I can only think of one word to describe this gut feeling I’ve had these past few weeks: disorganized. It seems like my studies and to a lesser extent my life have been fluttering about in random fashion with little direction or purpose. The fact that I’ve failed my first two tests of the semester, Biology and Statistics, only gives substance to that feeling. I could blame it on the fact that I don’t have the textbooks for either class but I’m really quite sure that the fault is all mine. I’ve known for a long time that I’m not very good at managing my time and I’ve done little to remedy that. Regardless, something has to give and I’d be a fool if I let it be my GPA.
Yesterday was an exercise in the annoyances and frustrations of modern computers. I reinstalled OS X on my PowerBook at least three times in my pursuit of an optimal configuration, and, finding none, I subsequently reverted back to the way it was. This all started when I hosed my system after hacking some theme scripts. Talk about wasting your time. Also, due to a mix of confusion and human error on my part, it took four tries before I got a working license for a piece of engineering software I have to use. Like a dog chasing its tail, this all amounted to a lot of nothing.
Here’s the rest of the week in a nutshell. Thursday was pretty unremarkable. Statistics marched on ahead into new material. Wednesday was the aforementioned Biology test. It would have actually been a pretty good day if not for that because we only had a thirty minute software tutorial to attend for Instruments and Circuits lab. Tuesday was Statistics again, only colder. Monday was also cold and Biology lab was unrelenting. It took three hours and we still weren’t done when the next section started shuffling in. Luckily, I have a pretty cool TA and he gave us the rest of the data we need for our report.
Last Saturday I broke down and bought the “Trigun” DVD box set. It wasn’t cheap but it was worth it. Titus and I watched the entire series over the next few days. I really wish I had watched the entire series on DVD instead of shoddy DivX the first time around but it was still describable as par excellence. Seems Titus liked the series as much as I did. Excellent.
After an unremarkable day of classes and arctic weather, Titus and I got a call from our friendly neighborhood Eskimo and subsequently headed out to the International Bowling Alley to meet up with friends and celebrate Elysia’s twenty-first birthday. It took a few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution (7th Mix) and one of my contacts subsequently falling out (How does this happen?) to loosen me up some so I could finally talk to some of the people I didn’t know. I think just about everyone had a good time. I think Titus managed to get a few pictures that might tell more of a story.
Yesterday basically consisted of a quick cram session for our first quiz in Statistics and Applications, followed by fleeting feelings of confidence, followed by a quick crash and burn on the actual test. It’s a damn shame.
Yesterday saw the close of the “Trigun” series for me. Today it was “Cowboy Bebop.” Both series were excellent to a fault. Just like a great book, you get to a certain point and it’s hard to put down. You want some sort of closure to the story but when you get there you’re both pleased and saddened. It was an enjoyable journey but its over now and revisiting isn’t quite the same. You enjoyed it before and you’ll enjoy again but knowledge hangs its shadow on things, especially when you know its not a happy ending. It’s too bad really.
I was basically sick over the extended weekend. Congestion, sore throat, nothing too dire, nothing too fun. The apartment was fairly empty with Titus on a trip and Nicky at work so I was left to my own devices. I basically watched a lot of anime, one movie, played Secret of Mana, attempted some DDR, and did a little work for good measure.
At the end of the day I had a nice feeling of self-satisfaction. Why? Because today was an unusually productive day.
I woke up at 7:00 AM because the service agent from Azuma Leasing was supposed to arrive some time between 7:00 AM and 11:00 AM to fix our washer. Well, as it turned out he didn’t show until about a quarter to 11:00. My parents have been in town since Tuesday so my mom came over to visit while I waited. I finished the code for my first ECE3055 assignment and mom helped me clean almost every aspect of my living space. After the washer was taken care of we headed to a nearby Blimpie for lunch, followed by a grocery run to Publix. After filling my stomach and my refridgerator I had to speed off to class.
Statistics was unexceptional but the Professor Hayter let us out about 15 minutes earlier which was just enough time to head over to the College of Computing and get my ECE3055 project checked off by a TA. Titus’ cute TA friend Maryam wasn’t there so I had to settle for a manly Chinese man. Shucks. With one ECE project down, I headed to Van Leer to meet Michael and take care of my other ECE class. Within another hour we had knocked that project out too. At this point I was already feeling pretty satisfied with the results for the day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to go out to eat with my parents again. They apparently managed to find an excellent restaurant in my absence.
I will close with an idea that I had this evening which totally goes against all reasonable slacker logic that I have known and embraced these years past. That is: To be productive is to be happy. He’s mad I say! Maybe I am. It’s just a thought and by no means complete or all-encompassing. It’s just that when I looked back on today and thought about why it was a good day, I discovered that it was because I got a lot of stuff done. So now, instead of worry about the things I need to do, I’m doing the things I want to do. Maybe others can do that any time but I don’t seem to be so gifted. Regardless, whether I can keep it up or continue to get the same fuzzy feeling remains to be seen.
Titus and I started our day off right with lunch at the shady spot of his choice. Today that place was to be the Olympic Flame; a little place on South Atlanta Road which reminds me of the homely type of burger/cafeteria joint you would have seen twenty years ago. Now this would have been all fine and dandy except that the place closes at noon and we got there at 12:30 PM We had lunch at the Nuevo Laredo Cantina instead. I ordered a chalupa and a chicken enchilada. Now for some reason I had the Taco Bell vision of a chalupa in mind and this was something entirely different. I’m still as picky of an eater as ever and the chalupa had copious quantities of tomatoes and guacamole for me to eat around. It was still good but I don’t think I would order it again.
The next order of business for the day was a trip to my favorite store, Best Buy. Titus had been in the market for a digital camera so at least I’d have an excuse. As for myself, I was set on a copy of the recently released Back to the Future DVD set. I also priced the “Trigun” DVD box set at $150, which apparently is a good price. Ouch. Titus found a couple cameras that met his criteria but eventually left empty-handed. It would later take him another trip to Best Buy and two trips to Wal-Mart before he would come away with a spiffy new Olympus D-550.
