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.