Bacon Turkey Alpha

Current Mood: worried
Current Music: "Don't Bring Me Down" by The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

I've actually had a few of you clamor for an update. I don't have that fancy LJ cut, so count your blessings that I skipped four lengthy surveys I was considering. I lost the gumption. I don't really have anything to write, but I've got a lot on my mind. Blech.

*The calc test sucked harder than I thought it would. Nobody I heard liked it much, and a few people just walked out. A nice, depressing anchor just prior to finals.
*Still waiting results on the CS lab practical. They lied, it was not focused on arrays. Brad and I struck a deal: whoever gets a higher score buys the other one breakfast. Win-win situation.
*CGT CATIA exam went much better than expected. My plan for studying beforehand fell through, and I'd pretty much gotten the impression you either did well on the hand sketch exam or the CATIA exam, not both. I worried about it, but I got my grade back today... 93, bitches. Too bad it's only two credit hours and not part of my EAI. Does enjoying and doing well in one entry level class make considering a minor make sense?
*CS project was okay. Most of the early meetings I missed for exams and meetings, but once I got through that I spent almost a dozen hours working on trying to code this monster. My only real brilliant maneuver was when I suggested using fflush to fix a small problem. My group really kicked things up a notch and we got most of the project done, and presented it on Wednesday. The other groups seemed to have trouble, also.
*My final COM group speech was presented Monday, after actually practicing it (unlike my other three...). I think it went decently, including my CATIA model of the billboard. We easily nailed the time limit and spoke well overall. We got grilled in the Q & A session for 20 minutes, but I do not anticipate any major setbacks.

Those all hit me just before dead week. Now I've hit that lull right before finals. I've lost that soul-crushing amount of work due each day. I should be studying hours upon hours each day, but I can't bring myself to do it. I've never been the one to study for more than a few hours for any given test or exam. "Cramming" for hours on end just doesn't do it.

Finals week schedule:
Saturday: Christmas Show with Jenny, Corporate Gig with SOF
Sunday: work, study
Monday: study
Tuesday: Calc final
Wednesday: work, study
Thursday: study
Friday: CS final
Saturday: Physics final
Sunday: work (end at noon)

I will be leaving Purdue for winter break either Sunday afternoon (18th) or Monday (19th). From the looks of things, Amtrak is probably going to see me again. I have no idea how my break will turn out, honestly. My friends at OSU and most other schools are already home or finishing this week, which shifts some things. Transportation (home and around town) is virtually non existent. Dad is broke, which means my FAFSA and student loans are going to be a real treat. I cannot wait to see Erica and Brad. I don't know where Mom is. Christmas...I don't even want to think about. I think the tree is going up this weekend. Even my funds are looking tight, since I'm going to get hit with books for next semester before I can say "winter break".

Honestly, Christmas break will probably look like one of two scenarios:

(1) Christmas at home
With no car and virtually no money, I arrive via Amtrak on the 19th. Dad picks me up at Union Terminal and I come home and set up my bag in the corner of my room. The tree is up and most of the Christmas traditions we have are cancelled or suspended since Mom is nowhere to be found and Grandma doesn't want to take sides. Erica, Bradley, Dadly, and I open a few gifts we managed to get for each other. Afterward, I visit David's house for a few nights before they go back to school. I spend the rest of my time at home, worrying over my grades. Returning on the 6th, I go back to work and prepare for another semester.

-or-

(2) Indiana Winter Break Extravaganza
Bolt home after work. Spend a few days with Dad, Erica, and Brad, open a few presents. Visit a few people. The day after Christmas, find transportation to Angola, IN to go on a 4 day skiing adventure with John. Right around New Years, I hitch a ride to Indy and stay with Alex for a few days. When he's sick of me, he drops me off in Kokomo to say hi to Jenny for a day or two. Finally, work beckons me back to the land of the Boilermakers before classes on the 6th.

At any rate, this is *the* winter break. I will find out my grades and my EAI and it determines a lot of my future college career. I'm starting to get sick to my stomach thinking about it. I'm very nervous. I need very certain grades in my hardest grades, and I won't know until almost the end of December. This will determine if I have earned the right to subject myself to even harsher punishment, the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. If I do not make it, I will be very upset. I will also have a difficult set of decisions to make that I won't put here (yet).

Add on some terrible dreams, lately. A not-so-healthy diet of stress and dining hall food. Not enough sleep. More stress. All this snow is very festive, but I don't know if there's any point to making a Christmas List anyway.

I probably haven't gone completely insane yet because of the Ship of Fools. John and I are becoming really good friends (trying to look for a house next year together). Scott, whom I just am getting to know, is leaving for a job in Chicago (but not before helping me with several CS 158 assignments and introducing me to Panera, Settlers of Catan, and 1000 Blank White Cards, quite possibly the coolest game ever). He will be sorely missed. Andy continues to stretch all of our imaginations with twists such as "The Human Pyramid Game", "Jew-Run-Run", and "Funeral Quirks", and likes to double date. At one point, Adam, Marc and Jenny [Ford] barged into my room while I was working on my CS project to demand I go to Ship of Fools. Benji, my second, continues to be a source of wisdom, guidance, and awesome.

On a nerdier note (yes, even moreso than the SOF), D&D has finished for the semester. My now level 04 Paladin survived his first campaign, and we should be attempting a new Star Wars d20 based roleplaying game next semester.