Oh the Lessons You Learn

This past week I've been working on project after project, and that has caused me to work long days. But I've learned three things:

1. It's never good to work 10+ hour consecutive days
2. If you want something done right, do it yourself
3. Have a written plan before doing anything

I'm almost done with project 2 of 3 and my mind is already making trivial mistakes. However, this wear and tear does have its benefits. My mind is tired and beat, but just like any other muscle, it rebuilds itself and is stronger than before. I've been craving this strength for a while. When I first got home from my mission (the most exhausting mental event) I was very quick and witty. I'm not sure if it was the mental stress, being among New Yorkers, or a combination that gave me the strength, but it was awesome. After a year or so that quickness started to go away, and I'm finally getting it back.

So mentally I'm stronger, and I can also say that my patience has increased. One group member kept on handing in sub-par material and my roommate and I would look at each other and know that we would have to redo it. Well, as most big projects go, something sprung up last minute and it had to be done. Without saying anything, I stood up and took care of it. Ah, that was easy.

Finally, planning helps sort everything out. We had to write narratives for 20+ diagrams and they were becoming tedious and yet still challenging all at the same time. So I took out a pen and paper and wrote three relevant points to each diagram, sat at my computer, and fired away. Thirty minutes later I had a handful of good drafts. Now, who wants to edit them?

Facing Your Fear...Literally

Tonight I had to face someone I didn't care much to see. I was going to avoid it completely by hanging out at a friend's apartment, and my roommate was ready to talk to the person for me, but I got a phone call from an all too familiar number from the feared "old friend". At that moment, however, my mind went at ease and thoughts of words to say came into my mind. Suddenly the situation didn't make me want to hide, but rather face it and be done with it. I talked to the person and went to my apartment. I waited and about 10 minutes passed before the door knocked. Three people came in carrying the air mattress that was the cause of our meeting, and I smiled and didn't even flinch. I was myself! 100% me! The air mattress will help with me not have any rough nights of sleep, but my mind, my emotions, will finally be at rest. And in the words of my wise father, I "dodged a bullet."

The Scariest Halloween Costume

I'm sitting in the Isys Lab listening to TAs talk about their experiences in the Junior Core of the Isys program. From what it sounds like, the second semester has a lot more work as we create the same type of project we did as a group this semester, but we do it individually. Horror stories of 30 hour periods in front of a computer and back-to-back-to-back all nighters make me a little uneasy. Yesterday I heard another horror story of someone who transferred from business management to accounting and accounting to Isys and declared Isys was the hardest of the three by far. So this year I'm not afraid of the ghouls and ghosts, but rather the monstrous Isys Junior Core. Maybe that's what I should be for Halloween.

Programming Fiascos

One of my classes is a computer programming class. The class itself is pretty fun. I learn about how to make anything work on a computer, how to create some basic user interfaces, and sometimes even learn how to steal things from websites. However, the coding can be like raising a child: sometimes it will do what you want it to do the first time, and sometimes it won't work until the hundredth time.

Last weekend I made a bank program, and everything worked the hundredth time. My roommate and I (we both have the class together) sat on our couch, put our laptops on our laps, and ran mental circles around our programs. Finally, after working on the code all Friday and Saturday, we got everything to work. The best part came at 12:00 midnight between Saturday and Sunday when I looked to him and said, "We must be the coolest people around!"

Good Joke

There are only 10 kinds of people in this world. People who can read binary, and people who can't.

Bitter Sweet Ending

Last night, Megan and I had "The Talk". The Talk consists of one member of the relationship complementing the other on the great time he or she has had. Then the unavoidable and expected "but" comes in and you know where it's going. Funny thing was we were both expecting it. I knew Megan was too young and she realized that a college relationship is bigger than a high school relationship. So we cut it off.

I didn't feel any different walking away from it. In fact, I felt that the 10 days we were dating was a blessing. Before I was dating Meg, I chose to stay away from the library, which was my second home last year. However, Meg and I would meet at the top floor of the library to study together almost everyday, and I rediscovered its educational value as a great study environment that I'll continue to go to. Unanswered prayers are good.

Who Doesn't Like Movies?

So I'm an hour late on this entry, but life's busy. Onward with the story.

After a few tennis matches, I decided we should go on a real date. The kind where dinner and a movie are involved. So the next week we went to Zupas, a deli, where we sat outside and talked about our life stories. She was first to educate me on her life and I learned something in the process: the girl can talk. I eventually took my turn, but cut it short so we could make the movie.

At the dollar theater, I wanted Megan to see a movie she hadn't seen yet. However, to my surprise she had not seen any (I later found out she's not a big movie person...smooth). I was in the mood to see "Kung-fu Panda" that night, which looking back was probably the best choice. The other movies had some crude scenes, and I would have felt uncomfortable with her there. Besides, we had a great time laughing more at the kids watching the movie than the actual movie itself. I thought it better to not try to hold her hand, as I wasn't even sure yet if I liked her. I kept my distance and remembered what Eli told me: "Be the flame, not the moth." Thank you, Casanova.