Slumberings

Okay, it's late (9:29) and I'm about to go to bed, but I'll put a few things up.

Today was rather productive, I didn't have a moment to myself really, but it was productive! Out of the 16 (or about 19 rather) things I had on my "task list" as of this morning, I only have 10 left!

*waits for applause*

*crickets*

Okay, so maybe that doesn't sound too good but it really is. I was too busy this morning to eat breakfast, working on some readings and organizing things to be turned in, as well as research that needed to be done, and the classes this morning were fine. I printed out a bunch of material that I needed to read and lots of lecture notes for the coming week and a proposal and lab agreement that I made up the last couple of days for our lab group (something of a contract).

In between classes I read my books and got most of my reading done for the next week of Engineering. After classes I stayed around a while longer doing more of the same and trying to take this test online for my Digital Logic class. One of the TA's made it and he is VERY notorious for really difficult quizzes. You can take the quiz as many times as you want, but each time the questions are randomized (out of a set of 20 or something) so you can't tell which ones you got wrong! I took the exam 20 times today and the best I got was a 9 out of 10. And only about 2 of those questions (out of the 20) could be answered from what we learned in class, the rest I had to search on google for and try to track down!

I told him his quizzes were evil.

I came home for a couple of hours and worked on some more schoolwork and then went this afternoon to the lab and worked for about 2 and a half hours trying to get our circuit going. Me and the other guy on our team were the only people there because labs were cancelled this week. Our other lab members should have been there as well (we planned to work on the circuit) but it was just two of us. And we didn't really get any closer to solving the problem so we're going to meet Thursday as well.

Then after that was a physics help session. The guy does and excellent job and I really appreciate him taking the time to do it. I learn a lot from it even though I don't think I'm struggling at all in the class. I've gotten a perfect score on everything so far (quizzes and attendance basically). We'll see how it goes when the exam comes next week though.

After that (which ended at 7:40) I went to the computer labs and printed out some more documents and redesigned one of my drawings for the AutoCAD because a couple of the lines looked a little off to me. It looks much better now and I'll be ready to submit them all Friday then.

After not having breakfast, having one small burrito for lunch, and now it was after 8:00.... well, I'd been promising my stomach all day that I'd buy it dinner at the Chinese buffet if it would stop grumbling at me, and being a man of my word, that's what I did. It was very delicious and now I'm full and sleepy so I'm going to head off to bed.

Thinking about it though, this past week or two I've been putting in oh, sometimes 12 hour days of just school and studying! From 6-7 is usually "my" time, to read the Scripture and share the devotional online, then it's off to school and reading from there with very short breaks until about 9:00 at night, when I finish up the devotional and study for the evening and write a blog post and try to wind things down. Busy time yes, I hope I can keep up with it all as we go through the semester. When am I ever going to have time to study for exams? I don't know!

I'm an Ent!

You tend to be very set in your ways and hard to change, though this makes you also very loyal to those whom you are around the most. When someone offers a suggestion, you tend to mull over it for a period of time before finally saying "let's not be hasty." You also think that anything worth saying, must be worth taking a long time to say it in, some might call it long-windedness, others just call it much ado over nothing. You like to say "hoom" a lot and have an attraction to burritos.

Anyway, I probably shouldn't even be writing an entry since I promised myself I would get to bed by 8:00 and it's already 8:20, but I can't help it :~(

This morning I attended the Engineering Design class and halfway through a shrill whistling began to sound throughout the building and the fire alarm light was blinking red. The professor stopped and turned around wondering what is was and stared blinking at the light for a couple of seconds and then said that he was pretty sure it wasn't a drill, we should probably get out. I wasn't rushed though, I don't mind being the last one out and I didn't feel the building was going to collapse any second, there wasn't a raging inferno outside the door and there was no smoke. I glanced toward the other exit in the room but everyone was filing down the ramp and out the exit at the back, taking quite a long while to do so, I guess they weren't hurried either! I was behind the professor and yet before we were out, the beeping stopped. He waited a few seconds and then proceeded to call everyone back in, I was already back in my seat while they came grumbling back inside. I guess it was a good wakeup call at 8:30 for some of them!

I saw my TA in the classroom so while everyone was filing back in, I asked him about my papers that had been graded. He glanced at them and said "geez, that is why I not let this guy grade papers last semester. He has a record man." He took them with him for regrading. I was pleased because I really like Julius and as the professor said, Julius will bend over backwards to help the students out, the only complaint he's had is that Julius tends to give more information than some students want (and that's true, he rambles on a long time at the beginning of class).

Afterwards was my Calculus class, I was handed back my first homework and I had a 12/12, so I was happy. I don't know exactly why it was worth 12 points but it was. Curious.

Then was the Physics lab, I got almost everything done there, I'll just have to work out a few more calculations. We were calculating vectors, first by experimental -there was a large dial with degrees on it and different weights pulling strings from the center and we needed to put it in equilibrium. Well, I couldn't wait for that so I did a few quick calculations and then set it up instead of experimenting.

We weighed out the balances to the tenth of a gram and then put them on there and my weight and angle were exactly correct, then we compared experimental, graphical (just measuring distances on a ruler with a graph) and analytical methods. I tried to be very careful and exact with all of my measurements (and I had a good lab partner by the way, who didn't seem to know much but was willing to do the experiments). All of the different methods I was within 0.1 degrees and 0.1 grams, which is pretty good for all three to be that close! Other people were within a couple of grams, or a couple of degrees. Being meticulous pays off sometimes I guess, not that I'll get any more points on the lab but hey! I care at least!

The TA (that I told about last week) is pretty nice, though he definitely tries to rule the lab, which is funny because he's rather short. He was talkign with some students in the back, trying to understand their slang. He asked them if they needed any help and they said "No, we're all set!" He stood there puzzled for a little while and then said "set?" You mean "sit?" And they tried to explain to him what it was (I could hear the conversation in the background while doing my calculations) and telling him it was when you were ready to go etc. So the TA then barks out (to the whole class)
"So! Is everybody set?!"
And people laughed and said yes. Later he tried it again but he asked "So are you all sitting?" which was kind of funny in itself. I told him that slang, or English in general was very strange in some points and that though I've lived here all my life, I still have trouble understanding what some people mean by phrases! I was trying to encourage him but he seems determined to learn this American slang. Another one is lost. *sigh*

Although I shouldn't be saying that, my grammar is not perfect by any means.

Then was the Computer Science class, by this time (from 8:00 to 12:30) I was starting to feel the effects of getting up at six and staying up until 11:00 the past week. It's just that I had done school during the day and when I finally felt like I had done "enough" for the day, I wanted to read Hodge's book still and well, staying up late reading because you "don't feel tired" at the time, doesn't mean you won't feel tired in the morning! And then Sunday evening I have certain online responsibilities and when you get home at 10:00 anyway..... then six every morning.

And now I'm wasting time that I said today that I'd be sleeping in. Oh well.

So anyway, I was feeling a little light-headed and having a hard time focusing on the teacher (kind of like I'm having a hard time focusing on the keyboard right now, pardon me if my fingers wander and I type all sorts of nonsense or "their" instead of "there" or some equally hideous error) but made it through class. Then this afternoon I felt like lying down for a time but needed to get the circuit design done. I was still surprised that even though I'd contacted my team members last Saturday, I've gotten no response from them, that's like... three days! So I ended up doing it myself, which is fine, it just would have been nice to have some other ideas, and I drew it up on the computer today and finished the proposal. That's the last pressing thing that is due this week, so I'm "free" until next Monday, though I'd certainly better get working on some of these big projects that are coming up next week. I say "big projects" but I just mean things like Calculus homework (this last week it was big) and the program that I'm supposed to write etc.

I've notified my team members of certain responsibilities that I wanted them to take care of before they came to class on Tuesday, we'll see what happens, I may just have to do the research on that part myself too :-/

And then I had told Julius that I'd meet him at his office hour this evening, from 6-10 it is, I was planning on going at 6 but the circuit and proposal took until 6:20 to finish printing so I went out a little late. In the meanwhile I got an e-mail from Boromir inviting me to come to the basketball game that evening, which I declined just because I was so busy.

So I went to the engineering labs, talked with Julius about my drawings and he gave me a 96.5/100 instead of a 90/100, which I felt was a little more fair and the points that I had taken off I do feel I deserved after he explained it to me. I really, really appreciated his being there and telling me little tips to help me do better, because that's what I wanted. That's why I had gone to the professor beforehand and asked his opinion on my drawings as well! Then I showed him my new ones for this week and he said it would be better if they were larger and he showed me how to do that on the computer when they were printed out, so I spent a while printing out my drawings again (I had them on my jumpdrive thankfully) though one of them I apparently hadn't saved, so I just redrew it. And it did turn out better the second time so that's good, and I learned a few more tricks and am becoming more familiar with the program.

Don't mind me as I ramble, I'm in something of a trance right now....

Afterwards, well, I was driving really close to where I assumed the basketball game would be so I did drop by and said hello to everyone. I timed it just right too, I hit halftime. The boys were playing and I believe had a score of 31 to 12 when I got there. "Our" team was winning, which I was glad for. I heard that the girls won as well and Daisy herself scored four points! That's certainly four more points than I would make!

Then I excused myself and headed home. Tired, happy (at finishing the drawings) and slightly hungry. Speaking of which, there is a burrito in the microwave that I put in there at the start of this post. It's probably cold by now, oh well. Good night!

Ecumonics

I honestly don't have much to speak of today. I feel that I got a bit done but not as much as I wanted of course. I viewed a few auctions today, had some correspondance with a few people on Ebay (questions regarding auctions etc.) and let me see.... wrote two papers, cleaned up the camper, printed out a few things for classes (it's amazing the amount of paperwork I've accumulated already this semester) and all in all, just kind of tied up loose ends. I've still got quite a bit of reading I can do in my textbooks and another proposal that is due next Tuesday. I have the propsal outline written up as well as the introduction and specifications, I just have to write up and create the design! This is supposed to be a team project but I think I'll probably end up handling it all myself, though I've sent out a couple of e-mails to the other members letting them know of things and asking for suggestions if they have any.

I also watched a couple of TV shows I had on DVD, all in all I pretty much just "hung around," piddling with little stuff. I'm on Chapter 5 in Hodge's Systematic Theology. Chapter five of the introduction that is! It's the chapter on the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, which I'm a bit interested in learning about not because there is a girl in my Digital Logic class who claimed to be Catholic (but not a very "good" one she said) when I asked her upon that subject a while back. So many branches I just don't know enough about! For example, I found out that my old Math Teacher went to Church of Christ, the only thing I know about them is that they don't use musical instruments in their worship, but as Mr. N said, that's about the only thing the RP church has in common with it though. So how do you talk to someone about it, at first I was leery but I had no idea what she believed, I need to start asking everyone to show me their doctrinal statements so I can see! :)

And that's about it. I'm going to work on the design for the circuit we need to present next Tuesday, hopefully read a little after that, and go to bed! As my brother would say: kthxbai.

Contressing Combolations

*sigh*
Today was a long day.

First I got up, did my regular routine, then headed on out to Calculus. The class went well. I really like the instructor and I am thinking about trying to hook up with him again next semester, if this semester goes well that is.

Afterwards was the Physics discussion time, where we were able to ask questions about the homework and then we took a quiz. The random question that came up was a relatively easy one so I spent quite a bit of time just trying to make it look neat. It had to do with what angle ducks would have to fly if their speed is 8 m/s and there is a crosswind blowing 6 m/s and they want to go directly south. Anyway.... I decided to figure out what their net speed (in a southerly direction) was, just for fun. I was second to last out of the room.

Then I had an hour break which I used to figure out that last Calculus problem I had (I just did a U substitution instead of trying to figure out what the natural log was right from the start) and then read some more in Hodge's Systematic Theology. It's very interesting, though right now he's just talking about different kinds of "Christianity" such as Mysticism, Rationalism, Gnosticism etc. and why they are wrong. I wanted to quote a passage here that I thought "Wow! Well said!"

"More than this, the Bible reveals truths of the highest order, not elsewhere made known. Truths which meet the most urgent necessities of our nature; which solve the problems which reason has never been able to solve. It recognizes and authenticates all the facts of consciousness, all the truths which our moral and religious nature involve, and which we recognize as true as soon as they are presented. It has the same adaptation to the soul that the atmosphere has to the lungs, or the solar influences to the earth on which we live. And what the earth would be without those influences, is, in point of fact, what the soul is without knowledge of the truths which we derive solely from the Bible."

I just found that rather refreshing and wanted to share. While I'm quoting people, let me quote a passage by Pink as well that I read the other day and found really true:

"Today it is true almost everywhere, that we are far more concerned about the results of the gospel than we are about the purity of it! We are more concerned in the blessing of man than we are about the glory of Christ! Is not that true? Is it not true that the first great question asked everywhere today is, What are the 'results'? What is the fruitage? How many people have been saved in your church the last year? I am not saying that the question has no importance, but I do say that, if that is the first question that is asked, it only shows what a low level we are living on! The first question we ought to ask is, How scripturally is the gospel being preached in your church? Is the preacher magnifying Christ? Is the preacher emphasizing the absolute sufficiency of his finished work? Does the preacher make it plain that God does not ask the sinner to do anything, that Christ has done it all for him? Ah, my friends, when the preachers today are tested by that, there are mighty few of them that will survive the test. How many there are today who tell the poor sinner that he has got to give his heart to God! Well, you say, isn't that right? Isn't that true? Must not the sinner give his heart to the Lord if he is going to be saved? Oh, the tragedy that such a question has to be asked! We talk about progress and advancing; why, we need indoctrinating in the ABC of Christianity, and the ABC of Christianity is the gospel! No, my friends, no sinner was ever saved by giving his heart to God. We are not saved by our giving, we are saved by God's giving. Well, but doesn't it say in Scripture, 'Son, give me thine heart'? Yes, it does, but that is not addressed to an unconverted sinner, that is addressed to a son! After God has saved you by grace alone, then your first duty is to dedicate yourself to his service, to give your heart to him, to be used by him as he wills and where he wills and when he wills, and to realize that you are no more your own but the purchased property of another........
A whole lot of our so-called Christian work today reminds me of little children when they first witness father or mother doing some gardening. The ground is prepared and then the seed is sown, and every day the child goes into the garden and he looks around to see if the seed is beginning to sprout, and if it doesn't show any signs and he wants to make sure that the seed is beginning to sprout, he just scratches around amongst the soil. He wants to see something. My friends, that is what a lot of us are doing in connection with so-called Christian work today! O we have so little confidence in the power and in the sufficiency of the Divine 'seed' to bring about the harvest that God has ordained it to do!"

Now this I thought was very well said as well. So many churches, by far the vast majority, fall under this sort of thing. If the people in charge are truly interested at all in the lives of the congregation, then they usually feel it is their responsibility to make sure that person is saved or remains saved or however they say it. We can do nothing! It is good to be faithful to God's Word and be there for that person, yes, but that means just that: being faithful to God's Word! Preaching all of it, not just "scratching amongst the soil." Trust God for the increase, you just do what you are called to do man.

Anyway, that was a long interlude..... but hopefully a profitable one. After reading a bit of Systematic Theology, it was time for class to start, we have been assigned a program which is due a little over a week from now so hopefully I should be able to get it done ahead of schedule but it may be a little difficult as well, we shall see. There was another hour break after that (which I took advantage of to read some more) and then the AutoCAD lab.

Now that was grueling. We started at 2:30 and I didn't finish up and leave (I was the last one there) until nearly 6:30, trying to finish up everything. I believe I have it all done satisfactorily but I'm going to go back and check with one of the TA's some time this week. I was VERY disgruntled and disappointed when I got my homework back from a couple weeks ago (all those beautiful drawings I'd worked so hard on) and there was red lines all over it (they apparently mark it off as they check each drawing) and then I was marked off 10 points total for some things that I was puzzled on. That means I only got 90/100 and I was very upset about it, of course they said they'd take 10 points off if it wasn't stapled, 20 points off for the different drawings not being numbered etc. so a lot of students were ever nmore distraught than I was, but still! I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong, I went and talked to one of the TA's (not the normal one) and he told me that I had not drawn them to the same scale. I had two different drawings of the same object in two different views and under I had said "1:3 scale" and on the other "1:2 scale" but he told me that I couldn't do that, I could have done one at 1:4 and the other at 1:2 but not one at 1:2 and the other at 1:4, they had to be multiples or something. That seems a little harsh to me because I was never told that. I'm hoping to ask the teacher about that because I SHOWED him all of my drawings before I submitted them and asked him for pointers. All he said to do was darken the lines up but everything else looked "really good." I don't know, perhaps strict is good but I'd rather know the rules before I submit them instead of finding out afterward.

Okay, there's my rant for today's schoolwork. I mean, I spent oh, probably four hours on those drawings, erasing, redrawing, darkening, checking all of the perspectives, double-checking, counting each of the lines to make sure I had everything just right and in the right scale. I even showed it to the TA when I was first drawing them and he said they were looking fine. I showed them to another guy who had taken the class before and he said he thought they looked excellent. Maybe I just got a TA who was feeling a bit nasty that day? There was some lines that I did miss (I didn't draw two hidden lines when I should have) and I got a point knocked off for that. Fine, I deserved it, but to get an additional 9 taken off for other things that no one ever corrected me on or told me about..... Okay, I'll stop now. Can you tell I don't like to lose those points? :)

I had had nothing to eat or drink all day from about 7:00 this morning until about 7:00 this night. Perhaps I should start taking a lunch Friday. I always did say I was a bit of a camel but after 12 hours even I start to feel a little parched. That and since the parking lot was packed even at 8:40 this morning I parked up on the other side of the track again, so it was a long trek back from the engineering building this evening.

Before I start wallowing in self-pity though *grin* ..... let me tell you that overall it was an enjoyable day, a busy but good week and I'm looking forward to next. I still have a few assignment to work on tomorrow, we'll see how much can be done! So until next time.... good night.

Phsychosynthesis

I'm going to try to make this short because I'm tired and I want to get back to my book :)

Sorry for no update yesterday but it was an extremely busy day. Let me tell you a little about this week.

I was assigned 41 problems in Calculus, which really isn't all that bad because it's only dealing with logarithmic and exponential functions, yet it still is very time consuming. I spent about three and a half hours working on that yesterday as well as working on an assignment for Computer Science, we were required to submit a data structure form with cards and a tree listing of all the objects in a class we were "designing." Anyway, I made a powerpoint presentation with about 22 slides, which again wasn't that difficult, just time consuming to get it all done.

Today I worked on some Physics homework since we will be tested tomorrow on one random problem from what was assigned. I also wrote a conclusion for this past Tuesday's lab. I still have a Proposal to write for next week's lab (next Tuesday), I would like to test out a circuit we designed in the lab (using the FPGA board that I purchased, you hook it up to your computer and program it), I have an Engineering Homework paper to write for next Monday's class, a Computer program that is supposed to be assigned sometime today or tomorrow (check online he said), and then of course it would be a good idea to read ahead in everything :)

Tuesday was roughly the same, I took a quiz online, fulfilled my lab requirements etc. etc.

I feel like I'm trying to plug a hole and every time I get one hole plugged, ten others spring up! I think I'm getting a handle on it, I've been working pretty much all yesterday and today and got quite a bit done, hopefully I'll be able to finish up a bunch more tomorrow and then Saturday "should" be nearly free for little clean-up things. I should probably work on next week's Physics homework so I can ask questions if necessary at that Tuesday help session.....

In addition to my morning and evening responsibilities (posting a devotional and discussing it, then the daily Scripture reading and discussing it morning and night) and answering on average, oh, about 12 e-mails a day in depth, and in addition to the weekly influx of questions and irate customers from the SafeRegistry.com job... things have been staying fairly busy! I had over a hundred this week as well but probably 90% of them were just out of office responses etc. so the 10% only took about an hour total. I like that job but you get some funny e-mails from time to time. I had one person e-mail with the words:
"I have a laptop."

And I'm thinking "Hmm, well, that's nice. Thanks for telling me! Of course she was responding to a poll question but instead of clicking the link to vote, she instead just decided to reply and tell me in person I guess :)

Another person today said "PLEASE KINDLY UNSUBSCRIBE ME BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO GET THESE E-MAILS ANY MORE. PLEASE ATTEND TO THIS IMMEDIATELY."
I love those ones especially because I sit in my camper by myself reading it aloud (or screaming it rather). I'm tempted to respond with OKAY!!!! I'VE DONE AS YOU REQUESTED! sometimes... but that wouldn't be professional ;) I strongly dislike it when people type with the Caps lock on, though I think most do it just because they can't be bothered to hit the shift key and typing with all lowercase makes them look like they are dumb or something. Actually I don't know the reasoning behind that.

But anyway, after doing a lot of work today and going to my Calculus teacher's office at 5:00 p.m. this afternoon for a few questions (he was kind enough to arrange a meeting upon my request) and then coming back and completing the problems that I had trouble with that he explained, I decided to rebel a little. I cracked open my new copy of Hodge's Systematic Theology and started reading at page 1. Ah! That's what I was referring to earlier when I said I wanted to get back to my book! I'm already appreciating the logic of it very much and really enjoying it. I'm nearly done with chapter one which is pretty much the introduction. I just couldn't bear to let it sit on my shelf any longer. I've felt the past week that all of my time has been sucked up by school and while it is my responsibility to be in school right now and study... at the same time I don't want to neglect my personal study! I thought I'd have more time this semester! So now the drive is to finish my school studies (yeah right, like those are ever really done, there's always some extra reading you can do) so I can get to my favoured studies.

I've got most of the major stuff out of the way, I've just got a few papers left to do that shouldn't take too long and are due Monday and Tuesday. The programming assignment will most likely be due next Wednesday I'm imagining. So, I'm signing out so I can get back to me book guv!

Physics, Electronics, the Universe, and Me!

I ate some corndogs today. *waits for gasps of amazement*

I've been busy all day but still have LOTS to do so I'd best [try to] make this short.

Physics was first, the professor (the grandmotherly lady) really wanted to stress a couple of issues so she sounded almost the entire lecture as if she were reprimanding all of us. You SHOULD KNOW THIS! I cringed in my seat and begged for mercy. Okay, not really, but it felt like that's what I should have been doing. She's really nice though.

Then was the digital logic design class. I met with my group members and discussed the proposal I was going to hand in that afternoon, I went over a few questions that one of the team members had (this was afterward, I went to the computer lab with her to show her the thing because it was online). Then headed home to do a little Physics homework, print off my proposal for this afternoon, and take a quiz (online) for the Digital Logic class. It wasn't a super easy quiz but there was no time limit and of course, an open book (and more importantly open Google) sort of quiz so I finished in 22 minutes with 100%, which I was happy about. Some of the questions had to do with topics we'd not looked at yet and my previous training in this area really helped as did Google! I wonder how some of the other students will do.

It's funny, I've never considered myself to be that outspoken but everyone in the group seems to look to me as the leader as well as people in my other classes. In my Chemistry Lab, in the Physics lab, in every group I've essentially be the one who kind of keeps everything going and oversees it. I don't know if that's because I prefer to do it or not, I try to be willing to explain everything to everyone. For example, in the digital logic design lab that we had this afternoon, I pretty much linked everyone's circuits together and showed them how to get it going, and then after it was all done, showed the two ladies exactly how each part worked (I had some diagrams that I'd prepared before class for the proposal). Then explained how to work with binary numbers to one of the ladies and she was very appreciative. I guess no one has ever worked with them before. Do I feel like a leader? No.

After the digital logic design lab (which I just alluded to) it was about 5:10 so I headed over to the Physics building because I'd been told there was a help session for our Physics class at 5:30. There was indeed and the guy was there for just over two hours (until 7:40) explaining different things on the board, acting out friction and forces on the floor, he did an EXCELLENT job and I really, really liked him. There were eight students there at first (kind of sad considering how large the class is, it fills the auditorium) and only 5 stayed until the end. He just kept chugging along though! It was a time to ask questions but then he went over some material that we'd not covered yet (partially his own experiment to see how we did in comparision to others on that material) and some material we had covered. His name was Chuck and he had a very rich voice too, would make an excellent narrator for a Shadow mystery radio show...... Or something like that ;) Always thinking of voices!

Then I came home. So it's been a long day but profitable I believe. It's just about time for bed now and I'm a bit tired so I'll say goodnight. I am excited though to have received my set of B.B. Warfield's writings, they look interesting and not really that hard to read. At least at first glance, we'll see :)

One section from the biography of Pink (which I'm wondering how it's going to transition because it's talking about his Scofield Bible that he carried around, that he went to the Moody Bible school etc. but then I know from his writings that he was very reformed in belief) I thought was interesting. Pink was quoted as saying, about a Catholic Priest who worked in a camp where he was at:
"With whom we got aquainted. He volunteered to give us Scripture for every Popish dogma and practice, and when we put him to the test (as we did, again and again) we were amazed and awed by the subtle manner in which he misappropriated the Word." This demonstrated to Pink the uselessness of arguing about divine things and it also confirmed him in his view of the vital importance of possessing a deep and accurate knowledge of Scripture.

I just thought it was interesting how yes, some people can grossly distort Scripture. The principle that Scripture interprets Scripture is immensely important!

No more "tion"-tion.

Let me just take a few moments to speak about a rather hectic day.....

There was some math homework that was due this morning and I had written to the teacher about it but there was no time apparently that I could meet with him before class (since last week) so I did ask for some pointers from Mr. N, which he gave me and helped me understand what needed to be done. Then I wanted to print out the lecture slides for the Engineering lecture, so I went to school a little early this morning and printed them out.

When I got to class, everyone sat down and then suddenly a couple people (less than half the class I'd imagine) started putting papers up front. I turned red in horror, was there actually homework that we were supposed to do? There are several disciplines in this class so I thought perhaps one of the types of labs (that I was not in) had assigned homework but apparently this was not the case. There WAS a homework assignment due but I did not know it. Apparently it was listed at the end of the lecture slides from the first week along with requirements for doing the syllabus quiz and reading ahead, which I had done but just didn't know about the other thing. There is no place in the syllabus or online that has the assignments due except for what is at the end of the lecture slides which you can download online and view in powerpoint. I probably should have known about it, especially since at least a few other people knew about it. And I was checking the site regularly for assignments too!
Oh well, I figured that I'd turn it in that afternoon and at least get half credit (if turned in within 24 hours). I felt really chagrined though because this has never happened before.

I am still trying to get used to what each class expects. This instructor expects certain material to be read, certain HW problems to be done etc. but the only way you know about it is if you download last week's file and take a look. It was confusing but now I know so it won't (D.V.) happen again. In my physics discussion group I'm expected to do homework problems before coming there, okay, I can handle that. In Computer Science I'm expected to look online frequently and see when the next assignment comes out. In Digital Logic I'm expected to look frequently online for new assignments/quizzes and also prepare a lab proposal and conclusion each week and bring a certain sheet to class every session. In Math we are expected to look online for new Homework assignments. In fact, the only class that I don't have something to check frequently online is the Physics class, so I've got everything bookmarked. But trying to keep up with it all is a hassle, especially because you have to log into it every time, it doesn't save your password.

Anyway, I think I'm finally getting a handle on everything. Hopefully I'll be fully prepared for everything now.

So after that shock this morning, I had Calculus next and a LOT of people were asking about a certain problem (the one I had asked for help on) and it seemed that no one else had solved it. A lot of people were being sarcastic towards the teacher and he was getting a little embarrassed I think, he seems such a gentle sort of person and I felt bad for him. I like him a lot. Anyway, he explained it and I think most people got it but then there are some that have absolutely convinced themselves that all foreign teachers are bad and that he just explains everything poorly and if they fail the class it's his fault. Bah, he doesn't have a problem, they do! There are a couple students that I just want to take outside and speak with for a while because they are always trying to point out any kind of a mistake (which there hasn't been to my knowledge) and trying to trip him up on some part. "Don't you mean it's......?" they ask. No, they just didn't understand, yet even when shown to them that they are wrong, they still seem to think that the teacher isn't doing things right. It makes me rather upset.

Immediately following (I have solid classes from 8:30 to 1:30) was Physics lab. The lab TA was a short, stocky indian man with a thick accent and seemingly not very much practical knowledge. I hesitate to criticize someone like that but there were a few things he did that I just had to raise an eyebrow at. First, the projector on the desk wasn't working so he called one of the lab employees to take a look at it. The first thing I thought (as you're always taught in computer repair courses) is "is it plugged in?" It wasn't.
So once that was straightened out, he started a little powerpoint presentation of a couple of things, introductory since this was the first week of Physics labs. At one point he was showing how to read a caliper measurement and he couldn't quite see which line lined up exactly so he actually went and stood in front of the projected image, blocking the projector of course as he tried to get a closer look so that didn't work at all. He was very absent minded and kept taking some things and forgetting who he borrowed it from (like pens, pencils, calipers, rulers etc.).
He handed each of us a lab book and so I perused mine, looking at the lab for today as well as some of the introductory things and he told us to start on the lab. So my partner and myself (and hopefully he stays, I liked him because he was willing to do the calculations even if he was getting frustrated with the lack of explanation by the TA). I kept asking the TA questions because the lab manual was not very clear in several points, he didn't help all that much either though.

In about 15 minutes, the TA came by and grabbed my lab manual and looked through it and said he needed to sign the pre-lab. He looked at mine (which was blank of course because I was told to work on the lab) and he started bawling me out saying how I was supposed to have the prelab done BEFORE I came to lab and he started marking all these question marks across the page and then signing it as zero points. It was then that I became rather stiff and politely but firmly went into a logical discussion on why I had not completed my pre-lab before class, mostly because I had not had the lab book in my possession until fifteen minutes ago so how could I have done it. He pondered that for a little while and then kind of gave a surprised look. "yes, I guess you are right." but then so as not to lose the debate "But you'd better have it done next week and turned in with this week's lab, understand?"

I went back to the lab, but that was REALLY odd. Perhaps he was completely new to the job, perhaps he was very nervous, I don't know, but it was just odd! I wasn't going to lose points for something I could not have possibly done though so that was one time where I was standing my ground.

Immediately following the two-hour lab (which was filled with grueling number crunching) I hurried over to Computer Science for the lecture. That professor is really good and I enjoyed him but always in the back of my mind (all through the day in fact) was that bit of homework that should have been turned in and yet wasn't. So at 1:30 I went up to the computer labs in the classroom building and wrote a two-page paper on the homework assignment as well as an apologetic explanation for what had happened. I hope the teacher does realize that it wasn't that I knew about it and didn't do it, because I would have done it if I had known about it, the thing is, I should have known about it and yet didn't, catch my drift? Didn't think so. :~)

So that was that, I got home at about close to three, ate some lunch and then read ahead in my Engineering book for next Monday. I've got some other assigments to do still and lots of reading that I want to get done. Unfortunately what I want to read and what I should read are two different things. I should be reading my digital logic design book (truth tables and data papers for chips and circuits) and I WANT to read that new book I got, the biography of A.W. Pink! I started it a tiny bit yesterday and there was this one part where Pink was writing in a letter about some memories of his father and he remembers his father picking up the newspaper which carried the news of preparations for the first coronation in Britain for 64 years. "Oh, I am sorry to see this worded like that." And his wife said "what is it?"
"Why," he said, "here is a proclamation that on a certain date Prince Edward will be crowned king at Westminster and there is no 'Deo Volente,' God willing."
On the appointed day, the future Edward VII was ill with appendicitis and the coronation had to be postponed. It's written by Iain Murray and I'm looking forward to it.

[Edit]
Just to be clear, I didn't act badly toward the TA, I was nice about it but firm as well. And as another note that I forgot to mention, I sent out (on Saturday) the proposal I'd written for our group. As you know, I preferred to do it myself rather than trust someone else to do it :D
This response was well, encouraging:

You are just fab!! This is grrrrrreat! I think that you portrayed our group with finese. I can't wait to work with you in our group project. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do.

Once again, thank you for your time, that you dedicated to this proposal. I know that the group was very estatic in reading your outstanding work.

Respectfully,
SJ

I don't know if the group was ecstatic or not because I haven't heard back from any of them, but at least this person was! I think she's willing to work too. We'll see.....

By the way D.W., I asked the TA's and they said that they appreciate a little humour every once in a while because they have to grade a lot of papers (they are most likely the ones that put the piranha poster up). So okay... I'm throwing in a couple of random diagrams in my conclusion from last week that I'm turning in tomorrow. I think you probably know what random diagrams I mean ;)

anabibliophobia

anabibliophobia

(n.) The morbid fear of being caught with nothing to read. [From Gr.: ana (without) + biblio (book) + phobia (fear)]

There, I finally found it! :)

As I mentioned last night, you never know what God will throw your way each day. I had planned to spend the day getting a lot of studying done but at about 9:15 this morning I had a knock on my door. It was J. Nathan, he had a bad situation at the apartment he was staying at (I can't go into detail) and was wondering if he could spend a little while here. He tried calling some other friends but one was out of town, another wasn't awake yet or something, so he thought that I seemed like the type who would be up by then so he came by my place. We spent a few hours talking about the problem and I tried to give him encouragement because he was going to confront that person and though he wanted to be firm, he didn't want to be overly angry and wondering if to treat this person as a believer or unbeliever etc. I was typing up some morning devotions for another person on a message board so we spent some time together reading and discussing Genesis 49 and 50 and I gave him an article to read that I had.

I think it was encouraging for him and I did think it was encouraging for me as well (iron sharpens iron), but my how the time went! He left somewhere between 12 and 1 I believe. Then I tried to finish up laundry, clean up the camper a bit and then did some math homework and a conclusion for last week's digital lab as well as a proposal for our group for next week. See, I offered to do the proposal myself (for the entire lab) because frankly, I don't trust anyone else to do it! I did a few other things that needed taking care of but I have not yet finished everything I would have liked to. Part of the problem is after studying for a length of time I have a hard time continuing studying for another length of time immediately after. I would like to be more diligent in that area.

I really don't have a whole lot to talk about tonight so I'll go again with another pitifully short post. Oh, and I had hotdogs tonight.

Edit:

I had to share this news story and some of the comments (sometimes these guys can be hilarious)

"Frr writes to tell us that CNN has a rather disturbing confirmation of what many of us have already seen in practice. In a recent literacy study it was found that 'more than half of students at four-year colleges -- and at least 75 percent at two-year colleges -- lack the literacy to handle complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers." The literacy study took a look at three different type of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents, and having basic math skills needed for checkbooks or restaurant tips.'"

Now that's pretty sad of course.

Now here's some comments:

Precisely; I was thinking that the really shocking way to have spun this story would have been: "Credit card offers are written in such complex English that they are unintelligible to 75% of college students".

And another:

Formal contracts & documents should be written in Internet slang. "If you fail to pay your credit card debt we will take your car lol"

And another guy:

I should have went to a US college. I probably could have graduated there.

And another, quoting a previous guy:

Strangely the study doesn't mention what schools were part of this survey. Does anyone know?
Harverd, Printstun, Cornale, and other I've e-leeg colejes.

I've always been tempted to dismiss that as just a "back in my day" story about walking to school in a snowstorm, but it's hard to dismiss certain facts. For example, Robert Graves tells us in his biography [wikipedia.org] that when he an ~8 year old, about 100 years ago, he was "doing ok with Latin, but having trouble with Greek".

And now people are having trouble with their own native language when they graduate from college...

Beanburritosification

Okay, so maybe that's not a good one. When I had J. Nathan over for lunch yesterday, did I mention what we had? Um.... yeah. Burritos. And then for lunch and supper today? Burritos. Come to think of it, I actually had one for breakfast too I think (I was in a hurry and it sounded warm). Though THAT is out of the ordinary. Even J. Nathan said they were really good and I obviously like them! I did buy some hotdogs (Boromir's suggestion) and I should eat those tomorrow perhaps, or next week. If I HAVE to.

Let me see. It's already really late but I'll just be like every other college student and say "well, it's Friday night, I can sleep in Saturday." Yeah right, we'll see if that happens! This morning I got up and ran through some Physics things (I was slightly concerned about our first Phsyics quiz coming up today) and made sure I had the formulas memorized that we were going to be using. Then I headed off to Calculus class at about 8:40 this morning (so I could get a parking spot), filled out a form while waiting for class to start and then we had the class. I think the instructor is doing a fine job and I appreciate him, he's the foreigner I spoke about. I googled him (lovely how that has become a verb now) and found out some information, namely that he was the mathematical "descendant" of some old mathematics professor at Berkley in California. Hmm..... I'd never heard of such a thing before but apparently there is a large site that lists decendants and "fathers" of mathematicians and who they studied under. Does the name Rachid Belhachemi strike a bell with anyone? So now that I know his old professor's name (and actually found a picture of him interestingly enough) I am going to perhaps print it out at the end of my homework I submit this week (no explanation of course) and see what he thinks of it. For one of his students to suddenly turn in homework with the picture of his old mentor (whom he'd never mentioned) should be slightly interesting ;)
My, I do like to live on the edge I suppose, I'm not the typical student.

Immediately following was our Physics discussion and then quiz. Apparently three people (or perhaps more) in our little group had forgotten to bring calculators. The problem that was randomly picked out however, did not need a calculator. But we didn't know that at first so I lent one of mine to a student behind me. I had finished my quiz (as soon as we turned it in we could go) and waiting for my calculator to be returned before I got up, and then the guy stood up, turned in his paper and went to leave, I blurted out "Um! My calculator?" I started looking behind me thinking perhaps he had pushed it under my chair or something. He looked a little puzzled and then OH! Quickly opened his backpack and there it was. "My bad." He said. I said "thank you in return" but I'm not sure if I'll lend out my calculator to him again. I am pretty sure it was a mistake but obviously he didn't think too much of borrowing a calculator. When I borrow anything it's constantly on my mind that I have to get it back before too long, don't forget! Don't forget! Well, he forgot.

Then I had an hour break where I went over to the Computer Science room and waited for class to start (in an hour) while I did some Calculus homework. There was one sequence that I couldn't figure out the formula for but I'll look at it again tomorrow. I could see the pattern easily enough but how to express that with n's and n+1's was difficult for some reason, I just couldn't see it right off. The hour thus quickly did pass by and after class I went home really quick to grab a bite to eat (of burrito of course) and pick up my books for the afternoon lab which I had carelessly left behind. Well, I was packing around both my Physics book and Calculus book all day (the two biggest textbooks I've ever had) so the additional weight would have made my backpack perhaps groan in frustration. We wouldn't want Calculus equations spilled all over the sidewalk would we? Who would put back together the quadratic formula after it explodes?

Speaking of Strong Bad (that was an inside joke just above by the way) Tlepolemus, you might like this one because of some of the words and um.... stereotypical ridiculousness of it all.
http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail141.html
Dark Warrior showed it to me first (a new happening) but then again, I hadn't checked for anything new in a couple days ;)

So let me see, after wolfing down some food (burrito you'll recall) I headed back to lab at 2:00, which lasted until 5:20 for me because I stayed an extra 40 minutes or so to get everything done. Most people left right as soon as it was okay to leave but just a little extra longer and I wouldn't have to worry about anything until next Friday so that's what I did. Staring at a computer screen trying to get all the lines perfect, nearly pixel by pixel was tough though. You start rubbing your eyes and blinking, looking at the screen sideways and squirming in your seat after three hours of it. Bleh. That's one reason I didn't go into computer science. I just can't sit there that long in front of a screen.

And then I was invited to the basketball games that the P's and N's were in! It was homecoming so I did want to come and it was really fun, especially because OUR teams won, both the girls and boys. The boy's team wasn't playing as well as normally (I'm told) and were behind a number of points at times (there's a vague description if I ever saw one) but managed to come back and win by a wide margin at the end of the fourth quarter, all things considered!

I'm not much of a team sports fan (I like golfing with friends, fencing, tennis as most everyone knows) but it was fun to go and do that. I also played with Christa and Mary a bit but I'm not sure if that was a good thing because well, screams of "More! More!" and just general screaming might not have been the best. I certainly didn't calm them down. I wonder if any kind of play would have that effect though.... hmm...... Certainly the "throw you over my shoulder and carry you off to my castle where I eat little girls up" type of play doesn't have that effect I've observed.

I talked with Dark Warrior and Daniel for a while before the game but was invited to sit next to Mrs. N and Gus! We talked about various things and at halftime I was able to go out and get my sheets of computer drawings I'd done that afternoon and show them off. At least all that eye-ball pain should be good for something right? They are not much of course, but they look all right I like to think.

I stuck around for a while afterward, picking up chairs, trying to play ball with Christa (who did NOT want to pass it) and wandering around, observing. I found out that I recognized one of the students from my Chemistry class last semester, I definitely remembered him (he always seemed so quiet and I was pretty sure he must have been homeschooled, there was just that "thing"). He turned out to be the brother of two other players on the boys team, a Kirby I guess. Originally (last semester I thought he looked like he could be the brother of a young lady in another of my classes and who is in one of my classes this semester. I asked her about it but she said she didn't have a brother. This is kind of a tangent but.... she seems like a very nice young lady (also a homeschooler I'd imagine) and is very studious, is in a lot of places on campus (she commutes so she stays there all day, much like myself, and much like myself she is there an hour before class starts to read or study in the room while waiting) and wears very modest clothing, like what I would expect the young ladies from our church to wear. She normally has a handkerchief as sort of binding up the back of her hair but not like Mennonite by any means. I would not be surprised to find out she was a Christian though I've not asked yet. I don't usually go up and talk to girls.

Anyway (to continue on this tangent) I'm the type who keeps my eyes open (which is one reason why I recognize people all over campus, because I'm always scanning the crowds and if I've seen a classmate once or twice most likely I'll remember them, that is, if they actually do COME once or twice to class) and when she was picking up homework, well, I have good eyesight and was able to pick up at least the first name. So a few weeks later when I passed her I said "Caroline? Do you have a brother on campus." Ah, I love surprises. Turned out she didn't and my observational conjecture was false. So back to Kirby, next time I see him I may say "hi [first name], how are you?" because now I know his name. I'm sure he'd probably recognize me too though, because we'd caught eyes before during classes. He always wears interesting shirts, green and pink striped and such.... Seems like a nice young man though.

Now, going back in thought to many paragraphs above, after the game was over and everyone was leaving (including myself) and while I was driving home, at the stoplight I saw a guy trying to push his truck back up the hill, he was to the left street and I was going straight but I felt I couldn't just drive on (you know, after a rousing basketball game you just have to let it out somewhere) so I swung into the Church of Christ parking lot ahead and ran across the lawns to give him a hand. The P van pulled up at that time and they offered a hand as well so "fooferhead" (as I'll say because of that ridiculous wig, I don't know his nickname or hobbit name, by the way, that wig is hilarious) got out and helped push a little (minus the wig) and then to steer the truck while the man and myself pushed. Ah! It felt good to really strain at something as you're pushing with all your might just for the sheer pleasure of it. We got it back up the hill a ways (and into the wrong lane but thankfully there was no car coming) and then into a side driveway coming out of Church of Christ. He said thank you and then I ran off back to the car. I should have offered a ride or something but I'm sure Pastor did that as well as offered the use of the phone if necessary. My legs felt rather tight while running and I felt stiff for a few steps before they loosened up again (after the pushing). My but the exercise felt good though!

And that just goes to show that you never know what may come up, I was planning on getting home and into bed but things do come up, some e-mails also that needed to be answered directly (and then though I didn't need to do a long post, I did anyway). I don't mind too much though, it's all part of God's plan. I do need to get to bed now though, it's 11:15 p.m. I guess I'll just sleep in tomorrow ;)

Hopefully this long, rambling, half-asleep post wasn't too painful and makes up for the "post-it-note" that I did yesterday. Gus, if this doesn't put you to sleep, I don't know what will :~)

Discombobularissafication

That's about the best I can come up with Tlepolemus :~(

I honestly can't talk too much today, I did classes, then did some studying in my Physics textbook (for two hours. Ug) and we have a quiz in Physics tomorrow and I have questions about the material and there is Calculus homework to do and other things, so I've honestly got to get busy.

It was one of those days where I figured that I would have lots of time but after meeting with Pastor today (at 1:30 and going until 3:00) I invited J. Nathan to come over to my camper for lunch (neither of us had eaten) so we walked to his car which was closer, then he drove me to my car (on the other end of campus) and then we both drove out here. It was a good time and we discussed a lot of things. I think it was good for him to get some things off of his mind and I did enjoy the discussion we had, mainly about world views and biblical things, the mission trip he went on and other things. But it did comsume a lot of time, he left just before eight o'clock this evening so a lot of my "plenty of time" just kind of sprouted wings and flew away....

But I don't regret it, I think it was good for the both of us just to fellowship a little and I hope I was something of an encouragement to him as he comes across so many people who "just don't get it" or "just don't care" too much about the Bible and trying to live a godly life. For example, those people who come to a Bible study (at the college I believe) and the talk constantly strays to things that have nothing to do with the Bible or Christ or anything scriptural and then don't want to get back to the study. What you talk about the most really does signify what you care about the most I would say, and it's a reminder to myself as well.
Oh, we played Smash Bros a little, he beat me a couple of times and I beat him a couple of times, it was fun. I've got things to do!

Drowsification

I've decided not to do a post tonight.

Whoops! Too late, I've already started. *ahem*

There isn't much to relate as far as the day goes, I prepared a few things this morning and then headed off to my Calculus class, which was enjoyable. I think that some of the students are a little hard-headed and they don't seem to understand certain concepts and the teacher (foreigner) seems to get a little embarrassed by that, I know a lot of students will gripe that they can't understand any foreign person or speak as though they are dumb but I don't think Mr. Grinshpan is difficult to understand at all, in fact, I rather enjoy his explanations and his accent is very soft and interesting to listen to. That, and I have a great amount of respect for anyone who can speak a second language fluently, something I cannot do at all. I had an e-mail from a guy a while back who was asking a question and ended it with "pardon my poor English." But I told him that I respected those who could communicate as well as he could in another language! I also told him that he wrote better than most American youths these days but that's a different subject......

Then I went and spent the two hour interim doing a few Physics problems and reading some more in the book that I'm going through: Songs of Zion, a very good book that has strengthened some of the convictions I'd had on the subject and some solidifications of arguments I'd come up with as well as some new ones! One of my favourite sections today went thusly:

p. 121
"The regulative principle and the sufficiency of Scripture are thus intimately bound up with one another. One cannot consistently deny one and maintain the other. The importance of this fact for the question of worship song cannot be overstressed. The canon of Scripture contains a rather extensive collection of songs intended for use in the worship of God. It is our contention that this collection, the Book of Psalms, is a sufficient manual of praise in song, its sufficiency arising directly from its presence in the canon of Holy Scripture. There is no more warrant for supplementing the Book of Psalms with uninspired hymns than there is for supplementing the rest of Scripture with uninspired prose. The sufficiency of the psalter absolutely precludes its supplementation not to mention its replacement. It would appear, therefore, that commitment to the use of uninspired songs in worship and profession of belief in the suffiency of Scripture are fundamentally incompatible. One cannot consistently adhere to both at the same time."

Another section in the preface that I appreciated was:

"The strongest argument for exclusive psalmody is the one that inevitably wells up from within when a sincere Christian begins to sing the psalms with grace in his heart. Once these divine hymns have entered into the heart of a man and he has been fed by the heavenly manna which lies embedded there, he will never be satisfied with earthly counterfeits. And until a man has experienced the psalms in this way, all the sophisticated polemics in the world will not avail to draw him away from his hymns. Acceptance or rejection of the position of exclusive psalmody is, I am fully persuaded, as much a matter of the heart as a matter of the mind."

And that is much how I feel, I have loved many hymns that I grew up with but I feel like the man in the parable about the field, who when he had found the treasure, he sold all that he had so he might purchase that field. And I have been brought to the point where I would willingly give up all the men-written hymns that I have loved for something I cherish far more. I feel as though I have discovered a great treasure that I am unwilling now to give up. Something that has become far more valuable to me, something I was completely unaware of before or had even been brought to think upon.

The Computer Science class went well, the instructor is very funny, I can't very well relate all of his jokes and stories because they are largely of the "programming" variety and I wouldn't be able to properly relate them anyway. Then at 2:00 I went to a free seminar on Effective Reading, they were passing out flyers a day or two ago. It was actually pretty good, I was skeptical at first as we went through some exercises and though I definitely thought they were trying to sell their class (it's a four week class that you pay for), I did see a marked improvement even in the hour and a half I spent there today. I would imagine I average about 300 wpm normally (they said John Kennedy usually read at above 1200 wpm) yet even though we did a little reading test and though it may have been slightly skewed so that it would appear you had done better on the second part, I think that an improvement (in this afternoon) of 200 additional wpm would be a conservative estimate. They guarantee at least doubling your effective reading rate (which is your comprehension percentage times your wpm) or you get your money back, and they have a 98.5 percent satisfaction rating, which is pretty high.

I don't know though, if it really works as well as it is supposed to (which is a retraining of how you read) then it would be great and last a lifetime (after all, as an Engineer I'll most likely be reading lots of boring technical documents and information on new technology) and it's mainly targeted toward textbook reading.

It would be worth it, but I'm just not wanting to shell out $270 right now. They sell a DVD for $60 with all of the classes on it, you just have to be self-disciplined and you wouldn't get the one-on-one time but I think I could handle it. I'm very seriously thinking of doing it (and then I'd be able to share the DVD too of course). They did make some good points. Basically, a lot of people still read subvocally, that is, they mentally pronounce every word or say it under their breath. I admit that I will do it at times if I'm trying to retain it better, but that does slow you down.

I thought it was interesting that they said statistically, the average reader in New York or somewhere up north reads about 100wpm faster than a reader in the south, because southerners talk slower! They were stressing on how to use vertical vision and not just horizontal and taking in groups of words rather than one at a time (and also improving retention and comprehension). Then there was the whol additional thing of note-taking of more of a tree-like diagram. It all sounds good and well, I go back and forth. If anyone else has heard anything about this I'd appreciate the feedback, it apparently got great reviews from students who had improved by very large amounts. I just don't want to be caught in a gimmick that makes one confident without actually doing any good. But I don't think that's the case here..... anyway.

That's my ramblings. Oh, the N's invited me over for dinner again tonight, which I very much appreciated, then we had Bible study. While I'm thinking about it, I must say that every time I open that book I'm borrowing, I get this faint odor that I can't pin down exactly what it is, but it is distinctive to the N house. I can catch the scent every time I'm there but I don't quite know what it is. Anyway, so the book definitely reminds me of that :)

Doublification

It was mentioned to me that I had already made a post with the title of "procrastination." I don't think it's a good sign if I've used it twice already.

Let me just relate a couple of stories of things that happened today and then I'll go to bed (since it is really quite late). The first had to do with last week when I arrived early for my Calculus class and was sitting, reading (there was also another girl there and she was likewise very quiet) when two young men wandered in, loudly discoursing and plopped down in the seats behind me. Naturally the serenity was instantly disrupted but I got some material out of it to put on my blog so hey, I can't complain too much.

They started talking about working out in the gym and one guy (kind of porky pot-belly) said how he really wanted to go in and bulk up but you almost had to do it at home first before you went to the gym because a lot of the guys there were so big and impressive and he didn't want to be embarrassed (oooookay, wrong reasons here). Then the other guy began talking about yeah, and then when you do get "big" you get mean too, or cocky because you're all muscly and how a friend used to be kind of timid but then he worked out and got really muscular and kind of developed a mean streak. This went back and forth for quite a while. It made me really not want to go and work out in the gym, not that I had any desire to do so before that anyway, I get plenty of walking done around campus. And the funny thing is, though these guys work especially to look muscular, that doesn't mean they can lift a lot. I am fully confident that I could outlift almost anybody in the gym, simply because I grew up working and though I may not look very um... large, it's deceiving. My friend was shocked one time to see me take a hay bale (still green since it had been just mowed) and hoist it onto my shoulder and carry it out of the mud where we were working. It's not because of lifting weights, it's just doing work like shoveling and building houses I believe. Anyway, I'm not going to try to prove myself in any way but I am thankful that God has given me health and strength and I hope I can serve him with it.

This morning I headed out early (at 7:00) to go visit my instructor for the Engineering Design class and ask for his opinions on my drawings (which he thought were fine except for a couple of lines he would have darkened) and for help on one drawing that I couldn't quite see, which he was helpful on. I am NOT however, very good at drawing circles and curving lines! I'd best stick to straight lines because I can DO those!

Another thing that happened today however, was when I was sitting waiting for Physics to start, it was outside the classroom on a long bench and it was just me and one other girl there. I'm sitting there and she suddenly says "Do you like Banana Nut Bread?"
"Well, yes I do." I replied, rather taken off guard.
"Well then do you want this? I think my eyes were too big for my tummy, I had a donut and I don't think I can eat this muffin too."
I politely declined, I didn't need anything else to eat myself that morning since I'd already had a bagel.
Then she got up and started walking around and I pulled out my DS and started playing Animal Crossing. Then she sits down on the bench directly in front of me and says "Can I ask you a weird question?"
I said that I supposed so.
"Why do you button the top button on your shirt?"

Uh.... what do you say to that? I told her that I just feel like I'm too exposed if I don't, I guess I'm used to it. I should have said I did so because that's what it's there for but I didn't think of it at the time.
Then I went back to Animal Crossing without pursuing the conversation any further. I was NOT biting. I mean, I'm perfectly willing to discuss certain things but that wasn't ordinary conversation.

I had a nicer conversation with a guy from last semester that I knew, it's funny, it's a huge lecture room with a projector and probably at least 150 seats and yet he and I are both in our exact same seats in this one row off to the left and (just like last semester) there is no one else in that row. It just seems like old times. He's not a real young guy, his hair is graying and he's going back to school for a degree and we get along pretty well.

After Physics I headed up to my Digital Logic Design class, the instructor was away so the TA, Fritz (as he likes to be called) gave the lecture. He did a fairly good job for the most part, he is very nerdy, slightly cocky, but also pretty nice and helpful if you speak to him. He flew through the slides on nearly every one saying "well, that's not very useful. Everyone knows that!" and things like that. Which was fine for me because I did know it but then again, I'd had that type of class before, I just had to re-take it at this particular University.

I showed him my conclusion from last lab (that we needed to turn in, about 4 pages) and my proposal for next lab (about another 4 pages) and asked for suggestions or if that was what he wanted. He said it was what he wanted, he only suggested changing a pinout diagram to a logic diagram because that is what the class is supposed to be about anyway, so I did that in the interim between classes.

This afternoon was lab and it was a little disappointing. I came prepared with my proposal and diagram ready to go so it was just a matter of looking at my schematic and hooking it all up properly, I was done in 10 minutes. So were a couple of other students but there were some who didn't know the logic of the circuit, they needed to be shown that, then they were trying to implement it. Pretty soon it was just me and three other students in the lab and you know what? Each of those three students was one my lab partners I'd been assigned and all three stayed through the entire lab trying to get it working. I almost cried.

I stayed the entire time as well and helped out two of my partners with their circuits (we don't officially join as a group until next week). The one lady was very grateful for all the suggestions I'd made (she had trouble telling the difference in the schematic between an XOR and an OR gate and hooking up certain things, one of them she had an output wire but no inputs!), then when her circuit wasn't working, I didn't look at it but it turns out that one of the pins on the IC (Integrated Circuit, the little chips) was bent, so it wasn't connecting to the ground and throwing the whole circuit off.

The other guy (also a lab partner) looked stoned the whole day. When he came in to lecture he lazily opened the door and then banged his hand on the jam. "OW!" he exclaimed. Then he shuffled sullenly over to his chair and went to put his notebook on the little desk arm and it fell to the floor. He stared at it a moment and then sat down, scooting the notebook toward him with his foot. Then he threw his pencil down to join it and folded his arms as though he was disgusted with the world. I felt like quipping "It just isn't your day is it?" but didn't.

So anyway, during the lab he just sat and stared at a truth table for about an hour and half! He'd periodically move his hand to the mouse of the computer at the lab desk but other than that, he just stared at the table as though trying to figure it out. He had the chips there but hadn't done anything with them yet, I don't even think he'd hooked them up to ground and power (two very standard things). I drew out a schematic with pin and chip numbers and and brought it over to him. He glanced at it, I left it at the desk and pretty soon he had it put together. I didn't wish to appear too condescending but I did want to make sure he understood what the circuit was doing and not merely copying what I had drawn, so I explained part to him. He said "yeah, my brain just fried like 15 minutes ago man." I guess so, since that "15 minutes" was actually an hour and a half! Man.

So I don't know how my lab partners are going to be, I guess it is good that they were willing to stay and learn, the first lady I helped (married I believe) was very grateful and kept saying Thank You over and over again, she had it pretty much figured out except for a few key things and then that bum chip.

The other girl I'm not too sure about, she seems like a go-getter but we'll see, she didn't seem to catch on that quick but we're also just beginning. I have to remember that I've been through this before and most others haven't. Both of the girls in my lab are black and the guy is oriental but raised in America I'm sure. Most orientals that come from another country are very devoted to their school, he doesn't appear to be :)

Then, after staying late in lab and helping out, I went quickly to Walmart and stocked up on food for the next week or two (cost me, or my parents rather, nearly $25!) and then scarfed down a burrito and part of one in the car on the way to the church meeting this evening. Discussing the budget may not be all that interesting but I enjoyed how it went, I'll bring the agenda home with me when I visit next.

Well, this post took me nearly 30 minutes to do, it's late, and my fingers are frozen stiff (I'd have done it much quicker if they weren't). But I can't see turning on the heat to get the camper warm for just a half hour before I go to bed, since I like it cold when I sleep. It seems like it would be a waste of energy. It's 43 degrees F in here right now. No wonder my fingers won't type fast :)
Goodnight.

Procrastination

I feel like I should be saying a lot about Saturday, Sunday, and then today, yet I've cut myself short on time by reading too much.

Saturday was really a very quiet day, I spent the time in my camper and I only went out to do laundry and then to take a run to the mailbox aside from my usual routine. I picked up a few items around the camper, set up my speakers (I'd been wanting to do that for some time now) watched a few short video clips that had been sent to me on a CD as a Christmas gift, read a little in my textbooks and in other books I'm working through right now etc.

I also did some more drawing for my Engineering Design class. It's tedious yes, but fun at the same time. I love the lined paper that we use, the graph lines are perfect for me since I do not draw very straight or in very good proportion normally. I have a question on a couple of them so I will be going into school early tomorrow to ask for some help from the instructor.

But other than that it was really very quiet.

Sunday was a special day again, I had been told by Pastor that it would be acceptable for me (if I wanted) to arrive a little early and start getting set up and that (if it was all right with me) it would be fine if I started doing the setup and simply having another family as backup in case I couldn't be there. That sounded very good to me since I am happy to help out in that area and actually do enjoy it. I was afraid I might be "stepping on toes" so to speak but getting there early, I don't want to take anyone's "job," but I would be happy to do it exclusively if they wanted the rest or could spend a little more time at home in the mornings. I don't have a family to get ready, with me it's pretty much just take a shower, quickly comb my hair and brush my teeth (and dress of course) and I'm ready, usually before 7:00 and then after that I twiddle my thumbs or read a little so that arrangement is very agreeable to me. I don't make coffee though.

Mr. N delivered part three of his survey on Romans. Even though it is supposed to be a survey, it really does feel like we are flying through the book, barely stopping to peak at things on the way as they zoom past, it has been good to get an idea of the overall thrust of Romans though, and I appreciate it very much. I do feel that every Sunday, whether in the Sabbath school, the morning or afternoon service, or just during lunch that I am being richly blessed to be surrounded by the people that are there, it has been quite a reward. The reverence toward God in the worship is something I appreciate very, very much as well, as I feel that it is important primarily because it is Scriptural, and one doesn't need another reason! Yet there is also very much a sense of joy as well, at coming into the presence of God and adoring him. Yes, I have been very blessed to have been brought here. Pastor was saying that many times God has brought people into his life at just the right time, well, that is how I feel too.

That evening I hitched a ride with the N's and buried my nose in a book almost the entire way (trying to catch up in the Luke study since I was gone a couple of weeks). An Odyssey CD was playing that I caught most of while reading. I hope I wasn't just catching bits and parts of both, as that wouldn't profit me much. The CD was well done and I enjoyed the dramatization, the voice acting and sound effects. Why radio shows have almost all but ceased (and I mean the entertainment kind) is beyond me. I enjoy the theatre of the mind very much!

The study in Hebrews that evening at the W's house was very good as well, we equally seem to be flying in that study, there is so much that could be said, Owen has something like 7 volumes on Hebrews? It just goes to show that no matter how much men may write on a subject in the Bible, the fountain is inexhaustible, there will always be new things revealed, it is always fresh and we never can completely mine the vast riches it has to offer.

I enjoyed the ride back very much, first discussing what had been going on in F.B.'s school and some of her reading that she had to do. Her blog has a thorough description of the situation and how men try to twist things to their own devious purposes. It hurt her very deeply to see her Lord so blasphemed in that way and it hurt me too. It left much to think upon and it was a fresh reminder of the depravity unto which men are born and wallow in all their lives. Were it not for the grace of God then I should be like that, and it is a sobering reminder.

The topics of discussion on the way home were of a variety of natures and I think Daisy finally had to give up on trying to listen to another Odyssey CD. Sorry about that.

Today was much like Saturday, I used it to get a project report done as well as writing a proposal for the next lab meeting and then doing a bit of reading, there really wasn't much to it other than that.

I did read some humourous discussion today, there was a guy who posted something (nerd talk, you understand) and apparently it could be considered a joke depending on how you look at it. Another guy posted after him and said that he was going to moderate it as funny but then wasn't sure, so he told him that when he tells a joke he needs to put a smiley after it so people will be certain :)

Then another guy posted this, quoting the second:

"A friend once said "the net is large enough that somebody won't get the joke". Therefore, always use a smiley when you're telling a joke. :-)

Poor Willy. For want of an emoticon, Shakespeare's works were lost. If only he could have written:

To be, or not to be: that is the question. :~(

Just think of the treasures we've discarded because humans can't recognize irony or humor!"

I just cracked up when I saw that.

Lions and tigers and blogs, oh my!

I think it was yesterday afternoon that I eating lunch (you know, the stick the burrito in the microwave kind) that I decided to turn on the TV for a few minutes, the first time I'd done it since I arrived here and guess what was on? Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood! Well, I HAD to watch it of course. It was entertaining and I liked the work with the puppets that they had, though his voice wasn't the best, it worked for Daniel the Tiger. They had another puppet come to "class" and show some of her wildlife pictures. Most of the time the show was on I read e-mail and responded rather than paid attention though. Then it was turned off in about 15 minutes.

So let me see....

Today was a really long day, I spent 9 hours on campus, from about 8:00 this morning until 5:00, there was almost solid classes, there were two, one-hour breaks in between some of them but I spent that time reading my textbooks I had brought with me, Digital Logic (which was very boring) and Java (almost as boring). I don't know which is my favourite textbook this year.... perhaps the Engineering Design.

Speaking of which, that was the last thing I had today, the lab for Engineering Design, the TA is named Julius and seems like he's going to be very nice. I asked him a few questions because I wanted to get my technical drawings just right and I think he appreciated that. I was the last one to leave (and no one had finished the assignment but they left anyway) and he even asked me my name! There's a good sign I guess, when the TA asks you your name on the first day of class. I'm still surprised that people will recognize me this semester and know my name, former classmates I believe but I only saw them a couple of times. They know me, but I'd never spoken to them before this semester. I didn't think my nose was THAT prominent so as to be unforgettable...... other than that, I don't know what would promt them to remember me.

The lab itself went well, the drawing was very, very tedious but I actually enjoyed it. I'll finish up my drawings tomorrow (D.V.) and have them ready to submit next Friday. I guess I have an extra day too, what with MLKJ day......

Well, that's it for tonight, very boring. I did get my brother to take the "moon" quiz, and my mom took it as well but they are the only ones who wanted to waste the time ;) Oh, my dad actually did take it at my brother's prompting. He did pretty good too actually.

Life and the Universe

I don't have a whole lot to say this evening.... at least I don't think I do. I'm kind of tired and will probably read some in my Physics book (the thing weighs a ton and is nearly 1400 pages long with 42 chapters) and then go to bed. We'll see. I've been getting to bed between 11:00 and 12:00 lately and waking up at 0600 so I'm feeling rather tired.... wait. I said that.

So let me see, I went to the men's prayer meeting this morning and really enjoyed the time there. I do not pray well out loud though (from an aesthetic viewpoint). For that matter, I don't pray well in private either, how pathetic I feel sometimes, not knowing how I ought to pray and feeling so superficial. This morning as I drove away I was praying "Lord, teach me to pray." I read an excellent book (yes, by Pink) on The Lord's Prayer and it was really, really eye-opening at the time and showed me just how lacking I was in prayer. I also read a quote recently that said something like "they who speak the most with God are the ones who hear the most." Yes, I do wish for that in my life, to desire, to long to commune with God all the time, praying isn't dreary, it is a gift and a blessing. Teach me to pray how I ought.

I also found out this morning that my customer for the Chemistry backed out on me, he gave no reason, just said he couldn't buy it. Now what if I had some other person who wanted it and I had previously turned him down? Wouldn't I be in a quandary? Even thought it looks like I didn't sell it, I'm glad I went this route instead of the bookstore because I made more money on one of the books I sold than I probably would have if I had sold all of them to the bookstore. And there is always next semester if they are using the same book! Never give up! Semper Fidelis! Or some awesome Latin phrase like that.....

Here is a quote for you:
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Which (I am told) roughly means "Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound."

So I headed to Physics class. The instructor seemed a little better today though she asked one of the students to help her with her microphone box (the wireless thingy) because she couldn't get the battery out, then she asked him to go to the office to get a new battery and in the meantime she was looking all around trying to find all the stuff she'd placed aside and then asked me if I could run to the office and get her some paper to write on for the lecture. But after that it was generally okay.

Then was Digital Logic, which was fun. They divided us into teams and the professor was ribbing the TA's because of what had happened. See, Fritz handed out all of the cards for what teams were assigned, but then he shredded the paper with the assignments on it (because of the social security numbers) but then..... the only record they had of who was on whose teams, were the cards they had handed us! He had neglected to make his own list beforehand. Lots of little things like that. The professor said that Fritz was just too efficient. We also had a little quiz sort of thing in which we were given 15 items and asked to rank them in order of importance. We had about five minutes to do it and I'll list them here so you can take the quiz yourself and I'll score you to see how you did, if you want :)

Here is the quiz:

The year is 2040. You are a member of a space crew that was to rendezvous with the mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. You experienced mechanical difficulties and your ship was forced to land about 200 miles from the point you were to be. During re-entry and landing, much of the equipment on your ship was damaged. Your survival depends on you reaching the mother ship. You will need to survey what is left that is useable and determine the most critical undamaged items that you will take for the 200 mile trip.
Your task is to look over the list below which contains the useable, undamaged items left on your ship, and rank them in order of their importance for your crew. Remember you need to rank each item in terms of its value in allowing you to reach the mother ship. Place the number 1 by the most important item and keep going to number 15 which will be the least important. Be ready to explain why you have given each item the rank it received. Use your knowledge of the Moon and its evnironment to help you make your decisions. When you are done please turn in the sheet to be graded (that means e-mail you answers to me at ShadowN64 at gmail dot com.

Box of Matches
Food Concentrate
50 Feet of nylon rope
parachute silk
portable heating unit
two .45 caliber pistols
one case dehydrated milk
two 100-pound tanks of oxygen
Stellar map (of moon's surface)
self inflating life raft
magnetic compass
5 gallons of water
signal flares
first aid kit containing injection needle
solar-powered FM receiver transmitter

So that's it, there was one person who got a better score on the quiz than myself (I wasn't thinking properly on at least one of the items and it threw the others off) but our group did the best out of the others there. They gave us a sheet individually (which we turned in) and then one for our group just to show us that gathering together and working together on something (combining knowledge) helps our score. We didn't get MUCH better than my score, but better than a lot of people's scores! There were a couple of points brought up that I hadn't thought about.

It was a fun exercise and it was interesting that we scored better than a girl that had taken the quiz before, the previous semester or something :) She was also my success coach last semester, I'm in the same class with her this semester but not the same lab group. She is Catholic and apparently got engaged on New Years. Umm. I don't know why I said that but anyway.

That afternoon I met with Pastor in the Student Union and we just talked about my goals this semester both academically and spiritually. It was a good time and I really enjoyed it. Then I came home and wasted some time on the computer. I need to regulate myself seriously, it just happens that I check my e-mail, then think I need to do something on this site, check my work queue, then check my e-mail again and then my other e-mail... browse a message board. Write a blog post. I thought computers were supposed to make certain processes faster! Instead, I find it consumes a lot of my time! But it's my only point of contact as well. I should just check in the morning and evening and see if I can do that, I feel like I'd be far more productive in the long run :)

Something to something

I'm not sure how far I'm going to get here.....
The clock on the wall says 12:27 even though it is really 4:27. Man, don't I wish I could turn the clock back 4 hours like that... I could use them today.

I only had two classes, my Calculus class this morning and my Computer Science class in the afternoon. I spent part of the day trying to catch up on assignments for next week (I have more than I bargained for).

The instructor realized (in the Calculus class) that he had an old syllabus. I was wondering why we had left off in chapter 6 (in Calculus 1) and now were heading straight into chapter 12. We'll be going back and looking at some of the other stuff before going to chapter 12 now (*phew*).

Then I went to the computer lab, printed out some notes for next Digital Logic Design lecture to be used in conjunction with the slides presented, and visited a couple of sites that I'm supposed to keep tabs on during the semester. Each professor says "check the website regularly!" Okay, I'll just bookmark them all and check when I do my rounds every day (or multiple times every day usually). Then I had about an hour to sit around and read (more Pink). I went to the room where the next class was to be and there was 4 other students there, ones from last semester that I knew. It was almost like a handpicked crowd!

When classtime finally came, the professor was just as likeable the second time around, he mentioned that he has a large library of Old Time Radio shows, as do I myself! I stayed around and talked with him for about 10 minutes on some of that, we have similar tastes and I recognized all of the shows he mentioned and he knew the ones I liked. It sounds like we have a lot in common even in that one area.

Then I headed to the bookstore to wait for about 15 minutes for another "customer" to show up so I could sell him my Java (not coffee, programming) textbook. He came and I did. He was an Asian student and he said he will be taking CS2 next semester and if I was interested in selling that book after this one was over (providing they were using the same book) he'd definitely be interested in buying it from me. All right! A customer even before I've advertised! On that same note, I got an e-mail from another person when I got home who was wondering if I still had my Chemistry book and if so then he'd buy it from me. I'm very pleased (and thankful). I've only had one person contact me for each book, but one is all it takes! Thanks to the teachers who announced it in class as well, I'm very appreciative they took the time to do that when I couldn't be there myself due to schedule conflicts.

Anyhow.... as I was leaving the Student Union (and feeling slightly hungry as it was now nearing 1:45) I came across a table by the clock outside that had some Bibles and stuff. Christians on Campus or something like that. So I stopped and talked with "Troy" a while, he seemed like a nice fellow. I asked what version of the Bible they had and he said it was the "Re...." come to think of it, I can't think of what it was. I'd never heard of it. I took a look, it was just the New Testament but what he said he really liked was the notes that it had (I had to inspect those of course) because it really explained a lot and helped him have a deeper relationship with Jesus. I took a brief look at some passages and it looked "okay." He said he liked the translation too because a lot of translations will have their opinions or what they thought of it in the way they translated (I mentioned The Message). He didn't care too much for NIV he said. Okay, I could go along with that, it sounded encouraging. He mentioned that they were going to have a Bible study that afternoon (in 45 minutes) in the Student Union on the 4th floor. I hesitated because was planning on walking all the way back to the overflow parking on the other side of the track and get home and eat some lunch but decided to go along. So I went up to the room to wait, reading my book.

The people all seemed very nice but a little on the "emotional" side in a way.....
They decided (in a couple of minutes) that they were going to study Romans, I said that was fine by me, Romans was one of my favourite books.

They didn't really open up with a prayer, they just started saying statement and then the rest would chime in with "oh yes! Amen! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Amen! Amen!" For example:

"We are glad to be here Jesus...."
"Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!"
"We are glad for Romans"
"Amen Lord, yes, yes! Amen!"
"We are glad to read your Word."
"Amen, Yes, Jesus, oh Jesus yes, Jesus!"
etc.

I was struggling because while I do think that it should always be in our hearts to praise God for everything, it was more like repetitious words designed to inculcate some sort of emotional, religious experience.

Then they started reading, one verse at a time and at the end of each verse (and often in the middle) they would puncuate it with "Amen! Amen! Jesus, Jesus! Oh yes, Amen!"
I knew it was just kind of a mindless repetition when I read verse 14:
"I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the foreigners, both to the wise and to the unwise."
And got all kinds of "Amen! Yes Lord, yes, yes! Amen! Amen!"
Far be it from me to judge another person's heart, but did you understand that verse? Do you know what it means? And if not, then what are you thinking?

They all had those Bibles with the notes and would read those more than the Scripture. The young man had said that he didn't care for the Bibles that would translate their own ideas into the words, yet they were taking every word of the notes as absolutely true! They would "Amen" it and then someone else came in later, mentioned something along the lines of what they had read in the notes earlier and Troy said that they had read it but it wasn't very clear. All through the notes was "Yes Lord! Oh Jesus, Amen! Yes! Amen, Amen" not to anything in particular, it was almost like noises that came from their mouths when they breathed. Yes, I want to praise God but it's not simply a mindless "Amen" to every word you hear, whether you comprehend it or not (especially from someone's notes). The Bible is very clear to explain WHY we praise God, because of His mercy, power, love, holiness, etc.

At one point I was asked to read one of the notes, so I leaned over and read from another of the Bible's notes and came across the "chosen" or "called" in the first verse. It mentioned Acts 9:15, which I read.
'But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. '

And I got all kinds of "Amens" and one lady said "now wouldn't you like that to have been said of you? To be chosen by God!" And I looked up (quickly) Ephesians 1:3-4 which says

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." And said that it has been said of us! We have been chosen.

"Oh Jesus! Amen! Yes, Lord, Yes, Before the foundation of the world! Yes Lord, chosen!"

Then one of the guys started (in a dreamy voice) saying how wonderful it was and wow, chosen, it was almost as though we had some sort of predestination or something. Now, I wasn't prepared to go into a dialogue on Election the first meeting I'd been to but there was a screaming opportunity.

They read the notes about how the books followed some structure and it metioned chapters 1-5 as being "building" and then other chapters as being "life" and then the others as being "salvation" or something.
From then on it was almost a chant, when someone would mention being built up another would ask "and for what" And the zombied response was "to life! Life! Oh Yes! AMEN! Yes... Amen, Amen!"

I felt like I could have said anything and it would have met with emphatic approval. One of the people mentioned progressive revelation and I started to sweat. I see.... soo..... we're all infallible because we're all speaking under the Spirit and all "Amen"ing?

Then one of the guys started going off on how the Spirit was Jesus, and how when Jesus was resurrected and ascended, He became the Spirit so he could dwell in our hearts. There were some other weird things mentioned then but I didn't stay. I politely excused myself and headed out. It was hard to think in there with all the assents to whatever you said, it lulled one into a sense of infallibility and then people would start blurting out stuff that made no sense!

I don't think I'll be back.