I’m taking a short break from homework this evening to write a few things down. I haven’t updated here in quite and while - something which probably needs to change. I go through my days realizing that one of the personal advantages of blogging, writing, journaling, etc, is that it helps to sort out my thoughts and give a decent hindsight record for the things I do/say/think at any given point in time. My personal style borders on the memoryless - that is, I have a 48-hour horizon in front and behind me that essentially comprises all things I am currently thinking about. Everything else needs to be recorded and referenced for later. Otherwise, it disappears into the void.
Speaking of which, I’ve been messing around with the GTD app “Things”, in both its mobile iPhone and Mac-based incarnations. I have to say that it has been really useful so far and I hope to have the discipline to keep working with it, as well as the money ($40) to buy a permanent copy of it when revision 1 comes out here in January. My only major criticism of the app is that sync is a complete mess. The app tries to sync over your local WiFi network, which works fine if it’s your personal home wireless network.. but ND’s wireless network kills Things’ efforts to sync. Something more robust and useable in the wide world (inlcuding wired, bluetooth, and over-the-net syncing) would be most favorable.
Running a 5k with no consistent training or running habits hurts. I finished the race with a surprisingly decent time given my running history, but the hurt in my legs and joints right now reminds me just how out of shape I am. I estimate that I’m about 15 pounds overweight right now and am trying to piece together some new excercise habits by the end of the semester. With enough discipline I should be able to get my weight and general fitness back to ~Summer 2007 levels. I was very proud of how hard I managed to train that summer and hope that I have it in me to achieve that again.
On the football front.. I can’t really report much. ND Football is essentially in shambles again as we witnessed another pathetic loss to BC. I always try to err on the side of positive thinking with this team, but these last few losses really confirm it: the team is deflated. They played with no heart. Boneheaded mistakes combined with a lack of any semblence of intensity has me seriously considering the possibility that we will not go to a bowl this year - something I considered impossible in September.
My work project has picked up a little. We’re moving closer to something tangible on this project and I’m very anxious to work with the new hardware when it comes back from the board house (actually, I need to send it to the board house first).
Outside of the project, there is academic hell. I find myself harboring intense loathing for my classes and at least one of my professors. Grad school classes are supposed to be hard. I understand that. What I can’t figure out is their approach to ‘mastery’ of the material. Admittedly, some of my background is rather weak (I suck at calculus), but the way I struggle along with my peers suggests that the profs are more concerned with messing with our heads than they are with actual learning. TCEs are going to be ugly. The one saving grace is that I’m fairly confident re-tooling my area of concentration within EE will solve some of these problems. I’m a highly visual/spatial/big-picture person and at least two of the courses I have lined up for next semester will serve those tendencies well (I hope).
I could spend hours on any of these subjects, but my 15-minute break is up. Random Vect homework continues to be frustrating beyond reason. I hope I sleep tonight.