December 2002 archives

« November 2002 | pressing on... | January 2003 »
archives

Thursday, December 26, 2002

updates? Really?

Updated my bio information (I did have a birthday, after all). Also, I've included a little less subtle way of changing the style on the site. Just go to "etc." and choose the one that you want from there.

| 10:21 PM | on...topic: site updates |

Thursday, December 19, 2002

I'm done...maybe

I went and took my programming language principles test this morning. I've never, in my life, worried so much about one test. I was really concerned that I would have to re-take the course, as it's a core course, and according to the department you can't use anything lower than a B in core courses.

I don't mesh well with the professor's style of tests. I made a C - a low C - on the first test, and this one was pretty rough as well. If it wasn't for my decent homework average and perfect project score, I wouldn't have much of a chance at all of making a B in the first place. I didn't even know what my homework average was until after I took the test. But I needed to make a 70 on the final to get my B, which I'm pretty confident that I did.

So now, I have two options. One is to pack tonight and head out early tomorrow. The other is to take an optional final in operating systems tomorrow, with the hopes of moving a B+ in my other core course to an A. That would be nice, on consideration that it'd help to counterbalance that B in PLP. But I haven't been able to get myself to study for it yet. I had a test in there only a couple of weeks ago, so a lot of the information is probably still fresh.

I've already decided that I'm going to show up and at least take a look at the test. If I feel that I can do well on it, I'll give it a shot; otherwise, I'll just walk out immediately.

Okay, so enough about school. I'm tired of talking about it, myself.

I've got to say - I really enjoyed my first semester back in school. I have met some wonderful people and made some really great friendships already. I've gotten involved at a church, which was something that I didn't do as much as I should have while I was in Tuscaloosa, and that's been great too. I'd have to say that if I'd have performed somewhat better academically, this was one of the best semesters that I've ever experienced while in college. (Note to self: it might be interesting to rank these...after all, you've experienced thirteen of them now.)

Some things from this semester:

I've really grown closer to God in a lot of ways. One of the biggest is trusting Him in building friendships here at Florida. One thing that I've struggled with for a long time is low self-esteem, and this often translated to me not being as outgoing as I should. But here, thanks be to God, I have been able to meet some great people, and even be considered funny and entertaining by some. Scary thought, eh?

That comradery leads to the next way that I've been able to grow - in fellowship with other guys. This was something that I wish that Alabama's BCM could have - maybe it does now. I hope it does, anyway. There are a set of guys here who are not only spiritually sound, but really love each other and try to hang out together a lot. We all did something at least once a month. I also attended a mens' Bible study, which was really good as well.

It was hard for me at first to accept being the "old guy". Even as an MBA student, I was only a couple of years older than most of the people I knew well. Here, there are people who were in sixth grade when I started college. Tell me that wouldn't make you feel old. I've been the recipient of some good-natured kidding about it, of course; I've been called "Grandpa" on more than one occasion, and a good shot in boggy-pong usually results in someone being impressed that an "old man can still run like that."

I could go on like this for a while, but I probably should look over those OS notes a few times if I actually expect to do well on the test tomorrow. I realized that I hadn't done much actual writing on this site for a while about my life, so I figured that the loyal viewers out there (all 4 of you) deserved that.

| 9:03 PM | on...topic: life |

Wednesday, December 18, 2002

finals week thoughts

A few random snippets from the past few weeks:

| 12:48 PM | on...topic: thoughts - instant |

Friday, December 6, 2002

my two cents on the departure

I wasn't all that surprised when I heard the news yesterday. I was extremely disappointed when I did, however.

Part of me can't blame him for going. I mean, he's going to a school that's offering him 1 1/2 times the amount we're offering him, has comparable athletic facilities with the promise of upgrades on the way, a fan base as rabid as ours, and doesn't have the dark specter of probation and the possibility of more sanctions looming over its head. In those respects, it's almost a no-brainer move.

But the Bama fan in me is miffed for a couple of reasons.

One, probation or not, sanctions or not, this is still the head coaching position at the University of Alabama. And biased though I may be, I think that it is one of the top five coaching positions in the country in terms of prestige, at least when you count those schools that actually get a new coach every now and then (so Penn State and Florida State don't apply). Texas A&M, good a school as that is, isn't in that group. Also, this year's Iron Bowl notwithstanding, this is still the most prestigious program in the state (and some would say the SEC, although recent years have proven it difficult to back that claim up) - A&M has always played second fiddle to Texas in this regard. They've made up for it in several ways - mostly through traditions - but the fact of the matter remains: Texas A&M is and always will be the "little brother". Even if the Longhorns haven't won a national title since 1970, the Aggies haven't won one since '39. In this regard, the move can't even be considered a lateral one. The only reason that I don't doubt that he'll win, and win often, there is because the state is so talent-laden and he's already shown that he can recruit the state well from what he did at TCU and even with Shaud Williams at Alabama.

But the other one, the one that really makes me mad, the one that everyone else has harped upon and will continue to do so for who knows how long, is the loyalty factor. Let's face it: when you don't lose a man even after the opportunity is given to all of them to go to any bowl-eligible program in the country without losing any eligibility of their own, you know that you've got a group of kids who really love their school and their team. He said it, and they bought into it full-time. The results, for the most part this year, were wonderful - a 10-3 year, a top-15 ranking and the best record in the SEC West. Except for Auburn, it was just about the most any reasonable Crimson Tide fan could have hoped for. Obviously, loyalty to their team and their teammates went a long way in accomplishing all those wins.

And then the coach doesn't practice what he preaches ("LOYALTY" is on the title logo of his web site, for crying out loud!). He leaves for greener pastures instead of toughing it out. That says a lot to me about what he thinks loyalty is: a buzzword that comes in handy when his neck is on the line (think about it; if we'd have lost some of our best players and finished, oh, 4-9 this year, that looks awfully bad for the ol' coach, and he's not going to get all those schools whispering sweet nothings in his ear, is he?), but doesn't hold a lot of water when it comes to his own well-being.

Say what you will about hiring someone with ties to the program. Obviously, it can be hit or miss: look at what happened with the coach before this one; but one thing can be said for certain. If Mike Dubose had been in Franchione's shoes, having had a year where success came out of dire circumstances, you can bet your bottom dollar that he wouldn't have even thought about leaving for another school. Why? Because he loved Alabama. And that's something doesn't apply normally to someone outside of the program. It can happen, but it's much more difficult to find someone like that.

So just a few thoughts to sum up:

| 2:56 AM | on...topic: sports |

Tuesday, December 3, 2002

the laptop

This thing has already been a blessing for me. I have already used it to study for a final, work on one of my projects, and check my e-mail.

I went ahead and picked up a wireless card, not realizing when I bought it that it didn't come with XP drivers on the installation disk. After getting my first Windows XP BSOD, I found out that that was the problem. So a quick trip to the card maker's web site later, we're ready to go! A laptop and a wireless card are a wonderful thing.

I'm still in the process of setting everything up on it so far, and I haven't had as much time as I'd like because I've been so busy. But once I get it like I like it, I'll be good to go for at least a few years, I hope. :)

Here's some of the specs on it: It's an HP, with an Athlon 1800+ processor (I went for more processing power for my buck), 512MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, internal Ethernet port (which allows me to make this update from the comfort of my recliner while I watch the Indiana-Maryland basketball game and wait on some software to download), and some other fun stuff to boot.

The only thing that I have against it is the touchpad. I like trackballs better myself, but I'll get used to it, I'm sure. :)

Well, I need to wrap up...I've got a long night working on my PLP project. Good thing that it'll go a lot quicker now with this thing...

| 11:15 PM | on...topic: computers, video games, internet |

Sunday, December 1, 2002

Christmas comes early!

All I wanted for Christmas this year was help in paying for a new computer - a laptop. Well, guess what this entry's coming from the keyboard of. :) I love it already. I'll give specs on it later, because I'm going to spend the majority of the rest of the night getting everything immediately necessary set up on it.

Maybe now I'll be able to update my site often enough for Ricky's tastes. :)

| 8:52 PM | on...topic: life |

archives