The Cycle of My Blog

It happens every time I make a change in my life. I neglect my blog for weeks at a time. In this case, I graduated from Clarkson University with my bachelor's degree and am now a fully qualified electrical engineer and moved into a new apartment. The apartment is great and I'm living with my girlfriend and sister but I am still jobless. However, I'm sending out a volley of resumes and cover letters this Monday and will continue searching after that.

Wish me luck...

Here one day and gone the next

Yesturday morning I got up at around 5a.m. to get ready to go to school. The only reason that I got up that early was because I was maximizing my study time for finals week and 6 hours of sleep is more than enough for me. Anyway, I walked outside without my jacket one and was meet with a cold and dark morning. I told myself that this unseasonable cold was just the morning thaw and that it would go away soon. Six hours later, I got up from studying in the library to get another coffee and looked out of the big bay windows in the library to see a veritible blizzard outside. I'm not joking around when I tell you that visibility was at about 50 feet.

It continued to snow into the night and before I went to bed there was a thick blanket on everything. Nothing had changed when I got up this morning. I went about my day and began studying. However, I've just taken a look out the window to see what it was like and discovered something. It is still chilly, but there is no snow to be had anywhere! Only in Potsdam could you be 70 degrees farenheit at the start of the week, down to the low 30's in the middle of the week with a blanket of snow and then back up into the 70's by tommorow(weather man's prediction). Seriously, has Potsdam done something to anger God? Or maybe this is just an omen? I wonder what it stands for? Probably, change.

And theres been quite a lot of that in my life lately...

Alternative Energy

I have a test at 3:15pm today that covers my alternative energy course. Now, I love this course for one reason only. It is sooo easy! Tests and homeworks are done in groups! And the tests arn't cumulative which means that it only covers half of the year on the test!

This his great because not only does he totally ignore the book(so I won't study from it) but there are litterally less than 30 pages of notes I have to cover for the final. And not every page of notes has equations on it!

It's 7:30am now, which means I have over 7 hours to study 28 pages of notes. Seriously, that is the most incredible amount of study time ever! And, did I mention that I got a 92 on his midterm because it was so freaking easy?

This is a test I'm actually not stressing about...

The One Day I Don't Bring A Coat

It has been blisteringly hot all week and I've still carried a jacket each day. So when I got up this morning and headed out the door I thought "Well I don't want to sweat so I might as well leave it at home." Then I brave what I thought was just the morning cold and head to school. A few hours later I looked out the window to see a veritable blizzard! It's been so nice out and it went and snowed on me! And right before senior week! All I have to say is that this snow better be gone and it better be warm outside by Sunday. Because if it isn't, someone is going to pay. I don't know who will but someone will.

I need it to be warm because I've been waiting pretty much all year for this. It has been a tradition of mine for the last five years to laze around outside in the awesome weather right after finals. And, it's been a tradition of mine for the last three years or so to eat a lot of bbq with my friends and get totally ripped. And, while it isn't the healthiest thing to do with my time, it certainly is the most fun. And, its going to be my last hoorah before graduating.

Oh yeah, I'm graduating in a week...

I've Entered Dead Week

Testing is comming around again, and this time is the last time! Well, in actuality I'm probably going to be taking courses again at some point in my life. However, my undergraduate career is drawing to a close and I could'nt be happier. I've been here 9 semesters, and I've had quite enough. I've sweat, bleed, and stressed over this place and soon that will all be a thing of the past.

No more homework! No more school projects! No more finals!! It's all I can do to keep myself from salivating at the prospect. Soon, my life will consist of work time and personal time. It will no longer be the draining lifestyle I've become acustom to where school time could be any time, day or night, and where personal time takes a back seat to everything else.

Not only will I actually have time to pursue personal interests and my science, I will have time! Right now time is a commodity that is managed, traded and scheduled to the nth degree. Soon, time will be less restricted and I will be less stressed. Life is going to get easier soon.

And I wouldn't have it any other way...

Waiting for the scanner

I'm sitting in the library right now waiting to use the scanner so I can digitize some notes. The reason I am waiting is because the Clarkson library only has one scanner, and it is usually in use. And, right now there is a guy using the computer it is attached to so that he can write a paper. He no doubt decided to use that specific spot because it has a nice chair. However, he is shafting everyone else that needs to use that computer by doing so.

So, I'm just sitting here and blogging waiting the ten supposed minutes that he said he was only going to take. Oh, and look at that here comes the ten minute mark. And, he still hasn't gotten up. O.k. maybe he just needs some time to get his things together and sign out. Nope, turns out hes just being rude. Anyway, I've got to change computers because a creepy girl is staring at me with a strange "I've gotta have it" look.

Hopefully I'll get the scanner some time today...

Time

I do not have enough, I need to get sooo much work done.

I'm off to do work...

Half Hearing

I have an ear infection and it sucks. It's in my left ear and my hearing is basically cut in half. Though, I should be used to this because I've had them on at least an annual basis for my entire life. In fact, my entire left ear drum and tubes are sunken below the right one. And, I still have tubes in it that allows for normal fluid transfer. The only problem is that the tube doesn't act perfectly and from time to time there may be water or fluid build up that promotes bacteria growth.

And, waaa-bam! I the hearing in my left ear gets turned off, I experience constant mild pain, and what would be screaming in one ear is a whisper in the other. It really throws off my center of balance to, not to mention the fact that it effects my driving skills. So, for now I'm just keeping it clean with cotton swabs and waiting for my doctor's appointment tommorow.

People are just going to have to make sure to speak into my right ear...

Dreams

Have you ever noticed that when someone tells you about their dream it is always a very significant event? The person who is listening could probably care less what you hallucinated, but you are completely sure that they must hear what happend. Well in order to further this stereotype I am going to tell you about the amazing dream I had the other night.

I'll spare you all of the details and the entire dream sequence and just get to the good part. I dreamed that I was in a western european city at night. The wind was very strong and was almost shooting straight up. I realized that if I held my arms out to my sides that there would be enough lift to carry me up into the air even though I still weighed about 200 pounds. But anyway, I had to make the choice between having an exhilarating ride into the sky and flying around like a leaf and risk being impaled on something after the wind died down or staying on the ground and being safe.

Obviously I chose to fly up into the air. I swirled around in every direction. I looked down and realized I was hundreds of feet in the air. It was exiting but also terrifying. I continued to fly around for a while free from the ground before the wind eventually died out and I was forced to try to make it to the ground safely somehow. I hit a huge pine tree and tried to grab on to it's branches as I plumited to the ground. I was unsuccessful and hit the ground back first. I didn't die though. I wasn't even hurt. I stood up and continued onto the next part of the dream sequence.



Fun stuff...

My brain stopped working!

I have two tests today. One in organizational behavior(which I just took and feel good about) and one in alternate energies. I studied last night until after 3am for the ob test and I studied for the AE test for like 3 hours yesturday. I'm going to get another four hours of studying in today before my AE test. The thing that sucked about it was that I had to get up at 5:20am to drive ashli to work were she opens. And, when I did the funniest thing happend. We were walking to the car tired and irritable and she said something to the efffect of "I can't believe I've done this three days in a row." And, I said "You will be happy when get your check because you have hours, like a lot."

My brain farted so bad I think you may still smell it. I remember thinking this isn't right, I can barely speak and I can't remember stuff well. I was having lots of trouble focusing and speaking. I was sleep deprived. So I went back to the apartment and slept for another hour and a half. I woke up at 8:30 and got ready for my 9:30am test. Now I'm finishing up my review for my 4pm test.

Agh! Me no like when brain no work...

The last 5 weeks of my life

Well maybe there not the last five weeks of my whole life(I hope). But they certainly are the last five weeks of my undergraduate life at Clarkson. I'm just taking it day by day right now so I don't stresss out. I still have to find a job and finish my degree so I have to focus on the prize. I have two tests tommorow. One of which is easy and the other is farely difficult. But, If I study I know I will do at least o.k.

I've just got to sprint this last part out...

PSpice

PSpice is a circuit modeling program that I hate. I'm in this course called instrumentation and they require us to be experts in using it when not only have we barely been exposed to it, but we have never been taught how to use it! We have to teach ourselves it's ins and outs in order to complete senior level projects. And that sucks because I'm a slow learner and even though its a graphical language, there are so many ways in which your program can return errors without telling you why it is unbelievable. For instance, I designed a simple noninverting op-amp circuit below to have a gain of -500(shown in the previous post). So I put it in the program and vary the input from 0 to 1 and the output simply varies from 0 to the maximum negative saturation value of the opamp before it hits 1mV! THE WORST PART IS THAT I PUT IT UP ON THE ENGINEERING SECTION OF YAHOO ANSWERS AND THEY SAID THAT I HAD DESIGNED IT CORRECTLY!!!!!!

GAH!!!!!! I'M GOING TO DROP THIS COURSE TODAY!

Untitled

Spring Break, Part 2

Oh man, there is nothing like a week of just lazing around to recharge the batteries. However, spring break is drawing closer to it's inevitable end. And, that is all right. I wish it could last longer, but I know that it can't. I'm going to have to get up tomorrow morning and trudge back to school and work. And you know what, I'm going to throw myself at that work like a fat man on cheesecake.

Speaking of cheesecake, I could go for some right now...

I actually don't mind working at kinney's

I know! I used to blog the heck out of the fact that I couldn't stand that place. I would drone on about how menial tasks and low appreciation test my patience. However, these days it seems that the menial tasks that I hate are therapeutic.

No I'm not crazy. At this point in my hectic, crazy, difficult life; being able to spend a few hours doing something I know I'm overqualified for is amazing. I have 110% confidence in myself and the quality of my work. I'm almost an expert at that stuff. So, time doesn't seem to tick by so slowly at work these days.

And you'll hear no complaints from me... (at least about that)

Spring Break

Spring break starts in just a few hours and I really need this vacation. But before it starts I have to finish DSP homework, go to class, pick up my regalia and go to work to cover a shift for someone else. But, its ok because it will open up the rest of the week for me.

Cheers!

A friend died

A few days ago a friend of mine named Steve died. We weren't particularly close but I've hanged out with him on more than one occasion and we were more than acquaintances. From what I have heard he discovered that he had cancer recently and died approximately a week later. The really sad part of all of this is that he was only 24 when he passed away. He will certainly be missed by those he knew.

Summer Apartment Possibility

So my summer may not be as tragically boring as I once thought it might be. Ashli came home yesturday and told me that there is an opportunity for a very inexpensive apartment that a woman named Casey is the landlady of. It's a two bedroom apartment, so ashli, myself and hopefully virginia will live in it this summer spliting the bill three ways!

On the upside this place includes everything in the rent. On the downside, there is no kitchen in the apartment and we would have to go downstairs to a common area to actually cook. However, if everything is included and three of us split the bill I'm all for it!

Another summer in potsdam here I come...

Fraternity Initiation

For the past six weeks my fraternity and I have been pledging four new members who are hoping to gain entry into the Beta Chi chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma, at Clarkson University. They are all gentlemen and I respect them all. So, they don't have much to worry about as far as entry. However, they do have to complete the process and take the final exam. I hope they all pass, but I'm not too worried about that either. I'll be sure to post some pictures of all of us congratulating the new brothers as soon as they come out.

It's almost that time again...

There taking my email away from me!

AH!

I'm graduating in may and as a result they are going to be taking my clarkson.edu email address away from me! I f@#@ing love my email address! I love microsoft outlook and I don't have it on my computer! You don't understand I'm addicted to email. I check it constantly and contact almost everyone through it. I've given the address out to organizations and all of my friends contact me though it to discuss fraternity matters.

On the bright side I have a year of access to it before they close my account. And, they will use a forwarding service once I get set up with a new account I like. For now I'm using yahoo mail as a secondary account . Until I've figured out if I can get back on outlook as a different user.


Speaking of email, I should go check it...

Tech Blog

I've gotten a site on freewebs.com for a tech blog that I want to start up. It is bassically going to have resources and interesting projects I've done. For instance. I might put up a document on how to solve a difficult circuit, instructions on how to solve for common attributes of a circuit I've used and project pictures/videos of things I've made.

I don't want it to be so technical that no one can go on the site, so I will have to make a bunch of cool projects that will wow people, but it is also supposed to be a resource for students of electrical engineering that are having difficulties with a system I've already delt with. I think I will start by putting up pictures of my senior lab's golf swing analyzer to start with, and go from there.

If you are interested in seeing the fetal state of the site feel free to click on the link below and it will take you there. And if you are paranoid about links, I've copied the url below as well.

Electrically Inclined
http://electricallyinclined.webs.com/


Later Taters...

Fixed it!

Kenny Vs. Spenny

Below is an article I recently submitted to my university newspaper, "The Integrator."

------------------------------Kenny Vs. Spenny-------------------------------

There are many television shows that are completely under watched. “Kenny versus Spenny” is an example of said show. Shown on “showcase” and “Youtube”, “KVS” is a sophomoric performance that follows two best friends who enter competitions against each other for nothing more than victory and the inevitable humiliation of the vanquished. However, while the show may have sophomoric qualities, “KVS” is a brilliant, Shakespearean performance, showcasing the endless epic struggle of good versus evil.
The show is set up in a three act structure. Act one, the set up, begins with a shot of the house with Kenny and Spenny seated, as custom, on their red couch dictating the roles of the competition. They state what it will be, how an individual can win and what each competitor can and cannot do. As the two argue and debate the nuances of the rules, the audience begins to view the competition’s first emergence, as good tries to minimize evil’s options and evil attempts to find loop holes it can work its way into.
Act two brings the audience face to face with rising action and suspense as the protagonist Kenny “battles” the antagonist Kenny in anything from who can remind blind the longest to who makes the best woman. But, as in a real situation, our hero is actually an anti-hero and the antagonist is the anti-antagonist. Each operates, imperfectly, toward their goal according to their own ideologies. While Spenny attempts to win by “working harder and honestly”, Kenny battles by “working smarter”.
Act three shows which maxim rang true as the rising action is brought to climax with the realization of the victor. In some instances Spenny’s “work hard and honest” method achieves its goal and Kenny pays the price for bending rules. However, in many other competitions, brilliant evil locates the loophole in the regulations and takes advantage. The act is completed with the inevitable humiliation that that shows how strongly each character believes in his maxim as extreme enjoyment is taken from the act. While the war of good versus evil threatens to go on indefinitely, this war will end the sad day networks pull the plug on their support of the show.

Workin' For The Weekday

Oh man, this weekend was brutal. I had to work on both Saturday and Sunday at Kinney's. I also had school work to do and a fraternity function to go to. On top of that I also had to support the new members by going to their fundraiser which was an Elvis impersonator down in old Snell theatre.

The events themselves were fun, but I am tired. I have a test at 2pm that I have to get some studying done for and I've never been so relieved it is a Monday. I don't have any work for the weeknights, at Kinney's, or any places I absolutely must be. I can actually just relax and do my work.

Good gracious what will I do with myself?

Global Warming Homework

I recently had to write a paper for homework. Yes engineers write too! It's a bit long, but I thought it was interesting so I included it below. It's a bit on the long side so I won't be offended if you don't read it. But, feel free to read it anyway.

-----------------Global Warming Contributors and Validity----------------

There are many controversial topics within the overreaching dome of modern science. Among the most controversial lies the topic of global warming, and its validity. Global warming is defined, by Wikipedia, as the increase in the average temperature of near-surface air and oceans since the mid twentieth century. Global warming also states that the increase in average temperatures on earth is a result of man’s contribution to the green house effect via the large volume of green house gases that are artificially put into the atmosphere.

Green house gases are a necessary part of earth’s ecosystem. Without GHGs earth’s temperature would be approximately thirty degrees celsius lower than what it is at present. The major contributors to the green house effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), Nitrous Oxide (NO2) and Methane. They have separate atmospheric lifetimes which are respectively, 9 days, 1004 years, 1144 years and 124 years.

The major greenhouse gases created by humans include CO2, Methane and NO2. Of the one hundred percent of total GHGs, CO2 has climbed to 72% of the total volume. NO2 has reached a level of 9% of the total volume of GHGs. And, methane has attained a level of 18% of the total volume.

Since the industrial revolution there has been a sharp rise in the total volume of the major green house gases present in our atmosphere. Over preindustrial 1750, there has been a 38% increase in the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Similarly, there has been a 67% increase in the total volume of methane present in the atmosphere. And, likewise there has been a 16% increase in the total volume of NO2 in the atmosphere. Major contributors to the increase are attributed to power production plants (such as coal plants), factories, and automobiles.

While debate on the topic of global warming threatens to continue indefinitely one detail remains evident. The green house effect is a part of our climate. And, when the effect is changed by human activity, the change must be evaluated by climate models. Climate models are defined, by Wikipedia, as models that use quantitative methods in order to simulate the interactions of atmosphere, oceans, land surface and ice.

Climate models take into account the total amount of energy that is either leaving or entering the system. Any surplus energy will inevitably lead to an increase in temperature, among other results. Conversely, a deficit of energy will eventually lead to a decrease in temperature of the system, along with other results. These complex analyses are multivariable having multiple inputs. For example a global climate change model would have many inputs. Some examples of these inputs would include cloud cover, total volume of atmospheric gases, total light energy from entering from the sun, gravitational energy from surrounding bodies, rate of increase of GHGs and many others.

The green house effect clearly exists and it is evident that humans have been increasing the amount of gases that are involved in the green house effect. However there is a widespread debate on wither global warming is a product of man’s misuse of natural resources or of pure imagination. On one side of the debate there are scientists and supporters who state that there measureable changes in the atmosphere that are a chemical result of the increased presence of certain GHGs. On the other side of the debate are scientists and supporters who state that the increase in global temperature is a direct result of cyclical trends. They state that these trends have occurred since the formation of earth’s atmosphere and will continue to heat and cool as time progresses indifferent to human intervention.

In order to determine wither or not there man is having significant impacts on the green house effect, evidence must be evaluated. One such piece of evidence states that global near-surface air temperature has increased by 1.33 ± 0.32 °F, in the last century. Climate models predict that within the 21st century temperatures will increase by 1.33 ± 0.32 °F. There is also evidence that proves that the polar ice caps are decreasing in size. Ice caps, located under low ozone zones, have shrunk by 57% in the last four years, decreasing thickness by 2.2 feet. As temperature increases so does the probability of more intense droughts, heat waves and hurricanes; as seen in 2004-2005.

The idea of global warming is such that an increase in temperature will cause irreparable, negative changes to our environment. It is evident that CO2, Methane and NO2 increase the green house effect. It is also clear that humans have dramatically increased the volume of these gases in the atmosphere, recently. This information coupled with negative effects, such as shrinking ice caps, climate sensitivity, more intense hurricanes and higher impact forest fires shows that global warming does exist and is having immediate consequences.

Even though global warming is manifesting itself with new vigor every year, this is not to say that both sides of the argument do not have valid points. There may well be a cyclical process by which the earth increases and decreases in temperature. However, this does not disprove the fact that if the habits of humans do not change dramatically, the point about which the temperature cycle oscillates may increase to a point that no longer supports normal life on earth.

Sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy
2. http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/current_ghg.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_model
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas#Anthropogenic_greenhouse_gases

5/50

Clarkson University has a semesterly career fair. This year was one of the worst for company participation in a long time. There were only 60ish employers there, and not all of them were looking to fill open slots. This may seem like a bunch of companies, but these 60 odd employers were there to cover every Clarkson major. There are more than three schools at Clarkson. The school of business, engineering, science and more. Within each are an almost incalculable amount of majors.

Long story short I did not have much luck. So I have to search for a job on my lonesome, unlike my classmates from a few years ago that were getting multiple offers. So, my plan is likened to carpet bombing. I am going to apply to 50 companies. And, I'm going to give it up to five months after graduation. If after five months, I do not have a job, I will enlist and attempt to become an engineer through military means. This is because after six months of post graduate life I have to start paying back my loans, and I will not be caught without a job. And so far, I've applied to five places other than the ones at the career fair.

Oh me oh my...

Avalanche Effect

So there is this course that I've found my self a wee bit behind on. What actually happened was that I neglected to do one assignment a while ago and now it's comming back to bite me because it all builds on itself. But that isnt what I want to talk about. What I do want to talk about is how I have the class in 11 minutes and it is taking every ounce of self control and courage not to just run home wildly screaming "I hate Alternate Energies." Which is the name of the course by the way, but I digress.

I don't know why I do it, but I'm sure there has got to be oher students out there like me. Students who are almost out of control of anxiety. Now, I don't want to be dramatic or anything but I seriously don't want to go to the course right now. I just want to sit here and just keep on typing. Just type type typing away and pretending like it doesn't matter. I could even tell myself that I'm taking a "mental health hour." But I know that once I get in there, once I get over my fear of even being there in the first place it will be better.

Eight minutes and counting, wish me luck...

Relationships

I've noticed an interesting relationship between the number of times I blog and my life. If I am busy, I will hardly blog. If I am stressed, I will blog a lot. If I am bored, I will constantly blog.

Now, I want this blog to be successful and interesting enough to capture and audience. However, I find that my blogging habits run against it's success. According to my prediction on the way I behave, based on past events, when I do blog; in all likelihood it is either going to be about my boring life or my stressed out life. Which is great if I'm trying to corner the market on stressed out boring people, but I'm not. My blog is counter intuitive. Oh well, I've got to study for a test tommorrow.


which is probably why I'm blogging now...

Frantic

Frantic! I'm in a panic! The real world is approaching with increasing speed and I have to prepare! There are resume's to hand out. Schools to apply for! Bills to pay! Plans to make! There is soo much to do.

But if there is one thing I've learned from college it's to break work up into bite size peices. Making progress, or at least a sense of progress, is important to moral. However progress does not detract from the issue at hand. I have class in ten minutes and have to run!

I'll see you around!

Internet Resources

Web 2.0 is great. And, there are plenty of great information sources on the internet for everything imaginable. However, you have to sift through tons of useless sources in order to find them. I'm talking about when you go into a search engine and type in something very specific, for say school, and you have to sift through all of the sites that could have every had anything to do with your query. You have to go through a myriad number of chat sites, board sites, personal blogs that mentioned it, actual sites professing to have pertinent information(but who are really liars) and the ever popular links that pretend to have exactly what you are looking for but in actuality are just search engines themselves. Google, Yahoo and the rest of that ilk would do well to have not just categories on movies and showtimes but also on formulai, research papers and text books.

Awesome...

School is back in session

Hey guys,

Sorry about being away for so long, it happens from time to time. I guess I just needed to take a break from everything during winter recess and recoup. And, recoup I certainly did. Among other things I celebrated my 22nd birthday and had chilled with old friends.

Other than that, not too much is going on. I'm in the new apartment. I got Ashli from Poughkeepsie, so she is up with me. I'm working on school and regular life stuff too. I'm trying to get in shape again in case I really can't find a job and need to join the air force (oh what fun that would be). But all in all, not a whole lot is going down. However, I'm sure that life will soon pick up into the break neck speed to which I have become accustom. I have a few reports due soon and I better get working on them.

So until next time,
[insert cliche farwell here]