Crunch time cometh for the Dynamics project. Our first systems check comes on Wednesday, and we don't even have circuitry installed yet. The circuitry is supposed to be installed Tuesday night after Kevin and I are done building the rice container. After that we will have to install a couple more drive motors and a latch mechanism. Hopefully that will be all. Some of the other groups are no where near close to done, I guess they figure they can show Dr. G that everything is working without having everything assembled. Fortunately for us, all our systems build on each other sequentially, so we need to have pretty much everything assembled to demonstrate the functionality of all systems. Forces us to get our work done early and leave a lot of time for testing, which is a good thing. Anyway, the only other things on the academic front are a Religions test that I took today and a Chemistry II test on Wednesday. As far as Religions go, I might have pulled an A, but I think a high B is more likely. The Chemistry test has me worried, as I have missed a fair bit of class and I need to score very strong on it. Add to that the fact that it is a Johnson test, which means that there are only about fourteen questions…. All you need to do is miss a few and you are scholastically unfulfilled. Anyway.
Played our last IM football game for the semester tonight. We managed to beat Penn 3 by a healthy margin despite the best effort of the referee. We’d beat them last time too, but it was a close game for a long time. I got a tackle on a punt in the second half…. I really was trying to grab the guy’s flag, but I was also flying though the air perpendicular to the runner’s course, and we both wound up on the ground. The ref called it a wrap, or some such. Somehow I managed to bang heads with Slope in the process, but fortunately he was okay.
G-2 had a game too, played with no subs into the second half and until Adrian twisted an ankle, and after that they played a man down and still won 18 – 0. They’ve got T-3 tomorrow, which should prove to be an interesting game. I think that G-2 can pull it off. Hopefully I’ll be able to make the game, but I have a sneaking Suspicion that I will be working on the ASME project. Anyway, I need to get back to the homework so that I can get some sleep. Be seeing you

Well, it has certainly been awhile. Class has been treating me well enough so far, but I have the distinct feeling that will cease to be the case in the near future. We just got started on our Dynamics projects, looks like it will be interesting. (ASME Student Design Competition) If we can increase our payload and decrease the trip time, we should be at least competative. Aparantly it is permissible to "expand" the robot after removing it from the 25x25x30 cm box, so we might be able to do something with that. Build some sort of massive unfolding contraption that will dramatically increase payload. Who knows. Got a nice longh assignment for Materials Engineering too. It'll probably wind up somewhere around 20 pages, but we are encouraged to include pictures, so it won't be to bad. Somehow i think that theAustrailains take thier education a little more seriously than us Yankees.... maybe it is just Dr. Ayers. At least the class will be interesting. Anyway, I need to get back to the homework. Be seeing you.

Christmass was wonderful, but it is unfortunately past. I got a 512Mb stick of RAM from my parents, makes the computer run much faster. Now when it idles it uses more that the 128Mb that was previously installed. My little geek heart goes aflutter just thinking about it.
Didn't do a lick of work over Christmass, as both Rick and Ed were scraping for work. Didn't really need another laborer. Break was good though, got lots of sleep, spent the days reading and playing board games with friends. It ws good to see Jonathan again. Looks like another one of his Westies is getting ready to bit the dust. Molly's been staggering aroud the house walking sideways most of the time, running into things. Jonathan figures she has some brain damage, possibly from a stroke.
Philip came over for a couple of days after visiting family in New York. It was nice to see him again. It is quite amusing that we grew up together in Haiti, live thousands of miles apart, and yet we each go to school a few hours from the other's house. What are the odds of that?

The Delinquent Post

Well, I survived the journey home. As it turns out, I was one the same flight as Aduma out of both Longview and DFW, so that was nice. We wound up sitting next to eachother from DFW to Philly. Small world, eh?
I got home on Saturday night and have spent all subsequent days being a slacker. Staying up late by local standards, (read 1am) and sleeping in past noon. Worked on my computer some, reinstalling Windows on a new 80 G hard drive, moving my documents over and such. Haven't installed any games, figure that it is probably best with grades being what they are. I know that I did spent some time playing DS over the past semester, which in retrospect was probably not a good idea. (Just as a side note, I'm using a spare keyboard while I am home and the keys are just a little stiffer and flatter, spacing is a little different. You would not believe the typos I'm making. And correcting, of course.) Anyway, this comming semester should prove interesting.
In other news, I did the last (read all) of my Christmass shopping today. Got my Dad a new 20oz . Estwing hammer at Home Depot. They had it marked 10 dollars cheaper than what it rang up as. Guess there must have been a error somewhere, but the clerk was all very nice about it, checked the price, and gave it to me at the lower price. I was impressed, something that does not often happen at Home Depot. Anyway. .
Went to a Christmass concert at Grace Chapel this evening. The music was wonderful. Tom had a drum solo at some point, but unfortuantely I missed it. They lit candles again, and again no one burned down the church, surprisingly enough. I guess the parents' eyes never left the candles their kids were holding. Looks like there will be some sort of get together on the 26th, where at I have no clue. Should be fun though.
Well, it is 12:41 local time, so I think that is a sign that I should go to sleep. Be seeing you.

What happens when an MK started on the old country

Well, the end of the semester is approaching. Grades look like they will be bloody, might wind up taking Circuits again. Should be able to come out with a 3.4 for the year though, if I do well in the spring and I take Circuits again. I can't wait to go home. Just want to go home where they have a real winter and curl up in front of the pellet stove with a good book. Get a game of RISK going with the guys. Go visit a wrestling practice. See the family. It'll be wonderful. Then of course I'll get to start the whole thing over in three weeks, this time with Dynamics. I'm actually looking forward to the class a little. That's a scary thought.
I was thinking about Haiti the other day. I remember looking out at the sky and watching the black clouds roll in from the east, so black that they looked dark blue. The downpours that we had at night durring the rainy season. Playing in the drainage ditches, building rock dams nad pools. Playing barefoot basketball out behind Eckhoff's. Finally realizing that wearing shoes when playing basketball would keep your little toe from getting torn up, and thinking that it really did feel weird to wear shoes like that. I can remember the first time that I ever used a Brittanica Encyclopaedia, to write a report on British Columbia. Sitting on the sofa reading the Lord of the Rings for days on end the year that Eckhoff's were on furlough and we were in the field. Reading the Shiloh Legacy. Sitting at the coumputer and playing a Privateer with three people. Riding my bike on the dirt roads, racing the taxis back home. Going up to visit Aunt Lois just to pet Betsy.Wacthing movies on the inverter, when the power was off and just having it feel so strange. Playing Philip's home built Country Game. Sitting up in the BGT and having Philip tell me that could only carry three gallons of water while we were playing comandos, because water weighs 8 pounds per gallon.Walking down on the beach nad competeing to find the most unique peice of sea glass. Playing Marco Polo in the BGT with Eckhoff's, and having mom make a point of not watching us. The dirt clod wars. The Thursday afternoons spent playing volleyball. Standing in line to get pricked for malaria. Taking chloroquine on Sunday afternoons (or avoiding taking cholorouine on Sunday afternoons). Walking up to Nom Bono on Sunday mornings to hear dad preach. Being blown away by the awesome view from the top of the mountain. And realizing, toward the end, just how blessed I was to to have been born and MK.
Those were the days. Wish I could go back. Not worry about the papers, the projects, the people, all the other small details of life. Not have days when you just want to take refuge from the problems of life in sleep. Not feel the pain of knowing that you can never go back to your home, that while the place is still there, it is not the same. People have moved, people have grown older, people have died. You just can't go back. I can remeber crying the day that aunt Will went back to the Netherlands. I can remember hugging my sister the day she flew in country to spen Christmas break with us here senior year, and being genuinely glad to see her. I can remember the mixture of sadness and excitement that I felt on that day in May of 2000 when we left for Haiti for good. Sad to leave my friends, but knowing at the same time that we would all be going our separate was soon enough anyway. Excited for all the opportunities that I would have going to school in the US. Being able to wrestle again, take up old friendships. Looking forward to the new place, and the new experiences that I would have.
I can remeber the first day that Jon Rorer showed up at teh door with his three little Westies, wanting to go for a walk down the creek. Looking back now, I think that was a turning point in my life. I never knew thenthat we would grow to be such good friends. I can't even begin to measure the impact that he has had on my life. His simple honesty and good heart have done me a lot of good. And his wacky sense of humor. I really don't believe that I would ever have adjusted to the life in the US and made the friends that I did if it wasn't for Rorer.
I can remeber sitting in the van going up to Stoney Brook, listening to Painter tell stories. Being amazed by Tom Howard when he wrestled up a 100 pounds against Girard's heavyweight. The stories that Mr Leach told from the year that he had six wrestlers, aka "the six pack" year. I can still remeber the feeling of wining my first medal. Pinning two guys with the headlock at the VFMA quad meet. Pinning the Germantown wrestler in exhibition. Spending my senior year getting played with after we went PIAA. I think most memorable was the meet agains Red Lion, and having it hinge on my match. I felt awful going in, but when I pinned the guy, that was the most awesome feeling in the world. That was the one meet that we won that season. We almost beat one of the smaller public schools in our league, but we spent most of the season being shut out. We took 2nd or 3rd in our invite, that was nice.
It's good to remincse sometimes. Helps me realize how blessed I have been, first with my family in Haiti, being able to go to a school like DC, and finally winding up at LU like I did. There really must be a God in heaven if an MK like me can come so far. Anyway, it is dinner time and I need to get some food. Be seeing you.

Two posts in one day. Well, it is thanksgiving and I really am not feeling the urge to do homework. Went to Jeramy's with Dex and had Thanksgiving with his family... it was a blast. Dex ate like a starved lion, seemed to enjoy the food quite a bit. It was very good, the green beans were particularly tasty. They were made the same way that my great aunt used to make then, with the pieces of bacon mixed in. I had thirds on those. Someone even brought a lemon merangue pie. It was wonderful. After dinner we stuck around and played some games. when back to the dorms for a few hours, and then went back over to watch a The Chronicals of Riddick. Pretty good movie, but there were definitely a few scenes that were Dex unfriendly. And the camera did tend to linger on one of the charecters.... that sort of stuff. It's a shame, otherwise it is a good action movie. Since that was over before midnight we decided taht we just had to watch another move, which turned out to be Jet Li's The One. I'd seen it before, but it was still pretty good. That and Dex had not seen it before. Anyway, homework calls. Be seeing you.

Figured I take the following off the sidebar, so I figured that I would put it in a post. It's a useful reminder of the sacrifices made by those that have gone before us. Many times I find myself lost in my own little academic world, and it is good to be reminded of what it took to build our nation. Helps me remeber to be grateful.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who died here that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

President Abraham Lincoln
Address at Gettysburg
Nov. 19, 1863

I replaced it with Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade," which was written as a tribute to the bravery of an English light cavalry brigade durring the Crimean War . I memorized it as a kid, and have always thought it a touching poem. Thanks to the following site for the text of the poem.

Thanksgiving Break

In true nerd/geek/(what is a life anyway?) fashion, I have decided to stay in the dorms over Thanksgiving. I was going to go to Houston and stay with some friends from Haiti, but the three letter task master intervined. Jeramy invited Dex and I over for thanksgiving dinner, so that should be fun. I figure that if I blow off most of Thursday, put in an hour or so in the evening, and spend six hours a day studying on all the rest of the days, I should be okay. Have to figure out exactly what classes I need to work on yet, and what needs studying. I know that I am due for a Circuits test, a Physics test and a Statics test in the next week or so.... lots of fun. plus I am hoping to get a jump on studying for finals, as I need to do well on them this year.
In other news, my sister ran a PB on her PT test last week, a sixteen something two mile. Not bad for someone with an avulsion fracture in her ankle. She did 53 pushups and eightysome situps.... more than I can do. I'll have to be carefull not to mention that to her, I'd get no end to grief. She's ranked 5th senior nursing cadet in the nation too. Little brother is proud. Can't you tell? I shoud see her at Christmas, that will be nice.
John's doing pretty well too, considering. Of course one never really knows, but he seems to have adjusted well to the fact that he can't wrestle anymore (injured his neck last year during wrestling season). He's aiding for Mr. Leach, who has him setting up software to keep track of the stats. Looks like he will be a data entry monkey once the year starts. Maybe he will wind up managing this year if Andrew doesn't.
Wonder whatever happened to Sarah (manager my jr & sr years)? I think her brother still goes to DC, not sure though. Maybe if I can catch a wrestling meet over Christmas I'll run into her. It'd be nice to catch up. See how Dan (Sarah's older brother ) is doing. He was one of the more awesome wrestlers that our program produced in recent history... think he was in the Navy for a while, last I heard he was applying to be a cop. I knoe he used to show up sporatically at practices when he was home, wonder if he still does.
Anyway, I have more to write, but It really is 4:30 am and I need to be up by noon, so I will post later. Be seeing you.

On Another Monday

Shock of shocks, it's monday again. It cometh all to fast. Life's like that I guess. I can remeber being in the third grade and thinking about how long it would be until I got to sixth grade. It seemed like it would be forever. But then, third grade seems like forever ago. So maybe it works out. Come to think of it, it seems like last fall was an eterninty ago.
Ludwig showed me how to crop pictures in MS Photo editor... that was interesting. I was trying to crop one of Shake's pictures of a G2 football game last year so that I could use it in an intramurals schedule for this year. It was nice, Stack (captain for football) wrote up the 41 schedule all of his own accord. Saved me some time. It was nice of him.
Had a Stats test this morning. It was thrilling, as always. I think I actually might have done okay, depending on how one of the problems gets scored. There's always the chance that I just completely missed the mark, as the last test demonstrated. The nice thing is that I don't need to worry about it anymore, as what has been done has been done.
Other exciting things in the life of Pebble.... let's see... not sure that there are any at this particular moment. Anyway, one of my roomates just left to do the physics handwritten thta is due tommorow. Wisdom dictates that I join him. Be seeing you.

On a Monday

Hard to believe that it is almost the end of the semester. Only two or three full weeks left. It will be nice to go home for a few weeks. Back where they have a real winter. None of this 50 degree east texas stuff. Maybe we'll get some snow. Couple of feet would be nice, maybe eight inches a couple of times. Not that it will happen, we're to close to the Atlantic to get that much snow this early. One can dream though.
Speaking of dreams, grades this semester are going to be ugly. Think that I might need to drop something. not sure yet. I had a D in Physics at midterms, for reasons that are beyond me. Best I can figure, Dr. Forringer didn't weigth the homework against the one test that was on the books and didn't average in the CAPA. I know I was missing three writtens, which came out to about 15 points. I've been to enough of the seminares now that I should have made that up. CAPA is still good, and my first test was pretty solid. Think that it was an A, might have been a high B. Then there was that second test. I came out with a 76, hopefully I can score strong on the next test and the final. Might be able to pull out an A in the class. Then there is Stat, which I had a high B in until this last test, which came out as a 63. I have to talk to Erickstad, see if there is anything that I can do to get some more credit. That and study like heck for this next test on Friday. If I can pull a strong A on it and do well on the final I might be okay. I'm not sure if I want to be relieved or worried about this upcoming test. I'm worried that I will bomb it, which would cement my position at the bottom of a very deep hole. On the other hand it gives me an opportunity to make up for the last test.
Got that Roman numeral program working for CS I. That was a relief. Got most of Lab Five done too, just have a couple of errors to debug. Maybe tommorow night. Programming is actually pretty fun, when I can get it to work. The frustrating part is that all you need to do is have one single charecter missing and you can get huge and horrendous error messages that ask you to cut off your head and cook it in your next pot of ramen. Depends on the charecter of coures, but when you can't follow the error message and the program won't compile.... yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Whatever

I got my CS and Stat tests back.... both were pretty bloody. CS I got a 72, that's recoverable considering that I have Varnell. The extra credit in that class grows on trees. It's nice.... but I will still need alot of it. I'm doing pretty well on the programs thus far, so that should be a help. Plus there is that Codelab web exercise stuff. Stat on the other hand, God only knows. I got a 63, which is still passing, but far short of the A that I need. I had a high B at midterms, so maybe I am still within striking distance.
Took the Circuits test this morning, seemed a little too easy. Hope I did okay. Studying with Zerg, Mortimer, Fjord, and Fargo really seems to have help. Course I won't know until I get the test back. It should prove interesting. We haven't gotten our design reports back yet either, Dr Graff said that it took him five or so hours to grade the eight that he has done so far. I;m thinking that it will be a while untill I get mine back. Hope that I did well.
It's pretty pathetic when you think about it. I go to sleep at night knowing that I will miss breakfast because I overslept and wondering if how I will do on my design project. A thousand miles away in a thached hut there's probably a Haitian about my age who goes to sleep knowing that he won't eat breakfast because there is no food to eat and wondering if he will be able to find anything to eat all day. How shallow can we be? Sometimes I think that there is no justice. The irony of it is, it matters nothing in the final equation. The years that we spend on earth are not even an eyeblink in the scale of eternity. Our short lives here matter only so much as they serve to spread the Gospel. A mildly sobering thought, isn't it. Makes that circuits test seem awfully insignificant, doesn't it?
Then there's that passage about the servant who buried his talent. Wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Now that I think about it, maybe I have been apraoching that passage wrong. Maybe the servant's failure was not that he failed to generate a return on that which was given him by the master, but in his refusal to use what the master had given him to further his master's cause. Maybe it was because it he recognized that he had a master who would reap where he did not sow and the servant didn't want to put in work for someone else's benifit. An interesting thought. Well, it's almost three am and this little geek needs his beauty rest. (Did I tell mention that I installed Firefox the other day? I can almost feel my geek factor rising.) Be seeing you.

Sunday morning

I fell alseep last night around 8pm, slept until 9am... it felt wonderful. Made up for some of the sleep that I lost last week. Plus, I got to wake up in time for church and be totally awake. That doesn't happen to often. The being awake part... I usually get to church, just not Sunday school. I guess I really should start getting up in time for SS more often. Anyway.
I had a friend from up north stay over this weekend. He's looking at coming here next fall, being a flight major. I tried to explain to him that all good Christians at LU were ME's but he didn't really grasp the connection.... young people these days. Spent saturday sleeping, eating, and playing soccer. It was nice. Did most of my CAPA too.
I other news, I have a program due on Tuesday and a Circuits test on Wenesday, and that's the highlights of the week. Get my Statics test back, which will prove interesting. I think that I did okay, but you never really know. Get Statistics and CS I tests back too... Stat is going to be bloody. CS I should be pretty good if my code has all the right jots and tiddles.
Well, I need to get dressed for church. Be seeeing you.

Life on a Monday

This cominig week will prove interesting... I have a Statistics test on Friday at 11 am, and a CS I test @ 1:30, and I probably have a Statics test on Thursday. Add to that the fact Student Foundation has to go mix and mingle with the bigwigs on Thursday nite, two 41 soccer games and at least one G2 game. So much crap, so little time. Well, let me amend that last statement - I thuroughly enjoy pretty much all things intramural, so having intramurals on a busy week is n effective destraction. At least there is no CAPA this week, and I got most of the Statics homework done over the weekend. That's kinda nice. I also have an friend from my home church coming down on Friday night. That will be nice.
My mom's going to send a package down with them... I'm thinking that I will ask her send down some classical music. I find that I can study better with classicalmusic playing. I can rip it to my hard drive overnight and send it back with Aaron. Don't really use anything else... except maybe for 8-12 hrs of sleep.

On Curves

Well, I took the Physics test this morning... suffice to say that I think I did a good job of protecting the curve. It was burliness. Quite unlike what we did when we covered the material. But then, that's what all students say when they fail a test. At least I have the comfort of knowing that most of the sophmore class is in the same boat.
In other news, I have a circuits design problem due on Friday. I think I have it solved, just need to check the calculations and write up the paper work. We're supposed to design a circuit that will produce between 3 and 12 volts across two terminals. The voltage is selected by turning a dial. The voltage sources that we are to use are 1.5 V ideal batteries. When a 100 ohm resistor is placed across the terminals the terminal voltage is not supposed to drop more than 5%. Once you get the hang of it it is actually quite simple. I really like my solution, [but in retrospect I have decided that it is better not to have talked about it. Consequently I have edited the post.] It's actually quite beautiful. At least to me. My circuit. My Precious.
Then you have to cook up some paperwork, talk about tolerances, capaceties for the various components, how you arrived at your chosen design, stuff like that . Anyway, that's the big project for tonight. And Mini Tab. Forgot about that. It's a Statistics assignment.
Well, homework calls. Be seeing you.

The End is Near

Well, the roomates are starting to trickle back in. Ludwhig came in at 2:00 am, having driven 20+ hours to spend six hours climbing the tallest mountain in Texas. (Somewhere in Guadalupe National Park, something like 4,000 feet above the surrounding terrain.) Dex just got back from somehere in Texas that now has one less squirrel. He and his dad went bow hunting for deer, but none showed up. Schmorgan is still in Dallas. Probably looking at the letnet graph and despairing. I spent the weekend sleeping, whatching a movie and doing homework. Have to admit that it was quite nice to sleep 10-12 hrs a day. Being all alone in the suite I cranked the heat up and didn't turn it down until Monday night. I really am a child of the tropics. I think that I might finally have gotten rid of whatever it was I caught... no funny colored nasal secretions this morning. But then, you all probably didn't want to know that.
I mailed my absentee ballot this morning. Hopefully it will get to PA in time to count.... not that it would change anything. Kerry is going to win PA. Too many Democrats in Philadelphia.
Feel alot better about the upcomeing physics test... spent alot of time studying for it over the weekend. I'll find out on Thursday if I spent enough. Just taking a break between chapters right now. I guess I'll wash the dishes when I'm done here. Or the shower curtain. Life is full of such hard choices, isn't it? May my choices always be that simple. I think I will do the dishes. Be seeing you.

On Sleeping In

I slept in until two today... it felt wonderful. Then I watched "Arsenic and Old Lace" with some friends over in MSC 3. That was fun too. haven't done a spot of homework yet today, and have the sneaking suspicion that I wouldn't have it all done by midnight. That makes me feel slightly disgusted with myself... A Physics Test of DOOM on Thursday, a MINITAB assignment on Wednesday, a Circuits design problem due on Friday, a Statics Test on next Thursday, and Circuits and Statistics tests at some point in the near future, and I spent an entire afternoon watching a movie. Well, at least I will have gotten some sleep over break. Anyway, Physics calls my name most loudly. I must go. Be seeing you.

The Time

Couldn't help but notice that my first post was published at 11:41 am.... entirely coincidental to.

Welcome

First a word about my blog title. I don't know how everyone else will read the title, but to me it is just the three places that have been my home in the first twenty years of my life. I am an American who grew up as an MK in Haiti and came th LU after high school, and consequenty Forty-One is now one of my homes. I thought it fit with the whole TCK experience thing. Anyway, all this to say, I am an American. While I have lived overseas, and while I believe that this experience has enriched my life, I in my heart an American. So don't take the title as a statement that I am not a patriotic American. Thanks.