• • Trucksess.com • •

Journal 2000-02

Current entries

2000-02-29, Tue (Day 160, temperature at 08:12: 22.3°C, difference: -0.5°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,098, rank change: +110, total blocks tested: 44,277 [first time the number of blocks is greater than the rank], overall rate: 760 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 128,029, odds change: +17,855, leap day): A slow and eventual decline proceeded throughout the day.

At night I tried putting my motor together for physics but one of the tacks broke so I’ll have to wait till the tune-up session during physics lab tomorrow. I finalized as best I could the engin 3D lab due tomorrow.

2000-02-28, Mon (Day 159, temperature at 08:14: 22.8°C, difference: +0.3°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,208, rank change: +92, total blocks tested: 43,957, overall rate: 759 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 110,174, odds change: +443): My dream was in Ridley High School Room 512 (Biology). I was sitting at the center table second from the back in the left seat. Three women are behind me and they are giggling. That noise attracts the prof’s attention.

Also in my dream, Fred asked what was an example to some sort of topic, I think it was reactive/proactive. I gave a reactive example about left turn arrows, which when I was younger were not at many local intersections. I think Mom told me about this from time to time. I was thinking in my mind when I was talking about the Chester Pike and PA 420 intersection. I came to the conclusion that nothing happens to remedy a problem until something bad happens. I was really passionate during this oration.

I can sense that April pattern far earlier than the calendar indicates. The E6 lab went well. I still haven’t really reset, which I usually do over the weekend, so I tried doing it this night but it just isn’t working.

2000-02-27, Sun (Day 158, temperature at 09:58: 22.5°C, difference: -0.1°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,300, rank change: +112, total blocks tested: 43,661, overall rate: 758 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 109,731, odds change: -38,705): I got up at 09:00 since I got to bed around 01:00 after the Screw formal. I still got about eight hours of sleep but I didn’t feel that energetic today. I worked on engin in the afternoon and started physics after dinner but soon ran into major difficulties. I read the parts of King Lear for Tuesday as well, all in Cornell, which is now my library and work area of choice.

One reason why I don’t like McCabe is there are few places to go and not sit at a study carrel. When you do sit at a study carrel, there is lots of mass in front of the eyes, which leads to eye fatigue since the eyes don’t have much to look at from a distance. Most of the furniture pieces in Cornell are these six seat rectangle tables, except for the quiet second floor, which has many study carrels. The tables do not have front obstructions and the windows facing the Crum are a nice relief for the eyes.

2000-02-26, Sat (Day 157, temperature at 09:46: 22.6°C, difference: +0.7°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,412, rank change: +72, total blocks tested: 43,366, overall rate: 757 KKeys/sec, rate change: 0 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 148,436, odds change: +16,606): I thought I got up twice today with the watch alarm. It turns out the first one was a dream and the second one was real. Today was a routine day until dinner: wash in the morning, reading Netcenter e-mail from January, and music throughout the day.

For Screw Your Roommate, I was to be sitting in Sharples at 17:45. My roommate is out of town for the weekend, so I had to use the note he left for me to help figure out what I was supposed to do. I came to Sharples at about that time. Food was served with plastic silverware and paper plates so that it is easier to clean up afterwards. When I set my tray in front of the milk, went to get some water, and came back, my tray was gone. A few seconds earlier I heard someone talk about taking someone’s lunch tray. I wasn’t too put off by it since I still had something to take to the big room, so I found a seat and drank some water.

Since most people were standing up, it would be difficult for my screw date to find me. Also, it was entirely up to my screw date to go around and ask, “Are you my mother?” So due to that one-sidedness, it took about 20 minutes for my date to find me since she had to go around to every guy and ask that question and receive many confused looks. When she did find me, I was to spin around twice to the right, once to the left, throw up my hands and shout, “Honey, it’s me!” I did everything like that except for some reason the line seemed more fluent if I said, “Yes I am!” since that is easier to shout out loud.

Some of the screw encounters were hilarious. There was The Dating Game, a lot of people were blindfolded, and one pair was rather kinky in that the woman was handcuffed behind her back and was orally stimulating various parts of a guy tied up and sitting on a chair placed on a table. People had bicycles, set off machine gun fire, bellowed lots of shouting while standing on tables, dressed up as Bamm-Bamm, and some sort of dot-com jester I’m going to call it. Photographers from The Phoenix and The Halcyon were there to catch the antics.

In between the riotous activity in Sharples and the formal in Upper Tarble, I went through more Netcenter e-mail at an agonizingly slow rate, but I did manage to temporarily relieve the overflow. I could have went to see the movie “Airplane” in DuPont, but since it was Screw today, I took a break from the movies.

2000-02-25, Fri (Day 156, temperature at 08:14: 21.9°C, difference: +0.1°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,484, rank change: +85, total blocks tested: 43,116, overall rate: 757 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 131,830, odds change: +33,433): After yesterday being a great day, I was worried that today would not be so good, since good and bad things are usually back-to-back. Today wasn’t that bad. The Sharples food returned to its usual state. Putting the images on The Phoenix Online took the afternoon and went slower than the work yesterday.

Justin posted something on The Phoenix message board to encourage discussion and in another thread I explained the search engine situation and some recent changes and improvements. Afterwards, I went to DuPont to see “Twelve Monkeys,” which is another higher realm movie set in Philadelphia. It seemed like the airport was set in the Reading Terminal Market, which I thought was kind of interesting.

2000-02-24, Thu (Day 155, temperature at 08:13: 21.8°C, difference: +0.2°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,569, rank change: +159, total blocks tested: 42,839, overall rate: 756 KKeys/sec, rate change: +2 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 98,397, odds change: -12,453): The weather was beautiful today, highs were around 60°F (15.6°C), and things just felt great. My Math 16 test was in-class early in the morning, so that left the rest of the day to enjoy. I haven’t felt this great in a while. In English we broke into King Lear metaphor groups and some groups including the one I was in went outside since it is so nice.

Sharples lunch and dinner also were really great. I worked on The Phoenix Online in the afternoon and completed all of the sections except sports by early dinner and finished sports before 19:00. I think this is a record. I also worked on the stylebook and finished that before midnight. The Phoenix staff meeting at 21:00 on Thursdays was between the stylebook work.

2000-02-23, Wed (Day 154, temperature at 08:15: 21.6°C, difference: +0.2°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,728, rank change: +127, total blocks tested: 42,493, overall rate: 754 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 110,850, odds change: +4,413): I studied for the linear algebra test tomorrow in the one hour between engin and physics. After lunch, before physics lab, after lab, and before dinner, I went through King Lear again and marked the clothing metaphors. After dinner I worked on the engin problems due Friday in Cornell.

2000-02-22, Tue (Day 153, temperature at 08:14: 21.4°C, difference: -0.1°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,855, rank change: +134, total blocks tested: 42,187, overall rate: 753 KKeys/sec, rate change: +2 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 106,437, odds change: +21,796): I dreamed I was taking a math test in DuPont 139. Near the end of the test the room gets too noisy and I can’t concentrate, so I leave the room and come back. Then I was in another room with another teacher, the students from before, and some elementary students. The teacher asks how many did well on the test and more of the younger group raised their hand. I got mad and started talking about how it’s a shame that we have no future, our generation is worse off, and there’s no hope. Nobody said anything in reaction to that; they just looked and listened.

Now I was in the new building (1966) of the Ridley High School. I needed to get to class and I went into the middle stairwell, which was oriented differently, so I jumped from the top of the landing to the stairs going down the other way. I met Bern and explained my test story.

Now I’m walking from outside McCabe and Parrish to Kohlberg. The ground is wet and the surrounding elevations and background are different. I see Blackburn, my English 5a prof, in front of me and he has a smile on his face. A red fire truck with its lights on is facing towards Parrish in the hallway outside the Scheuer Room. The Cosby Courtyard is enclosed and a meeting is occurring with lots of media on the outer perimeter. I need to return a Willets-style rocker chair, which I am carrying over my head, to the room between Scheuer and the Kohlberg door near Parrish.

I pass by Ms. Montgomery, my high school English teacher, and she thanks me for returning the chair. I then pass by Dad and the British bagpipe song plays that I think is played at weddings. Everyone sits down or squats as per respect. I put down the chair and sit down on the stone bench in the Kohlberg Coffee Bar, which is open to the courtyard. The group in the middle includes the Ridley High School soccer team and it’s coed. The group is facing me. I am standing with the team and sitting on the bench at the same time. I can see from my view on the bench that I’m on my right side of vision and the spacing between the seven or so team members is uneven. There is a significant space between the next team member and me.

Today, I spent the afternoon and early evening in Cornell working on my E6 free topic paper draft due tomorrow. My topic is electricity reliability. Since I didn’t want to break for dinner, I skipped it and finished my paper and also did most of the physics lab prep, leaving some for when I got back to Mertz.

2000-02-21, Mon (Day 152, temperature at 08:15: 21.5°C, difference: -0.2°C, RC5-64 rank: 44,989, rank change: +126, total blocks tested: 41,807, overall rate: 751 KKeys/sec, rate change: [N/A] KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 84,641, odds change: [N/A]): I dreamed that I was working in what once was the Ridley Middle School wood shop. I think students in my Engin 6 lab were in the shop to work on their projects. The first Monday groups have the tensile test lab in the basement of Papazian, so this may explain the dream. I realized today that since I am in the second Monday early lab group, I don’t have lab this week.

I spent the afternoon in Cornell studying for the E6 exam tonight. Before the exam, I was anxious because I wanted to take the exam since I spent the day preparing for it.

2000-02-20, Sun (Day 151, temperature at 08:18: 21.7°C, difference: -0.2°C, stats not updated): In my dream I was near Willets and I could see practically the entire horizon. In the direction towards Philadelphia and the northwest I saw dozens of large antennas with blinking lights on them even though it was the middle of the day and it was really bright.

I finally organized the mess of papers that I had in my notebook and several folders into something more coherent. Since there were so many papers, I moved away from having one notebook contain all or almost all subjects to having each subject have its own notebook. The notebooks also have enough capacity so I won’t have to worry about removing papers mid-semester.

I worked on engin problems in the afternoon in McCabe, had dinner with folks from the January Workshop in one of the upper rooms of Sharples, and then finished the engin in McCabe. I also did my physics and English so I won’t have to worry about them since I have an Engin 6 exam tomorrow night.

2000-02-19, Sat (Day 150, temperature at 09:03: 21.9°C, difference: +0.5°C, RC5-64 rank: 45,200, rank change: +100, total blocks tested: 41,265, overall rate: 750 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 124,533, odds change: -1,891): I dreamed I was with a few others in the Parrish circle near the Rose Garden. Now inside a building, it reminded me of Ridley High School, walking from the auditorium entrance to cafeteria A.

When I went for my walk today, as I was heading to Sharples I saw a Swattie’s mom and dad pick their son up about where I had the dream. The Swattie wasn’t too happy but the parents had some cordial conversation.

Today was the most routine day one could possibly come up with and still have things happen. Wash in the morning, spiritual research in the afternoon, a long and chatty dinner, and “Fight Club” in DuPont instead of LPAC. The spiritual research actually helped with watching the movie.

2000-02-18, Fri (Day 149, temperature at 08:08: 21.4°C, difference: -0.9°C, RC5-64 rank: 45,300, rank change: +94, total blocks tested: 40,992, overall rate: 749 KKeys/sec, rate change: 0 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 126,424, odds change: +8,754): I’m going to write stuff about today down now so that it’s still fresh in my mind. I woke up and checked the weather, which said heavy snow. However, there was no snow on the ground. Unbelieving, I started to get dressed and about three minutes after I got up, it was like it said, snowing hard. About two inches accumulated during the morning and then things changed over to rain, although the snow is still there.

I rushed through the E6 problems and this week’s edition of The Phoenix Online is going to remain at the first run stage (images only on the front page except for the cartoon and no links or proofing) to break out of the cycle and get more work done.

I watched “Edward Scissorhands” tonight in DuPont. Besides the visual appeal, I noticed how a utopian community is so rejecting of anything outside of the norm. That is truly sickening.

2000-02-17, Thu (Day 148, temperature at 08:17: 22.3°C, difference: +0.8°C, RC5-64 rank: 45,394, rank change: +162, total blocks tested: 40,718, overall rate: 749 KKeys/sec, rate change: +3 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 117,670, odds change: +7,725): I woke up in the middle of the night laughing at my dream. Dad and I were watching some sort of commercial for the government of Philadelphia and it showed this PowerBook Series 5 and under it said “Color Classic II.” Apparently this was an old model and either Dad or I said that they needed to update their equipment.

Dream number interpretation:

2 - co-operation, seeking
5 - changes, communication, travel, new interest, sex (!)

I keep dreaming about changes.

It is really starting to get disconcerting to write about what happened yesterday when today already happened for the most part. I spent the afternoon and evening working on The Phoenix Online, like usual. It seems like everything I am doing now is just a routine, so there’s no need to enumerate it any further.

2000-02-16, Wed (Day 147, temperature at 08:15: 21.5°C, difference: +0.1°C, RC5-64 rank: 45,556, rank change: +100, total blocks tested: 40,365, overall rate: 746 KKeys/sec, rate change: 0 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 109,945, odds change: -24,505): The seats were rearranged in the Hicks mural room in these long horizontal rows without the desk attachments. For some reason, I was getting increasingly frustrated today and that led to a down period in the late morning and early afternoon. The physics lab took an extra hour since there was a lot of stuff to get through with the DC circuits.

2000-02-15, Tue (Day 146, temperature at 08:16: 21.4°C, difference: 0.0°C, RC5-64 rank: 45,656, rank change: +116, total blocks tested: 40,121, overall rate: 746 KKeys/sec, rate change: [N/A] KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 134,450, odds change: [N/A]): I was looking at the east end of the Rose Garden earlier today, which is still covered with snow even though most of the snow elsewhere has melted.

From the beginning of the day, classes seemed difficult for everyone to get through. I skipped lunch again to do the physics problems due today.

At night, I worked on doing half of the E6 lab report rough draft while my partner worked on the other half.

2000-02-14, Mon (Day 145, temperature at 08:12: 21.4°C, difference: -0.2°C, no stats since the server didn’t update properly): I dreamed that I found this white caterpillar at home only this time upon my discovery of something, Mom freaked out.

From The Portable Dream Dictionary:

Caterpillar

This bug may represent a stage in your own personal growth and development. The butterfly is a symbol of transformation; it represents a level of individual achievement. The caterpillar, on the other hand, may indicate that you are on your way but have not reached your goal. You may be in earlier stages of accomplishing a real-life goal, a relationship goal, or even a spiritual goal. The caterpillar may represent a specific area of your life or may be symbolic of the larger you.

From Working with Color in Dreams:

WHITE — a newness, a new beginning or awareness, a “virgin page on which the story has yet to be written.”

1) This is a new experience. 2) I’m becoming aware of new feelings. 3) I’m experiencing a new beginning, a reawakening. 4) I have a new outlook, a new awareness. 5) I feel innocent or open and accepting. 6) I feel unprepared. 7) I feel alone and isolated.

From The Portable Dream Dictionary:

Mother

The relationship that we have with our mother is the most psychologically significant relationship of all. Rarely all good or all bad, our mothers always invoke powerful emotions. We may dream about our mothers in many different forms. She may be disguised in our dreams, and it is our job to find her in there. If you are dreaming about your mother, you may be addressing some issues or concerns in your dream, or your dream may be based on a valuable memory. The general image of “mother” in a dream may symbolize a variety of feelings and ideas: caring, nurturing, love, acceptance, hard work, sacrifice, martyrdom, etc. The mother in your dream could also represent the “collective unconscious,” the source of the “water of life,” and the yin. Carl Jung suggests that women in dreams represent our collective unconscious and men the collective consciousness. Thus, the woman is that force, or current, inside of you that nudges you on and inspires you. It is your intuition and the knowledge that in [sic] not necessarily attached to words. Men, on the other hand, represent the active part of us that use the information received to create the physical reality of our lives. When the two are working together well, we have balance and experience awareness leading to peace and productivity.

This dream can be interpreted in many ways. Recently, I have been moving away from things and I think this dream is related to the spike dream I had on Saturday. I’m using option seven in white to say that the new path I chose of independence is making me feel alone and isolated. Mom is interpreted as the unconscious mind and this time this new path is something that is causing alarm.

In reference to the spike dream, the ice spike apparently was used and was used improperly.

I’m going to jump to the beginning of the day since this entry seems to be going by theme. I went out the side door of Mertz to go to E6 lecture, which was a little troublesome route since there was a patch of ice on the slope upwards. I slid down back towards the door on my hands and feet (but not my knees). I walked backwards and around the ice to get around that. Then when I was on the path between Mertz, Old Tarble, and the Worth Health Center, the drizzle suddenly turned to wind blown sleet aimed in my direction. I took this as a “Chris, don’t go to class, or if you do, it’s going to be rough.” I was running a few minutes behind this morning so I flew up to Hicks, a little unsure why I was doing that.

Motor kits were given out in physics today and near the end of lecture I contributed a tip that Stan, my high school physics teacher gave about crossing vectors. Crossing vectors in reverse alphabetical order makes the resultant sign negative.

I skipped lunch (this is starting to become a pattern) and ate a bagel in Cornell and did the E6 problems due today. The first problem took longer than usual since I am running out of energy to do this kind of just in shock schedule, and also I was trying to be done by 13:15 for the 13:30 lab since last week it started early without warning. This was not the case today, but it was nice and not nice to have that extra waiting time. The last E6 problem was about a system of pulleys and I was getting the same answer as the original value. Fortunately Betsy happened to be walking by at the right moment and she was able to tell me that the tensions divide on both sides of the pulley.

In E6 lab Fred showed this application called Multiframe that was cool, even though the interface had a few rough edges.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening doing dream and love advice research. I learned the concept of mirroring, which is replicating your mate’s physical orientation, dress, beliefs, tone of voice, and personality style such as visual, auditory, or feeling. I am more of a visual person. I found out that it is better if you don’t give too much too soon in a relationship. If I wanted to have something last a long time, I would be careful in how quickly I would move things along so that it doesn’t end too soon. I just realized that I am doing the right thing, which showed up nicely as a pink to red sunset, clearly a testament to Valentine’s Day.

I went to dinner with Susan and Sven and we were able to watch the Valentine’s Day Massacre that SWIL does annually. They shot these cap guns off in the middle room and I never heard the dining hall get that quiet with that many people in it. Susan, Sven, and I sat down at the SWIL table in the small room since they weren’t going to use it tonight.

I worked an extra hour past 22:00 to read through the assigned Canterbury Tales for tomorrow’s English class.

2000-02-13, Sun (Day 144, temperature at 09:45: 21.6°C, difference: -0.5°C, no stats since the server didn’t update): I spent most of the day proofing Phoenix pages and at the end of all of that, I added a message board to the site. Breakfast was the sweet potatoes from the January Workshop. This was a lot harder to consume than the rice at yesterday’s dinner. Even though I was “behind” all day, I still went to Sharples for lunch and dinner.

2000-02-12, Sat (Day 143, temperature at 07:09: 22.1°C, difference: +0.4°C, RC5-64 rank: 46,067, rank change: +86, total blocks tested: 39,036, overall rate: 740 KKeys/sec, rate change: [N/A] KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 125,717, odds change: [N/A]): I dreamed that I took out of some indefinite freezer, close to the one in my room, a 15 cm square clear ice object. It could be called a railroad spike. The top of it was a square with a slight dome in the center and the bottom of the shape comes to a sharp point.

Both Mom and I thought it was cool, which was similar to what was said when I dreamed that I was thawing an ICEE out and this bee came out of the drink and starting buzzing around the room. This dream occurred on 1999-11-11, Thu. Before that dream I got stuck in Willets so something is definitely in this dream.

Top and side view of the ice object
Drawing of the spike in my dream.

The ice symbol means “frozen emotions, feelings, blocked from giving, receiving” (Dream Symbols). It can also mean, “Clear ice, especially in chunks or ‘rocks’ could mean the giving or receiving of an engagement ring” (Dreams Central’s Dream Dictionary).

The bee: “Bees are a lucky dream and augers much good to the dreamer in all his endeavors … ” (Dreams Central’s Dream Dictionary).

I’m now fetching the stats data when I get the temperature data so that means it should be less likely that I’ll forget to get the stats data during the day.

The Delco McCabe interviews were today, so I was in and around Admissions from about 08:45 to the early afternoon. The current scholars took the group on a tour. We went into Trotter, which I have been in only once before and that was during pre-frosh weekend. I saw the PC classroom lab, which opened this week for student use, and the central stair, which is a very appealing visual match of slight variations of wood color. The building looks much different on the inside compared to the outside.

I did the wash in the late afternoon. I also vacuumed the room and was encouraged to clean up various areas of clutter since the stuff wouldn’t go back the same way it was originally placed. I opened the window to vacuum at about 15:00 and left it open until after 18:00. At 18:01 (dusk) it was 9.6°C or 49.4°F in the room. At Lakeview it was 25.5°F (-3.6°C) at 18:19 (AWS WeatherNet).

I had rice from the fridge for dinner and went to see “The Sixth Sense,” in LPAC at 19:30. This movie about increased consciousness stuff was set in South Philadelphia, how fitting since Philly is a golden city. Swarthmore was mentioned in the traffic report in reference to the slowdown that occurs between the Baltimore Pike and US 1 exits on the Blue Route, I-476.

I got back to my dorm well before 22:00 but still had an unmade bed and lots of stuff to sort sitting on it. I managed to get to bed between 02:00 and 03:00 after throwing out a fair amount of bags and cleaning up the triangle area between my desk and bed.

2000-02-11, Fri (Day 142, temperature at 08:15: 21.7°C, difference: -0.1°C, no stats [realized about five minutes after 00:00 UTC]): Today on the surface seemed like any other day, but there were these hidden things that revealed a lot. At breakfast, I got up rather quickly after I sat down to get a bagel since I was planning to skip lunch and do Engin 6 problems due today in Cornell. In E6 lecture, I sat closer to the front.

I proofed Phoenix pages in the afternoon. I watched “When Harry Met Sally” at 19:30 in DuPont 161 since the Dar Williams concert was in LPAC. The power went out at 20:26, seconds after a reel change. It was misty outside (which sometimes makes the power go out), although it was warmer than an average February day (which eases power demand in the winter). I also thought that the Dar Williams concert might have done something to the power considering the amps they may have brought in. Either way, when I went to vacuum tomorrow afternoon, the hallway outlet was out and after finding the breaker panel, I saw that it had tripped, so I reset it and it was working again. This definitely happened within the past few weeks since I used that plug in January when I got back to Swat and vacuumed. I believe this electrical trip just happened.

During the power outage that lasted around five minutes someone came up to me in DuPont 161 and asked about the journal on my web site. I explained about how I had more time last semester (at least a half-hour a day) to write each entry. This semester I have far less time to do it except on weekends (like now).

2000-02-10, Thu (Day 141, temperature at 08:08: 21.8°C, difference: +0.2°C, no stats, snow is melting): In English today we read our Chaucerian portraits. I found the one about student council to be rather interesting, as the pinball purchase seems to be sort of a white elephant. This afternoon and evening I worked on The Phoenix Online, which was up before 21:00, but without images (except on the front page), proofing, and links. The student publications office received three new Power Mac G4’s and Brendan, student publications coordinator, was setting one of them up as a server. The cool thing with AppleShare IP is that PCs can see AppleShare volumes too, which fixes half of the problem where Macs and PCs can’t see each other’s volumes on the network.

2000-02-09, Wed (Day 140, temperature at 08:14: 21.6°C, difference: -0.3°C, RC5-64 rank: 46,302, rank change: +123, total blocks tested: 38,410, overall rate: 741 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 116,435, odds change: -25,846): This entry was written late, so I’m only remembering certain things.

Physics was extremely confusing for me. My comprehensive lack of understanding of everything is starting to grow and have a noticeable effect.

I did have enough time to read for English in the Kohlberg coffee bar and write the Chaucerian portrait as well as getting my linear algebra problem set done before 22:00.

2000-02-08, Tue (Day 139, temperature at 08:16: 21.9°C, difference: +0.7°C, RC5-64 rank: 46,425, rank change: +72, total blocks tested: 38,086, overall rate: 740 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 142,281, odds change: +22,033): In English today we were introduced to our Writing Associates (WAs) and signed up for our conferences.

I skipped lunch again this time to finish my physics before afternoon classes and meetings. Study skills was in the afternoon, then a meeting with my SAM, and then a meeting with my Engin 6 WA. I talked with my SAM about the number of activities I was involved in, which I counted as three: The Phoenix, Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), and IEEE. I said that doing the online edition for The Phoenix was taking more time than expected. I believed that at Swat one shouldn’t really be part of more than two activities since fragmentation occurs, which is something that happened most notably my senior year of high school. Getting a count of the activities I was involved in then I think would definitely be a challenge.

I told my SAM that I thought about dropping the HEV since I wasn’t really interested in cars, but I continually have an interest in media (The Phoenix, my web site, televised morning announcements, and sound work). The IEEE wasn’t really an issue since it has more long-term value and the time commitment for that activity is highly variable.

I was out of sorts the rest of day and went to McCabe to sleep for two hours.

2000-02-07, Mon (Day 138, temperature at 08:12: 21.2°C, difference: -0.2°C, RC5-64 rank: 46,497, rank change: +130, total blocks tested: 37,812, overall rate: 739 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 120,248, odds change: +544): I did my E6 problems from 11:30 to 13:20 in Cornell at the expense of having a standup lunch of a bagel in the DuPont physics lounge.

I worked on the 2D-force problem in the late afternoon but got nowhere. At night I worked on various tasks.

2000-02-06, Sun (Day 137, temperature at 07:30: 21.4°C, difference: -0.1°C, RC5-64 rank: 46,627, rank change: +108, total blocks tested: 37,543, overall rate: 738 KKeys/sec, rate change: 0 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 119,704, odds change: -19,804): Part of my dream was in a classroom that was very cluttered and I needed to get a TV with VCR, CD player, and a miced podium ready for some congressional speakers.

I spent practically the entire day proofing Phoenix Online pages.

2000-02-05, Sat (Day 136, temperature at 07:27: 21.5°C, difference: +0.4°C, RC5-64 rank: 46,735, rank change: +86, total blocks tested: 37,268, overall rate: 738 KKeys/sec, rate change: [N/A] KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 139,508, odds change: [N/A]): I didn’t calculate rate change and odds change for the RC5 stats since the days of comparison are not consecutive. By about 15:00, The Phoenix Online was complete to the point where I was able to start checking, proofing, and adding links.

Tonight, I watched “Stand By Me,” which was based off Stephen King’s novella “The Body,” according to The Phoenix. This movie was about two groups of guys, one of them kids and the other much older, who search for this dead body and have a conflict about it.

2000-02-04, Fri (Day 135, temperature at 08:15: 21.1°C, difference: +0.2°C, no stats [I forgot again]): Over the past few days upon getting up, the sky would have a red tinge to it. I think of seeing red at sunrise as a warning and red at sunset as a good thing. On Thursday morning, the last red start day, the red was actually outside my window, which is normal (as in perpendicular) to the direction of the sunrise. The previous warnings were in the sunrise direction or outside the hallway window near the men’s bathroom.

Around 04:06, I was awaken by the sound of the fire alarm going off. I heard some activity, but was reluctant to leave because of the awkward time of the alarm. My roommate also was still sleeping. After a few minutes went by, Kate knocked on my door and said there was a fire so I got Luke up and we got dressed and started to head down the hall while the rest of the hall headed back and the alarm stopped. There was a fair amount of white smoke in the hallway, centered near the lounge.

This week’s edition of The Phoenix Online still was not up until after 17:00 and even then, I was rushed and put up a really unfinished version. The front page had some correct links but incorrect text and broken images and the section indices were either from last week or had the right links but the wrong text. There were no images for individual articles and some articles were “temporarily unavailable,” meaning that I couldn’t find the copy edit file fast enough to save from Word into HTML, or doing the page would have taken longer than a single copy and paste.

I skipped dinner again and went through eight CDs, three short of my collection here. I started working at about 14:30 after finishing my E6 problem set and missing my SAM meeting time by a few minutes, which led me to reschedule the time in the future to 14:30 on Tuesdays. I stopped working at around 22:00, for a duration of about seven and a half hours. Notice that I said ‘stopped working’ and not finished since I only got to complete (without extra links) in depth, living, and news before going to “Happy Gilmore” in DuPont. This movie was one of them Adam Sandler things and it was quite good, although something you definitely don’t want the kids imitating.

The Phoenix pages really do seem to load faster, with the exception of the front page, which actually does load faster since I trimmed the spaces and carriage returns besides adding the width and height image information.

2000-02-03, Thu (Day 134, temperature at 08:14: 20.9°C, difference: -0.7°C, no stats [I forgot]): I was busy doing Phoenix Online improvements this afternoon and evening so I forgot about getting the RC5 stats data for today, which I should have done before 19:00 (00:00 UTC).

The Phoenix was slightly delayed in arriving on campus, but when it did, there was a flurry of people reading it. I spent the afternoon and evening making several changes and improvements to the online edition. The only problem with that was some of the improvements (notably the most beneficial ones) took a large amount of time and the total time spent with this intermediate redesign was equivalent to doing a week’s edition on top of this week’s run.

The changes I did make: The .htm suffix was changed to .html on all newly generated files and the front page had all the extra spaces and returns taken out cutting the file size by about 35%. Instead of the ‘pics’ directory for pictures new pictures are stored in the ‘images’ directory and ISO 8601 was reviewed although no changes were necessary (the standard doesn’t really apply to long dates like February 3, 2000). More objects on the page now link to something such as the front page 120 x 120 images as well as the section images. Text links were also added to the bottom of new pages. The text links allow non-graphical browsers to still navigate and make it easier for any browser to navigate the archives by distinguishing the issue one is currently at and the latest issue.

Also, alt descriptions were added to all of the images, the volume and issue number are now on the front page, and width and height information is now present for all images. The width and height information allows pages to load incrementally instead of waiting for everything to be ready before displaying most or the entire page.

Changing the suffixes to .html probably took the least amount of time and provides the least benefit to visitors; I think adding width and height information took the most time and that provides a great benefit to users, especially if they do not have a fast Internet connection.

I skipped dinner since I was working on the online edition, but I still went to The Phoenix meeting at 21:00.

2000-02-02, Wed (Day 133, temperature at 08:14: 21.6°C, difference: 0.0°C, RC5-64 rank: 47,103, rank change: +121, total blocks tested: 36,386, overall rate: 734 KKeys/sec, rate change: +1 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 125,895, odds change: +4,881): I dreamed that I was at home and there was lots of white smoke in the rooms. I was convinced that it was a good idea to leave the building, but Dad didn’t agree. When I went to touch the metal hallway door the door and the handle were both cool. I also dreamed that I was in this small town set in the hillside and it was under military attack. There was a smaller helicopter and a huge army helicopter in the air.

I finished linear algebra at 20:00 and I solved half of the E6 problems. The first two came out to zero, which I attempted to get help about.

Our hall picture was taken for the Halcyon at our study break tonight.

2000-02-01, Tue (Day 132, temperature at 08:15: 21.6°C, difference: +0.2°C, RC5-64 rank: 47,224, rank change: +134, total blocks tested: 36,082, overall rate: 733 KKeys/sec, rate change: +2 KKeys/sec, odds of finding the key: 1 in 121,014, odds change: +16,394): Today I dreamed that I went into a hallmate’s room to see if they were feeling better (they’re sick now). They were much better, but I wasn’t feeling well.

In English 5a, a guest speaker who was an expert in Beowulf came in and provided a good deal of interesting information. The reading and study skills workshop started today and will last for three weeks. I am taking it at 13:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at 09:30 on the other weekdays. The classes run for 50 minutes. Today we learned how fast we are reading now and most people were around 300 words a minute.

I got caught up with AOL mail in the afternoon and did work for E6 and math tonight.


Journal 2000-01

Trucksess.com
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Family
  • Lauren
  • Thomas
  • Bill
  • Chris
  • Parents
Maps
  • ZCTA
     • 000/099
     • 100/199
     • 200/299
     • 300/399
     • 400/499
     • 500/599
     • 600/699
     • 700/799
     • 800/899
     • 900/999
Photo Relator
  • Ridley
     • CC
        • Razing
           • 1999
              • 1999-02
                 • 1999-02-09
                    • N
                    • NE
                    • NE lawn
                    • NE stage
                    • S
                 • 1999-02-16
                    • E
                    • E exit
                    • N
                    • NE
                    • SE
                 • 1999-02-19
                    • E
                    • N
                    • S
                    • SE
                    • SE lawn
                 • 1999-02-25
                    • E
                    • NE
                    • S
                    • S center
                    • SE
                    • SE entry
                    • SW
                    • SW RHS drive
                    • SW steel
              • 1999-03
                 • 1999-03-02
                    • NE
                    • NE cellar
                    • NE drive
                    • NW
                    • S
                    • SW
                    • SW detach
                 • 1999-03-11
                    • N
                    • NE
                    • NW
                    • S
                    • S base
                    • S center
                    • SW
                    • SW courtyard
                 • 1999-03-26
                    • NE
                    • NE band room
                    • NW
                    • S
                    • SE
                    • SE foundation
                    • SW
                    • SW extent
                    • SW extent RHS
                    • SW field
                    • W
                    • W field
                    • W field NW
                    • W foundation
                    • W RHS gym
              • 1999-06
                 • 1999-06-24
                    • Panorama E
                    • Panorama N
                    • Panorama NE
                    • Panorama NW
                    • Panorama S
                    • Panorama SE
                    • Panorama SW
                    • Panorama W
                    • SW
              • 1999-07
                 • 1999-07-21
                    • N
                    • SW
                 • 1999-07-28
                    • SW
              • 1999-08
                 • 1999-08-04
                    • SE
                    • SW
                 • 1999-08-11
                    • SW
                    • SW 2nd
                 • 1999-08-18
                    • S
                    • SE
     • HS
        • Building
           • 1999
              • 1999-10
                 • 1999-10-13
                    • E
                    • E extent
                    • E section
                    • N
                    • N foundation
                    • NE
                    • NE sign
                    • NE sign right
                    • NW
                    • SE
                    • SE drive
                    • SE Raiders
                    • SW
                    • SW cliff
                    • SW drive
                    • SW parking
                    • SW pipes
                    • SW wall
              • 1999-12
                 • 1999-12-27
                    • E
                    • E wall
                    • N
                    • N kitchen
                    • NE
                    • NE entry
                    • NE pipes
                    • NE stairwell
                    • NW
                    • NW drive
                    • NW extent
                    • S
                    • S vista
                    • SE
                    • SE Raiders
                    • SE section
                    • SW
                    • SW brink
                    • SW crane
                    • SW drive
                    • SW extent
                    • SW parking
                    • SW rubble
                    • SW scoop
                    • SW track
                    • SW wall
           • 2000
              • 2000-03
                 • 2000-03-10
                    • E
                    • E crane
                    • N
                    • N cafeteria
                    • N service
                    • NE
                    • NE turnaround
                    • NE Villanova
                    • NE vista
                    • NW
                    • NW drive
                    • NW natatorium
                    • S
                    • S crane
                    • S drive
                    • S vista
                    • SE
                    • SE crane
                    • SE drive
                    • SE Raiders
                    • SW
                    • SW brink
                    • SW cliff
                    • SW extent
                    • SW pipes
                    • SW track
              • 2000-05
                 • 2000-05-23
                    • NE
                    • NE brickwork
                    • NW
                    • S
                    • S drive
                    • S vista
                    • SE
                    • SE apertures
                    • SE drive
                    • SE entry
                    • SE gateway
                    • SE interpose
                    • SE library
                    • SE Raiders
                    • SE stairwell
                    • SE transformer
                    • SE wall
                    • SW
                    • SW auditorium
                    • SW brink
                    • SW cliff
                    • SW crane
                    • SW drive
                    • SW extent
                    • SW parking
                    • SW pipes
                    • SW track
              • 2000-10
                 • 2000-10-18
                    • E
                    • E brickwork
                    • E extent
                    • N
                    • N cafeteria
                    • N patio
                    • N service
                    • NE
                    • NE arches
                    • NE entry
                    • NE traffic light
                    • NE variegate
                    • NW
                    • NW service
                    • S
                    • S vista
                    • SE
                    • SE entry
                    • SE library
                    • SE Raiders
                    • SE stairwell
                    • SW
                    • SW admin
                    • SW brink
                    • SW extent
                    • SW overlook
                    • SW trailers
        • Inside
           • 1999
              • 1999-05
                 • 1999-05-25
                    • 500 level center
                    • 500 level N
                    • 500 level S
                    • 500 level breezeway
                    • Basement
                    • Basement fire alarm
                    • Basement lift
                    • Basement N
                    • Basement NE
                    • Basement NW
                    • Basement S
                    • Basement SE
                    • Basement stairs
                    • Center
                    • Center N
                    • Center stairwell N
              • 1999-06
                 • 1999-06-01
                    • 400 level center
                    • 400 level N
                    • 400 level N entry
                    • 400 level N stairs
                    • 400 level S
                    • 400 level S entry
                    • 400 level S stairs
                    • W
        • Outside
           • 1999
              • 1999-01
                 • 1999-01-04
                    • E art
                    • E library
                    • E Raiders
                    • Phil Marion Field E
                    • Phil Marion Field NE
                    • Phil Marion Field SE
                    • Phil Marion Field W
                    • N
                    • N gym
                    • NE
                    • NE entry auditorium
                    • NE entry gym
                    • NE extent
                    • NW
                    • NW parking
                    • Tennis
                    • Tennis gym
                    • Tennis NE
                    • Tennis parking
                    • Tennis S
                    • Tennis SE
                    • Tennis W
                    • W
                    • W courtyard
                    • W drive
                    • W parking
                    • W stairs N
     • MS
        • 1999
           • 1999-10
              • 1999-10-13
                 • Addition
                 • Drive SW
                 • Foundation
                 • Hilltop S
                 • Sign
                 • Wall
        • 2000
           • 2000-03
              • 2000-03-10
                 • Addition
     • Park
        • 1999
           • 1999-10
              • 1999-10-13
                 • Lake
Statistics
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     • General
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        • 1999/2000
  • Journal
     • 1999-08
     • 1999-09
     • 1999-10
     • 1999-11
     • 1999-12
     • 2000-01
     • 2000-02
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     • 2000-05
     • 2000-09
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     • 2000-11
     • 2000-12
     • 2001-01
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     • 2001-03
     • 2001-04
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     • 2001-08
     • 2001-09
     • 2001-10
     • 2001-11
     • 2001-12
     • 2002-01
     • 2002-02
     • 2002-03
     • 2002-04
     • 2002-05
     • 2002-08
     • 2002-09
     • 2002-10
     • 2002-11
     • 2002-12
     • 2003-01
     • 2003-02
     • 2003-03
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