Wow

zomgs, Judy's engaged! Way to go Kelvin!

Pi Day

Happy Pi Day! Note the time =).

Warmth

Wow, it looks like my complaining about the weather has paid off. It's 68 degrees outside today. I see people out with shorts and a shirt. I think I'm going to leave lab early and enjoy this weather while I can.

Spring Break

I went back home to California for spring break and it was great. Family, friends, food, and of course, Magic. And the weather was awesome. It started out cold and rainy, but it was sunny and warm by the time I left. I don't think I'll see that kind of weather in Michigan until May if I'm lucky. Right now it's 26 degrees in Ann Arbor, and 67 degrees in San Jose. Is it bad if I'm already counting the days before I go back?

Real Winter

It's been awhile since I posted to this, so I figured now would be a good time. Also, Jarrod is away at ASPDAC in Japan presenting one of his papers, George is done with his Ph.D. and working at Lockheed Martin in Philidelphia, and Jin is out visiting George while her advisor is also away at ASPDAC, there's not much else to do.

So the new semester has started, and things aren't bad. The courses I'm taking are Cryptology, Intro to AI, and Microarchitecture. I'm mostly taking Cryptology to fulfill a degree requirement, but the content of the class is pretty interesting as well. So far it's been a lot on complexity classes, which reminds me of CS170. The homeworks we get are pretty tough, and that's a lot like CS170 as well. The good thing is that we can work on the homeworks in groups. The bad thing is that Kevin isn't here this time around to tell me all the answers.

I'm taking Intro to AI to fulfill another degree requirement. Unlike my other classes, Intro to AI is an undergrad level class, and it shows. We were talking about various puzzles in class, and my professor brings up Missionaries and Cannibals. To demonstrate how the puzzle worked, he had 6 students get up in front of the class to figure out the solution on the spot, and then act it out. What could have taken 5 minutes took about half an hour. Why am I waking up early for this class?

Microarchitecture is being taught by the same professor I took Parallel Computing Architectures with, Professor Austin. He's one of the most laid back professors I've ever had, which is both good and bad. It's good because there's not much work to do for that class, but it's also bad because I'm worried I won't learn much in this class, which kinda sucks because Microarchitecture is the only class I really care to learn anything about. The content of the class is geared towards modern computer architectures, with an emphasis on low power, reliability, and application specific designs. I think it should be pretty good.

The only other thing I really want to talk about is the weather. It is friggin' cold in Michigan, and after trudging through the snow for a week, I'm sick of it already. A few days back we even had an ice storm that left all the plants covered in ice that looked like a thin coating of glass. Yea, the snowy winter was novel for a while, but I am definitely missing that warm California weather now. I guess I'll be looking forward to that warm weather which won't be coming until, what, May?

Break

It's been a long time since I've posted to this thing, and I feel like I should update this more regularly to keep myself on track. I've spent the past week at home for Thanksgiving, and seeing all my family and friends again has been really great. It's around 20 degrees warmer here than in Michigan and people here really are spoiled by it.

Something that's kinda been a wake up call to me is that everyone has been asking me about grad school. I mean it's been good, and I've met some really cool people, but I've been out for 3 months now and I feel like I don't have much to show for it. The classes are decent, but I feel like I'm just skimming paper after paper without actually learning anything. I suppose I should be responsible for my own learning now that I am a grad student, so maybe it's time I got serious about this stuff. But ever since I got back to school, the drive just isn't there.

I know that this little anxiety attack will pass shortly, but damn, I wish I could honestly say that grad school was the right thing to do. Right now I'm having trouble picturing myself staying in Michigan for 5 years.

Wii

Sunday morning the Nintendo Wii came out, and I figured that since I was still on Michigan time I'd be able to hit up the stores early and try to pick one up. I woke up at 8, which I realize is 11 Michigan time, but I blame my roommate for ruining my sleeping schedule.

I drove out to the local Target to find a line of people waiting outside. I walk over to the end and the people there tell me they're the last to get Wiis, and they got there at 5:30. I try another Target, and walk inside to see them handing out the last of the Wiis, also sold out.

The Circuit City isn't far so I go there to find no one waiting outside, which is odd since they weren't open yet. I walk up to the door and see a sheet posted saying they opened at midnight and the Wiis are long gone.

Finally, I drive out to Best Buy, my absolute last chance of getting a Wii. There's a line outside, and no one knows for sure whether they're going to get a Wii or not because unlike Target, they didn't hand out tickets. I wait for a half hour and there's like 20 people in front of me when they tell the remaining crowd that they're sold out -_-.

But, the story doesn't end there. My former coworker Judy had camped out the night before with her boyfriend Kelvin, and they both got Wiis. Judy told me that she didn't really need a Wii since Kelvin had one, so I could buy hers off her. So props to her for letting me have it =).

I am now the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii. And my arms are sore.