and now i get to skip the calculus final in addition to the econs.
that means i have only 2 finals to sit for, MSE and CS, and i think i'll do pretty alright for CS, so i should concentrate on MSE from now. I'll get at least a B (i hope) and maybe, if i do well, i might end up with an A, though that's of remote possibility.
and it also means i will finish on tuesday.
purrrfect.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
weekend movie galore
it was only right after a tumulous week that i spend pretty much most of the weekend catching up on my movie watching. first off, the last of the latin american film festival, chile's 'sexo con amor' (sex and love). it was HILARIOUS. if any of you have seen mexico's 'y tu mama tambien'(and your mother too) then its as funny, if not funnier. its to explicit in terms of sexual reference, it was uneasy at first, but it broke off into a series of comedies that i enjoyed thoroughly. i will never look at laundry machines the same way again.
good thing was, they had some good hispanic food, to close an end to the festival, so chris and i ate there, instead of spending money getting chinese deliveries. dan totally missed out on this because he prefered to be lazy that day. thankfully, it wasnt raining like the night before.
i came back, had pretty much nothing else to do, so i started downloading the films from a list that i keep. imdb's movie highlight was on this spanish film featuring gael garcia bernal, named 'la mala educacion' (bad education) centered on the events that a boy who was a victim of a roman catholic priest's pedophilic indulgence. the boy grows up to be a homosexual, and then he changes his sex later, and becomes a drag queen/heroin addict, so decides to write a script for a movie, telling his story, and tries to sell it to his 'first' lover, a director, but before doing so, he decides to blackmail the priest. it was very thought provocative storyline, but i really liked the movie for its worth. i found out later that it was by pedro almodovar, the same director who did 'hable con ella' (talk to her) so i was pretty impressed.
i was feeling like watching another movie, so i started watching 'finding neverland.' it was pretty decent, though the quality of the movie failed to grab me, probably because i was continuously bothered by the people that were going in and out of my room. but i understand why it was nominated as one of the best movies of the year. had i seen that in the theatres, i think it would have been marvelous, and i remember the day when i had the chance, with pamela and leisha, we opted to see 'the grudge' which happened to be one of the worst choices i made in terms of watching a movie as that turned out disastrous.
the next day, after working on some of my projects for a while, i started with this really radical, abstract, part documentary, part spirituality, part movie thing named 'what the #$*! do we know!?' (i'm not kidding, that is the title of the movie, substitute #$*! with whatever four letter expletive that you think is suitable) it basically takes you through the question of our existence and how we relate to everything around us and beyond using whatever known and understood theories of quantum physics. it seemed obsurd to hear some of what was being said by the experts at times, but some of it actually made a lot of sense. its such a radical idea, i had a hard time keeping up with all that was going on, but that was helped by the occasional scene involving characters and some animations. later, it was shown that all those experts that were sharing their theories were professors of physics, philosophy, psychology and whatnot in major universities like stanford, coumbia and pennsylvania and all. i'd like to see the movie again, paying more attention to detail, but the movie feels like it goes on forever. the first 40 minutes felt as it i was on this crazy ride for 2 hours, so i have to be mentally prepared.
the last movie for the weekend was something that caught my interest through the trailers, but one that evaded me for sometime, 'identity.' my initial perception was that its just another one of those regular slash flicks. since i had been watching really mentally stimulating movies for the whole weekend, i thought i take it easy with a no brainer for once. however, the movie turned out to be better than i expected, with a twist in the story that is actually pretty smart, not the usual killer gone all out to take revenge for some stupid event. i didnt see it coming to be honest, and it was a pretty neat surprise.
i guess im more or less done with my japanese group project. i gotta work on english for a while, and that will be done, and then my solo japanese project, which should take about a day or two. then i gotta get to material science revision, which will probably be my toughest final. thank god its the first one.
i decided to drop both psychology and accounting. the thought of taking 21 hours make me wonder if its worth it. since my initial plan was to take whatever that are not offered over the summer, im going ahead with that, and taking MSE and EAS, which are only offered during regular semesters. also, i remember something about students having to stop co-oping once they are within 50 hours to graduation, and if i were to take 21 hours, then i think i will be about 8 or 9 hours from that point, after only one work term. besides, 17 hours wouldn't be too bad i guess. if john offers the discussion class, i'll probably take that as a pass-fail class. 5 classes to manage. i should learn from my lesson not to take on too much at once, and take it easy. i already have the CA job to get used to, and i better start on a good note for my first semester. i'll pledge to a fraternity over the spring, so that i can spend my time after my work to hang around at the house and get to know people.
phew, at least that's one off my mind.
good thing was, they had some good hispanic food, to close an end to the festival, so chris and i ate there, instead of spending money getting chinese deliveries. dan totally missed out on this because he prefered to be lazy that day. thankfully, it wasnt raining like the night before.
i came back, had pretty much nothing else to do, so i started downloading the films from a list that i keep. imdb's movie highlight was on this spanish film featuring gael garcia bernal, named 'la mala educacion' (bad education) centered on the events that a boy who was a victim of a roman catholic priest's pedophilic indulgence. the boy grows up to be a homosexual, and then he changes his sex later, and becomes a drag queen/heroin addict, so decides to write a script for a movie, telling his story, and tries to sell it to his 'first' lover, a director, but before doing so, he decides to blackmail the priest. it was very thought provocative storyline, but i really liked the movie for its worth. i found out later that it was by pedro almodovar, the same director who did 'hable con ella' (talk to her) so i was pretty impressed.
i was feeling like watching another movie, so i started watching 'finding neverland.' it was pretty decent, though the quality of the movie failed to grab me, probably because i was continuously bothered by the people that were going in and out of my room. but i understand why it was nominated as one of the best movies of the year. had i seen that in the theatres, i think it would have been marvelous, and i remember the day when i had the chance, with pamela and leisha, we opted to see 'the grudge' which happened to be one of the worst choices i made in terms of watching a movie as that turned out disastrous.
the next day, after working on some of my projects for a while, i started with this really radical, abstract, part documentary, part spirituality, part movie thing named 'what the #$*! do we know!?' (i'm not kidding, that is the title of the movie, substitute #$*! with whatever four letter expletive that you think is suitable) it basically takes you through the question of our existence and how we relate to everything around us and beyond using whatever known and understood theories of quantum physics. it seemed obsurd to hear some of what was being said by the experts at times, but some of it actually made a lot of sense. its such a radical idea, i had a hard time keeping up with all that was going on, but that was helped by the occasional scene involving characters and some animations. later, it was shown that all those experts that were sharing their theories were professors of physics, philosophy, psychology and whatnot in major universities like stanford, coumbia and pennsylvania and all. i'd like to see the movie again, paying more attention to detail, but the movie feels like it goes on forever. the first 40 minutes felt as it i was on this crazy ride for 2 hours, so i have to be mentally prepared.
the last movie for the weekend was something that caught my interest through the trailers, but one that evaded me for sometime, 'identity.' my initial perception was that its just another one of those regular slash flicks. since i had been watching really mentally stimulating movies for the whole weekend, i thought i take it easy with a no brainer for once. however, the movie turned out to be better than i expected, with a twist in the story that is actually pretty smart, not the usual killer gone all out to take revenge for some stupid event. i didnt see it coming to be honest, and it was a pretty neat surprise.
i guess im more or less done with my japanese group project. i gotta work on english for a while, and that will be done, and then my solo japanese project, which should take about a day or two. then i gotta get to material science revision, which will probably be my toughest final. thank god its the first one.
i decided to drop both psychology and accounting. the thought of taking 21 hours make me wonder if its worth it. since my initial plan was to take whatever that are not offered over the summer, im going ahead with that, and taking MSE and EAS, which are only offered during regular semesters. also, i remember something about students having to stop co-oping once they are within 50 hours to graduation, and if i were to take 21 hours, then i think i will be about 8 or 9 hours from that point, after only one work term. besides, 17 hours wouldn't be too bad i guess. if john offers the discussion class, i'll probably take that as a pass-fail class. 5 classes to manage. i should learn from my lesson not to take on too much at once, and take it easy. i already have the CA job to get used to, and i better start on a good note for my first semester. i'll pledge to a fraternity over the spring, so that i can spend my time after my work to hang around at the house and get to know people.
phew, at least that's one off my mind.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Ojos Que No Ven (What The Eyes Don't See)
as i mentioned in my last post, i was going to catch a number of films over the weekend, and last night, i watched this peruvian film called 'Ojos Que No Ven' (in english, 'What The Eyes Don't See')
this was set in the time of the peruvian government corruption scandal that led to then prime minister fujimori to flee to japan, with 6 different scenarios taking place simultaneously. i couldn't figure out which version that was going to be screened, had it been the edited peruvian version, it was only an hour and a half, if it was the version that was screened in the toronto film festival, then it would be a whopping 2 and a half hours.
and it turned out to the be longer one, and i was very glad, as the movie was excellent. i don't know why, but i love films that have multiple scenarios weaving through eachother simultaneously. but this one was set so realistic, like a poem, perfected to detail. it seemed draggy at times, but it was a fantastic night. i hope that the one i'm going to watch tonight will be as enjoyable.
there was a sudden thunderstorm going on yesterday past noon, that kinda 'forced' me to skip my CS lecture. and i kinda paid it with a price. according to chris, who went to the lecture, the professor taught the new material, as well as revealing what was going to be in the final. what luck, of all the times, there isnt much new information, and the one that i missed, he has to give it away. i cant complain, since it was my decision not to get wet in the heavy rain and freeze in the physics lab. i watched bits and pieces of 'goldeneye' that was being shown on the telly, and then went about checking my econs grade, which was supposed to be up by then, if not, later.
and guess what, there was a 4 point curve on the last test (which i did badly, as mentioned in the earlier post) and that meant I ended up with an A for the semester. i literally jumped and screamed out in joy. i thought that the last test was relatively easy, and the most i could anticipate was a one point curve, but 4! i didnt see that coming. i wont be attending the lecture anyone, i'll spend more time on my remaining projects that need to be done.
instead of taking a nap that i truly needed, i went down to help out in the east FE quad ResFest (Resident's Festival) which was the last work i was going to do as the Hall Council President for my dorm. i thought of going down there for a while just to help out a bit, but i ended up being there much longer than i had expected. there was two huge watermelons, which i volunteered to cut up to easy pieces for those who were there, and then i helped others set up the stage for a visiting band and the one that required the most amount of work was putting up this heavy tarp over the stage, in case it rained. though i didnt really do much, i gotta give credit to this colombian friend i met in my first week, Mateo, who's the vice-president of the Smith Hall Council. i get along pretty well with the president and the VP, so working with them was a pleasure. Mateo climbed up all sorts of trees and lamp posts to tie the strings up securely and he was literally handling a one man job. james helped out too, and i guess the tarp was put up pretty nicely. i hadnt done work like that since the council days, so it was kinda refreshing that i had done setting up of an event like that. i suddenly craved for more of those, and sadly, the Hall Council didn't offer that. that was one thing i was really disappointed by, as i ran for president thinking that was what hall council would do. instead, it was more about discussion of bills, allocation of money, etc, which i don't really have interest in. SGA and RHa is like that as well. i might have enjoyed myself better if i had tried out for FAB or FC. but it's alright, i learned some things i might otherwise might not have learnt in other organizations.
i just checked my CS grades, i got 88 for that, which is a surprisingly high number, considering i missed out few very important line, but heck, i'd take it anyway! all i gotta do is to do more or less the same for the final and i'll end up getting an A for this class as well! many say that CS screws you over the semester, but the finals is relatively easy, so i can kinda rest easy now and spend more time on MSE and most probably, calculus II.
i better go get something before i starve to death. my stomach's been making noise a little too long.
this was set in the time of the peruvian government corruption scandal that led to then prime minister fujimori to flee to japan, with 6 different scenarios taking place simultaneously. i couldn't figure out which version that was going to be screened, had it been the edited peruvian version, it was only an hour and a half, if it was the version that was screened in the toronto film festival, then it would be a whopping 2 and a half hours.
and it turned out to the be longer one, and i was very glad, as the movie was excellent. i don't know why, but i love films that have multiple scenarios weaving through eachother simultaneously. but this one was set so realistic, like a poem, perfected to detail. it seemed draggy at times, but it was a fantastic night. i hope that the one i'm going to watch tonight will be as enjoyable.
there was a sudden thunderstorm going on yesterday past noon, that kinda 'forced' me to skip my CS lecture. and i kinda paid it with a price. according to chris, who went to the lecture, the professor taught the new material, as well as revealing what was going to be in the final. what luck, of all the times, there isnt much new information, and the one that i missed, he has to give it away. i cant complain, since it was my decision not to get wet in the heavy rain and freeze in the physics lab. i watched bits and pieces of 'goldeneye' that was being shown on the telly, and then went about checking my econs grade, which was supposed to be up by then, if not, later.
and guess what, there was a 4 point curve on the last test (which i did badly, as mentioned in the earlier post) and that meant I ended up with an A for the semester. i literally jumped and screamed out in joy. i thought that the last test was relatively easy, and the most i could anticipate was a one point curve, but 4! i didnt see that coming. i wont be attending the lecture anyone, i'll spend more time on my remaining projects that need to be done.
instead of taking a nap that i truly needed, i went down to help out in the east FE quad ResFest (Resident's Festival) which was the last work i was going to do as the Hall Council President for my dorm. i thought of going down there for a while just to help out a bit, but i ended up being there much longer than i had expected. there was two huge watermelons, which i volunteered to cut up to easy pieces for those who were there, and then i helped others set up the stage for a visiting band and the one that required the most amount of work was putting up this heavy tarp over the stage, in case it rained. though i didnt really do much, i gotta give credit to this colombian friend i met in my first week, Mateo, who's the vice-president of the Smith Hall Council. i get along pretty well with the president and the VP, so working with them was a pleasure. Mateo climbed up all sorts of trees and lamp posts to tie the strings up securely and he was literally handling a one man job. james helped out too, and i guess the tarp was put up pretty nicely. i hadnt done work like that since the council days, so it was kinda refreshing that i had done setting up of an event like that. i suddenly craved for more of those, and sadly, the Hall Council didn't offer that. that was one thing i was really disappointed by, as i ran for president thinking that was what hall council would do. instead, it was more about discussion of bills, allocation of money, etc, which i don't really have interest in. SGA and RHa is like that as well. i might have enjoyed myself better if i had tried out for FAB or FC. but it's alright, i learned some things i might otherwise might not have learnt in other organizations.
i just checked my CS grades, i got 88 for that, which is a surprisingly high number, considering i missed out few very important line, but heck, i'd take it anyway! all i gotta do is to do more or less the same for the final and i'll end up getting an A for this class as well! many say that CS screws you over the semester, but the finals is relatively easy, so i can kinda rest easy now and spend more time on MSE and most probably, calculus II.
i better go get something before i starve to death. my stomach's been making noise a little too long.
Friday, April 22, 2005
end of the storm
am i glad its finally friday or what.
this week's been the roughest ive had so far being at tech. almost as rough as that week before my spring break, but in a sense, worse. i had to compile the calculus project on monday, had my last econs test on tuesday, the last CS test before the finals on wednesday, research paper due on thursday and calculus homework, and not to mention, a CS lab due on the same night. i'd been going to the CS review sessions since sunday, and i practically spent the entire weekend studying econs or CS.
but its over. from now, i just have to finish my english and japanese project, and i can get to studying for my finals, which is in 2 weeks time.
i am rather pissed that i scored a 25 for my econs. had i gotten 27, i would have gotten A by default and not worry about the final, as it is optional. as it always is the case, i made dumb errors and ended up with a 25, which left me with a B. i have an average of 88.9 and it sucks that i have to take the final to up that. even if, i have to score 43 out of 45 to improve to an A. the professor mentioned there 'might' be a curve, which i am wishing there will be, but the chances are, there will be none, and even if there is, its a point at the most. im not sure if i should go for it, but there's no harm, since its almost impossible that i will end up worse than now, i'll have to do really bad in order to drop to a C. since its comprehensive and not topical, its another issue regarding if i can cover all the material in time. i find out my current grade sometime tomorrow, and im hoping for a miracle.
as for CS, it turned out better than i expected. though i still am not sure about object oriented programming, we were taught a standard constuctor function, which we put to memory, so the test wasnt exactly that hard. i should do the usual, i missed 2 important lines to my last question, but i should get partial credit for that.
as i had done most of my research and readings sometime back, composing my essay wasn't all too bad, it was mostly adding arguments in and rearranging the order of the existing paragraphs and elaborating certain assertions. that came out well, i hope, and as ive already settled my individual blog entries for the class, i just have to worry about the group project, which shouldnt be much work, with the only work being looking up relevant articles for our research topic.
i still had to finish off my calculus homework, which i had absolutely no idea how to do, so i was up til almost 3 looking up patterns (that's how i study for math, i see patterns, and i apply the same methods to all relevant questions) and trying to figure out what all that meant. i kinda did everything haphazardly in the end though. i got my test result back, which was just below what i should have gotten, and i might have to take the final for calculus too afterall, which really sucks. from being able to skip 2 finals and sit for only 2 finals, i might end up taking all 4 finals. my average for the test is a 87, and adding the project and homework, its 91, but there's some rumour going about that you need an average of 93 from just the tests to skip it. there's some grade fixing going on as some of the people had to endure a fire alarm test during the test, but even if that increases my grades, i doubt i'll hit that 93.
thankfully, our lab deadline was extended to next monday, but ive more or less done half of the work, so it wasnt an issue. i probably will go down after class today to clarify with the codings, which is continuously giving me a syntax error and i have no idea how to rectify it.
interesting stuff happening this week. first off, the RIAA (the recording industry of america) sued number of students from various universities. a lot of us stopped logging into i2hub.com for a while. i think 18 students that are in the process of getting sued is from my university, and guess what, one of them happened to be this guy staying across from my room, kyle 'the skydiver.' it was a shock, obviously, as his IP address was so different from the ones we have in our section. if indeed he has to pay a hefty sum for fine, we are thinking of selling t-shirts that has his IP address on it and having a message that goes something like 'save 128.20.524.246' or something, which would be really funny, but something i think that would work out fine.
and josh 'the hawaiian' got his nose broken few days ago. he was playing in the intramural basketball and as his opponent was backing into him, his elbow jammed right into his nose. the first night his nose was turned to the left side, which was freaky. it has now swollen up pretty bad and he obviously isnt too happy about it.
and of course, there was that course registration for the fall semester. i managed to sign up for all the ones i wanted except for MGT3078, as it was already closed off. im currently signed up for 16 hours, which is manageable, but as i am an 'overachieving son of a bitch' as scott, my peer leader, mentioned earlier in the semester, i might take up another class. i have to take MATH2401 (Calculus III), CS1322 (Java) and ISYE2027 (Probability), as they are my core classes and i need them to take the next set of my major classes, but its the electives that are giving me a hard time. i am currently taking PSYC1101 (General Psychology) and MSE3015 (Electrical, Optical and Magnetic Properties), but scott advised that i take ACCT2101 (Financial Accounting) as the professor being offered is really good. i also want to get done and over with my Labs, so i was thinking of EAS1601 (Habitable Planets), which means i have to give up one of my classes, and i cant decide. it also means that it will be about 19 or 20 hours, and if John Jewell lets me know about the environmental sustainability class, i might be taking the maximum 21 hours. you'd think that i learned my lesson from taking 19 this semester and that i was lucky this semester, it wont be like that for the next, and i just might be digging my own grave. but the difference is that most, if not, all of the professor's are great, which should be of comfort, but i still cant make up my mind.
the thing is, ive been having a change of heart about taking the MSE minor, or the Finance certificate. it goes with the question of whether its necessary. sure, it will make my resume look great, but as the expense of what? once i get the job, all that don't matter anymore, and its only a class, all these extra knowledge may not come into use afterall, so is it worth it taking more classes which may or may not hurt my GPA? so thats the dilemma i have to solve, as if i want to take the additional classes, its either i dont take accounting, or drop psychology, or drop MSE. dropping MSE migth be hurtful in the long run, as if i decide to take the minor, then i'll have to take a lot at the same time later, and this is kind of spreading the classes over the time here. whereas, theres this really great professor for psychology and accounting, and both are offered during the summer, which i will have to take next year, but psychology may not be that bad over the summer.
urgh, all these decisions...! i might just be driving myself to death. but since i will be having my own room and basically living in a cave, studying all day with no one to disturb or distract me, it might work out. i might have to put my plans of pledging back to Delta Sig behind, during the spring semester, when i will be working again, since then, i wont have to juggle responsibilities and duties and academics at the same time. if i do pledge during the spring, i think it'd be great, since once i come back from work, i'll have nothign to do, so i can just chill out at the house, and get to know the guys better.
alright, time to get back to class....
this week's been the roughest ive had so far being at tech. almost as rough as that week before my spring break, but in a sense, worse. i had to compile the calculus project on monday, had my last econs test on tuesday, the last CS test before the finals on wednesday, research paper due on thursday and calculus homework, and not to mention, a CS lab due on the same night. i'd been going to the CS review sessions since sunday, and i practically spent the entire weekend studying econs or CS.
but its over. from now, i just have to finish my english and japanese project, and i can get to studying for my finals, which is in 2 weeks time.
i am rather pissed that i scored a 25 for my econs. had i gotten 27, i would have gotten A by default and not worry about the final, as it is optional. as it always is the case, i made dumb errors and ended up with a 25, which left me with a B. i have an average of 88.9 and it sucks that i have to take the final to up that. even if, i have to score 43 out of 45 to improve to an A. the professor mentioned there 'might' be a curve, which i am wishing there will be, but the chances are, there will be none, and even if there is, its a point at the most. im not sure if i should go for it, but there's no harm, since its almost impossible that i will end up worse than now, i'll have to do really bad in order to drop to a C. since its comprehensive and not topical, its another issue regarding if i can cover all the material in time. i find out my current grade sometime tomorrow, and im hoping for a miracle.
as for CS, it turned out better than i expected. though i still am not sure about object oriented programming, we were taught a standard constuctor function, which we put to memory, so the test wasnt exactly that hard. i should do the usual, i missed 2 important lines to my last question, but i should get partial credit for that.
as i had done most of my research and readings sometime back, composing my essay wasn't all too bad, it was mostly adding arguments in and rearranging the order of the existing paragraphs and elaborating certain assertions. that came out well, i hope, and as ive already settled my individual blog entries for the class, i just have to worry about the group project, which shouldnt be much work, with the only work being looking up relevant articles for our research topic.
i still had to finish off my calculus homework, which i had absolutely no idea how to do, so i was up til almost 3 looking up patterns (that's how i study for math, i see patterns, and i apply the same methods to all relevant questions) and trying to figure out what all that meant. i kinda did everything haphazardly in the end though. i got my test result back, which was just below what i should have gotten, and i might have to take the final for calculus too afterall, which really sucks. from being able to skip 2 finals and sit for only 2 finals, i might end up taking all 4 finals. my average for the test is a 87, and adding the project and homework, its 91, but there's some rumour going about that you need an average of 93 from just the tests to skip it. there's some grade fixing going on as some of the people had to endure a fire alarm test during the test, but even if that increases my grades, i doubt i'll hit that 93.
thankfully, our lab deadline was extended to next monday, but ive more or less done half of the work, so it wasnt an issue. i probably will go down after class today to clarify with the codings, which is continuously giving me a syntax error and i have no idea how to rectify it.
interesting stuff happening this week. first off, the RIAA (the recording industry of america) sued number of students from various universities. a lot of us stopped logging into i2hub.com for a while. i think 18 students that are in the process of getting sued is from my university, and guess what, one of them happened to be this guy staying across from my room, kyle 'the skydiver.' it was a shock, obviously, as his IP address was so different from the ones we have in our section. if indeed he has to pay a hefty sum for fine, we are thinking of selling t-shirts that has his IP address on it and having a message that goes something like 'save 128.20.524.246' or something, which would be really funny, but something i think that would work out fine.
and josh 'the hawaiian' got his nose broken few days ago. he was playing in the intramural basketball and as his opponent was backing into him, his elbow jammed right into his nose. the first night his nose was turned to the left side, which was freaky. it has now swollen up pretty bad and he obviously isnt too happy about it.
and of course, there was that course registration for the fall semester. i managed to sign up for all the ones i wanted except for MGT3078, as it was already closed off. im currently signed up for 16 hours, which is manageable, but as i am an 'overachieving son of a bitch' as scott, my peer leader, mentioned earlier in the semester, i might take up another class. i have to take MATH2401 (Calculus III), CS1322 (Java) and ISYE2027 (Probability), as they are my core classes and i need them to take the next set of my major classes, but its the electives that are giving me a hard time. i am currently taking PSYC1101 (General Psychology) and MSE3015 (Electrical, Optical and Magnetic Properties), but scott advised that i take ACCT2101 (Financial Accounting) as the professor being offered is really good. i also want to get done and over with my Labs, so i was thinking of EAS1601 (Habitable Planets), which means i have to give up one of my classes, and i cant decide. it also means that it will be about 19 or 20 hours, and if John Jewell lets me know about the environmental sustainability class, i might be taking the maximum 21 hours. you'd think that i learned my lesson from taking 19 this semester and that i was lucky this semester, it wont be like that for the next, and i just might be digging my own grave. but the difference is that most, if not, all of the professor's are great, which should be of comfort, but i still cant make up my mind.
the thing is, ive been having a change of heart about taking the MSE minor, or the Finance certificate. it goes with the question of whether its necessary. sure, it will make my resume look great, but as the expense of what? once i get the job, all that don't matter anymore, and its only a class, all these extra knowledge may not come into use afterall, so is it worth it taking more classes which may or may not hurt my GPA? so thats the dilemma i have to solve, as if i want to take the additional classes, its either i dont take accounting, or drop psychology, or drop MSE. dropping MSE migth be hurtful in the long run, as if i decide to take the minor, then i'll have to take a lot at the same time later, and this is kind of spreading the classes over the time here. whereas, theres this really great professor for psychology and accounting, and both are offered during the summer, which i will have to take next year, but psychology may not be that bad over the summer.
urgh, all these decisions...! i might just be driving myself to death. but since i will be having my own room and basically living in a cave, studying all day with no one to disturb or distract me, it might work out. i might have to put my plans of pledging back to Delta Sig behind, during the spring semester, when i will be working again, since then, i wont have to juggle responsibilities and duties and academics at the same time. if i do pledge during the spring, i think it'd be great, since once i come back from work, i'll have nothign to do, so i can just chill out at the house, and get to know the guys better.
alright, time to get back to class....
Sunday, April 17, 2005
one of those nights
im feeling like one of those nights. alone, nothing to do, roaming about, trying hard to find something better to do, then decide its not worth it and repeat the cycle several times.
and it led me here for some reason, after realizing that i havent blogged for a while. or maybe i have, but my mind's making me think like i havent.
here i am, with a cup noodle to satisfy my post-midnight hunger, chatting with old friends over msn, and blogging.
well, since i am here, might as well rant or whatever.
usually by now, i'll be watching movies with friends. we did last night. watching 'snatch' and 'the usual suspects.' but as usual, my friends take ages to come to the room for us to start watching. and while waiting for someone, one will inevitably go somewhere and start doing something, and when the one we initially waited for comes, we now have to wait for the person who left to finish whatever that he was doing, and while doing so, someone else leaves and it becomes a non-stop process. it takes roughly about an hour or so before we actually start watching a movie.
its been a worse night tonight. its been about 2 hours plus since i initiated watching a movie. i was thinking of watching 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest' and then since i didnt want to make someone watch a film he already has, we tried to change to 'amadeus' or 'moulin rouge' but i had seen the latter and didnt really want to watch it again. so i started looking for something in my laptop, jame's hard disk and some other guy's dvd collection, but for some reason, im feeling really really choosy tonight. cant seem to pick on a movie, and no movie seems good enough for my 2 hours.
i guess we finally settled on 3.. 'the notebook' or 'apocalypse now' or 'a very long engagement' i think we settled on 'a very long engagement' since it features our lovely woman, audrey tautou.
okay, since we're gonna start watching, im gonna go blog later.
and it led me here for some reason, after realizing that i havent blogged for a while. or maybe i have, but my mind's making me think like i havent.
here i am, with a cup noodle to satisfy my post-midnight hunger, chatting with old friends over msn, and blogging.
well, since i am here, might as well rant or whatever.
usually by now, i'll be watching movies with friends. we did last night. watching 'snatch' and 'the usual suspects.' but as usual, my friends take ages to come to the room for us to start watching. and while waiting for someone, one will inevitably go somewhere and start doing something, and when the one we initially waited for comes, we now have to wait for the person who left to finish whatever that he was doing, and while doing so, someone else leaves and it becomes a non-stop process. it takes roughly about an hour or so before we actually start watching a movie.
its been a worse night tonight. its been about 2 hours plus since i initiated watching a movie. i was thinking of watching 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest' and then since i didnt want to make someone watch a film he already has, we tried to change to 'amadeus' or 'moulin rouge' but i had seen the latter and didnt really want to watch it again. so i started looking for something in my laptop, jame's hard disk and some other guy's dvd collection, but for some reason, im feeling really really choosy tonight. cant seem to pick on a movie, and no movie seems good enough for my 2 hours.
i guess we finally settled on 3.. 'the notebook' or 'apocalypse now' or 'a very long engagement' i think we settled on 'a very long engagement' since it features our lovely woman, audrey tautou.
okay, since we're gonna start watching, im gonna go blog later.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
superb
and i found out through Karun today that The Crystal Method is coming down to Atlanta on the 30th. It couldn't possibly get any better. Moby, and now, Crystal Method.
Plus, its on a saturday, before the finals. Quite a number of people wants to go, its gonna be a superb time. Ticket's marginally cheaper than Moby's, and the location's pretty near from Tech, a walking distance, like Tabernacle, but the opposite way.
The Roots will be coming down on the 2nd of June, Scott will probably come with me for that.
the Oasis gig in september will also feature JET, so that's gonna be cool.
I'm now wondering if I should also go ahead for Music Midtown, a three day outdoor music event. Quite a bunch of artists are coming down, The White Stripes, The Killers, Jermaine Dupri, Kid Rock, Keane, Biz Markie, MC Lyte and etc...
I'm just lovin' it here. perfect location for music.
Plus, its on a saturday, before the finals. Quite a number of people wants to go, its gonna be a superb time. Ticket's marginally cheaper than Moby's, and the location's pretty near from Tech, a walking distance, like Tabernacle, but the opposite way.
The Roots will be coming down on the 2nd of June, Scott will probably come with me for that.
the Oasis gig in september will also feature JET, so that's gonna be cool.
I'm now wondering if I should also go ahead for Music Midtown, a three day outdoor music event. Quite a bunch of artists are coming down, The White Stripes, The Killers, Jermaine Dupri, Kid Rock, Keane, Biz Markie, MC Lyte and etc...
I'm just lovin' it here. perfect location for music.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Moby: the morning after
waking up today, i had a huge headache, with my ears still ringing from the loud music last night. but im still very glad that i was there. i still find it hard to believe that i was actually standing among the pit, absorbing moby's performance.
from all the jumping and the stress on my legs and back, i am experiencing some muscle strains, but its all worth it.
i found out that 'the roots' will be coming over sometime in june. they went to emory to perform and i didnt know pamela and leisha then, but this time, i might go, as its being held at the same place as last night, the superb tabernacle. and the tickets are only 16 dollars. the only problem though, it will be from 9pm onwards, on a thursday night, and i will have to go to work the next day...
i thought of making a habit of buying the CD that is being promoted for the concerts that i go to. i bought the jamie cullum CD even though my dad owned it, but since it was a U.S. version (my dad's was the UK version) with extra tracks and some that were missing ('Frontin'' and 'High & Dry' among others) with autograph for 10 bucks, i got it. but the moby's 'Hotel' was being sold for 20 bucks, which i was not exactly too willing to pay. what probably saved me was that i thought i didnt have enough cash with me (afterwards while dining at Wing Nuts, i realized i had exactly 20 bucks, but spending that would have meant no dinner) and i wasnt willing to conduct a cash advance withdrawal with my credit card (20% fee straight up? i'll never do that)
i might purchase his CD sometime in the future, but it wont have the same feeling as buying the CD at the actual venue. but whatever.
his opening act, Buck 65, was pretty interesting. gotta check out his music.
from all the jumping and the stress on my legs and back, i am experiencing some muscle strains, but its all worth it.
i found out that 'the roots' will be coming over sometime in june. they went to emory to perform and i didnt know pamela and leisha then, but this time, i might go, as its being held at the same place as last night, the superb tabernacle. and the tickets are only 16 dollars. the only problem though, it will be from 9pm onwards, on a thursday night, and i will have to go to work the next day...
i thought of making a habit of buying the CD that is being promoted for the concerts that i go to. i bought the jamie cullum CD even though my dad owned it, but since it was a U.S. version (my dad's was the UK version) with extra tracks and some that were missing ('Frontin'' and 'High & Dry' among others) with autograph for 10 bucks, i got it. but the moby's 'Hotel' was being sold for 20 bucks, which i was not exactly too willing to pay. what probably saved me was that i thought i didnt have enough cash with me (afterwards while dining at Wing Nuts, i realized i had exactly 20 bucks, but spending that would have meant no dinner) and i wasnt willing to conduct a cash advance withdrawal with my credit card (20% fee straight up? i'll never do that)
i might purchase his CD sometime in the future, but it wont have the same feeling as buying the CD at the actual venue. but whatever.
his opening act, Buck 65, was pretty interesting. gotta check out his music.
Moby at The Tabernacle
oh my, Moby was freaking awesome. we actually stood for the whole concert, we were like 3 rows from the stage, with Moby performing only about 4, 5 meters from me, with super loud speakers and thumping bass to the max, we came out being practically deaf, but it was a kick ass concert. i was very happy with the 'bodyrock' performance, you cant have moby without that song.
thankfully, he performed a lot of his hits and also some from his new album 'hotel.' i thought he'll play those mainly from 'hotel' but that was not the case to be.
here are some pics i took.
thankfully, he performed a lot of his hits and also some from his new album 'hotel.' i thought he'll play those mainly from 'hotel' but that was not the case to be.
here are some pics i took.
pics and movies of Ludacris at Tech
here are some pics from the Sting Break concert where Ludacris performed at Tech.
and i tried uploading some files that james took to my GT Prism account, not sure if it will work, but if it does not play upon clicking, then right click on it and save file or target as, be warned, files are 6 to 12 MB.
Act A Fool
Get Back
Stand Up
Stand Up 2
and i tried uploading some files that james took to my GT Prism account, not sure if it will work, but if it does not play upon clicking, then right click on it and save file or target as, be warned, files are 6 to 12 MB.
Act A Fool
Get Back
Stand Up
Stand Up 2
Sunday, April 10, 2005
conflict of interest
just as crunch time starts, comes a delight. tech's hosting various film festivals around the campus. there's the latin american film festival conducted by the speak spanish organization, there's the turkish film festival by the turkish arts council of atlanta, and there's the french film festival by the literature, culture and communications department of georgia tech. number of the ones being shown have gotten excellent ratings on IMDb, and i generally trust the ratings, as very seldom has the ratings failed me. last night, i went to catch a costa rican film 'password' about a 12 year old girl who has family issues and goes on the net, thinking she's chatting with a 14 year old boy, but she's actually being the victim of child prostitution scam. sounds very familiar huh? i swear i saw an american movie with a similar plot. they showed 'maria full of grace' on saturday, but since i had seen that few weeks back, i didnt catch it this weekend.
while trying frantically to cram in as much information as i can for the material science test, i managed to squeeze in some time to catch some great films at night, namely 'equilibrium,' 'truman show,' 'gattaca' and 'the barbarian invasions.' very glad i watched each and every one of them.
so there's a big clash in what i want to do. i should, and am studying for these tests. but at the same time, i wanna catch as many of the films being screened in these film festivals. its making my head hurt, as these are the type of movies i really want to catch, and are rarely available for download.
i can already imagine what i will be doing once the semester ends and i start working, and beyond. since i will be in my own room from next fall, i will make sure i make a huge list of movies to download, and then once im done with work, i'll just start watching them. perfect way to kill time and still enjoy killing it. films from mexico, france and iran have been spectacular thus far. i'll very gladly like to catch more from those region.
i spent some time going through the classes i am going to sign up for the fall semester. time tickets are assigned tomorrow, and i want to make sure i know what classes are being taught by which professors at what time. sadly, two of the classes that i must/can only take next semester also happen to be the only classes offered in the fall, which limits my flexibility for timing for other classes. and one of them might be hard to get into, as my hours are not quite junior status yet (9 hours short) and that might prove costly for this management class i have to take (MGT3078 - Finance and Investment) that is required for industrial engineers, as well as a required prerequisite class for all other classes if i want to get a certificate in finance. the other class is my material science class (MSE3015 - Electrical, Optical and Magnetic Properties) which seems like the only MSE class i can take next semester. the rest are MATH2401 - Calculus III, CS1322 - Object Oriented Programming (Java) and ISYE2027 - Probability. I'm still thinking if I should go ahead and take the Environmental Sustainability class that is being taught by a Delta Sig alum, John, but that remains to be seen. I'll be taking 17 hours then, and I better not put myself at risk again, as i was very fortunate this semester to be taking a 19 hour that almost feels like a 15 hour semester.
i better get back to my material science. even if its not going to make much of a difference, i still need to clarify some complicated theories.
while trying frantically to cram in as much information as i can for the material science test, i managed to squeeze in some time to catch some great films at night, namely 'equilibrium,' 'truman show,' 'gattaca' and 'the barbarian invasions.' very glad i watched each and every one of them.
so there's a big clash in what i want to do. i should, and am studying for these tests. but at the same time, i wanna catch as many of the films being screened in these film festivals. its making my head hurt, as these are the type of movies i really want to catch, and are rarely available for download.
i can already imagine what i will be doing once the semester ends and i start working, and beyond. since i will be in my own room from next fall, i will make sure i make a huge list of movies to download, and then once im done with work, i'll just start watching them. perfect way to kill time and still enjoy killing it. films from mexico, france and iran have been spectacular thus far. i'll very gladly like to catch more from those region.
i spent some time going through the classes i am going to sign up for the fall semester. time tickets are assigned tomorrow, and i want to make sure i know what classes are being taught by which professors at what time. sadly, two of the classes that i must/can only take next semester also happen to be the only classes offered in the fall, which limits my flexibility for timing for other classes. and one of them might be hard to get into, as my hours are not quite junior status yet (9 hours short) and that might prove costly for this management class i have to take (MGT3078 - Finance and Investment) that is required for industrial engineers, as well as a required prerequisite class for all other classes if i want to get a certificate in finance. the other class is my material science class (MSE3015 - Electrical, Optical and Magnetic Properties) which seems like the only MSE class i can take next semester. the rest are MATH2401 - Calculus III, CS1322 - Object Oriented Programming (Java) and ISYE2027 - Probability. I'm still thinking if I should go ahead and take the Environmental Sustainability class that is being taught by a Delta Sig alum, John, but that remains to be seen. I'll be taking 17 hours then, and I better not put myself at risk again, as i was very fortunate this semester to be taking a 19 hour that almost feels like a 15 hour semester.
i better get back to my material science. even if its not going to make much of a difference, i still need to clarify some complicated theories.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Ludacris at Sting Break
i must say i enjoyed the ludacris concert. and to think that was a project done by students, it was very very well done. ludacris was really hilarious, energetic, and shawna even came to do number of performances, and it was a great night for all of us. i was afraid he'll perform most songs from his latest album 'the red light district' as i've kind of gotten out of the rap thing, and i used to his first few songs a lot. but he actually performed a wide range of stuff and not just from his latest album. imagine my delight when he started performing 'area codes,' 'what's your fantasy' and 'act a fool.' but of course, his best performances were 'get back,' 'welcome to atlanta' and 'move bitch' as well his is excerpt from usher's 'yeah.' he was really explicit, but it made it so entertaining. when he asked for all the pot and weed smokers, i was really surprised to see so many lighters being lit up.
next week, moby! 5 of my friends are coming along, so that should be really fun.
and i found out last night oasis added atlanta to their american tour. its set in september, and the tickets go on sale today, and i know i gotta get it today. i read in their website that their paris show sold out in an hour, so im not gonna make the mistake i made for lenny kravitz thing again, im actually going ahead and buying the damn tickets the moment it goes on sale.
next week, moby! 5 of my friends are coming along, so that should be really fun.
and i found out last night oasis added atlanta to their american tour. its set in september, and the tickets go on sale today, and i know i gotta get it today. i read in their website that their paris show sold out in an hour, so im not gonna make the mistake i made for lenny kravitz thing again, im actually going ahead and buying the damn tickets the moment it goes on sale.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
yessir
so its official and sealed: i will be working as a supply chain co-op student at RubberNetwork.com, LCC starting 17th of may.
i guess the opportunities and my qualifications for this particular companies were too much to not grab on to. i might have had a good shot with masterfoods or heatcraft, but my familiarity with japan and singapore, and my ability to speak japanese can be best utilized at this place. plus, i will be working in close proximity with the CEO, COO, CFO, and all the important people, which might prove to be beneficial in terms of additional exposure. i can commute from campus, keep my housing job, so there isnt really much more i can ask for.
if you want to know what the company is about, here are two articles i stumbled upon while researching to prepare for the interview.
RubberNetwork Delivers e-Sourcing
RubberNetwork Reports $105 Million in Savings for 2004
i guess the opportunities and my qualifications for this particular companies were too much to not grab on to. i might have had a good shot with masterfoods or heatcraft, but my familiarity with japan and singapore, and my ability to speak japanese can be best utilized at this place. plus, i will be working in close proximity with the CEO, COO, CFO, and all the important people, which might prove to be beneficial in terms of additional exposure. i can commute from campus, keep my housing job, so there isnt really much more i can ask for.
if you want to know what the company is about, here are two articles i stumbled upon while researching to prepare for the interview.
RubberNetwork Delivers e-Sourcing
RubberNetwork Reports $105 Million in Savings for 2004
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
crunch time
its about 4 and a half weeks left til the end of the semester. til before spring break, everything was going on fine, but this is when the real battle starts, where homeworks and test preparations start piling up on eachother and make my scheduling and my time very difficult.
if not for the events that took place over the weekend, it wouldnt have been so bad, but theres nothing i can do about it, just a misfortune. hopefully i do well enough on the upcoming econs test and do equally well on the one 2 weeks later so i can spare myself the trouble of sitting for the finals, which would pave the way for other subjects that need more attention.
here we go...
if not for the events that took place over the weekend, it wouldnt have been so bad, but theres nothing i can do about it, just a misfortune. hopefully i do well enough on the upcoming econs test and do equally well on the one 2 weeks later so i can spare myself the trouble of sitting for the finals, which would pave the way for other subjects that need more attention.
here we go...
Monday, April 04, 2005
Ludacris at Tech
did i mention that Ludacris will be performing at Tech on thursday? i've registered and will be collecting my ticket tomorrow.
though my right ear cant hear, im really excited, even though ive come to detest hiphop and rap to an extent since i came here, seeing the man perform in person is an exception to the rule.
though my right ear cant hear, im really excited, even though ive come to detest hiphop and rap to an extent since i came here, seeing the man perform in person is an exception to the rule.
a tribute to my great-grandfather
just when waiting any longer at the hospital seemed intolerable, i got a phone call from my mother with a worse news. my maternal great-grandfather has passed away at the age of 104.
it came as a sudden news for me, because i thought he was very healthy for someone his age and he could do most things by himself. apparantly he was in the hospital and his condition was bad.
though its doubtful if he ever remembered me at all, as my last visit, i was left with the impression that he did not recognize who i was (but he recognized my mother immediately) he left a really deep impression and was a source of many inspiration, just because i was related to him by blood. he was a very well known scholar in Bangladesh and probably beyond, a person who can speak 8 languages, and someone who went beyond what was requested of him.
104 years of blessed life. 1901 to 2005.
====
i went back to the hospital, and as i had expected, i was told to go somewhere else to get a hospital card for payment purposes. it took them some time to figure out that i was a non-resident and that i was not eligible for any subsidies. and then i went back, wait for a little while longer, had a brief conversation with the attendent who was telling me about her experiences with post-graduate studies and general questions about graduate management programs at georgia tech and such. soon, i was taken in and the doctor started cleaning the clots in my ear, and she got another doctor to see my ear with microscopes, as they could not see the actual problem with my ear. after careful observation and some clearance of dust particles, they concluded that a part of the ear was scratched and damaged, which caused the bleeding. nothing with bacteria infection whatever. they think it could have happened when i was cleaning my ear with cotton buds earlier in the week and the accumulated dust could have been pushed in, and while being cleaned, it could have scratched the membrane. it all seemed odd to me, as i never stick cotton buds deep into my ear, as it makes me cough pretty bad. i was pissed enough from the fact that i was initially misdiagnosed, prescribed an antibiotic that cost $32 bucks and rendered useless, and after 11 hours of waiting, i finally had a concrete answer.
through the waiting and travelling, i have observed the general public, and i can now say i have truly seen atlanta. homeless people, unemployed people, poor people, crazy people, and people who are trying so hard just to make a decent living. now i know i am living in this city.
i took my first cup of coffee this morning in the longest time i can remember, as i was prepared to spend a lot of time studying economics for the test tomorrow. as of right now, i have finally managed to finish reading the text, and i will proceed to the numerous practice questions that i usually do the day before the test. progress isnt as bad as i thought. if anything is required, i can always go back for more coffee, with two cups of french vanilla and three packets of sugar.
on the other hand, there is one good news to outweigh all the bad thing that took place over the weekend. i have been offered the rubbernetworks.com position that i had the on-site interview on friday. i'll hold on for the rest of the week to see if there will be any other companies contacting me, which might be useless, since they'll most probably want me to go down to their site and by the time they make an official offer, it will be like a week or two from now and i will need to reply to this offer by the end of the week, so its very likely that i will end up accepting this offer.
this is probably the best, as i can live on campus, keep the housing staff job, and commuting isnt a big problem, it takes about 20-30 minutes and it pays well enough to save good money. its all fitting into place. i really think this job is for me, since i would be familiar with three of the four office that it has around the world. my familiarity of singapore, being able to converse in japanese and my location in the atlanta headquarters will come in very handy. i think working in a startup company would be more beneficial in terms of work experience in the long run too.
alright, gotta get my dinner and back to studying economics.
it came as a sudden news for me, because i thought he was very healthy for someone his age and he could do most things by himself. apparantly he was in the hospital and his condition was bad.
though its doubtful if he ever remembered me at all, as my last visit, i was left with the impression that he did not recognize who i was (but he recognized my mother immediately) he left a really deep impression and was a source of many inspiration, just because i was related to him by blood. he was a very well known scholar in Bangladesh and probably beyond, a person who can speak 8 languages, and someone who went beyond what was requested of him.
104 years of blessed life. 1901 to 2005.
====
i went back to the hospital, and as i had expected, i was told to go somewhere else to get a hospital card for payment purposes. it took them some time to figure out that i was a non-resident and that i was not eligible for any subsidies. and then i went back, wait for a little while longer, had a brief conversation with the attendent who was telling me about her experiences with post-graduate studies and general questions about graduate management programs at georgia tech and such. soon, i was taken in and the doctor started cleaning the clots in my ear, and she got another doctor to see my ear with microscopes, as they could not see the actual problem with my ear. after careful observation and some clearance of dust particles, they concluded that a part of the ear was scratched and damaged, which caused the bleeding. nothing with bacteria infection whatever. they think it could have happened when i was cleaning my ear with cotton buds earlier in the week and the accumulated dust could have been pushed in, and while being cleaned, it could have scratched the membrane. it all seemed odd to me, as i never stick cotton buds deep into my ear, as it makes me cough pretty bad. i was pissed enough from the fact that i was initially misdiagnosed, prescribed an antibiotic that cost $32 bucks and rendered useless, and after 11 hours of waiting, i finally had a concrete answer.
through the waiting and travelling, i have observed the general public, and i can now say i have truly seen atlanta. homeless people, unemployed people, poor people, crazy people, and people who are trying so hard just to make a decent living. now i know i am living in this city.
i took my first cup of coffee this morning in the longest time i can remember, as i was prepared to spend a lot of time studying economics for the test tomorrow. as of right now, i have finally managed to finish reading the text, and i will proceed to the numerous practice questions that i usually do the day before the test. progress isnt as bad as i thought. if anything is required, i can always go back for more coffee, with two cups of french vanilla and three packets of sugar.
on the other hand, there is one good news to outweigh all the bad thing that took place over the weekend. i have been offered the rubbernetworks.com position that i had the on-site interview on friday. i'll hold on for the rest of the week to see if there will be any other companies contacting me, which might be useless, since they'll most probably want me to go down to their site and by the time they make an official offer, it will be like a week or two from now and i will need to reply to this offer by the end of the week, so its very likely that i will end up accepting this offer.
this is probably the best, as i can live on campus, keep the housing staff job, and commuting isnt a big problem, it takes about 20-30 minutes and it pays well enough to save good money. its all fitting into place. i really think this job is for me, since i would be familiar with three of the four office that it has around the world. my familiarity of singapore, being able to converse in japanese and my location in the atlanta headquarters will come in very handy. i think working in a startup company would be more beneficial in terms of work experience in the long run too.
alright, gotta get my dinner and back to studying economics.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
a horrid experience
if there is anything to say from my weekend experiences this week, then it would definately be that the health sysem in america is atrocious.
i woke up saturday morning with my right ear unable to pick up any sound. if there was any, then it was nullified by a great amount. then, i noticed that it was giving sharp pain. i thought that there was some dust stuck in my ear, so i tried to clean it off by sticking cotton buds lightly, but that did not solve any problems. after a while, the pain still would not go away, so i kinda grew a little worried, and as i used a tissue to wipe my ears, i noticed that there was blood coming out.
to my luck, the campus health services was closed, which meant that i had to go to a city clinic or a hospital, which i really did not want to, because i didnt have insurance in america, but realizing how dire the situation was, i could not wait. what is worse, the healthcare system here is horrid, i knew that from trying to get a simple health check up back last year before my semester at tech started. you need to schedule appointments to see doctors before anything. there isnt really a system like in singapore where you can just walk in and get checked out. and this was the weekend, so i was doubtful if there was any clinics nearby that operated on a saturday. after calling some places to check if they were open, i found one hospital downtown, and i got a friend to drive me there, james tagging along.
i went into the emergency room, filled out a form, and i was made to wait for an hour before my name was called, after which my temperature and blood pressure was taken. then, i was taken to a room in the emergency room. i had to wait for another hour before a doctor came in. she checked both ears for like a minute, told me its probably an infection (like i didnt know), and left, without telling me anything. i had to wait another 30 minutes before she came back and told me the same thing, and then she went off, trying to get medicines and getting another doctor to come. that took another hour, and the new doctor took another minute to examine and told me the exact same thing. he left yet again, and i was made to wait for another hour without having any clue as to what was going on or what i was doing there. i spent a considerable amount of time looking at how people were brought in, left on a bed by the wall, and just being left there, waiting for someone else to attend to them. after what seemed like ages, i got hold of someone walking past and asked what i was waiting for, to which he checked and replied, for processing paperwork. i was going crazy just waiting, as i was never made to wait for such a period at a hospital before. i mean, this is the emergency room for crying out loud, i am supposed to be examined, diagnosed, prescribed and asked to leave. that did not happen and it seemed like it would never happen.
some time passed before some other person came and told me that i had to come back on monday to see a ear specialist, with the appointment set at noon. i really did not want to go, i would have to miss my material science class and computer science class and im already falling behind on those two classes, its only going to get worse from now. i wanted to tear my head apart just being made to wait. after a while, the same person came back, told me to sign a paper, and told me to get my medicine at the pharmacy. and guess what, i had to wait for another hour before i got my things. and i was made to pay 62 bucks for 4 medicines.
i spent 6 hours at the hospital, only to be examined for not more than 10 minutes, the rest spent on waiting for absolutely nothing. it was ridiculous. this, happening at an emergency room in a hospital in a metropolitan city. unbelievable. and they were 70% sure it is a bacteria that grew on the ear that caused the bleeding. they could not see beyong the bleeding and they didnt even clean or do anything else other than look at my ear.
i did not trust what they told me at the hospital, but what could i do? i missed my first housing staff meeting and precious time to study for my economics test. i decided to go to the school's health services because i was convinced that i would get better care.
turned out that i was dead wrong. it was exactly the same, if not worse. i woke up at 12, or so i thought, because the wintersaving time had ended, the clock's been pushed an hour earlier, which meant that i woke up at 1. (and this means that now im exactly 12 hours behind singapore time) i took a shower, shaved and left for the health services. it opened at 2pm, to which i reached around 2:30pm, and signed in. i was made to wait for 2 and a half hours before they even called my name. it was the exact same thing as yesterday. the doc took 30 minutes to arrive, looked at both ears, and told me the same thing, that they cant see past the bleeding and that i should go back to the hospital to be examined. i really didnt want to, but now i dont have a choice. basically i wasted my whole weekend waiting. waiting for nothing.
had i been in singapore, i would have been attended to in less than 30 minutes and be discharged within an hour. if anything at all, i would have been treated. they would have cleaned my ear and if necessary, sucked whatever fluid that was in my ears. here, you gotta make an appointment to do that, however urgent. they said its just the membrane breaking but what if its not? what if i were to lose my hearing? they would not know it and it wouldnt make any difference. its horrid.
this country has the best care available, but very little or very difficult access to them. no wonder medicare is such a huge topic of argument in this country.
i have never before felt like leaving atlanta, if at all, so strongly until yesterday. i feel scared to get sick or injured, because i know i wont be looked at as soon as possible. i have never felt like being back in singapore more strongly than now. i know i am exagerrating if i am to base my judgement purely on one experience in a particular hospital, but i have such a strong feeling that it is the same everywhere else.
my dad had that chest issue last summer. he was attended to immediately and put in the intensive care unit. had he been here, would he have been made to wait for 6 hours, or worse? people can die in such a long time. i saw a guy with his face cut, probably from a fight, wheeled in and being left there to be made to wait for someone to attend to him. in an emergency room no less.
there is so much anger and displeasure in myself that i could burst out crying anytime. and i am surprised at how tolerent i am of all thats happening here. i am not breaking down, i am not running around screaming and i am not panicking. i am too nice, i dont make someone stop and start yelling at their face. and i dont know why.
all seems to be going wrong. i have lost the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing but wait. and waiting for what? precious time for studying and catching up on work completely lost. at such a crucial time. and for what? to be examined for less than what could be a total of 15 minutes combined and being told what they think it most probably is? is that the best that i can get from here?
as of this moment, i am afraid to live in this country any longer.
i woke up saturday morning with my right ear unable to pick up any sound. if there was any, then it was nullified by a great amount. then, i noticed that it was giving sharp pain. i thought that there was some dust stuck in my ear, so i tried to clean it off by sticking cotton buds lightly, but that did not solve any problems. after a while, the pain still would not go away, so i kinda grew a little worried, and as i used a tissue to wipe my ears, i noticed that there was blood coming out.
to my luck, the campus health services was closed, which meant that i had to go to a city clinic or a hospital, which i really did not want to, because i didnt have insurance in america, but realizing how dire the situation was, i could not wait. what is worse, the healthcare system here is horrid, i knew that from trying to get a simple health check up back last year before my semester at tech started. you need to schedule appointments to see doctors before anything. there isnt really a system like in singapore where you can just walk in and get checked out. and this was the weekend, so i was doubtful if there was any clinics nearby that operated on a saturday. after calling some places to check if they were open, i found one hospital downtown, and i got a friend to drive me there, james tagging along.
i went into the emergency room, filled out a form, and i was made to wait for an hour before my name was called, after which my temperature and blood pressure was taken. then, i was taken to a room in the emergency room. i had to wait for another hour before a doctor came in. she checked both ears for like a minute, told me its probably an infection (like i didnt know), and left, without telling me anything. i had to wait another 30 minutes before she came back and told me the same thing, and then she went off, trying to get medicines and getting another doctor to come. that took another hour, and the new doctor took another minute to examine and told me the exact same thing. he left yet again, and i was made to wait for another hour without having any clue as to what was going on or what i was doing there. i spent a considerable amount of time looking at how people were brought in, left on a bed by the wall, and just being left there, waiting for someone else to attend to them. after what seemed like ages, i got hold of someone walking past and asked what i was waiting for, to which he checked and replied, for processing paperwork. i was going crazy just waiting, as i was never made to wait for such a period at a hospital before. i mean, this is the emergency room for crying out loud, i am supposed to be examined, diagnosed, prescribed and asked to leave. that did not happen and it seemed like it would never happen.
some time passed before some other person came and told me that i had to come back on monday to see a ear specialist, with the appointment set at noon. i really did not want to go, i would have to miss my material science class and computer science class and im already falling behind on those two classes, its only going to get worse from now. i wanted to tear my head apart just being made to wait. after a while, the same person came back, told me to sign a paper, and told me to get my medicine at the pharmacy. and guess what, i had to wait for another hour before i got my things. and i was made to pay 62 bucks for 4 medicines.
i spent 6 hours at the hospital, only to be examined for not more than 10 minutes, the rest spent on waiting for absolutely nothing. it was ridiculous. this, happening at an emergency room in a hospital in a metropolitan city. unbelievable. and they were 70% sure it is a bacteria that grew on the ear that caused the bleeding. they could not see beyong the bleeding and they didnt even clean or do anything else other than look at my ear.
i did not trust what they told me at the hospital, but what could i do? i missed my first housing staff meeting and precious time to study for my economics test. i decided to go to the school's health services because i was convinced that i would get better care.
turned out that i was dead wrong. it was exactly the same, if not worse. i woke up at 12, or so i thought, because the wintersaving time had ended, the clock's been pushed an hour earlier, which meant that i woke up at 1. (and this means that now im exactly 12 hours behind singapore time) i took a shower, shaved and left for the health services. it opened at 2pm, to which i reached around 2:30pm, and signed in. i was made to wait for 2 and a half hours before they even called my name. it was the exact same thing as yesterday. the doc took 30 minutes to arrive, looked at both ears, and told me the same thing, that they cant see past the bleeding and that i should go back to the hospital to be examined. i really didnt want to, but now i dont have a choice. basically i wasted my whole weekend waiting. waiting for nothing.
had i been in singapore, i would have been attended to in less than 30 minutes and be discharged within an hour. if anything at all, i would have been treated. they would have cleaned my ear and if necessary, sucked whatever fluid that was in my ears. here, you gotta make an appointment to do that, however urgent. they said its just the membrane breaking but what if its not? what if i were to lose my hearing? they would not know it and it wouldnt make any difference. its horrid.
this country has the best care available, but very little or very difficult access to them. no wonder medicare is such a huge topic of argument in this country.
i have never before felt like leaving atlanta, if at all, so strongly until yesterday. i feel scared to get sick or injured, because i know i wont be looked at as soon as possible. i have never felt like being back in singapore more strongly than now. i know i am exagerrating if i am to base my judgement purely on one experience in a particular hospital, but i have such a strong feeling that it is the same everywhere else.
my dad had that chest issue last summer. he was attended to immediately and put in the intensive care unit. had he been here, would he have been made to wait for 6 hours, or worse? people can die in such a long time. i saw a guy with his face cut, probably from a fight, wheeled in and being left there to be made to wait for someone to attend to him. in an emergency room no less.
there is so much anger and displeasure in myself that i could burst out crying anytime. and i am surprised at how tolerent i am of all thats happening here. i am not breaking down, i am not running around screaming and i am not panicking. i am too nice, i dont make someone stop and start yelling at their face. and i dont know why.
all seems to be going wrong. i have lost the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing but wait. and waiting for what? precious time for studying and catching up on work completely lost. at such a crucial time. and for what? to be examined for less than what could be a total of 15 minutes combined and being told what they think it most probably is? is that the best that i can get from here?
as of this moment, i am afraid to live in this country any longer.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
sin city
SIN CITY WAS AWESOME!
that's all i will say for now. im too tired now, ill probably blog tomorrow.
that's all i will say for now. im too tired now, ill probably blog tomorrow.
Friday, April 01, 2005
end of 1st interview rounds
i realized i havent blogged since i left naperville.
the flight into atlanta was scary. we were flying through a thunderstorm, and there were 3 huge shakeups that got me really scared. but i touched down safe in atlanta, feeling glad to face the warm misty air. it felt so different from the cold wind of naperville, and i knew my 'spring' break had ended, but the spring had begun.
had 3 interviews. think one particular one went really well, since the company has 4 offices around the world, headquarters in atlanta, one in amsterdam, one in tokyo, and surprise surprise, last one in singapore. and since i knew japanese, the interviewer was telling me that they might need me in meetings as in interpreter and translator too. i was fit for the job, i knew it. i am familar with the singapore and japan region and i am really impressed by the company's e-supply chain system. i am meeting them again tomorrow for an on-site interview, and hopefully i will impress them the same way as yesterday, which would be nice.
well, thats it for now. sadly caught a cold from my last few days in naperville, and have yet to recover from it.
the flight into atlanta was scary. we were flying through a thunderstorm, and there were 3 huge shakeups that got me really scared. but i touched down safe in atlanta, feeling glad to face the warm misty air. it felt so different from the cold wind of naperville, and i knew my 'spring' break had ended, but the spring had begun.
had 3 interviews. think one particular one went really well, since the company has 4 offices around the world, headquarters in atlanta, one in amsterdam, one in tokyo, and surprise surprise, last one in singapore. and since i knew japanese, the interviewer was telling me that they might need me in meetings as in interpreter and translator too. i was fit for the job, i knew it. i am familar with the singapore and japan region and i am really impressed by the company's e-supply chain system. i am meeting them again tomorrow for an on-site interview, and hopefully i will impress them the same way as yesterday, which would be nice.
well, thats it for now. sadly caught a cold from my last few days in naperville, and have yet to recover from it.
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