Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A minor break!

Busybusybusy. Or at least distracteddistracteddistracted. With my programming exam finished today, I finally remembered to set aside some time to write in here!

So... a bunch of stuff has happened. First off, some fantastic news! I got my math Exam back... with an A-! Boo ya! First A in college! Have a party! Go me! w00t! Etc.!

Yeah. So, I'm pretty solid now. Unless I TOTALLY blow up on the final, the combined grade between my math and programming will definitely hold me above a 2.5, saving my scholarship! And with luck and some studying, and a mild recovery of the ol' Physics grade, I could pull it up to a 3.0! The only thing dragging me down right now is that Physics grade... so, with nothing of huge importance until that exam next week... you know what I'll be doing! :D

So... two weekends ago, my high school had it's 2nd semester play, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Hilarious. One of the better plays I've seen the school put on... (they've gotten better over the past few years, but nothing compares to last year's ;) ) The play itself is quite silly, and the good ol' actors there put on a jolly good show, If I do say so myself... inspired me to think about trying to find a play next fall to try. Maybe a one act or something. A comedy.

And this past weeked I had the joy of Warrior Weekend with ROTC! Back up to Alpena for a day and a half of intense training, drill, physical training, along with the added bonus of being taught how to use a compass and map for navigation. AND, of course, the primary reason I enjoy this particular base in Alpena... the MOUT (Movement Over Urban Terrain) course. Basically a mock up of a street for some urban combat training. We used Airsoft guns. SOOOOO fun. I really need to find somewhere to play on my own with some friends... fun, fun stuff.

So Warrior Weekend was pretty intense... I made some mistakes, learned from them, learned from other's mistakes... it was such an awesome learning experience, and it was pretty fun time. So... hua. It was pretty awesome.

Hopefully I'll write again without a 3 week wait!

Regards,
Paul

Friday, March 12, 2010

Many many things...

You'll have to excuse the lack of updates recently. I spent all last week studying for physics in my free time... and well, we'll talk later about how that went.

First off, the DC trip! It was awesome. We got to Bolling Air Force Base midafternoon, and got rooms at a temporary housing "hotel" that was more like a set of apartments than anything else. We had an oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer... and 3 beds and a pullout couch. Quite cozy.



First day of the trip, we toured the Air Base. During that time we saw the Air Force Honor Guard, who does various ceremonies as well as the burials at Arlington.



After that, we saw the Air Force Band. Coolest job ever. You get to be in a symphony, as a talented musician... but you get paid a legitimate amount of money! And benefits! Pretty much a dream job. Did I mention there's an Air Force Rock Band too?







Then the combat dogs with Security forces....



Pretty awesome. After that we visited the Washington Mall, with all the sightseeing therein...





So, all in all, a fun day. Afterwards, we ate dinner at a real nice restaurant called Old Ebbitt Grill which was, frankly, delicious. Then back at the room we made a frozen pizza and watched a movie. Speaking of movies, between the nights and the bus rides, we probably watched about 7. My God. So many.

Next day, we MEANT to go to the pentagon, but after getting up at 530 and waiting an hour and a half in the FREEZING COLD we were told we couldn't go in. Awesome. Apparently some guy shot two guards in the pentagon metro and raised security clearance everywhere. I was NOT happy with him.

The rest of that day was pretty uneventful. Really, we didn't do much, other than being given free time for a while. Everybody took a 2+ hour nap, including myself, but me and a few other guys went and played some basketball first.

Then we left, and here I was back in the grind of things.

Speaking of the grind... school! How I hate it so! My programming exam gave me a C, which apparently was 5+ points above the average, but will get dropped because we drop the lowest exam grade in that class. Ah well. I understood the material, or I do now. I still like the class.

Unlike Physics. *shudders* I spent probably a combined time of close to 24 hours over the space of 5 days studying for the stupid thing, only to go and take it and run out of time! I COULD have passed it if I had been allowed to work on every problem... but I only got actual answers down on 12 out of the 20! I get my grade back yesterday, and it was a 35. ARGH. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO PASS THIS CLASS?
All I can figure is keep up the intensity of studying that I did for the exam throughout the next month until the next exam. I NEED to ace it. If I get 70s on the next to tests, with the built in curve to the class, I'll pull a C-. Unsatisfactory. I NEED to pass the class, but I also NEED a good grade in it, for pride and for future stuff with my major! I just, don't, get it. I get the material... but these tests just throw me for a loop every time! Why? Do they WANT their students to fail?? I will never need to do any physics like this ever again unless I become a physics major. Can't they just apply it directly to what most people will use the class for? Real life applications? It's just... such a poor way to run a school system. I'm NOT in the lower 1/3 of this school for intelligence and dedication. Yet that's how these tests constantly put me. It's infuriating.

/end of rant

I apologize. Sometimes I just need to complain to clear my head. So there! All cleared up. Now I can end this blog post on a slightly better note. Can't end unhappy can we?

Two things coming up on this weekend. First off is the Tri-service Military Ball. It's basically a big get together for the free services with dinner and a bit of dancing... just fun stuff. I'll be going with a date, a girl from the other end of my hall, Katelyn. So, hopefully it'll be fun. I'm kinda looking forward to it.

Also, the ol' high school is putting on it's play this weekend, so I'll be heading home Saturday Morning/Afternoonish to watch a Midsummer Night's dream. Hopefully it will be, how you say... fantastico!