"
We're here for your liver.

But I'm using my liver.

You sign this card?

Yes, but...

Well, we're here for your liver!
"

-Monty Python & The Meaning of Life.

Ah, the flu. You don't cough too much when you actually *have* the flu. But afterwards...

Well.
Then you become an involuntary organ donor.
By hacking up a lung.

I thought it was funny...

In other news, here are a few funny quotes from my various professors:

Normally, professors give you some stats to give you an idea of how you did compared to the rest of the class. But in...

ST 370 (Statistics):
"Can we see the statistics for this test?"
"No, I didn't do them."

The real reason behind this was that he had just finished the grading before he left to go to class. The delivery of the quote just made us all crack up, though.

In my class for C:

CSC 230 (C & Software Tools):
We learned that a computer is really a:

"Supersonic abacus"

and that these abacuses contain:

"amorphous bags of memory"

These are two of the funny analogies that my prof uses to describe programming concepts -- the latter is heap memory. He's a fun guy. Little long-winded, though.

Well.

Hoom.

After seven months of work, my Co-Op is now over. I'm pretty depressed about that. Over the past seven months, I've learned more from what I've been working on than in the past three years at school.

So in seven months, what did I accomplish? Lemme think. From starting on what seemed like a pretty experimental footing, I:

- Wrote a program installed on every flashing station in the department.
- Wrote a testing SUITE that has DU-WIDE implications and uses. It's supposed to be used to satisfy requirements from Cingular.
- Worked with a team of people to design, build, test, and document a new kind of testing platform. This combined both hardware and software knowledge, and was probably the most rewarding project I've worked on, ever. Building the 65-odd page documentation was a very good feeling. To know that your project requires this much detail to be understood was very gratifying.

Those are really just the highlights. The "main" accomplishments. There was so much more that I got to do and learn and experiment with.

This has been the best decision I ever made. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'm going to recommend that EVERYONE do a Co-Op. The people I worked with were knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. They were happy to explain the nitty-gritty details of every question I had to ask. The engineers were experienced in their fields, and had a broad base of knowledge they were happy to share. This was very gratifying. They did not act like I was just a student. They gave my suggestions consideration like I was a peer. And they carefully explained why they did or did not like a certain suggestion. There was no outright refusal to consider something, nor was there a lack of explanation as to why something was not the way to go.

This has been a fun, mind-building exercise. It has helped me to understand the work environment, how to work in a team, how to lead, how to plan, how to keep accounting of what you've done, and how to build acceptable documentation of your work.

I wish it was still May...

Y'know what. During my childhood, and most of my teenage years, I was all for legislating morality to the max. To the extreme, even. If I didn't think it was good, it obviously couldn't be good. But during the past couple of years, more and more of my political opinions have changed to a Libertarian stance -- "just because this is my opinion, doesn't mean it's everyone's opinion".

So what does that mean?
I think Libertarianism really represents the ethos of America as it was supposed to be. Everyone is allowed to do what they think is best, within the bounds of some very basic ground rules (don't go around killing/raping/robbing people are the main ones). The idea is that if someone doing something does not directly interfere with your ability to enjoy life to the fullest, there should be nothing stopping them from doing it. So let's go through some issues and see where I draw the line...

Alcohol: Stays the same as it is, really. The system in place now works fine.

Drugs: This one took me a bit. However, if I'm going to not be hypocritical, I have to allow drugs. I think the correct solution would be to put this decision up to the states so they can set up a state-run agency to administer drug control and distribution. Certainly, DWI laws would remain in place.

Military Spending: The primary and only real purpose of government is to protect the people abiding under that government. The large majority of federal government spending should rightfully be on either disaster relief/prevention programs, law enforcement, or military training, personnel, and war materiel.

Welfare (Social Programs in general): Welfare should be reformed -- cut back significantly. I do not condone "rob from the rich and give to the poor" programs. The federal government is not Robin Hood.

Abortion: This one, also, took me a very long time. I, personally, think abortion should be completely illegal. The only exceptions to this rule would be if the life of the mother is in danger, or if it is a case of rape/incest. However, what I think is right may not be what others think is right. Therefore, if I had to vote, I would vote to allow any reasonable abortion measures to be passed. However, should abortion again be outlawed, I would not be unhappy.

Warfare: Should the situation require the use of armed force, it is necessary that troops be deployed with alacrity and in sufficient numbers to perform the task. Whether or not the situation calls for the use of force is another matter.

Illegal Immigration: It is not in the best interests of the American people to have aliens absorbing a large portion of the low-income jobs in our economy. It is also not in our best interest to have the salaries earned by these individuals be shipped OUT of our economy into another. Therefore, steps should be taken to curb illegal immigration, and promote and expedite legal immigration into the country.

Taxation: It is not necessary to tax people excessively, from a Libertarian standpoint. With smaller government, the people shoulder more personal responsibility, but they also have more resources at their disposal. It is not the responsibility of the government to ensure that everyone has the same things. That is socialism. This is a capitalist society, where you make or break on your own.

Gay Marriage: Here is where it all breaks down. It is true that marriage, as an institution, is a recognition not only by secular authorities, but also religious authorities, of the oneness of two previously separate people. However, marriage is also an institution with deep traditional meaning. This tradition does not include the concept of two people of the same sex being made one. Beyond this, it is nonsensical to provide benefits to gays in the same manner that benefits are provided to heterosexual married couples. They do not perpetuate the society, which is the traditional primary purpose of marriage. Therefore, this is my main break from the Libertarian ethos.

Yep.

I figured I might post. For the first time in a while.

Work work work. Going well is that.

And...I dunno. Stuffstuff.

And if you want to found a chapter of an anime club, we can help you.

Yeah.
Kick 'em where it hurts, guys.

First, use Windex, or some similar cleaning product to clean the LCD. You do this by opening the bottle, and pouring it over the entire unit. Then use clorox to rinse.

Second, take the entire unit and place it in your shower, making sure to turn the unit ON. This may contradict other things you've heard, but it really gets the unit clean. Run the shower for at least 45 minutes with the computer on. Don't worry if the power suddenly goes out, or you hear snaps, crackles, and pops, and see sparks fly from the computer. This just means it's getting that extra deep-down clean.

Congratulations. Your Mac is now clean. And very very dead. You may now proceed to a store and buy a real computer, and cease being gay & retarded. Do not buy into the hype. You do not need to use My First OS anymore.

Buy something like a Dell. Or Toshiba. Or anything but Mac.

Yes, this is a joke. Do not attempt this at home. I'm not liable if you're stupid enough to do it.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...splat.

That was what I was afraid of most of today, while having a grand time hiking up and down Grandfather Mountain somewhere out in western NC. My knee is killing me.

Me buddies Matt & Megan decided to go camping this weekend, and decided to invite me along (that was their first mistake ;)).

We traveled to...somewhere -- a national park...and found out all campsites were full! So we decided to go to Boone, and get a campsite at the KOA there (somewhat more indirectly than that, but meh). So we did! The KOA was not full (w00t!), so we set up the tents and started a fire. Easier said than done. We had Matchlight charcoal with us to cook burgers over...but that didn't work out, since it kinda died after only a few minutes. So I drew upon my vast store of outdoorsman skills and built the cross-hatch fire I remembered from my excursions with the Royal Rangers back in the day. This done, we had a roaring fire (thankfully a full timber pile, also, right next to our campsite). The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, and devoid of bears, snakes, tigers, spiders, and lions (oh my!). Megan made some excellent burgers, armed only with an extend-o-fork and skillet on a rock "stand" I rigged up.

Sometime during the course of the evening, it was decided that we would visit Grandfather Mountain on the morrow (today). I like to hike, so my response was, summarily, "w00t". So today, we packed up the Jeep, destroyed our fire (after cooking a pretty durn good breakfast), and headed to GM. I've lived in "the mountains" for most of my life, but the scenery was still pretty awesome. Anywhat, we arrived at GM after a while (most of which I spent reading my book, in order to not be terrified), and parked at the "Museum". Rowan (the dog) was not allowed to go down to the animal habitats, so we proceeded up the mountain to the hiking trails. We parked at the low end, and hiked to the "Mile High Bridge", which is a metal suspension bridge across the chasm between two lower peaks of GM. I have a mortal fear of heights. BUT I CROSSED THE BRIDGE!! O_O. I accomplished this by pretending I had blinders on, like a horse, and only seeing the end of the bridge.

So after crossing and returning across the bridge, we went to the "Grandfather Trail". Looking at the nearly-sheer start of the trail, I scoffed at the idea of there actually being any grandfathers ON the trail...lo and behold, halfway in, a dude in his late 60s comes trotting down the mountain, followed by (what I think was) his wife! While they may not have had grandchildren, they certainly could have qualified! Not to be put to shame, I trudged up the mountain, led by Rowan, who was eagerly attempting to lead the pack...and only succeeding in finding the end of his leash.

On a side note, GM has the most gnats I have EVER seen! Before beginning the hike, we put on bug spray, and set out. About halfway up the second trail, I looked at my arms, and I had a steady COATING of small black flecks. On closer inspection, the flecks had wings, revealing them as gnats!

Unfortunately, at the end I was defeated by the mountain. There was a particular climb that did not look conducive to my particular strength (leg moving), and seemed to depend largely on upper body strength, which I am sadly lacking. Supposedly, beyond that climb, there were four "ladders" to take you to the summit.

Matt and his buddy TC went to the summit and came back, having taken pictures. We then went back to the cars (about 3/4 mile). Going downhill SOUNDS easy. But it's not when it's a mountain with giant rocks and mud and whatnot in the trail. Lots of aerobic "up, down, up, down" involved.

After returning to the Museum (which also houses the only restaurant for 20 miles in any direction), I spent half an hour in the bathroom. And then got lunch. The food was ex$pensive. The real trouble was when I went to sit down and wait for my food. I couldn't! During the process of sitting, I got stuck about 1/3 of the way to the seat. After some confusion on my part, I sort of threw myself at the seat backwards. My knees all but creaked, and I plopped into the chair with a "flump".

Then, it was back to Raleigh, in the back seat of the Jeep. For those of you that haven't ridden in a Jeep, the back seat of Cherokee is not the roomiest accomodations for those of us over 6' in height. And I am by no means flexible under the best of circumstances. Five hours later finds us back in R-Town, with my knee deciding it wants to be a pain. So now I walk with a limp.

But was it worth it? You betcha.

Well.

I had fun today. Got to go to my buddy Brad's wedding!
(Congrats, Brad & V!)

That entailed much running around (but not nearly as much as the tuxes entailed for Brad [see pun?]). It was in Wilmington, which is as far east in NC as you can go on I-40 (it literally ENDS in Wilmington). But the drive wasn't that bad. 75mph straight there and back.

I got to meet all his family and some of the friends. It was a Catholic ceremony, so that was a bit different than the other weddings I've attended, which have been Protestant or secular.

The big news is:


I *DANCED* O_O. Yes me. Yes dance. Scary, ain't it?
That's about it for news from the wedding (met a few nice young ladies, but wouldn't be proper to go into detail...).



Oh. Right. My friend Ahmed quoted me after I corrected "quintessential" for him.

Ahmed: My [friend] is the quintessial layperson.
Me: quintessential?
Me: I AM THE PAPER CLIP! ( get it...Word...the stupid paper clip...?)

YeahI'madork...

Java is the language of the devil.

Actually it's not. That's a false statement.

*THE PROGRAMS THAT I HAVE TO DO FOR CSC 316* are the SPAWN of the devil.

Java still needs to die, though. I have this weird error where I'll get stuck in an infinite loop every third time or so. Grah.

Hehe...

A friend brought up a good point. CHASS majors don't understand why engineers take 12-16 hour semesters.

They don't know about the conversion factor.

One engineering credit hour is approximately equal to 1.5 humanities hours. So, if we're taking 12 hours, we're really taking 18 hours. If we're taking 16 hours, we're taking the CHASS equivalent of 24 hours. That, my friends, is a lot of work.

Engineers breeze through humanities classes because te workload is extremely light and inconsequential as compared to, say...ECE 220 -- "Math for ECEs".

So basically, until some CHASS major decides to take 24 hours, they'll never experience a typical ECE workload.

Same goes for management students. PAMS and those guys are fine, though. They actually do some work.