blueswede

work harder than anyone and gain nothing

5:30 at night, and it's already dark. This darkness may be
the only thing that would keep me from trying to stay around
here after I graduate. Hell, in Indiana, we don't have this
little daylight until almost the dead of winter.

So I had an interesting weekend, to say the least. I ended
up pulling an all-nighter Saturday, and got about 90% of my
CS project done, then went running in the rain. Problem is,
that kind of fucked up my sleeping schedule, and being kept
up by my asshole neighbors until 3:30 last night when I had
a midterm this morning didn't help. I'm as fatigued as all
hell, but I fear that napping will just screw things up even
more. Ideally I could go to bed early tonight, but I've got
some work to do in the lab, plus a fair amount of reading to
do for neuroscience. And I want to work out.

I'm pissed at my neighbors for keeping me up last night, and
I'm pissed that I worked so much over the weekend on the CS
project when we got an extension on it today. I bust my ass
to get done on time, and the lazy fuckers in there manage to
get the due date pushed back. I normally wouldn't begrudge
them a little extra time, because let's face it, CS is hard,
and having this project during midterm week is a recipe for
disaster. But then I remember last year, when I wrote a Six
Degrees of Kevin Bacon game in three days and got 100% on it
in the midst of a game theory exam and a research paper. My
intent is not to brag; the exam was curved like hell and the
paper was 3/4 done by the time I started the project. When
all was said and done, though, I didn't request an extension
on a project just because it coincided with everything else
or because it was hard. I locked myself in my room and got
the thing done.

Now yeah, this project is a little daunting at first, mainly
because it's hard to understand given what's been covered in
lecture. But once you get going, it's cake. This situation
does not call for extensions; it calls for meeting with the
professor or bringing it up in class. That's beneficial in
the long run as well, because you get to know your professor
and you're liable to get better treatment than the dude who
chills out in the back and bitches about not receiving good
project specifications. That's how I learned how to do the
compiler project last year (which, by the way, was among the
more satisfying projects).

It wouldn't really bother me if those of us who finished on
time for the original due date got some extra credit or some
such reward (other than being able to sit on our asses while
the other people work). But of course, that would be a big
hassle for the grad students who grade our projects. So of
course, the answer is no.

So, what do I intend to do with the time? Probably spend it
in the metal shop. I'm close to being done with my project,
though the remaining stuff is really the hard part. I have
some sanding, welding, and heating/shaping to do, then I'll
be done. The sanding will probably be fun, all told, but as
for the others, they're shaping up to be nasty. Welding is
tricky, especially since we're arc-welding. The heat should
not be too bad, though it'll be hard if I don't have someone
to help me with the torch while I do the shaping. But with
any luck, the finished product will be worth all this hassle
and trouble; I'm making a wristblade and shield.

Pinball is coming along. My top score on the Twilight Zone
is now 459,396,690, and I scored a free game on the T2 game,
which was fun. I may gun for the high score list on that as
well, though it'll be hard, seeing as there are very limited
opportunities for points without following a specific path.
I also probably play a bit heavy-handed for that particular
machine; every round, I've got the ball flying all over the
place, hitting the glass, landing on rails when it shouldn't
be able to, etc. I even got it stuck in the most impossible
position the other day, and we had to nearly tip the machine
over to get it loose. Needless to say, that led to one hell
of a TILT.

Nothing new socially, but what do you expect in three days?
I'm keeping my eyes open though; eventually someone's bound
to be impressed by my prowess at something. I have met some
new people at the arcade, no women though. Of course, being
observant doesn't necessarily help you meet people, as most
of us know all too well. How do you approach a stranger? I
guess the best thing to do is keep meeting people, and hope
to run across people who know people. Gah, so much people.

Now while the arcade is probably a shitty place to even try
to meet women (though they might seriously be my type), the
gym would ostensibly be a good place. Unfortunately I'm in
a bit of a no-man's-land with my training; I lift more than
most people there, and I'm in good cardiovascular condition,
but you'd never know it by looking at me. It makes everyday
life a little less fun, but I do enjoy watching the sorts of
reactions I get when I outrun skinny people and outlift guys
with better muscle definition.

And on that note, I'm off to the gym. Gotta have a measure
of fun in your day, right?

This is Dave, signing off.