Life Update

Wow. It seems as if something crazy is always underway. This week was certainly no exception. Friday, life decided that everything should happen at once. At 1:00, I had to give a speech in Interpersonal Communication, 2:00 I began registration except that I had a test in COS 250. So I worked on scheduling at 3:00 instead. This in itself has been a mess. I've worked through three different schedules, and each one seems to blow up in my face. Perhaps I should just decide on a major and give up the whole flexibility plan.

COS 250 still 0wnZ my soul. It's ridiculous - every weekend is consumed by it and many weeknights too. If Blacksheep and I aren't working on a lab, we're working on a machine problem. Either way, it translates to 8+ hours of pure fun. And if that isn't enough we have other work - reading interactions, tests, machine problem designs... bah. If all of computer science was like 250, I would have dropped it by now.

Aaron (my roommate) got back from home today. He goes home nearly every weekend to see his special lady friend. This weekend it was prom. Unfortunately, when he came back his back really started to hurt. I mean really bad - he was practically in tears. It didn't go away and his brother took him to the emergency room - we'll have to see how this one plays out.

Week Reflection

It certainly has been a full week. I'll briefly outline it for you, then comment and wrap this one up to upset the recently wordy post balance.

• Monday
  
  
  
  • Machine Problem for COS 240 (Business Application Design)
    
  • Rough draft due in Expository Writing about my "Academic Discourse Community"
    
  • Lab due in COS 250
    
  
  
• Wednesday
  
  
  
  • Quiz in COS 240
    
  • Essay due in Expos
    
  • Test in Interpersonal Communication
    
  
  
• Thursday
  
  
  
  • Machine Problem due in COS 250
    
  
  
• Friday
  
  
  
  • Quiz in COS 240
    
  • Quiz in Expos
    
  • Reading Interaction due for COS 250
    
  
  

To keep it interesting, I will resist rambling about various aspects of the week. I think you can see how fun it has been. Just enjoy the specs below:

Tests: 1
Quizzes: 3
All nighters: 3
Consecutive days awake: 2 (but with limited functionality)
Record sleep ratio: 6/41 hours

P.S. - I do not in any way endorse my sleeping habits...

Machine Problem 2 = Doom

(Click to Enlarge)*

I thought I was a procrastinator. It turns out that my computer science professor has written the book on procrastination. To understand the whole situation, we must trace the timeline back about a week ago:

Early in the week we were introduced to our new machine problem. Typically, the introduction explains enough of the basic gist of a problem to allow us to work on the design of the problem. In other words, Dr. Geisler said something to the effect of, "Your new machine problem will be a simulation of a trucking company and you will track some statistics about the inventory." After drawing a few diagrams, pointing out some of the details of the problem, and allowing us to ask questions, he assured us that he would make the specifications of the problem available to us online soon. He also mentioned that it was possible for some of the details of the problem to change, but the written specifications would be final.

Thursday rolled around and we turned in our design for the problem. Friday rolled around and we still did not have the specifications of the machine problem yet, so we brought it up in class. Dr. Geisler explained that he was busy with the Programming Contest, but during the contest he would sit down and work on it. The weekend passed, and Tuesday rolled around. At precisely 12:18 PM, we were given the problem specs in finalized form. Jay and I thought it prudent to sit down and read through them. While we read, we came up with list of questions that we needed to ask in class the next day. One of the questions was that we couldn't seem to make our numbers match his and we needed to know if we were in error. At this point, we had not began the programming and fully expected Dr. Geisler to postpone the due date at least a day or two.

Wednesday, 2:05 PM: "Dr. Geisler, when will the machine problem be due?" I queried. Dr. Geisler responded, "We talked about the specifications in class a week ago so I hadn't planned on moving back the due date." That was an instant jaw dropper. I was absolutely petrified, furious, and shocked. Masking my dismay, I continued to work through our list of questions. I asked about his math on the example input and output. Guess what? It turned out to be incorrect.

Let me spell out exactly what was running through my mind: "We just got the specifications 26 hours ago, your example is incorrect, there are other typos in the sheet, and the Machine Problem is due in 20 hours. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" This was the ultimate insanity. I immediately knew that all my sleep was doomed for the night.

So here I sit, we just finished the Machine Problem and it is 5:30 in the morning. Jay and I are definitely skipping lab this morning. I offer proof that procrastination is bad, unless you are a professor.

*This image is an example of what happens when you study, program, or even think too much, too late about COS 250.

Programming Contest

Today Blacksheep (Jay - my lab partner), Dan (from Second Berg), and I participated in Taylor's Programming Contest as novice participants. Our ulterior motive was the bonus points for COS 250 - each problem that we solved during the contest scored us one bonus point added directly to our final grades. In the four hours the contest ran, we managed to solve 3 of the 8 problems and were just minutes from solving a fourth. No one was able to solve the last two problems in the allotted time. I was really happy that we got 3 problems, because on average both the novice and advanced teams solved 3 to 5 problems. I was amazed at how much I was able to pick up even during the stress of the contest. I will definitely participate in another contest given the opportunity!

Announcement

If you read my April 1st post, Happy Belated April Fools! If you didn't, [strongly worded ultimatum]. If I didn't enjoy writing all this nonsense so much, I would probably just give up on my blog. Nate's Nukes gets less hits in a week than Hummers get miles out of a gallon of gas in city driving.

So what's new? I'm back at Taylor. I enjoyed Spring Break, even though it was entirely too short. We've been having lovely weather recently, although I think Ohio didn't get the spring memo. Last Thursday: 70 degrees, Saturday: Snow. How did that happen?

In other news, my car hit 55,000 miles coming back to Taylor and is still running strong! I love seeing the odometer roll over. I nearly ran out of gas coming back, the yellow gas light was practically screaming, "You're screwed!" As I was driving back I had about another 30 miles left in the tank, and I hadn't found any stations nearby. Thirty miles later, ahhh, still nothing! Just a small tip: If the sign has the little gas pump (see image) - panic and DON'T get off at that exit. There won't be a gas station in sight. Wait until you see a Citgo, Speedway, BP, Shell, or other logo on the exit sign. I drove through one too many invisible towns. Well, I need to wrap up some homework. Leave me a message, and please leave your name!

"The little gas pump that lies."

Formal Apology...

At about 8:30 this morning I had a phone call. Needless to say I was less than thrilled to get up that early on my Spring Break. You'll never guess who was on the other end. My paranoia finally proved that it was justified. I was greeted by Dr. Mary Muchiri's attorney. Lucky me. I was asked to formally apologize for the comments that I have made about her and Expository Writing, or face legal action. So here it is:

Dr. Muchiri,
I would like to take the time to ask for your forgiveness. I have made some posts that were less than flattering about your class and your teaching methods. I also would like to confess that several times in conversations with friends and classmates, I made comments that were also inappropriate. I will remove the offending posts from my Blog, and will be more respectful in my speech. Once again, I want to apologize for my actions.

Sincerely,
Nate Smith

For everyone reading this, I am a changed man. In the future I will be less cynical, sarcastic, and pessimistic. In addition, I am considering shutting down Nate's Nukes. Too many of the comments can be taken the wrong way, and I would hate to offend someone else. I have yet to make a final decision, but expect one in the next 48 hours.

Spring Break

Spring Break has been a sad excuse to procrastinate. That isn't to say that I've done nothing. In fact, I have been keeping quite busy. I won't bore you with the details, but thus far I bought new shoes, went to my church's Easter service, partied at Jennifer's, hung out with Brad, chilled at Joey's house, and worked two days at Family Pools. All these activities were ways of avoiding my latest Expository Writing paper. Without a doubt, John Perry's essay, Structured Procrastination, was written about me. Heck, my name is part of procrastinate.

On another note, in an effort to continue avoiding my paper, I got the quote section of the site up and running. I only have about 15 quotes so far, but expect more as time goes on. Now that it is a quarter till 1:00, perhaps I will get to work on that paper. Why am I nocturnal?