apparently, it is a common Clarkson exploit to be a total douchefuck to your roommates until they leave you with a single. I blame in part whatever genius came up with the idea of having an apartment with three single-sized rooms (with only one ethernet port per bedroom! what the fuck) house four students, and in part whatever administrative agency doesn't have adequate controls to keep roommates from fucking with you.

Because, even if my housing situation is extremely uncomfortable, it's better than my friend's situation.

It's time to start figuring out how to get the fuck off-campus, I think, because this is beyond ridiculous.


( A List Of Things I Have Accomplished So Far This Semester (to be updated) )

*Considering a math minor. I have thoughts in my head, and I need a better vocabulary in order to describe them! Sub-areas if I start considering this more seriously:
-Talk to Diff EQ prof to try to quantify what classes I'd ideally like to take.
-Talk to advisor.
-Will this completely screw up my graduation timeline?

*Thinking about food is weird, given my vegetarian bias. I need to try more things and be less picky! Who has thoughts about what a "meal" should be? What do you like to eat?

*Roommate situation remains weird. They're polite(ish), but chilly. I can sort of understand why they're put out that I'm there (our room is tiny! and I am not one of their social group!), but there is no call to be talking shit at 7:15AM about how I shut down my computer and the lights as soon as my RM went to bed, and then took an additional half an hour to get ready for bed (brush teeth, change, etc.). I walked around, folks, and then I had the audacity to blow my nose while I was in bed. So you're ROTC and have to wake up at 5:15AM? Well, I'm not, and you snooze six times when I'm trying to sleep. Sorry it sucks, but now it's time to cope.

*A List Of Things I Have Accomplished So Far This Semester (to be updated)
-Resumé updated and posted online
-Set up ongoing support services to see me through the semester
-Physics HW x1
-Diff EQ HW x1
-Project Management HW x1
-Finance HW x1

*I received my new credit card in the mail to-day, just in time for me to go out of town this weekend.

*I will be able to buy a new cell phone on a monthly basis soon.

*I called the Health Center, and they will help me get my amphetamines for the coming year. Also my birth control. It is all very important.

*Work has not been sending me home because none of the children have been absent. This is a mixed blessing, but at least I am getting paid.

* I now have five classes on my schedule, but none of them are in math, science, or engineering. When I get to Clarkson, heads may roll if folks persist in preventing me from taking [Diff EQ or Calc III] and [Chem II or Physics I]. I'm pretty sure that's what I have to take in order to avoid fucking up my sequences, and I'm pretty sure I can get a seat in at least ONE of them. It's probably a snafu with them putting me in the wrong major (interpreting the Common App to mean "management major with an engineering minor" instead of "management and engineering, the interdisciplinary major"). This is why God invented add/drops; I'm no longer particularly concerned.

Yesterday, evocatory, ryoko_dono, and I went shopping for clothes because I was in dire need of pants. tim122887 tagged along because he was apparently in need of the photo store.

AND I FOUND PANTS. Two pairs, even, jeans and a pair of green pants (about which I am disproportionately excited.) Then, ryoko_dono and tim122887 lectured me about fashion, because ryoko_dono is a fashion major and tim122887 goes to FIT. So, I got some leggings and two camis and a sweater of a color that I might not have selected on my own, but that I still like, and hopefully the results will help me keep warm when I go away to college in the barren wastelands of icy New York.

( TMI cut for your reading pleasure. )

And then we came home and frosted a cake (pic courtesy of evocatory, who has an iPhone. Thank you, lovely). And then the cake was delicious. The end.

I'm a little bit melancholy about it. Here's the rundown of what's left:

Aug 2: I was going to go to the beach, and then the forecast was all "THUNDERSTORMS".
Aug 3-6: Work at ECEC.
Aug 7: Work at ECEC. Work at Target.
Aug 8: ???
Aug 9: Family picnic; traveling all day.
Aug 10-14: Work at ECEC.
Aug 15-19: Hopefully traveling to see some out-of-town friends.
Aug 20: Move to Potsdam, NY.
Aug 20-22: Orientation
Aug 23: Classes start.

I worked out what classes I'll likely have to take at Clarkson, and they all sound pretty exciting! Electrical Science! Intro to digital design! Thermodynamics! Differential Equations! Operations & Supply Chain! Calc III! Fluid Mechanics! Risk Management! However, now that I see the classes all laid out in a row and the possibility of paying four-semesters-plus-a-summer of Clarkson tuition instead of five semesters presents itself, I'm honestly a bit apprehensive about taking some of them abroad.






The other day I was driving to a doctor's appointment, and I saw a most compelling argument to speed posted on one of those board thingies outside an elementary school. It read:

"Leave Earlier
Drive Slower
Live Longer"

To my ear, that particular phrasing reads as "Spend more time now, when you are young and healthy, sitting in a car, so that you can have more years when you are old and wrinkly and possibly less mobile than you are now."

Dear Board Thingy:

Riiiiiiight.

Love, me.

I'm not even convinced that driving-slower = safer.

I talk about how much academia annoys me more often than I probably should. While having this kind of discussion a few days ago with a friend, she told me that though she has graduated from college, she has no idea what to do with money in the real world or how to balance her checkbook.

I'm kind of a nut about knowing what to do with money. In fact, I wish I had some money with which I could know about doing things, and possibly I might even do them.

So, here's how I deal with the money I do have:

Balancing My Checkbook
GOAL: To make sure that the bank is only charging you for transactions you authorize.

( Read more... )

Budgeting
GOAL: To spend less money than you earn and to accrue net worth over time.

( Read more... )

Credit Cards
GOAL: To prove to lenders that you pay back money you borrow so that someday when you want to buy a house or other big thing that actually needs financing, you can get a loan.

( Read more... )

1.) So I've pretty much settled on Clarkson. The money makes a difference, you know? Plus RPI still hasn't actually mailed me my financial aid package. D:

2.) Lab reports due the sixteenth. My plan goes like this:

a.) Finish lab reports.
b.) Turn them in tomorrow.
c.) Pass Physics II.
d.) Never ever ever ever ever have to take Physics II again.

It appears I'll still have to go back and take Physics I (fooooo), but I should be fine now that I've already struggled through magnetism. Screw you, surface integrals reducing to zero because magnetic monopoles haven't been found ever.

3.) Differential Equations. WANT.

4.) Options for study abroad and co-ops, woohoo! Also apparently Rosetta Stone courses offered through the college for brushing up on your languages.

5.) But unfortunately, it does look like three years, no matter what. Bright side: there should be time for study abroad and internship/co-ops! And also this means I can spend some semesters doing kickass extracurriculars (like learning how to use scary equipment that terrifies me but is the only way to build actual things) and taking only 12 credits (which is how I succeed best anyway).

Tags: clarkson, college, homework, life

On the 24th of July, clyan_bunnies and I are going to venture forth on an expedition in order to slay dragons, rescue princesses, and do something about unicorns and virgins the details of which I will leave to your imaginations in order to keep the ratings down. The time-off request I submitted has met approval; the logistics have been duly planned.

In the spirit of this plan, I bought a $20 pair of speakers from Target so that clyan_bunnies and I might sing along to music from our .mp3 players. They look like ( this )

So we tried them out and discovered that they worked, but only if the switch was in the "off " position. Also, they were pretty quiet, but I figured, hey, $20 speakers from Target, what do you want?

Well, after some research online, I discovered some information that had I had not previously known. Apparently, there are two kinds of speakers: active speakers and passive speakers. Apparently, my little white $20 speakers from Target are of the former breed.

Upon investigating, I discovered a battery compartment, and upon opening it, discovered that it was empty.

I put batteries in the speakers, and lo! They were no longer Extremely Quiet Speakers, but had metamorphosed into beautiful butterflies of facilitating music on our quest.

The End

1.) iTunes help writes: "When you import an item by dragging it to the iTunes window or choosing File > Add to Library, a reference (or "pointer") to the item—not the item itself—is placed in the iTunes folder."

Gee, thanks, iTunes. Explaining that a reference is called a "pointer" made all the difference.

That said, I happen to know what pointers are, and I could argue with myself about whether I think that was an appropriate way to handle it, but I'm not going to go there.

I think the point of all this is simply that I need a better system of file management so that I can find things and don't have to spend eight hours explaining to programs where they can find the files they need all the time.

2.) It takes too long to organize printing things at home, too much running back and forth, especially when I'm on a timetable and file transfers never go quite as planned.

3.) Logistics are also horrible. I'm heading up to visit Clarkson, four and a half hours away, and I'm-- pretty firmly not amused. I don't like driving. I find cars uncomfortable and boring. The thought of spending ten hours in a car when instead I could be doing something comfortable and/or fun makes my soul hurt.

No, this is not about Rule 34. Minds out of the gutter, folks.

No, these are rules about how the Internet works and what people should post on it, and whether or not it is okay to "stalk" someone on the internet.

They mostly go like this:

1.) The Internet is not private.
2.) The Internet is not private.
3.) The Internet is REALLY not private.
4.) In fact, the Internet is a PUBLIC forum.
5.) If you value privacy so freaking much then WHY DID YOU PUT THAT ON THE INTERNET?
6.) Also don't give out your username/password to ANYONE. Ever.

And as far as internet "stalking", goes, I don't believe in it.

( Some definitions for your reference. )

"But JP!", one might cry, "Looking up information about people online is creepy! Surely if they wanted you to know something, they would tell you themselves!"

Maybe some people feel that way. In that case, they should not post that information about themselves on the INTERNET.

So, I have composed some additional rules about how those people should interact with the internet.

If you're ashamed about your life and the things you do and the things you say and the things that you UPLOAD ON A PUBLIC FORUM,
1.) Don't upload them on a public forum
2.) In fact, don't do them in the first place.
3.) Why in the name of the gods would you do something you're ashamed of and post it on the INTERNET for the love of the gods?
4.) You do realize that your mom/your grandmother/the person you've just publicly badmouthed is INEVITABLY going to find/read/be upset or hurt by what you've posted, right?


"Well, what if my friend posts stuff about me that I don't want posted? Isn't that creepy stalking?"

Not if you're all using sensible content and respecting other people's privacy when you post stuff on the internet. I've got some rules for that, too.

1.) Don't post stuff using other people's full names on public areas of the internet, ever.
2.) If your friend respects you and you ask them, your friend should take stuff about you down.
3.) If your 'friend' posts defamatory stuff about you, then they're not your friend and there isn't much you can do about it, and also fuck them because they're assholes.
4.) On the bright side, odds are you're not that important. No one you don't know personally is going to find it, and anyone you know personally should realize that you didn't post [whatever].
5.) Also don't give out your username/password to ANYONE. Ever.



CONCLUSION.
Can be considered a short version for TL;DR folks.
Looking up stuff people put on the internet is NOT creepy and is NOT stalking because people put that information up themselves. I upload content because I want and expect people to read it, and I'm man enough to own up to my fuckups and apologize if I've posted content that hurts/offends people. There's privacy settings for a reason, and I'm not going to hack those. But if you post something publicly on the internet, it's fair game, and I'm not going to let you make me feel guilty because I read something that YOU posted publicly. You don't want me to find it? You lock that shit up, untag yourself, or take it down.

Savvy?

1.) Falling desperately in love with the entire world. It feels so good, like hope and optimism again. I spend too much time stressing out about stupid things.

2.) clyan_bunnies had her graduation party yesterday. So much fun! We swung on the swings and played some Frisbee and talked about physics and subterranean housing and colleges. I met someone from Clarkson and we talked about the school.

3.) Lab reports coming along sloowwwwlllyyyy. Gah. I can't wait to be finished.

4.) Beginning to lean toward Clarkson, because the money is better and the degree might be faster and the program seems closer to what I want to do. Starting salaries are comparable.

From a couple of days ago:

Adam has pretty much every Beatles song ever on his Zune. Today, he connected it to his XBox 360 so that I could listen to beautiful music while I worked on lab reports and he killed zombies in Left 4 Dead.

Now, I have what probably amounts to an unhealthy amount of affection for the entire Magical Mystery Tour album, and not just because the vinyl comes with a cartoon explaining the "plot" of the related movie. (For reference, the movie, which has been available in part on YouTube, at least at some point in the past, is not nearly as good as either the album or the cartoon.) So, I put on the album and curled up on the couch to listen to it. The following dialogue ensued:

ADAM: You know, you can play Fallout 3 while listening to music on the 360.

He gave me a complicated list of instructions that I did not follow and will not transcribe.

ME: Adam, you do realize that Fallout 3 is pretty much the exact opposite of this album.
ADAM: ... True. I just wanted you to know that you didn't have to sit there watching the trippy visualizations.
ME: Yes, but Adam, you see, the trippy visualizations are not the opposite of this album.

UPDATES ON THINGS:

1.) I got into Clarkson! I got a phone call yesterday and a letter today. Credit evaluation and financial aid awards are pending.

2.) RPI still hasn't gotten back to me about financial aid, and I'm still a mess regarding the credit evaluation (having yet to post the course descriptions). They said they had already sent it out "on Friday" when pressed; the Friday in question being June 12.

3.) Even with the rough figures I was given over the 'phone (and therefore do not even remotely trust), my mother is freaking out about the cost of RPI because they give their room and board costs at $12,000 (in addition to $40K in tuition). I have to say that it's a reasonable freakout, but even so, if one were to live off-campus, it would certainly be less expensive.

4.) Sent out thank-you note to Watervliet Arsenal. Still haven't heard from them, either, but I hear that the wheels of government bureaucracy turn slowly, so I'm still (very tentatively) hopeful.

5.) ( I'm also mildly concerned about money. (Cut for boring number stuff. )

6.) HVCC is back on the table as an option.

THOUGHTS ON THINGS:

1.) ( I'm not sure I even WANT to go to Clarkson )

2.) Other than this last-minute stuff, RPI has been super good about keeping in touch with me and has been incredibly helpful throughout the process.

3.) RPI is still terrifyingly expensive, and with tentative aid figures, still runs about $13,000 to $15,000 more than we had hoped to pay, per year. You get what you pay for, I suppose?

4 & 5.) I'm really hoping for the Arsenal thing, because that would alleviate financial pressure a bunch.

6.) I would really like to be at a four-year school next year for a bunch of reasons:
( Reasons )

EDIT: Guys, I'm sorry about the crazy long entries. I edited in some cuts to save your friendspage.

What are we going to do during the zombie apocalypse? We've forgotten how to trust each other and make things with our hands.

I don't know if I like the new word for "passion", which is (variously) nerd, geek, or dork, depending-- even if you take the pejorative connotations away from the words. I know I don't like the way it's no longer acceptable to be openly sad and angry or even happy anymore.

I have no problems with our unfathomably huge infrastructure, as such, but there needs to be something more scalable so that people can see to their own needs. You can't build anything anymore, not cost-effectively, and it breaks my heart.

New goal: to reclaim social interaction and craftsmanship.