3M is Awesome

Today, I met the guy that invented Post-It Notes.

I (literally) have no free time between 9AM last Thursday and 11AM next Monday.

Welcome to my life.

Something's Gotta Go

My (weekly) to-do list:
- School
- Marching Band
- Hockey Pep Band
- Solar Car
- Work (10 hours/week)
- Social Life

I can see it coming now: something's gotta go, or life will soon become completely unbearable.

I missed two meetings tonight; one intentionally and one I just plain forgot about. I just now realized every weekday evening is pretty much booked, and I have virtually no time during the weekdays. I'm starting to feel like it's one of "those" weeks where everything is going on, and I haven't even started homework or pep band yet.

For the second time in my life, it would appear I've taken on more than I can do. I don't want to go through that again.

I love it all too much to give it up.

Now what?

School?

Spat Camp: Long, tough, fun
Leadership: new, exciting, more work than normal marching band

Solar Car: Dead as of Aug. 1, Back on as of Aug. 30
Solar Car Timeline: Unknown
Solar Car attitude: Mixed

Classes: none on Tuesday, only one on Thursday! Should be a good semester.
Lib-Ed's: Mus1001 - Clapping for credit as a night class

Apartment: nearly fully moved in; Gopher shrine shaping up

Sports: can't wait for hockey, still pretty excited for football despite loss

Busy Busy Busy

Wow, I have been busy. The last two months just flew by; classes and the school year went way too fast, and a standard office job makes the time go even faster.

In response to my last post, I have decided not to persue a Mechanical Engineering major. A few days after the previous post, it was revealed to me that there exists a wonderful thing called the Professional Engineer exam. Passing this exam officially certifies you as a Mechanical engineer, which basically serves as a degree, for about 1% of the price, a bit of extra studying, and a lot less hassle than taking an extra year or so of classes.

The last week of school, I ended up with two job offers: one with the physics department managing their 1,000 classroom demos part-time, and the other a student engineering assistant job with U of M energy management. I chose to take the energy management position, which means I'm working 40 hours a week on campus. I decided to live at home this summer, mostly because it's cheaper. As a result, I take the bus/train to campus every day, which works out pretty well.

Since it's summer, solar car has increasingly taken up more time. 2 or 3 meetings per week after work take up the remainder of most my days; as a result, I'm often not home for enough time to get a full night's sleep. But: it's worth it, because after two years of being on the project with little to show for it, we are finally starting to build stuff! Design work is happening faster and faster, which leaves everyone with a sense of accomplishment. By the end of the summer, we should have something that roughly resembles a solar powered vehicle.

Marching Band next year is going to be awesome! I managed to get myself on to leadership (which feels weird), but the season looks to be shaping up well: John Williams' "Summon the Heroes" is on the docket, one of the best individual pieces written by him. Less than 50 days 'til Spat Camp, I can't wait! Diem says we're expecting a smaller-than-normal rookie class, apparently due to the 'U' admitting more academically qualified applicants as opposed to well-rounded students who are more inclined to do marching band. It's all part of our plan to become one of the top three research universities, I call shennanigans.

The new stadium is coming along, University Ave. is all torn up in order to move the roads around. I occassionally go down to engineering records (which is in the same building I work in) to look at the new plans, it's good fun. When I express how excited I am about it, many people complain about how much money the University is spending on the stadium. I am then forced to explain to them two realities: one, my Marching Band is getting a new home, and two, whether they like it or not, athletics, especially the football team, is the face of the University that a vast majority of the public sees. Building the stadium will have great first and second order effects all around campus.

I plan to do quite a bit of weekend traveling next year, mostly involving hockey: I want to go to games at North Dakota, Michigan/Michigan State, Mankato, St. Cloud, and UMD. Just over 100 days until the puck drops! Still no word whether Goligoski is coming back (it was supposed to be announced yesterday, grrr...), I'm still crossing my fingers and trying not to hope too hard.

I'm getting old. I just had my 20th birthday 2 weeks ago (was it really that long ago), and two of my friends got married over the last month, one of whom I graduated with. Scary.

I have recently come to a startling realization, and explanation as to why I am so tired all the time: I do not spend enough time at home to get a good night's sleep during the week. Between a full-time job, solar car, a social life (mostly on campus), and commuting between them, it's often less than 8 hours between when I get home and when I have to get up in the morning to go to work. How this will affect me come fall (with the addition of Marching Band and classes, but a reduction in work hours) is yet to be seen, but the results should be interesting. I keep telling myself that I can handle as much as I want to throw at myself, but this summer is making me seriously reconsider how much I am putting on my plate. I love all of the stuff I do so much, I don't know what I am willing to let go if it comes to that.

I think I hate myself.

Yes, that's right. I think I hate myself. Here's the story (this is mostly for my own benefit, I really need some way to think this stuff through outside my head):

When I was going through my registration for next semester, I realized I have quite a bit of space in my schedule for the next two years. In fact, a lot of space. "Hmm," I thought to myself, what should I do with all this extra time? Perhaps get a minor, maybe in management, or astronomy? Do some more technical electives? Leave it open for things like band, solar car, homework, and a social life?

No, I thought to myself, that would be too easy, that would be a waste of the thousands of dollars you are paying to be here. The job market in Aerospace isn't good enough to graduate with a major in that.

My solution? Decide to be a Mechanical Engineering major. Along with all the D&M, Pro/E and Thermo (which I absolutely hate) that goes with it.

Heres the kicker: not only am I going to do Mechanical Engineering, but double major in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

To summarize: Shit.

Pending the schedule working out, I will graduate with not one, but two degrees in Engineering. Honors, Marching Band, and Solar Car, all in four short years? No, not enough for me. I have to make myself do more. Never content with the norm. I have no idea why this is. Maybe because I was told as a child that if I did well in school, I would do well in the rest of my life. But, I have always thought to myself: what if I'm just really good at school? What if all my grades and activities are not a result of being smart, but just having life figured out at this moment in time? What happens when I'm no longer at school, and performance is no longer measured by how well I can recall a specific set of information? Is college the toughest part of life? or does it get harder?

Just this semester, I have come to the realization that college is indeed scary stuff. My course of action for the next 25 or so months (and therefore, the next 8 days) will likely determine what the rest of my life will be like. 40 years or more, all compressed down in to slightly more than one week. Sure, college is about making freinds and learning how to live on your own (which some people will tell you is the real purpose of college, "enjoy it while you can" and all that). They always tell you when you're little that you don't have to decide right away what you want to be when you grow up. And then, it's all right there. Suddenly in a week, you have to make a decision that will, for real, affect the rest of your life.

Once again, to summarize: Shit.

Good Goli!

Alex Goligoski: 2006-2007 First Team All-American!

He has been my player for 2 years... I think I will probably get his name and number on my jersey.

Hopefully he will stay for another great year.

Hockey!

So, Hockey season is over. I'm mildy depressed at the moment. (or am I just tired?) It seems like forever until the puck drops again. (6 months and counting!) I don't know what I'm going to do with my Friday and Saturday evenings anymore, but I think I'm going to try to cut back on the time I spend on GPL, at least for a bit while the rest of my life goes by (lots of school-but-not-class-related stuff to do).

The regional final was a tough game to be at for the end, losing to NoDak and all (I think I dislike them more than Wisconsin right now), but the rest of the season was well worth the disappointment of not going to St. Louis: the win streak at the beginning, the development and excitement of some of the most highly touted Freshman in the nation, to name a few. My #1 highlight has to be the Final Five, especially the Championship game with Wheeler's Broten-esque goal in OT to beat the Sioux, I have never yelled and clapped so long and loud in my life. Too bad it wasn't on the other end of the ice in front of where I was sitting; but oh well, I can't have everything.

Next year will be even better than the last. We will hang 2 new banners in the ceiling at the beginning of next season (more than enough to ask for). The Freshmen will be Sophomores, the Sophomores will be experienced upperclassmen, and the Juniors will be the Senior leaders that they were always intended to be. Reload with one of the best Freshman classes in the nation, and you've got yourself another great season of good ol' Gopher Hockey.

I will leave you with this great excerpt from one of my favorite blogs to read (http://tnabacg.blogspot.com/), which pretty much sums up why I love this program so much:

(From March 4, 2003)

North Dakota may be a successful hockey program. Duluth may have its rabid fans. Mankato may be very important to people who hail from that city. But Gopher hockey is so much more than that, has meant so much more than that to me. It’s watching the first two periods of the game on MSC, then straining to pick up the third period on your alarm-clock radio after your parents have sent you to bed. It’s attending games in the new Mariucci Arena while wishing that you could have attended a game in the old Mariucci Arena, wishing that you had memories of the old arena when it was still Williams Arena Ice Rink. It’s John Mariucci, and John Mayasich, and the photos of teams going back too many years for anyone to have seen them all. It’s Herb Brooks, prowling the bench, leading three teams to titles. It’s Doug Woog, leading the team first as a player and then as a coach, leading them to a period of sustained greatness the likes of which today’s program can maybe only dream about. It’s Randy Skarda, hitting the post in overtime, and just how the heck did that weak backhander beat Stauber? It’s Neal Broten and the Hobey, Robb Stauber and the Hobey, Brian Bonin, and yes, Jordan Leopold with the Hobey. It’s the murals, where Leopold skates next to Crowley and Stauber makes a save on Woog. It’s the fact that nobody’s going to be wearing number 8 in maroon and gold on the ice anytime soon. It’s Broten chipping one over Iwabucci, Potulny sliding one under Yeats, it’s all the trophies in the concourse, so many that nobody knows exactly what they’re all there for anymore. It’s five gold banners, hanging over the east goal, spanning sixty-three years of Gopher champions.

But maybe most importantly, it’s the five-year-olds I see at the rink on Saturday mornings, when no one’s in the building except me and them, and all they know me as is as the kid who’s driving the Zamboni. They play their games, have their practices, and I see them warming up, skating the length of the ice (taking far too long) and faking this way and sliding one in and, hey, just maybe, if they were a little bigger, they would have looked just like Tyler Hirsch beating Wade Dubielewicz. And then maybe they make their first visit to the rink later that night, getting their first close-up look at the arena. Wow, Dad, how many guys are on that wall? Why are they up there? Dad, who’s going to be up there next? Hey, Grandpa, how many of these guys did you see play? How many banners are there up in the rafters, anyway? There sure are a lot. Why do all those kids say the same things after the other guys get a penalty, why do they all point at the goalie and yell? What are they saying? What do you mean you can’t tell me? Hey, Dad, we scored! What did everyone just say after the band stopped playing?

And then maybe Dad leans over to his son, as my father did to me, and maybe he wants to tell him about all the goals he’s seen, all the great players he’s watched, all of the championships he’s watched when he saw his team play this game, and what a game it is. Maybe he wants to teach him the words to the Rouser and the Minnesota March, and tell him just exactly how his dad reacted when Grant Potulny picked up Jordan Leopold’s shot after it deflected off Johnny Pohl, how Grant picked it up and slipped it under Matt Yeats and the whole state of Minnesota went berserk. But he doesn’t have time for all that. He knows that his son will pick that up in time, that soon, for his son, the game and the team will be the son’s and not just the father’s. Instead, he just sums all of it up in one sentence, with one word.

Instead, he just leans over and teaches him how to spell M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A.

2 Cups!

Today was without a doubt one of the best days of my life. Ever. I headed home for my little brother's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. I'm so proud of him! It was a great ceremony, I am very happy for him, and it was great to see a whole bunch of old Scouts and family friends that I haven't seen for a few years.

I found myself a ticket for the FF semifinal on Friday night, I was in the 3rd row of the upper deck at center ice, they were great seats. I enjoyed seeing us beat Wisconsin again, especially since I was at the game we lost to them earlier in the season. I still couldn't swear (little children in the vicinity, I'm not that much of an asshole), but at least I could say "suck" as loud as I wanted to! Wheeler had an amazing night (which he has not done all year), with a hat trick; 2 of his goals were with 4 seconds left in the period. The Gophers showed a lot of hustle and grit that I have not seen since before winter break. They recovered from an own goal and another 1-goal deficit to win by 2 against a defense-oriented team. Not bad at all.

Now, on to tonight. BEST. GAME. EVER. I managed to score 4 tickets for the game through my Dad's work earlier in the week, not even knowing if the Gophers would be playing in the game. Boy, was I glad I got them. On Friday, I was ecstatic because I was able to go to both the games the Gophs were playing in, which happened to be against our 2 biggest rivals, the badgers and sue. The seats i got were in the 12th row of the lower deck right on the Goal line, by far the closest to the ice I have ever been for a Gopher game (for only $20/ea too!). It was close all the way, finally going in to OT tied at 2. Wheeler made an amazing goal to win the game, everyone went nuts. The atmosphere at the Xcel was absolutely incredible, almost twice the number of fans that are in Mariucci. Here is a replay of the winning goal, which, as mentioned in the clip, bears a striking resemblance to Neal Broten's GWG in the 1979 National Championship Game against (who else?) the Sioux. On the way back, since we were on the band bus, I had the opportunity to talk with some of the Hockey Cheerleaders, who turned out to be some really cool people.

I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll complete and/or organize my thoughts if I think of it, maybe not.

More New Toys

My Mp3 player finally came. It took until 7PM to get there (stupid UPS), but it came. I like it a lot.

I am also the proud new owner of a Toshiba Portege 3490-CT laptop. It only has a 12" screen and weighs about 3lbs. I will be taking it to class a lot. In fact, I'm writing this from it.

Seeing how I have 2 computers, it's time to start naming them. I have one big laptop that is silver and higher performance and one small laptop that is black/dark grey and runs slower.

This is where you, the reader, comes in. I want suggestions on what to name my computers. Bonus points for:
-References to things that are cool (i.e. Star Wars, Hitchhiker's Guide)
-Names that are related (see: Executor and Devastator/Lusankya)
-Names that describe the computer in some way (see: Shortbus, it's small and goes slower)

Some examples:

Two names that are related and reference something cool:
Big: Executor
Small: Devastator or Lusankya

Name that describes the computer:
Small: Shortbus
Big: (I have no idea)

OH MY GOD I Want One

BEST. LEGO. SET. EVER. I seriously just about pissed my pants when I saw it.

Speaking of spending lots of money, I ordered myself an mp3 player over the weekend, a Creative Zen Vision:M. It will be here in about 3 days, and I shall be happy.

Also over the weekend: Skate With The Gophers! Even though I spent 2 hours handing out posters, I got:
-- my MB hat autographed by the one and only Don Lucia
-- team poster signed by every player but Okposo and Flynn, plus Lucia and the Wooger. I'm totally framing this one.
-- Picture taken with the McNaughton Cup and the 2002 and 2003 Championship Trophies
-- Also got to skate around on the ice at Mariucci for a bit with Okposo and Goligoski (and 100 other people, mostly kids), which was pretty sweet.

More Stuff

After thinking for a little bit more, I guess I can put down a few more highlights of the last 5 months, in no particular order:

I have become increasingly obsessed with Gopher Hockey. If you make me miss a game, you better have a damn good reason for it. I went to Madison for the Friday game over there (our first loss since the first game of the season, boo), which decreased my road record to 0-1-1. My ultimate goal is to go to a Gopher game at all 10 arenas in the WCHA (currently, I have 3). While in Madison, we "broke" in to Camp Randall and I got my picture taken on the 50-yard line, and saw the slab of bacon (the predecessor to the axe, for you uninformed people).

Solar Car will probably begin/continue to take over my life, especially later this semester and during the summer.

My little brother (now a senior in HS) got his Eagle Scout award, I am very proud of him. He is probably going to Iowa State for college, I don't really mind where he goes unless it's wisky, iowa, or nodak (fortunately, he never considered any of said schools).

I stumbled across quite possibly the most wonderful webcomic ever: http://www.xkcd.com. Some of the stuff is absolutely ridiculous, and others are straight up nerdy, but it's always halarious.

I'm hunting for internships and housing right now (i have an internship interview in an hour and a half). Both are something I've never really had experience with before, it's a little unsettling how much of a bearing on my future this stuff has.

Concerts

Yeah, It's been a while. I've had stuff to write about (sports games, trips, etc.) but I'm just too lazy to actually sit down and write stuff.

Anywho, I was reading The Onion this morning and found an article about the Minnesota Orchestra's 2007-2008 lineup. Two concerts that I DEFINITELY want to attend:

"To Boldly Go...", a space-themed concert (Feb 1-2 2008)
* Narrated By the one and only Lenoard Nemoy
* Selections from Star Trek, The Planets Suite, and John Williams

"The Vegas Years" with P.D.Q. Bach (May 24 2008)

Also on the Docket are the upcoming Blue Man Group show "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0" (March 30, 2007) and next year's Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.