I know, most everyone in the USA has been off for summer for quite some time now. Not me – or any other student at the University of Chicago. We’ve been studious well into June. BUT – today is my last day. A whole year gone by… actually kinda sad. I’m not feeling great about the calc 3 test tomorrow, but I’ve been studying and will continue to do so tomorrow....
Well, the end of the year is approaching quickly… and University Housing is kicking me out. So, rather than put up with the system next year… I’m moving out for good. I’ve secured an apartment and have been working on it for the last few days. It’s a large studio apartment that needs some work – mostly cleaning, but a few repairs. The price is great and all utilities are included....
Well, I’m a Fedora fan. I am dual-booting my desktop and laptop with FC6 and Vista… but tonight, breaking from writing a paper, I decided I’d try out Ubuntu 7. My first impression is great. Resolution recognized correctly, sound worked well… both common for Fedora too. It’s what’s not so common that REALLY impressed me. Ubuntu loaded the drivers I need for my Intel Pro Wireless to work (3945), this must be done manually in FC6....
It’s true. Two days ahead of schedule (a.k.a. deadline) my last final paper is finished. I can sigh in relief… and then immediately start studying for Biology and Calculus finals. No sweat… well maybe a little. In a few days I’ll be worry-free and off to the great state of Minnesota where I’ll be visiting family. I can’t wait. Until next time. Pray for my tub… I’ll post more on that later....
So, I just downloaded OpenOffice 2.2 Rc3. I opened up a few papers I had written for my classes this quarter…and they were all about one page shorter! Really. Ok, so what happened is that OpenOffice apparently made the text look more clean in this version… I guess it is. As a result, my double spacing doesn’t take up as much room. End result: same text, fewer pages. Now, if I were a bum of a college student (which is tempting), I’d stay with 2....
I just noticed that it has been over one month since I wrote last. Terrible. Take it as a testament to the difficulty that is the University of Chicago… What can I tell you about my exsistence since last time? I’ve gotten two “A” papers back and have only one more paper to write for the quarter. Biology exam approaching and a calculus exam just days away. If I do things right, I’ll have 3 assured 4....
Another Saturday. Another week gone by. More grades, more learning, more ideas, less time… why, hello. Despite my rants last week wasn’t that bad. The slushy snow has been mildly frustrating, but everything else has just been. I got a new toothbrush, switched back to Firefox from Opera, got news of an “A” paper I wrote, and had a stock double in value. I even got to write a new poem or two (two not yet being published)....
There is something about writing that I used to really enjoy. It wasn’t so much the argument, or the use of exorbitant amounts of paper. It wasn’t about deadlines or imposed restrictions… after all, there weren’t any of either. It was something about the process. Something about manipulating words to convey ideas – the feelings I was trying to understand. Sadly, college writing is not concerned with any of those. Its much more dry, painfully procedural, and a lot less fun....
Today was good (though not as good as Monday when I found $20 in the snow). It started at 8am. I had an omelet shortly thereafter. Then the exam. Bio exam, which I felt good about going into… but you know how those exams mess with your mind. 8 Minutes after time was called, I was done. I felt pretty good about it. I’m really liking microbes. Then math. Nothing too spectacular....
Well, so maybe you don’t get how all of those software packages are related… because they aren’t really. They are today however, because I am writing about my experience with them. The are all new to me and therefore they are all related. 😉  Where to begin… with Vista? Sure. It’s alright. I like it because it is better looking than the previous versions and because it is new. It feel just as responsive as XP did, but I turned off the Aero interface anyway....