My professor only required me to do half the final and the rest for extra credit so I've turned in at least that and now it's back to the paper.
However I"m taking the rest of the night off and I'll dive back into the paper tomorrow.
Got almost all of my transportation for the epic May thing done, still need to do the Graduation arrangements but at least I have plane tickets.
Bit less stress is a good thing.
It's been a few weeks, kind of been doing school and nothing else.
Almost done with my last real class, got my final exam today and it looks doable. Have a paper that is about 3/4 written and then an Expert Systems thing to do and six more days to do it in, but it's not impossible.
This class is hard, Artificial Intelligence Programming, but it's fascinating. Haven't done much around the house since the roommates left, need to get on that, and need to finish making reservations for the trips this summer, but so far so good.
I emailed family but if anyone else wants to come to graduation let me know and I'll get out details. It's June 7th here in San Diego.
Back to school work!
Got an A in Artificial Intelligence! I put a lot of work into it so I'm very happy about that, and very happy with my professor for being a bit more accommodating to my schedule that he really had to be. That gives me a 3.36 GPA with only this one class left grade wise (the last two classes don't count towards my GPA).
So after two weeks of letting my brain rest and doing lots of non school type stuff I'm back, pretty much non stop till May 2nd when I'm done! Even with another A this month I won't get a 3.5 but I'm fine with 3.3 to 3.4. I've ordered the new textbooks for this class, it's called "AI Programming" which should be pretty intense.
One paper (at least) and I have my first few assignments, big assignments, but I'm actually pretty excited. I really needed that break!
Roommates are pretty much out, Salvation Army is coming to pick stuff up any min. I'm not nearly done re-arranging things but I'll work on it as time goes on. My goal is a min of 5 to 6 hours of real school work a day, adding to that if I need to, taking Sunday off and possibly Saturday if I feel comfortable. That is still less than a full time job so maybe I'll extend it, but it's time to get focused and learn this stuff.
So I'm all rambling but very excited!!
After almost 15 years the Kitchen Aid mixer has finally died. It only has two speeds now, really really fast so the flour ends up all over the kitchen, and labored I think it may explode. So I found the new fancy one on sale and ordered it. More than I wanted to spend but I figure if this one lasts me another 15 years it's more than worth it.
Poor mixer, lots of bread, cookies, a ton of pretzels and quite a few pizzas, he served me well. Now Good Will gets him.
He took pity on me and changed some stuff around. I have one paper in and am (sort of) diligently working on my final exam. I've given myself until Sunday to finish this and then I'm off to Sedona for a week. That gives me a whole other week to just chill out and do stuff around the house.
My roommates are moving out, one will be gone by the new year and the other by the end of Jan. I may have another roommate soon, I'll talk about it if it really happens, but that means I'll take that week to repaint that room and clean the carpets. I also get to reorganize the kitchen and the garage! I may steal a friend with a pick up and get him to run a bunch of crap to the dumb, it will be the perfect time to do that. I bet with a promise of lunch he'll do it :)
So I can do this, working on the final, want to have min half of it done before I goof off tonight. That gives me two days to do the second half, and since I"m doing the easy stuff first the time frame is actually reasonable.
I just sent my professor a big old email telling him that this 30 page paper isn't going to happen. I feel like he's asking me for graduate level work when I first started learning about this stuff three weeks ago, and I really want the two week break I'm supposed to get at the end of the year. I'm frazzled and fried and we do this again in January.
Maybe that makes me not as capable as other students but I really don't want to fail this class and I really really want to learn this stuff, but I can't write a journal level paper in a few weeks on a subject I've never seen before, it's just not going to happen.
We'll see what he says, I'm still not completely finished with the first paper, though all I'm missing is the tic-tac-toe game, which is done except for the AI part. You know, the whole point, but the rest is done and works!
This class is supposed to end a week from today though he seems willing to extend it to the end of the month. The problem with that is that I have been non-stop in school since July and I really need those two weeks. I have him again in Jan for the Advanced AI class, and I shudder to think what that is going to entail if he wants journal level papers for the introduction class, but I'll deal with that next month.
I really want this class to be finished a week from today and then take two weeks to just relax and recharge. That means getting that game working and doing this really huge final, but that is part of what I signed up for. I mean the first question on his final was the big project the last time this class was taught at NU. I don't think that question is going to get an answer to be honest, but it's only 10 points and the rest seems doable.
So maybe this means I can't 'hack' it but I just can't do this, not at this level and not in the time available. Maybe if this wasn't my first course in the subject but yah, not going to happen.
We'll see what he says, but for now I'm going to try to get this program working and start on that final.
I haven't written a real program since February and it's showing. It's something I really need to do pretty much every day. I know what I want to do, it's the actual implementation that is giving me fits. I'm glad I'm doing this before the big senior project though, hopefully I'll be back into the habit again by then.
The second AI class is approved for January, same professor. Be prepared for just as much stress but I won't have Physics class to compete with my attention and hopefully will have more of a clue.
Turned in a rough draft for my fist paper and I have my final exam, even though it's not due till the 31st. Looking over it, some I can do right this moment, which is encouraging, and of the rest, all but one looks doable right now and the other one we'll see. I'm going to start on that tonight, doing at least the stuff I know.
Maybe I can do this =)
In case anyone is watching the news the F18 hit south of Miramar, I'm North, I didn't even hear it.
The pictures are scary as hell and all over the news, but myself and everyone I know are ok.
I'm done with Physics. Ok not really but I just did my last online problem, the lab on Tuesday doesn't get written up so it's just studying for the final on the 16th left. That is a big release of stress, so that helps :)
I extremely dislike the stereotype attention starved, usually a teenager, posting all of their woes on the internet looking for sympathy and drama. However the idea is that I'm supposed to be recording both the ups and downs here I go.
I don't know if I can do this. For the first time I'm really doubting my ability to finish this degree. I've got a 3.3 gpa so National seems to think I'm competent but I don't know if I can write these papers.
I've done all the things you're supposed to do when you're frustrated, I did my other class's homework, I took an evening totally off, hell I'm home on a Friday night, didn't even look to go out because I have to work on this.
I've not understood things before, the hardware circuit class or the Linear Algebra class, but this feels different. I'm reading and I am learning things I just don't know if I can produce what I'm required to produce.
So I take a deep breath and keep plugging along, that is the job, but yah, this one is really getting me down.
So this class isn't what I was expecting. I'm not programming at all, I'm writing papers. This is still a good thing, I'm trying to learn a lot, but it's a different format than I was expecting. Two papers in four weeks is a touch overwhelming and I don't feel like I have the fundamentals down at ALL so we'll see how this goes.
First paper is on Tic Tac Toe, which is more complicated than I would have thought. There are algorithms on how to determine what move the computer makes, and I've found examples etc. I figure my first paper will define what AI actually is and what it isn't. I will get a terminator reference in there =) Then talk about Tic Tac Toe and why it's a beginner type program. Then I think he wants me to find out what people are researching about it currently and I don't see that happening.
The second paper will be more complicated, about something that is more current (I think, I'm still a bit fuzzy). This is useful but I"m really not sure how to go about it.
Then I have a final exam and I have NO idea what would be on that since I'm not doing any programming or assignments. I'll talk to my professor about it after this first paper is done.
So I'm fleshing out my outline and trying to find sources. Still have Physics to do which isn't helping as I have to learn that stuff and get the homework etc done. That final is on the 16th and the final paper is due that weekend. Busy Busy December, but then I've got two weeks with no homework and I'm greatly looking forward to that. Just need to get the next two and a half weeks done and very productive.
Just one more homework assignment and then the final tomorrow and Networking is in the bag. It's just getting the motivation together to actually finish this homework.
Thanksgiving plans consist of driving out to Sedona on Sunday. Spending a week there and then it's back for the rest of my Physics class. Only a few more weeks of that and then it's done. I'm kind of mixed on that, I really enjoy the professor and the class, but it's a real pita to go downtown twice a week so I won't miss the drive.
My AI book is on it's way to my grandparents place, I'm excited to get up and running on that. It's going to be hard, and very programming intensive, but it's finally something I'm actually interested in, so hopefully that will make the difference. That and the lack of four plus hour classes twice a week may help a lot more.
Ok, back to homework
So I've mentioned a few times that I was trying to get the Artificial Intelligence elective for December. It had been unofficially approved for a while now, but today it was finally 'officially' approved! That means that I'm no longer enrolled in Advanced Java!! This is great because even if I don't get the second AI elective that class is Wireless Devices and that would at least be useful, or not a waste of time.
So I don't know who my professor is yet, I have no idea what my book is, but I'm in! That means I have to finish up this week's Networking, final on Saturday and homeworks and such, and then it's off to something that actually interests me. Also hopefully I'll not have to sit in a lecture for four an a half hours twice a week which will make life just that much better.
Huge relief, and possibly learning something that may help me get a job, overall I'm pretty happy =)
Two papers down, got about 1/3 of the homework finished and still have a whole 24 hours before anything is due. Also read four really thick books but didn't really leave the house all weekend.
Only a week left of networking, and I'm still not officially set for the AI classes, they're still looking for professors for me. If that doesn't come through I'll end up taking Advanced Java next month and I really don't want to do that.
So today it's Physics and Networking homework and possibly some gardening, depending on how the foot holds up.
Found another thing that distinguishes a 'traditional' college student and one like me who has gone back.
Cleaning a house I've lived in for almost 8 years. Most college students are in dorms or small apartments. They don't have a lot of stuff, maybe clothes and shoes but not a lot of ... stuff. Stuff stays at the 'rents house, you only take what you need to school.
Well not so much for me. I'm not a huge fan of cleaning, and while I do tend to give neat freaks panic attacks I'm not usually dirty, it's just that clutter doesn't bother me like it does some people. I'm also very 'out of site out of mind'. So in my bedroom I have a cedar chest my grandmother bought for me when I graduated from High School. It had my collection of stuffed animals on it and ends up being a desk of sorts.
I do all of my school work and most of my household paper work type stuff on my bed in my room. It's more comfortable and with my hip issues it's just easier. Add that to the fact I sleep alone half of my bed is normally covered with school books and papers etc. Well whenever I would change the sheets all of that would get stacked onto the cedar chest, the piles just getting higher and higher.
Today I tackled that project and I am happy to say that the only textbooks on the chest are the ones I am currently using, and it sports a bunch of family photos. All the clothes that were in there had been in there for about 8 years so it all went into bags for Good Will. Lots of papers dealing with old classes and other stuff I don't need, so three bags of trash later, and a LOT of dust later, much less clutter. The stuffies are in the chest and I even conditioned the wood.
Tomorrow is back to schoolwork, but the next break I get I go after the closet. Less dust but more stuff, Good Will loves me.
We life in extraordinary times, we accomplished something yesterday that had never been done and we are better for it. I echo Michelle's comment that she took so much over, for the first time in my adult life, I'm proud to be an American.
I've said this before, but I now can relate just a little bit more to people of my parent's generation being so excited about JFK. I actually have faith in someone in the government. He's not perfect, he's not the second coming of anything, but I honestly respect him, and I have faith that he is going to do the best he can, and that is all I think anyone can ask from anyone else.
There is a State Senator from 'up north' that I believe will do the best thing also. Beyond that I've never believed in a politician.
The Untied States of America whose origins were seeped in the horrors of slavery just elected a black President. The White House was built by African slaves, and now the First Family is African American. Two beautiful little girls will join the very exclusive club as children who grow up in that house, Michelle is going to be a fantastic First Lady, and we have a President of the United States that not only brings out the patriot in me, but one I believe in.
He's moving into this position under the worst economy 'in 100 years', two wars, one of which we have to get out of and the other needs to be fought and won. People don't have jobs, health care, and while gas prices have plummeted they're going to go back up. This country needs another New Deal, we need jobs, our infrastructure is literally collapsing and it needs to be fixed. I truly believe that Obama is the man for the job.
As far as taxes go, there are people I love dearly whose tax burden will raise. Not a lot, and under where it was under Regan, and even under some of Clinton's reign, but it will go up. However I'm ok with less Christmas presents or trips or whatever to have a healthy economy and an infrastructure. We have to pay for this war and while it's a bit snarky everyone I know whose taxes will go up voted for Bush, twice, so they having to sacrifice to help clean up the mess he's leaving behind really doesn't bother me too much.
And you know what, after all of the history that we're living, after the relief that sanity just might come back to Washington, the expectations that I might actually be able to get affordable health insurance eventually, one things stands above.
Biden loves trains almost as much as I do.
So even for me, the white 30 something who still doesn't have her Bachelor's degree, even for me there is something specific for me to get excited about because of this election.
So, President-Elect Obama, thank you for running a level headed magnificent campaign. Thank you for giving me hope and restoring my faith in the possibility that a politician might actually be genuine. Thank you for doing what you're doing during my lifetime so I can witness this amazing accomplishment. And thank you, in advance, for my new trains.
Yesterday was something that I will never forget. I still haven't organized my thoughts about what we accomplished last night, what this means for our country and the world.
There was a lady in Atlanta, 106 years old, the child of a slave, who was able to vote for the first African American President. For the first time in my life I"m excited about a President.
All of this is tempered by California. While it's not done yet it's looking like Prop 8 might pass. My state is about to inscribe bigotry into our state constitution. One of the reasons I live in California is the political climate, but this just disappoints me more than I can describe. I can't put into words my anger and disappointment that tempers my joy at the Presidential election.
What makes me the most angry is that this was apparently bankrolled by out of state Mormons. So a religion is trying to dictate our secular laws, and that is abhorrent to me. The fact that so much money came from out of state bothers me even more. The fact that I used to proudly call myself Mormon is a personal thing that I'm going to have to come to terms with, but for the first time I'm actually considering asking that my name is removed from their rolls. It never mattered to me before but I can not, will not, be a part, even if it's a name in a database, of an institution that actively promotes bigotry.
Separate but equal does not work and is not alright. Prejudice should never be tolerated in any form and it's breaking my heart that the day my country finally crosses such an important line dealing with one minority we vote to suppress another.
I guess I am ready to express my detestation and sorrow when dealing with Prop 8. It tempers the joy I felt last night, I cried as Obama was announced as our President, but my tears at Prop 8 are of sorrow.
