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.